ELIZABETH I

Elizabeth I - the last Tudor monarch - was born at Greenwich on 7 September

1533, the daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Her
early life was full of uncertainties, and her chances of succeeding to the throne
seemed very slight once her half-brother Edward was born in 1537. She was
then third in line behind her Roman Catholic half-sister, Princess Mary.
Roman Catholics, indeed, always considered her illegitimate and she only
narrowly escaped execution in the wake of a failed rebellion against Queen
Mary in 1554.
Elizabeth succeeded to the throne on her half-sister's death in November
1558. She was very well-educated (fluent in six languages), and had inherited
intelligence, determination and shrewdness from both parents. Her 45-year
reign is generally considered one of the most glorious in English history.
During it a secure Church of England was established. Its doctrines were laid
down in the 39 Articles of 1563, a compromise between Roman Catholicism
and Protestantism. Elizabeth herself refused to 'make windows into men's
souls ... there is only one Jesus Christ and all the rest is a dispute over trifles';
she asked for outward uniformity. Most of her subjects accepted the
compromise as the basis of their faith, and her church settlement probably
saved England from religious wars like those which France suffered in the
second half of the 16th century.
Although autocratic and capricious, Elizabeth had astute political judgement
and chose her ministers well; these included Burghley (Secretary of State),
Hatton (Lord Chancellor) and Walsingham (in charge of intelligence and also a
Secretary of State). Overall, Elizabeth's administration consisted of some
600 officials administering the great offices of state, and a similar number
dealing with the Crown lands (which funded the administrative costs). Social
and economic regulation and law and order remained in the hands of the
sheriffs at local level, supported by unpaid justices of the peace. Elizabeth's
reign also saw many brave voyages of discovery, including those of Francis
Drake, Walter Raleigh and Humphrey Gilbert, particularly to the Americas.
These expeditions prepared England for an age of colonisation and trade
expansion, which Elizabeth herself recognised by establishing the East India
Company in 1600.
The arts flourished during Elizabeth's reign. Country houses such as Longleat
and Hardwick Hall were built, miniature painting reached its high point,
theatres thrived - the Queen attended the first performance of Shakespeare's
'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Composers such as William Byrd and Thomas
Tallis worked in Elizabeth's court and at the Chapel Royal, St. James's
Palace. The image of Elizabeth's reign is one of triumph and success. The
Queen herself was often called 'Gloriana', 'Good Queen Bess' and 'The Virgin
Queen'. Investing in expensive clothes and jewellery (to look the part, like
all contemporary sovereigns), she cultivated this image by touring the country
in regional visits known as 'progresses', often riding on horseback rather than
by carriage. Elizabeth made at least 25 progresses during her reign.
However, Elizabeth's reign was one of considerable danger and difficulty for
many, with threats of invasion from Spain through Ireland, and from France
through Scotland. Much of northern England was in rebellion in 1569-70. A
papal bull of 1570 specifically released Elizabeth's subjects from their
allegiance, and she passed harsh laws against Roman Catholics after plots
against her life were discovered. One such plot involved Mary, Queen of
Scots, who had fled to England in 1568 after her second husband's murder
and her subsequent marriage to a man believed to have been involved in his
murder. As a likely successor to Elizabeth, Mary spent 19 years as
Elizabeth's prisoner because Mary was the focus for rebellion and possible
assassination plots, such as the Babington Plot of 1586. Mary was also a
temptation for potential invaders such as Philip II. In a letter of 1586 to Mary,
Elizabeth wrote, 'You have planned ... to take my life and ruin my kingdom ... I
never proceeded so harshly against you.' Despite Elizabeth's reluctance to
take drastic action, on the insistence of Parliament and her advisers, Mary
was tried, found guilty and executed in 1587.
In 1588, aided by bad weather, the English navy scored a great victory over
the Spanish invasion fleet of around 130 ships - the 'Armada'. The Armada
was intended to overthrow the Queen and re-establish Roman Catholicism by
conquest, as Philip II believed he had a claim to the English throne through his
marriage to Mary. During Elizabeth's long reign, the nation also suffered
from high prices and severe economic depression, especially in the
countryside, during the 1590s. The war against Spain was not very successful
after the Armada had been beaten and, together with other campaigns, it was
very costly. Though she kept a tight rein on government expenditure,
Elizabeth left large debts to her successor. Wars during Elizabeth's reign are
estimated to have cost over 5 million (at the prices of the time) which Crown
revenues could not match - in 1588, for example, Elizabeth's total annual
revenue amounted to some 392,000. Despite the combination of financial
strains and prolonged war after 1588, Parliament was not summoned more
often. There were only 16 sittings of the Commons during Elizabeth's reign,
five of which were in the period 1588-1601. Although Elizabeth freely used her
power to veto legislation, she avoided confrontation and did not attempt to
define Parliament's constitutional position and rights.
Elizabeth chose never to marry. If she had chosen a foreign prince, he would
have drawn England into foreign policies for his own advantages (as in her
sister Mary's marriage to Philip of Spain); marrying a fellow countryman could
have drawn the Queen into factional infighting. Elizabeth used her marriage
prospects as a political tool in foreign and domestic policies. However, the
'Virgin Queen' was presented as a selfless woman who sacrificed personal
happiness for the good of the nation, to which she was, in essence, 'married'.
Late in her reign, she addressed Parliament in the so-called 'Golden Speech'
of 1601 when she told MPs: 'There is no jewel, be it of never so high a price,
which I set before this jewel; I mean your love.' She seems to have been very
popular with the vast majority of her subjects.
Overall, Elizabeth's always shrewd and, when necessary, decisive leadership
brought successes during a period of great danger both at home and abroad.
She died at Richmond Palace on 24 March 1603, having become a legend in
her lifetime. The date of her accession was a national holiday for two hundred
years.

