Triumph of Elizabeth AQA A2 HIS3B JUNE 3rd 2013

i only just started revision for it :P not looking good at the moment :/
What do you think will come up

Does anybody have any predictions from themselves or teachers on what may be asked or may come up in this exam?

Does anybody have any predictions from themselves or teachers on what may be asked or may come up in this exam?

My teacher thinks religion, and with Catholics having been on last year (I think), she thinks it's likely that we'll get Puritans. Fingers crossed!

I'd really like religion or foreign policy to come up. I'm not very confident about the last years of Elizabeth's reign and I would hate for something about parliament or government to come up!! Anyone have any good revision tips? I have been doing posters and revision card etc but I'm getting so bored of that!

Do loads of practice essays and essay plans, that way you'll be able to answer basically anything that comes up

Yeah I know I should do more essays! But planning them is definitely the hardest aspect for me. Like for really general questions I don't know how to structure it, for example how would you structure:
elizabeth 1 was never able to control her parliaments assess the validity of this view???

These sort of questions really make me panic because I know loads of stuff about parliament I just don't know how to group the facts!

For questions like that that cover the whole of Elizabeth's reign, I set it out by time period like:
-1558-71
- 1571-88
-1588-1603

This way it's much easier to get the synoptic links in, so with parliament you can say to a large extent she was able to control her parliaments throughout her reign, but in her last years in the 1590s, changing circumstances caused parliament to become more oppositional.


With questions that cover a shorter period, like :
‘Between 1571 and 1588, the Catholic threat to Elizabeth, both at home and abroad, was neutralised with relative ease.’ - How convincing is this view?
I set it out by factors, like :
Pope's excommunicaton + Catholic population
Missionary priests and jesuits
Mary queen of scots and plots
Spain and France

Thanks for that. I was wondering if personally if you had any predictions and you could set them out like you've just done? I would appreciate it. I need an A in history and am currently on a gap year. Last year I got AAAE for history, so am retaking the E (this paper) to get into King's... Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Hey, what mark do you need in this paper to get an A overall? I am in the same position, I have got AAA in history so far and need an A overall. Also I'm on the process of making mind map type notes for the questions I think are likely to come up. I'd be happy to send those over to you once there finished. They should be done in the next few days.

Thanks for that. I was wondering if personally if you had any predictions and you could set them out like you've just done? I would appreciate it. I need an A in history and am currently on a gap year. Last year I got AAAE for history, so am retaking the E (this paper) to get into King's... Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Here you go

1) To what extent were the last years of Elizabeth's reign an unmitigated disaster?

Intro

-Say answer to question: 'Not an unmittigated disaster to a large extent'
- Give historical debate e.g. traditional interpretation of Neale, and then counter that by saying that although stability decreased in some areas, this was largely due to changing circumstances and not declining royal authority.
- Set out areas of discussion: Factionalism, Parliament, Foreign policy, religion, economic crisis+social disorder.

Factionalism

-Can suggest disaster
-PC members died -> only 11 members in 1597 = narrow power base = factional tensions
-Eliz made Robert Cecil the only one with patronage to distribute --> Essex rebellion

--> Suggests that Eliz let factionalism spiral out of control therefore crisis BUT not disaster

Parliament

*Became more consistently confrontational --> suggests crisis
- Council's control declined because key floor managers died
- Opp. over monopolies, taxation, Whitgift etc

BUT
- Came about due to changing circumstances rather than declining royal authority i.e. strain of war and econ crisis
- Parliament passed impressive legislation e.g. 1597 poor law and multiple subsidies

---> parliament doesn't suggest a disaster.

Foreign policy

*Suggests disaster in some respects
- Strain of war with Spain at time of harvest failure, famine etc --> sense of crisis and oppositional parliament.
-Essex's actions in Ireland and Spain threat from Ireland

BUT
*England was more secure in terms of national security at end of reign than at any other point
-Netherlands: North was independent, South was semi-autonomous
-France: Catholic league defeated +Henry of Navarre on throne
---> At end of reign, national security was more secure than at any other point e.g. threat of auld alliance at start of reign
==> No disaster.

