The Reign of Elizabeth I

300 Pages·1984·29.335 MB·English

by  Christopher Haigh (eds.)

The Reign of Elizabeth I
Each volume in the 'Problems in Focus' series is designed to
make available to students important new work on key
historical problems and periods that they encounter in their
courses. Each volume is devoted to a central topic or theme,
and the most important aspects of this are dealt with by
specially commissioned essays from scholars in the relevant
field. The editorial Introduction reviews the problem or period
as a whole, and each essay provides an assessment of the
particular aspect, pointing out the areas of development and
controversy, and indicating where conclusions can be drawn or
where further work is necessary. An annotated bibliography
serves as a guide for further reading.
PROBLEMS IN FOCUS SERIES
TITLES IN PRINT
Church and Society in England: Henry VIII to James I
edited by Felicity Heal and Rosemary O'Day
The Reign ofJ ames VI and I
edited by Alan G. R. Smith
The Origins of the English Civil War
edited by Conrad Russell
The Interregnum: The Questfor Settlement 1646-1660
edited by G. E. Aylmer
The Restored Monarchy 1660-1688
edited by J. R. Jones
Britain after the Glorious Revolution 1689-1714
edited by Geoffrey Holmes
Popular Movements, c. 1830-1850
edited by J. T. Ward
Europe's Balance of Power 1815-1848
edited by Alan Sked
The Edwardian Age: Conflict and Stability 1900-1914
edited by Alan O'Day
The Mid-Tudor Polity c. 1540-1560
edited by Jennifer Loach and Robert Tittler
Slavery and British Society 1776-1846
edited by James Walvin
Reactions to the English Civil War 1642-1649
edited by John Morrill
Britain in the Age of Walpole
edited by Jeremy Black
The Reign of Elizabeth I
edited by Christopher Haigh
British Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century
edited by C. C. Eldridge
FURTHER TITLES ARE IN PREPARATION
The Reign of
Elizabeth I
EDITED BY
CHRISTOPHER HAIGH
M
MACMILLAN
Introduction, Conclusion, editorial matter and Chapter 8 © Christopher
Haigh 1984; Chapter I © Norman L. Jones © 1984; Chapter 2 © Simon
Adams 1984; Chapter 3 © G. R. Elton 1984; Chapter 4 ©J. D. Alsop
1984; Chapter 5 © Penry Williams 1984; Chapter 6 © G. D. Ramsay
1984; Chapter 7 © Patrick Collinson 1984; Chapter 9 © Paul Slack 1984
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may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
First published 1984
Published by
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
The Reign of Elizabeth I. - (Problems in focus)
I. Great Britain - History - Elizabeth, 1558-1603
I. Haigh, Christopher II. Series
942.05' 5 DA355
ISBN 978-0-333-33963-3 ISBN 978-1-349-17704-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-17704-2
Contents
Preface VB
Introduction 1
CHRISTOPHER HAIGH
1 Elizabeth's First Year: The Conception and Birth
of the Elizabethan Political World 27
NORMAN L. JONES
2 Eliza Enthroned? The Court and its Politics 55
SIMON ADAMS
3 Parliament 79
G. R. ELTON
4 Government, Finance and the Community of the
Exchequer 101
J. D. ALSOP
5 The Crown and the Counties 125
. PENRY WILLIAMS
6 The Foreign Policy of Elizabeth I 147
G. D. RAMSAY
7 The Elizabethan Church and the New Religion 169
PATRICK COLLINSON
8 The Church of England, the Catholics and the
People 195
CHRISTOPHER HAIGH
9 Poverty and Social Regulation in Elizabethan
England 221
PAUL SLACK
VI CONTENTS
Conclusion 243
CHRISTOPHER HAIGH
List rif Abbreviations 247
Bibliography 249
Notes and Riferences 263
Notes on Contributors 289
Index 291
Preface
ONE of the traditional functions ofa preface is to explain what is
and excuse what is not in a book, in the hope ofd efusing some of
the ire of critics. This collection of essays was planned as a
coherent whole: whether it became one is for the reader to
judge. The volume aims to survey the composition and
workings of the Elizabethan political system, and to examine
how its institutions responded to the issues which most worried
politicians and churchmen. Given these intentions, the most
obvious gaps are the regulation of economic activity and the
promotion of naval and colonial enterprise. The real reasons for
the omissions are the necessary constraints ofthe 'Problems in
Focus' series; the public justifications are the appearance of a
splendid study of the Elizabethan economy (David Palliser's
The Age of Elizabeth), and my conviction that, as Drake and
Ralegh have long had more attention than they deserved, a
little neglect would be salutary.
A second, and essential, role of a preface to a collective
volume is to thank all those who made the editor's task easier
(while remaining silent about any who made it more difficult!).
