Closing Years of Elizabeth’s Reign (AQA A-Level History): Revision Notes

Closing Years of Elizabeth's Reign

Elizabeth became queen at 25 as a careful and astute young woman. As she aged, however, her temperament shifted. She grew more obstinate and embittered. The 1590s marked a distinct period of decline. These years witnessed warfare, rebellion, epidemic disease and famine, presided over by a monarch who appeared to have lost the command and confidence that had defined her earlier decades.

Problems of the late Elizabethan period

The question historians examine is to what extent the troubles afflicting England in Elizabeth's final years resulted from her own failings as opposed to external circumstances beyond royal control.

Following the triumph over the Spanish Armada, multiple pressures combined to make the remainder of Elizabeth's reign more turbulent and less stable.

Economic and social distress

The 1590s brought severe hardship to ordinary English people. Although the decade opened with good agricultural yields, the years 1594 to 1597 produced four consecutive harvest failures. This drove up prices for agricultural produce. Over the decade, historians estimate prices increased by more than one-third. Plague epidemics compounded the crisis; their severity worsened as food shortages weakened populations. Thousands perished during the first major outbreak of 1592 to 1593. The effects continued to reduce urban and rural populations for at least ten years. The 1590s contained some of the most desperate years of the century. Parish registers from this decade record numerous burials but few marriages and baptisms.

The absence of widespread popular rebellion during this period is notable. Local riots occurred, particularly when rumours spread that merchants were hoarding foodstuffs to force prices higher. Food riots broke out in London, the south-east and west in 1595, and in East Anglia during 1596 to 1597. Only one national revolt took place, but this stemmed from elite power struggles rather than economic grievances.

The Irish problem

The Pale was England's foothold in Ireland, a region on the eastern coast centred on Dublin. It served as the centre of English government on the island during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, heavily fortified against the Irish clans who lived beyond its boundaries.

Theoretically, Ireland had formed part of the English Crown since 1541. In practice, English authority extended little beyond the Pale. Throughout the rest of the island, clans held real power through local tradition and custom rather than English law. Successive English governments had attempted to strengthen their control over these clans.

Under Edward VI, clumsy efforts to introduce the Reformation to Ireland had resulted in the collapse of earlier attempts to extend royal authority beyond the Pale. Relations deteriorated further during the 1550s when settlers arrived from England to implement plantation policy. This policy involved settling English colonists on lands formerly owned by Irish clans to extend the Pale and gradually establish control over the whole island. The policy began in Edward VI's reign but expanded under Mary. Elizabeth's reign saw further plantation encouraged, particularly in the northern county of Ulster and the western county of Munster. The policy aimed to bring peace and stability through planting English settlers in Ireland, but often produced the opposite effect, provoking Irish clans whose lands had been seized.

Elizabeth inherited Ireland in rebellion over religious and land changes. Periodic outbursts kept the problem active throughout her reign.

Hugh O'Neill's rebellion (1598-1603)

The most dangerous challenge within Ireland was mounted by Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, between 1598 and 1603. Tyrone commanded an army of approximately 6,000 men. They easily defeated a much smaller English force at the Battle of Yellow Ford in August 1598, threatening to advance and dismantle all control established through plantation policy. The connections Tyrone had built with Spain proved equally threatening; Spain promised to double his forces.

Elizabeth dispatched a larger army commanded by the Earl of Essex, but the expedition ended in complete failure. Essex failed to follow explicit instructions and failed to capitalise on military advantages that existed upon his arrival. He returned home in disgrace, losing his influence at court and driving him towards rebellion. His replacement, Lord Mountjoy, defeated Tyrone's forces through constant harassment in year-round campaigns. The turning point came when a Spanish relief force was defeated at Kinsale in 1602, depriving Tyrone of desperately needed assistance. Opposition to the English army rapidly crumbled. Order was restored to the devastated country as the Crown passed from Elizabeth to James I.

Essex rebellion (1601)

Elizabeth's ability to manipulate patronage effectively had been central to her achievement, as discussed in earlier periods of her reign. As she aged, her skill at managing the competing factions and interests surrounding her at court weakened. This appears to have deserted her almost entirely in 1601 when the Earl of Essex rebelled.

Essex had arrived at court as the stepson of the Earl of Leicester. When Leicester died, Essex became leader of the group of courtiers who supported stepping up military action against Spain. Elizabeth did not favour such action. Essex found himself unable to secure seats on the Privy Council or positions at court for his allies. Instead, the so-called 'peace party', led by Lord Burghley and his son Robert Cecil, monopolised positions of influence. Essex felt infuriated by what he perceived as the Queen's obstinacy and his lack of advancement. On one occasion, she struck him and he had to be forcibly restrained from drawing his sword against her.

Nearly bankrupt by February 1601, Essex attempted to seize strategic locations in London by force of arms, including the palace at Whitehall and the Tower. He and his supporters also planned to:

• Remove the power of families such as the Cecils
• Have James VI officially recognised as heir to the throne

These were unfulfilled aims, though the second one occurred despite the attempted coup.

The 'rebellion' was a miserable failure. Few people actively joined Essex. He was swiftly arrested and executed for treason. What troubled Elizabeth was that it had occurred in the capital, close to the centre of power. A number of noblemen had joined Essex in his abortive coup, though none faced trial for fear of provoking further rebellion.

The succession question

Elizabeth steadfastly refused to name her successor. She understood that, had she done so, her courtiers would have drifted away and contacted James VI. Courtiers would have begun manoeuvring for position under the new monarch.

In February 1603 Elizabeth became seriously ill. Robert Cecil acted by consulting with leading nobles and the Lord Lieutenants, attempting to ensure that the succession would occur peacefully without opposition.