Economic Crisis and Social Disorder

*Suggests a possible crisis BUT not disaster
-Plague, famine, inflation, harvest failure ---> Food riots in London and Kent and 1597 Oxfordshire rising ---> made worse by strain of war. ---> sense of crisis

BUT royal authority was upheld e.g gov passed 1597 poor law --> not a disaster

Religion

*By end of reign, England was more stable in terms of religion than at any other point
Penry Williams "The Church of England had been accepted by the commanding heights of society

Puritans:
Challenge diminished due to govt actions e.g. whitgift and act against seditious sectaries (1593)
+ Due to changing circumstances e.g. war making challenging eliz over church seem disloyal

Catholics:
-Threat diminished: - Pursued relentlessly by authorities e.g priest hunting by Topcliffe
+Divisions in movement e.g missionary priests made it a religion of the upper classes (Bossy)

Conclusion

Last years not a disaster: Incidences of instability were due to changing circumstances, not lack of royal authority
Factionalism only example of how it can be seen as a disaster BUT was down to arrogence and will of Essex
Was more stable in some areas than at any other point e.g. religion and national security

'Elizabeth faced a significant challenge from the Puritans throughout her reign' - Assess the validity of this view.

Intro
-Not challenged throughout reign: Challenge grew in 1560s and 70s, peaked in late 1570s, and began to diminish during the 1580s, and by the end of elizabeth's reign in 1603, had fully diminished.
- Set out areas they challenged her in

1558-1570

*No challenge at start of reign: refer to Jones' argument against Puritan Choir
-Challenge grew after 1563 convocation when they realised Eliz wanted no further religious reforms
--> Vestarian controversy
BUT challenge was limited to challenge 'popish superstitions' --> lowest level of challenge

1570-75

*Challenge grew and became more serious
e.g. Cartwright's pro presbytarian lectures giving theoretical justification for questioning episcopy
-1572 Admonition to parliament by Field and Wilcox
--->challenge was growing +challenge eliz over prayer book and church government

1575-83

*Challenge reached most serious level during these years
-Grindal refused to suppress prophesyings --> threat to eliz's control over church and therefore her population due to preaching
- Eliz made it worse by suspending Grindal, thus removing her ability to control her bishops and therefore the church

--> Elizabeth was significantly challenged by puritans in these years

1583-90s

*From this point onwards, puritan challenge diminished
- Whitgift's hardline attitude to enforce eliz's wishes +his 3 articles enforced conformity
although his three articles may have prompted more puritan opposition

BUT
- Classical movement, but this had declined by late 1580s due to lack of support
- Isolated incidents of opposition in parliament e.g. Cope's bill + Book 1587 --> but eliz dealt with this effectively through veto

==> Puritan challenge was diminishing

Separatists (1590s)

*Serious challenge to Eliz's position as supreme governor BUT insignificant in number
- Dealt with through 1593 act against seditious sectaries --> Barrow and Greenwood executed

==> challenge diminished

Other factors caused decline of puritanism

- 1587 martin marpretlate tracts meant that many puritans disassociated themselves with the movement
- War with Spain meant challenging queen over church look disloyal
- Death's of puritan sympathisers e.g. Leicester

==> By the end on Elizabeth's reign, puritanism had diminished due to Eliz's actions and changing circumstances, and she was therefore not challenged throughout her reign.

Conclusion

*Elizabeth was not challenged significantly by puritans throughout her reign
- Although there were isolated incidences of puritan opposition throughout her reign, this challenge was not consistant
- Challenge grew in 1560s and peaked in late 1570s, but declined from 1583 onwards, and by the end of Elizabeth's reign, the challenge was diminished fully.

==> Elizabeth was not challenged by puritans throughout her reign, due to the nature of the movement itself, and the actions the government took against it.