Elizabethan England for GCSE History: Everything You Need to Know

Elizabethan England is one of my favourite topics to teach as a history teacher. It has everything to keep students engaged: intense battles, plots to overthrow a monarch and a suspected murder.

All of this makes Elizabethan England one of the most popular topics to study in GCSE history, but don’t just take my word for it. Over 135,000 students study this topic for GCSE history every year across multiple different exam boards.

When I was the Head of GCSE history at my school, I taught and prepared hundreds of students for their Elizabethan England exam. In this guide, I will give you an overview of Elizabethan England for GCSE history. I will also give some helpful hints and tips about how best to prepare yourself for your GCSE history Elizabethan England exam.

Introduction to Elizabethan England

At Save My Exams, we only give you what you need to know. The key events and dates that are covered vary depending on the exam board that you are studying for GCSE history Elizabethan England. This table, therefore, indicates the key events and dates that you need to know for each exam board.

Key events and timeline

Social Structure and Hierarchy

Elizabeth ruled England over 400 years ago. In my experience of teaching Elizabethan England for GCSE history, students struggle to understand what life was like this long ago. Life in England was very different from how it is today. When I taught this topic, I always dedicated one or two lessons to teaching about Society in Elizabethan England. Understanding what it was like to live in Elizabethan England will help your understanding of key themes throughout the course.

Everything you need to know about hierarchy in Elizabethan England

• Elizabeth was the most powerful person in Elizabethan society.  People believed in the divine rights of monarchs. They believed that God chose Elizabeth to rule. The Divine Rights gave Elizabeth absolute power over England

• Elizabeth rewarded people’s loyalty to her by giving them titles or knighthoods. The nobility were wealthy and had some power within England. Wealthy people could offer patronage to less fortunate people. This could include giving responsibilities or money to people they deemed worthy

• Most people in Elizabethan England were poor. They had no political power

• People in Elizabethan England did not generally believe in social mobility. If you were born into a poor family, it was very likely that you would remain poor all of your life

Queen Elizabeth I

Elizabeth Tudor became Queen of England in November 1558. Her coronation took place in January 1559. From my experience of teaching Elizabethan England, it is important to know who Elizabeth was and her family’s history. This will make it easier for you to understand why:

• Elizabeth was an unlikely heir to the throne

• Many people living in England did not see Elizabeth as their queen

Rise to power

Elizabeth was the daughter of King Henry VIII. Elizabeth was unlikely to become queen because:

• Henry had a son called Edward with his third wife, Jane Seymour. Sons went ahead of daughters in the line of succession in Tudor times

• Elizabeth was not the eldest daughter. Henry had a daughter called Mary with his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. If Edward died before Henry or did not have children when he was king, Mary would inherit the throne

• Elizabeth had been written out of the line of succession. Her mother (Henry’s second wife, Anne Boleyn) was executed for high treason. Henry made Elizabeth illegitimate in 1536. It was not until 1543 that Henry restored Elizabeth’s claim to the throne

Elizabeth eventually rose to power because:

• Edward’s reign lasted for six years (1547–1553). He died at the age of 15. He did not have children

• Elizabeth’s sister, Mary, became queen in 1553. She married Philip II, King of Spain. Mary ruled England for five years. She had no children and had named Elizabeth as her heir

Challenges

Elizabeth’s unlikely rise to power caused several challenges for her reign:

Foreign policy and relationships

Elizabeth used the concept of marriage to influence England’s foreign policy. Sometimes, students underestimate how important people at the time thought marriage was for Elizabeth’s legitimacy. Many people believed that she needed a husband to help her to rule England. Elizabeth could therefore use the promise of marriage to achieve alliances

Everything you need to know about Elizabeth and marriage

• Elizabeth’s first suitor was Philip II of Spain. Philip had previously been married to Elizabeth's half-sister, Mary. Elizabeth’s advisors did not agree with the match so Elizabeth declined his offer

