Elizabethan Government: The Privy Council (AQA A-Level History): Revision Notes
Elizabethan Government: The Privy Council
Establishment and development
The Privy Council functioned as both an advisory institution and a co-ordinating mechanism within the central government structure. It had been established during Henry VIII's reign to provide counsel to the monarch and help manage the various departments of state. The Queen controlled who sat on the Council, selecting members from whom its authority derived.
Under Mary I, the Council had grown considerably, reaching between 40 and 50 members. This large membership included heads of major government departments, representatives from the higher ranks of the nobility, and the monarch's personal favourites.
Changes under Elizabeth
When Elizabeth came to the throne, expectations existed that she would alter the Council's composition to reflect her different priorities and political allegiances. She did make changes, but also implemented a deliberate reduction in size. Elizabeth decreased membership to fewer than 20 individuals, making the Council easier to manage whilst simultaneously diminishing the traditional influence wielded by the established nobility.
Personnel composition
Personnel refers to the people appointed to serve in an organisation or institution.
The pro-Catholic courtiers Mary had placed on the Privy Council largely did not survive into Elizabeth's reign. The new Queen showed preference for individuals who had demonstrated loyalty to the Tudor dynasty through personal service to her or through their family's established connections. Noble representation decreased markedly, whilst the proportion of members drawn from the Church also fell compared to Mary's appointments.
Elizabeth replaced these groups with a core of professional administrators who possessed her confidence. She appointed these men to serve for extended periods, which improved the Council's effectiveness and unity.
Not all historians interpret this positively. Christopher Haigh, a leading critic of Elizabeth's approach, argued that by substantially excluding the nobility and the Church, Elizabeth rendered the Council unrepresentative of the ruling elite as a whole. This undermined its function as an advisory body and created resentment among courtiers who found their advancement opportunities in government restricted. Haigh further contended that the Council's limited membership narrowed the range of debate and fostered a co-operative dynamic unlikely to challenge the Queen's decisions.
William Cecil, Lord Burghley
Born 1520 in Lincolnshire to a minor Welsh family that had supported Henry VII's claim to the throne.
Education 1535-41: Educated in humanist and Protestant ideas at Cambridge.
Early career 1543: Became a Member of Parliament. 1550: Appointed Surveyor of the Queen's Estates. 1550-53: Served as Secretary of State in Northumberland's government.
Career interruption 1553: Lost his position when Mary became Queen.
Service under Elizabeth 1558: Elizabeth revived his career by reappointing him Secretary of State. 1561: Appointed Master of the Court of Wards and Liveries. 1571: Awarded the title Baron Burghley. 1572: Became Lord Treasurer. 1598: Died.
Cecil's influence
General scholarly agreement exists that William Cecil was the most capable of Elizabeth's ministers. He worked closely with the Queen throughout most of her reign, first as Secretary of State and then as Lord Treasurer from 1572 until his death in 1598. His family background was relatively modest, but he demonstrated exceptional talent for administration which brought him to Elizabeth's attention in 1550 when she appointed him to oversee her estates.
Cecil's later career became associated primarily with financial management, but he exercised considerably broader influence, providing a counterbalance to the younger and more headstrong Earl of Leicester. Both Cecil and Elizabeth were essentially conservative figures who favoured stability. He promoted moderate policies which opposed religious extremism, whether originating from Puritans or Catholics, and worked to preserve England's independence abroad by navigating carefully between France and Spain. This approach brought him into conflict with Leicester, who favoured more openly anti-Spanish and anti-Catholic policies.
Contemporary observers recognised Cecil's considerable abilities. The Spanish ambassador, writing in the 1570s, described him as a man of considerable intelligence and political skill, though also noting his capacity for deception and his use of elaborate language to obscure his intentions. The ambassador suggested that Cecil's heretical religious views and personal ambition combined with his diplomatic craftiness to make him exceptionally effective at advancing his own interests whilst appearing to serve the Queen.
The Earl of Leicester and the Duke of Norfolk attempted in 1568 to reduce Cecil's influence at court, demonstrating the factional tensions his prominence generated.