https://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy




The Gunpowder Plot of 1905

In November 1605, the infamous Gunpowder Plot took place in which
some Catholics, most famously Guy Fawkes, plotted to blow up James I,
the first of the Stuart kings of England. The story is remembered each
November 5th when Guys are burned in a celebration known as
"Bonfire Night".
The story appears to be very simple.
Catholics in England had expected James to be more tolerant of them.
In fact, he had proved to be the opposite and had ordered all Catholic
priests to leave England. This so angered some Catholics that they
decided to kill James and put his daughter Elizabeth on the throne
ensuring that she was a Catholic. This led to a plot to kill not only the
king of England, James, but also everyone sitting in the Houses of
Parliament at the same time as James was there when he opened
Parliament on November 5th, 1605.
Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators, having rented out a house right
by the Houses of Parliament, managed to get 36 barrels of gunpowder
into a cellar of the House of Lords.
The other conspirators were:
Robert and Thomas Wintour, Thomas Percy, Christopher and John
Wright, Francis Tresham, Everard Digby, Ambrose
Rookwood, Thomas Bates, Robert Keyes, Hugh Owen, John
Grant and the man who is said to have organised the whole plot Robert
Catesby.
The explosive expert, Guy Fawkes, had been left in the cellars to set off
the fuse. He was only caught when a group of guards decided to check
the cellars at the last moment.
Fawkes was arrested and sent to the Tower of London where he was
tortured and eventually gave away the names of the fellow conspirators.
Sir William Wade, Lieutenant of the Tower, had orders to use whatever
means of torture was required to get information from Fawkes. The order
came from James.


The most famous picture of some the conspirators
Of those involved, some were shot as they were chased by the law such
as Percy and Catesby. Others were captured, sent to the Tower and,
after a brief trial, eventually hung, drawn and quartered, with Fawkes, in
January 1606.