• Many historians argue that Elizabeth loved Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. Dudley's wife died in suspicious circumstances. This scandal meant Elizabeth could never marry him

• Another potential suitor was King Eric of Sweden. England viewed Sweden as a weak power. A marriage between Eric and Elizabeth would not increase England's reputation as a European power

• In 1567, Archduke Charles of Austria became a potential suitor. Like Philip II of Spain, he was Catholic so the match could not progress

• Elizabeth negotiated marriage with the Duke of Alençon for nearly ten years. Elizabeth promised marriage to Alençon to gain his armed forces. Francis died in 1584

• Elizabeth created the image of the “Virgin Queen”

The Political System in Elizabethan England

Some students struggle with this section of the history of Elizabethan England. They find the idea of politics confusing. When I was teaching Elizabethan England, I always made comparisons between the Elizabethan Government and modern-day politics. This should help you to see how much of our political system is the same as the one that Elizabeth used to govern England over 400 years ago.

Government structure

Key officials

• The Secretary of State was the most important position in Elizabeth's government

• The Secretary of State had responsibilities for:

  • Advising the queen on all key decisions

  • Ensuring the queen was safe from plots against her life

  • Monitoring Elizabeth's government

• Elizabeth had three secretaries of state:

  • Sir William Cecil (1558–1573 and 1590–1596)

  • Sir Francis Walsingham (1573–1590)

  • Sir Robert Cecil (1596–1612)

• Robert Dudley was one of Elizabeth’s most trusted advisors until he died in 1588

The role of parliament

• Elizabeth had ultimate power in England

• Elizabeth needed to maintain good relations with parliament to approve laws and taxes

Religion in the Elizabethan Period

From my experience of teaching Elizabethan England, religion is the most fundamental section to understand. This is because:

• Issues with religion explain many of the challenges that Elizabeth faced in England

• Religion also caused conflict abroad with Spain, linking to key events such as the Spanish Armada

• Attempting to resolve the Religious Question was a key success of Elizabeth’s reign

The Religious Settlement

In 1559, Elizabeth passed the Religious Settlement. It aimed to find a “middle way” between Catholicism and Protestantism. The Religious Settlement was made up of three acts:

Challenges to the Religious Settlement

Most people in England accepted the Religious Settlement as:

• The Settlement included a mixture of Catholic and Protestant beliefs

• Most Catholics could afford to pay the recusancy fine and practise Catholicism privately

There was opposition to Elizabeth from Catholics and Puritans (extreme Protestants).

Despite some serious challenges, Elizabeth maintained control of England. She continued to follow the Religious Settlement.

The Elizabethan Economy

Students can sometimes find economics a boring topic. However, it is important to know how Elizabeth brought the English economy out of debt. One of the main ways in which she did this was through trade and exploration.

Key Elizabethan explorers

Everything you need to know about trade and exploration

• In Elizabeth’s early reign, Spain dominated trade in the Americas. They also restricted England’s access to European markets by controlling Antwerp (a city in modern-day Belgium which was owned by Spain)

• When England defeated the Spanish Armada, it reduced Spain’s dominance of international trade

• Elizabethan adventurers discovered different sea routes across the world. This opened up new markets for English trade

• Elizabethans created new trading companies, like the East India Company in 1600. This trade improved the English economy. Merchants could become very wealthy

• Elizabethans gained valuable resources from international trade. This included:

  • Sugar (to create flavourful desserts for the wealthy)

  • Spices (to preserve meat)

Life in Elizabethan England

From my many years of teaching this course, I have found that students do not generally perform well in this section. Try to compare features of Elizabethan England to your life today. You too may play football or enjoy going to the theatre. However, you will also notice many differences between your life today and life in Elizabethan England.

The Poor Laws

From 1563 to 1601, Elizabeth passed a series of laws to improve the treatment of poorer people in England. Read my revision note on Elizabethan attitudes to the poor to understand why Elizabeth tried to tackle this social issue.

