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England 1558–1603

Patronage, faction and Elizabeth I's leading ministers

  • 3 things to know
  • A2 Unit 2

Overview

Patronage as it operated in Elizabethan government, faction at the Elizabethan Court and three duties of an Elizabethan justice of the peace.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

Why was patronage essential to how England was governed?

Key term

What divided Burghley and Leicester in the 1560s and 1570s?

Key term

Why was the rivalry between Essex and Robert Cecil in the 1590s more dangerous than earlier faction?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Define patronage as it operated in Elizabethan government.

    Model answer

    Patronage was the distribution of Crown rewards to secure loyal service, since the monarch had no salaried bureaucracy and had to pay in offices and privileges rather than in cash.

  2. 2

    Why was patronage essential to how England was governed?

    Model answer

    England had no standing army and no paid civil service, so the Crown depended on unpaid gentlemen serving as justices and commissioners, and patronage supplied the reward and prestige that made them willing.

  3. 3

    What is meant by faction at the Elizabethan Court?

    Model answer

    A faction was a group of courtiers clustered around a leading man, competing with rivals for the queen's favour and for the patronage that flowed from it.

  4. 4

    What divided Burghley and Leicester in the 1560s and 1570s?

    Model answer

    Burghley favoured caution, economy and negotiation, while Leicester pressed for open support of Protestants in France and the Netherlands, and the two also took opposite sides over the Anjou marriage.

  5. 5

    Why was the rivalry between Essex and Robert Cecil in the 1590s more dangerous than earlier faction?

    Model answer

    The deaths of Leicester, Walsingham and Hatton left fewer great men to balance, the queen had almost stopped granting new rewards, and Essex treated every appointment as a contest he must win, so faction became a struggle for survival rather than for advantage.

  6. 6

    Summarise William Cecil's career in Elizabeth I's service.

    Model answer

    William Cecil served as Secretary of State from 1558 to 1572 and then as Lord Treasurer until his death in 1598, and was created Lord Burghley in 1571.

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