The contributors to this book do not form a party (still less a
faction): they share no common ideology, and are deliberately
representative of a wide range of approaches and generations. I
was lucky to recruit a team of authors willing to play in the
positions I earmarked for them, and luckier still that my
team-mates turned up for the match. I am grateful to them, and
especially to Jim Alsop, who joined as a late substitute and still
managed to score before the final whistle. The team manage
ment (Sarah Mahaffy, Vanessa Peerless and Valery Rose)
proved encouraging and helpful, and their patience was
exceeded only by that of the editor's wife and daughters.
C.A.H.
Introduction
CHRISTOPHER HAIGH
The all-glorious, all-virtuous, incomparable, invict and
matchless pattern of princes, the glory, honour and mirror of
womankind, the admiration of our age, ELIZABETH, Queen of
England, was by the father's side truly royal, being daughter
to Henry VIII, grandchild to Henry VII, and great
grandchild to Edward IV.
THE first full account of the life and times of Elizabeth I began
with this fulsome praise of its heroine, and ended with little
more restraint: 'No oblivion shall ever bury the glory of her
name, for her happy and renowned memory still liveth and
shall for ever live in the minds of men to all posterity, as of one
who (to use no other than her successor's expression) in
wisdom and felicity of government surpassed (without envy be
it spoken) all the princes since the days of Augustus.' William
Camden and his translators, in the 1620s,1 had no doubt of the
greatness of Elizabeth's contemporary and future reputations,
and their confidence has been justified. Despite occasional
sniping, especially from Clarendon, Lingard and Froude,
Elizabeth's stock among historians has remained high, and
never more so than in the past century. J. R. Green, in 1874,
sketched what became the standard picture of Elizabeth, as a
cool and skilful politician who, by cautious and moderate
policies, restored national unity and pride and channelled the
'sudden burst of national vigour' which set England on the path
to supremacy. The interaction between the ability of the Queen
and the enthusiasm of her people became a dominating theme
in later accounts. In Creighton's biography (1896) 'Elizabeth's
imperishable claim to greatness lies in her instinctive sympathy
with her people', and in Pollard's History of England from the
Accession rif Edward VI to the Death ofE lizabeth (1910) the Queen is
2 THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH I
an expression of the will of the people who, by restraining
religious conflict and extending public order, paves the way for
liberty at home and empire overseas.2 Elizabeth was a great
queen, and she presided over a great age of national achieve
ment.
Interest in Elizabeth and admiration for her seem boundless.
More than seventy new biographies have been published since
1890, and between 1927 and 1957 they appeared at an average
rate of one each year. Some biographers and students of the
period have been critical (recently, Carolly Erickson and
Charles Wilson), but by a large majority the verdict remains
favourable - even laudatory. The most widely read of the
professional historians have been among the most praising, and
have endorsed the interpretation formulated by the generation
from Green to Pollard. A. L. Rowse dedicated The England of
Elizabeth (1950) 'to the glorious memory of Elizabeth Queen of
England', and quoted Creighton in ascribing her greatness to
'her instinctive perception of what England wanted'; under her
leadership, the deeds of the nation 'made the age the most
remarkable in our history'. Sir John Neale's portrait of 'this
amazing Queen', drawn in his best-selling 1934 biography and
filled out in books and essays in the 1950s, was so flattering that
a schoolgirl asked him if it was really true that he had fallen
in love with his subject. One reviewer complained that in
Neale's presentation 'Elizabeth comes too close to a new
apotheosis', but the Neale account has become standard and
few substantial challenges have been mounted.3 By 1960,
indeed, the essential political history of Elizabeth's reign
seemed fixed, crushed into shape by the weight (physical and
authoritative) of five detailed and dull tomes from Conyers
Read and four livelier, but apparently incontrovertible, vol
umes by Neale. This introductory essay will examine some of
the reasons for this adulation of Elizabeth and her era, and
indicate how the complimentary certainties of the 1950s and
after have been dissolving more recently.
The selling of Elizabeth began as soon as she ascended the