The signature of Guy Fawkes on his confession
In celebration of his survival, James ordered that the people of England
should have a great bonfire in the night on November 5th. This fire was
traditionally topped off with an effigy of the pope rather than Guy Fawkes.
His place at the top of the fire came in later as did fireworks. The East
Sussex county town of Lewes still has the pope alongside Guy Fawkes
when it comes to the effigies being burned.
But is there more to this plot than just a small number of angry Catholics
wanting to make a statement against the king, James? Some believe
that the whole plot was a government conspiracy to convince James that
Catholics could not be trusted. At the very least, some curious things
happened when the story is looked at in detail.
What is odd?
We do know that James chief minister, Robert Cecil, the Earl of
Salisbury, hated Catholics and saw them as a constant source of trouble.
Cecil also feared that there was a chance that James would be
lenient with them during his reign and this he could not tolerate.
That James only expelled priests was not good enough for Cecil. He
wanted to remove Catholicism from England as he saw it as a threat.
We know that James was terrified of a violent death; his childhood in
Scotland had been fraught with danger including being kidnapped as a
boy. What better way to get James to severely persecute the Catholics
in England than to get him to believe that they had tried to kill him in this
very violent manner?
The government had a monopoly on gunpowder in this country and it
was stored in places like the Tower of London. How did the conspirators
get hold of 36 barrels of gunpowder without drawing attention to
themselves? Did they get help from the government?
How was the gunpowder moved across London from the Tower of
London to Westminster (at least two miles distant) without anyone
seeing it? The River Thames would not have been used as it could have
lead to the gunpowder becoming damp and useless. Thirty six barrels
would have been a sizeable quantity to move without causing suspicion.
Why were men who were known to be Catholics allowed to rent out a
house so near to the Houses of Parliament? How did they move 36
barrels from that house to the cellar of the Houses of Parliament without
anyone noticing along with hay, straw etc?
Why, for the first time in history, was there a search of Parliament's
cellars that conveniently found "John Johnson" (as Guy Fawkes called
himself) before he lit the fuse?
Why was the soldier who killed Catesby and Percy at Holbeech House in
the Midlands, given such a large pension for life (10p a day for life) when
their arrest and torture was more desirable so that the names of any
other conspirators might be found out?
Some historians have pointed out these issues and claimed that the
plotters were pawns in the hands of Robert Cecil and that he
orchestrated the whole affair in his bid to get James to ban Catholics
altogether.
There are, however, counter-arguments to many of the above points.
Gunpowder may have been a government monopoly but just as today,
there was a black market for it. The conspirators would have had the
money to pay for this and it could have been smuggled in from Catholic
France, for example. The south coast was riddled with smugglers
havens. Fawkes could have used his contacts with Spain to acquire it. In
many senses, this would not have been a difficult problem.
Moving the gunpowder from the Tower to Westminster could have been
done over a number of days, barrel by barrel, journey by journey. This
would have attracted less attention though it did increase the chance of
being caught as more journeys were being made. One theory put
forward is that it was stored at a house owned by Catesby in Lambeth
and moved barrel by barrel up the Thames at night to Westminster.
dangerous and risky but the conspirators were motivated men and it
could have happened.
The conspirators used false names so hiring out property near to the
Houses of Parliament would not have been that difficult. Thomas Percy
had contacts in Parliament and these were almost certainly used to get
the house there and later the cellar where the gunpowder was actually
put.
The soldier who shot Percy and Catesby was in a firefight in which he
may have been shot and killed himself. Why risk your own life against
such desperate people? Was the 10p a day for life merely a generous
reward for services to a grateful king?
Also, if Fawkes and company had been set-up by, why did he not say so
at his execution when he could have said something? Possibly he was
not in a fit enough state to say anything; also who would have believed
him as he had been castigated as the evil conspirator to kill the king? It
may be that the conspirators simply acted alone and then got caught.
The confession of Fawkes does not mention at all any claim that he was
a dupe of the government. He himself stated that he was first
approached by Thomas Wintour in Europe about the plot in 1604 and
that he met the others when he returned to London.
The only full confession about the plot from start to finish came from
Thomas Wintour. He, too, makes no mention about being set-up etc.
Two issues do cloud the story, however.
The first is the so-called Monteagle Letter.
One of the plotters was a man called Francis Tresham. Lord Monteagle
was his cousin.
On the evening of October 26th, a mysterious man brought a letter to
Monteagles home just outside of London. The letter was a clear
warning for Monteagle not to turn up at the Houses of Parliament on the
5th November. In modern English the letter stated that Parliament would
receive a terrible blow on that day and that those killed would not see
who had done it to them. The letter was addressed to Monteagle but it
was read out aloud by his servant. Why? Was Monteagle looking for a
witness that he had received this letter?
Monteagle went straight to Robert Cecil and informed him of what had
happened. Cecil ordered a search of the cellars of Parliament on the
night of November 4th. Those guards found Guy Fawkes. A second
search the next day, ordered by James I, also found the explosives and
Guy who was found to be in possession of matches. he was arrested.
The other issue also involves Tresham.
Here was an important member of the gang who could know a great deal
about other conspirators who were not actually yet caught. Once
arrested, he was locked in the Tower of London Englands most feared
and secure prison. Tresham was locked in a cell by himself. He died on
December 23rd 1605, and he was found to have been poisoned. How
did he get the poison? Did he knowingly take it? Or did someone want to
silence him before he talked? It is possible that Tresham had the poison
on him and took it rather than suffer the butchery of being hung, drawn
and quartered. If someone else had access to him, and fed him
poisoned food or whatever, he would have been a very important person
as only the most important would have had access to this valuable
prisoner.
We may never know the answers to the questions. There are some who
support the government conspiracy line others think it may simply have
been an ambitious plan by a small number of Catholics that went very
badly wrong for them all.