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Elizabethan England, c1568–1603

The difficulties of a female ruler

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 2 section B

Overview

Why a woman ruler was doubted, Parliament's pressure to marry and Peter Wentworth, how Elizabeth controlled Parliament, the monopolies and the Golden Speech, her suitors and why she never married, and Essex's rebellion.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

Why was a woman ruling alone seen as a problem in the sixteenth century?

Who and when

What did Members of Parliament press Elizabeth to do, and why?

Key term

How did Elizabeth normally control Parliament?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Why was a woman ruling alone seen as a problem in the sixteenth century?

    Model answer

    Most people believed women were weaker than men and needed a husband's guidance, so Elizabeth had constantly to prove she could govern.

  2. 2

    What did Members of Parliament press Elizabeth to do, and why?

    Model answer

    To marry and name an heir, so that the succession was settled and England would not fall to a Catholic claimant.

  3. 3

    Why was Peter Wentworth imprisoned?

    Model answer

    He insisted that Members could freely debate the succession and religion, and was sent to the Tower for it in 1576 and again in 1593.

  4. 4

    How did Elizabeth normally control Parliament?

    Model answer

    She summoned it rarely, mainly to grant taxes, and forbade it to discuss her marriage, the succession or the Church.

  5. 5

    Why did monopolies cause anger in 1601?

    Model answer

    They gave courtiers the sole right to sell everyday goods, forcing prices up, and Members attacked them as an abuse of royal favour.

  6. 6

    What was the Golden Speech of 1601?

    Model answer

    Elizabeth's speech promising to cancel the worst monopolies and declaring her love for her subjects, which won back goodwill late in her reign.

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