Elizabethan Theatre, Sport and Pastimes

Everything you need to know about Elizabethan theatre

• All classes in Elizabethan England went to the theatre

  • The lower classes stood in “the pit” near the stage

  • The rich paid for seats

• Puritans opposed the theatre

  • They believed that it was evil and morally corrupt

• From 1567, London allowed the building of theatres

  • The first purpose-built theatre was the Red Lion in Whitechapel

  • Other prominent Elizabethan theatres include James Burbage's The Theatre (1576), The Rose (1587) and The Globe (1599)

• Shakespeare was a key playwright in Elizabethan times

  • He wrote plays that supported Elizabeth 

• Elizabeth did not go to the theatre herself. Theatre companies would perform plays for her in the royal court. She created her own theatre company, The Queen's Men, in 1583

• Elizabethans watched mystery plays and comedies

Everything you need to know about Elizabethan sports

• Nobles played sports that other social classes could not play

  • These included real tennis and fencing

• Some sports united both the working and upper classes

  • Wrestling and swimming were popular sports for all classes of men

• The main sport that the working classes played was football

  • People played the game between villages. This meant the pitch could be miles in length

  • Football was considered too dangerous for the upper classes to play

• The two key spectator sports were bear-baiting and cock-fighting

Everything you need to know about Elizabethan pastimes

• The Elizabethan upper classes liked creative writing and reading

  • Many Elizabethans, especially the lower classes, were illiterate

• All classes in Elizabethan England enjoyed music

  • The increase in the production of plays created new styles of music

  • Advances in technology allowed improvements in instruments

• Exploration encouraged new pastimes

  • Explorers published written accounts of their discoveries in the Americas, like Sir Walter Raleigh’s The Discovery of Guiana (1596)

  • Smoking tobacco became popular among the working classes by the end of Elizabeth’s reign

Understanding Elizabethan England for GCSE History Exam Success

You now have everything you need to know about Elizabethan England for GCSE history and can start to focus on how to revise for the exams. Here are a few tips to help you:

• Make sure you know which events of Elizabethan England your exam covers

  • Edexcel focuses on 1558 to 1588

  • AQA and OCR B assess your knowledge of Elizabeth’s later reign

  • The key events and timeline table shows you which events you should prioritise in your revision

• Understand what skills your exam is testing

  • Edexcel assesses you on:

    • Defining two features of an event 

    • Explaining why an event happened or is important

    • Judging how far you agree with a statement

  • AQA examines your ability to:

    • Judge how convincing an interpretation is of a particular event or section of the course

    • Explain why an event happened or is important

    • Write a narrative account

    • Judge how far you agree with a statement using knowledge of a historic environment

  • OCR B needs you to be able to:

    • Understand an interpretation and use it for further research

    • Compare the differences between two interpretations

    • Judge how far you agree with a statement

• Prepare yourself with the right skills for your exam

  • For Edexcel GCSE History Elizabethan England revision, I would advise you to:

    • Create quizzes on the key sections of the course. You could test yourself or ask a friend to complete the quiz

    • Choose a 16-mark “How far do you agree …” question. In a group of between two and six, allocate one team to agree and one team to disagree. Write a debate arguing your side of the question. Use evidence to support your side and counter the other team’s argument

  • For AQA GCSE History Elizabethan England revision, you could use the following revision techniques:

    • Use timelines to learn the dates of key events. This will help you with narrative account questions

    • Make flashcards that test you on how each event impacted the development of Elizabethan England

    • Give yourself five minutes to plan a response to a “How far do you agree …” question

  • For OCR B GCSE History Elizabethan England revision, try the following methods:

    • Use practice exam questions to improve your ability to use interpretations

    • Find a “How far do you agree …” question. Draw a set of scales and label the sides “agree” and “disagree”. Add evidence to the set of scales to either support or challenge the statement. The amount of evidence on each side shows you which side of the argument you are on

For general advice on how to revise, have a look at my top tips for How to Revise for History GCSE.