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England 1558–1603

Elizabeth I and her Parliaments

  • 3 things to know
  • A2 Unit 2

Overview

How often Parliament met and why it was called, the disputes over the succession, monopolies and free speech, and how far it was managed.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Numbers

Give three examples of consensus between Elizabeth I and her Parliaments.

Key term

What privileges did the Speaker request at the opening of each Parliament?

Key term

How often did Parliament meet during Elizabeth I's reign?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    How often did Parliament meet during Elizabeth I's reign?

    Model answer

    Elizabeth I called ten Parliaments, which met in thirteen sessions and sat for only about thirty-five months in a reign of forty-five years.

  2. 2

    Why did Elizabeth I summon Parliament at all?

    Model answer

    Elizabeth I summoned Parliament chiefly to grant taxation and to pass statutes, since only Parliament could vote a subsidy or make binding law for the whole realm.

  3. 3

    Give three examples of consensus between Elizabeth I and her Parliaments.

    Model answer

    Parliament enacted the religious settlement in 1559, granted every subsidy the Crown asked for, and passed the poor law and the Statute of Artificers, so most business was co-operative rather than contested.

  4. 4

    Which subjects did Elizabeth I treat as matters of prerogative?

    Model answer

    Elizabeth I insisted that her marriage, the succession, the government of the Church and foreign policy were matters of state belonging to the Crown, and not fit business for the Commons.

  5. 5

    What privileges did the Speaker request at the opening of each Parliament?

    Model answer

    The Speaker requested freedom from arrest for members, freedom of speech, and access to the monarch, and the queen granted them in terms that reserved her right to define their limits.

  6. 6

    What did Elizabeth I understand freedom of speech in the Commons to mean?

    Model answer

    Elizabeth I held that members were free to say aye or no to the business laid before them, not free to choose what subjects the House would debate.

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