Functions of the Privy Council
The Privy Council retained its traditional roles under Elizabeth, though the workload expanded substantially. This growth resulted from the need to administer the Elizabethan Church and manage the country's increasingly complex foreign policy. The Council performed four main functions:
Offering advice to the monarch. Policy towards the Netherlands generated particular debate, as councillors disagreed on the appropriate course of action to address the expansion of Spanish power in that region.
Administering public policy. The Council maintained an extensive network of contacts at national and local level through which it issued instructions for implementing government decisions.
Co-ordinating the work of different elements of government. This ensured various departments operated in harmony rather than at cross-purposes.
Acting as a royal court of law. This function operated through the prerogative courts which Privy Councillors staffed.
Memory Aid: The four main functions can be remembered with the acronym ACAC: Advice, Co-ordinate, Administer, Court.
The advisory role
Of these functions, the advisory role proved the most dramatic, occasionally bringing councillors into direct confrontation with Elizabeth. However, the Council's daily administrative duties formed the more substantial part of its work. These duties kept the entire machinery of the Elizabethan state functioning. The range of policy areas the Council managed can be glimpsed from examining its routine activities.
Examples of routine administrative work
The Council handled an enormous variety of matters:
- July 1565: Instructions issued to the major and city corporation of Newcastle concerning the arrival of German miners.
- January 1567: Instructions sent to the Treasury to settle debts for two plays the Queen had attended at Christmas.
- June 1570: A request issued for the transfer of a prisoner to the Tower for torture to investigate his involvement in a murder.
- February 1574: Instructions issued for the recall of licences given to corn sellers in Berkshire, Bedford and Hereford who were suspected of price fixing.
- August 1574: Requests sent for the mustering of troops in readiness for potential intervention in Ireland.
- November 1574: Instructions issued to arrest Catholic troublemakers in Lancashire.
Expanding workload
The variety and volume of the Council's work grew substantially during Elizabeth's reign. This increase can be explained partly by the rising number of petitions (requests for assistance from individuals) it received. Rather than relying on the legal system, those with sufficient money and influence approached the Privy Council directly with their grievances. Although councillors attempted to discourage this practice, they were inevitably drawn into settling private disputes as part of their administrative oversight of local life.
The increased workload facing the Elizabethan Privy Council resulted in growth both in the number of meetings held and in their duration. During the crisis years of the 1590s, when England was at war with Spain and experiencing economic difficulties at home, the Council often met six full days weekly, compared to the three half-days typical at the start of Elizabeth's reign.
Assessing the Council's effectiveness
Determining whether the Privy Council successfully managed government policy depends on which aspect of its work is examined. This remained an age of personal monarchy, where the Queen was expected to take major decisions and have the final say. In some policy areas, such as determining the succession, taking firm action to support the revolt in the Netherlands, and dealing with Mary Queen of Scots, the Council proved unable to exert substantial pressure on Elizabeth.
These matters concerned the Queen personally, or were areas falling within the royal prerogative, and she tended to guard her right to decide such questions possessively. Even if that meant proceeding slowly and over-cautiously in reaching a decision, she was not unreasonable and a well-constructed argument could influence her. Threats of resignation, especially from her most trusted councillors early in her reign, could also prove effective. William Cecil, for example, employed this tactic to pressure the Queen into military action against Scotland in 1560.
Key Points to Remember:
- Elizabeth reduced the Privy Council from 40-50 members under Mary I to under 20, making it easier to manage whilst reducing traditional noble influence.
- The Council's composition shifted away from Catholic courtiers and nobility towards professional administrators loyal to the Tudor dynasty who served for extended periods.
- William Cecil (later Lord Burghley) served as Elizabeth's most capable minister from 1558 to 1598, first as Secretary of State then as Lord Treasurer, promoting moderate policies and careful diplomacy.
- The Council performed four main functions: advising the monarch, administering public policy, co-ordinating government departments, and acting as a royal court of law.
- The Council's effectiveness varied by policy area; whilst it managed routine administration efficiently, it struggled to influence the Queen on matters she considered part of her personal prerogative, such as the succession or dealing with Mary Queen of Scots.