Tudors

1) Why is the year 1485 a convenient dividing line to mark the beginnings of
modern times? What are the principal features that characterize modern
times?

The accesion of Henry VII was in many ways a landmark in English history. Not only was he the first
of a new family of overeigns, 1485 makes a dividing line to mark the beginning of modern times.
The principal features which distinguish modern from medieval life were:
The modern age is an age of nationalism: when people are bound together by pride in their
country.
It was an age of individualism. The subject began to act and think for himself.
All of the Catholic Church over men's minds was no longer so unquestiones as it had been in the
Middle Ages. Within fifty years of 1485, England threw off obedience to the Pope.
Another aspect of modern times manifested in England was the revived interest in this world and
in human nature, which was called the Renaissance. It had stimulated the invention of printing,
leading to a revival of the stufy of the Greek and Latin classics, and aroused the scientific spirit of
wanting to understand
It also was a restless longing to know more of the world and men began to range over the whole
globe.
For all these reasons, 1485 is seen as the dividing line between Medieval and Modern Ages.

2) Describe Henry VII character.

Henry VII was not a noble or a lovable personality, but he was an ideal king for the situation in
which he was placed. A shrewd, cool-headed, far-sighted man, he was determined to keep the throne he
had won at Bosworth Fields and he was a statesman enough to carry through the policy by which this
could be done. His interest was in his own strength and safety. He gave England a firm government,
national unity, and economic prosperity. He had the same ideas and opinions of merchants and
gentleman farmers. He based royal power on good business sense. He believed that war and glory were
bad for business, and that business was good for the estate. He avoided quarrels either with Scotland
and France.

3) How did Henry VII establish his right to the throne?

His first business was to establish his right to the throne. His hereditary claim was farred by an Act of
Parliament, but he rectified this by another Act, which declared that he was the rightful king. There were
only two possible Yorkist rivals: the Earl of Warwick, who was shut up in the tower, and the Lady
Elizabeth, who he married so their son would inherit the rights of both the Red and White roses.

4) Describe Henry VII policy methods. Home policy. Foreign policy. Navy.
The main object of Henry VII's policy was strength: he was always trying to make himself safer on his
throne. The mos powerful support was wealth, so Henry VII was full of expedients for raising money and
keeping it. He imposed heavy fines on rich contributions called benevolences.
Henry also took care to avoid the expenses or warfare, and on the one occasion when he could not
avoid declaring war, he got a grant from parliament to take his army across to France, the subsidy from
the King of France to take it back again without fighting.
He also made a point of keeping the nobles in their place. This was easier because the great families
had been weakened by the executions and confiscations which they had inflicted on each other during
the Ward of the Roses. Moreover, he reorganized the Court of Star Chamber, which sat at Westminster
for the express purpose of dealing with cases involving over-powerful landowners.
In Henry VII's foreign policy, he aimed at buttressing his position by foreign alliances. By a treaty with
Spain he gained the support of the most powerful monarchy in Europe, and cemented the alliance by a
marriage betweem his son and heir, Prince Arthur and the infanta Catherine of Aragon. In order to break
up the old alliance between France and Scotland, he married his daughter Margaret to the Scottish King,
James IV. Lastly, by another famous treaty, known as the Intercursus Magnus with Burgundy, he gained
specially favourable terms for the sale of English wool to the great manufacturing towns of the
Netherlands. By this policy he made himself popular with the wool merchants; he gaines the support of
the powerful dukedom of Burgundy; and he secured a substantial increase in the revenue from the
customs duties on the export of raw wood.

5) The Voyages of Discovery. Their importance.

The most important events in world history during the reign were the great geographical discoveries.
These voyages had a vital effect on the destinies of the English Nation. During the Middle Ages, England
had been out of the main stream of commerce, which flowed between Asia and the ports of Italy. Her
merchants mostly confined themselves to short trips across the North Sea and into the Batlic, but a new
era began toward the end of the fifteenth century.
The conquest of the lands round the eastern Medierranean by the Turks closed the old trade-route via
the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. A new route had to be found. The obvious wat was round the south of
Africa. In 1498, Vasco da Fama rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and reached India for the first time by
an all sea route. The African voyage became enormously profitable for merchant vessels, and the
Portuguese and Spaniards were far more situated for it.
 Some years before this, Christopher Columbus had reached the West Indies while in search of a
western route to Asia.
England's chief share in these momentous ventures was that King Henry VII gave finantial support to
the two Cabots (italians), who were the first to reach Nort America. The intention was to open new routes
for trade. The discoveries of that exciting decade had changed England's position. In a most favourable
geographical situation for taking part in the oceanic commerce which now began, and gradually became
the leading sea-power of the world.

6) Describe Henry VIII's character.

Henry VIII was a tall, strong, handsome and athletic young man, who could hold his own with any of
these subjects in hunting, jousting, archery, sword play, and horsemanship. He was highly accomplished,
and dabbled in theology, poetry, and musical composition. He was good humoured and high spirited.
Immediately after his accession he took several steps which further encrased his popularity. He had
his father's extortionate ministers, Empson and Dudley, beheaded on a charge of high treason. He
married the popular princess, Catherine of Aragon. He set up a brilliant Court on the fortune left to him
by his father. He renewed the old claim to the throne of France.

7) Refer to Henry VIII's home and foreign policies. Who was Wolsey? What was

his chief interest?

Henry VIII wanted to play a showy part in the eayes of Europe, and the situation of affairs seemed to
offer him a good chance to do so. France and Spain, the two more powerful European monarchies, both
claimed possessions in Italy, and France had invaded that penninsula some years before. The Pope,
being very anxious to expel the French from Italy, had formed a Holy League for the purpose with the
King of Spain and the Emperor. This League Henry VIII now joined. There were several reasons for that
he had always prided himself on being a supporter on the Church; he was much under the influence of
his Queen, who was a Spanish princess. Henry VIII renewed his old claim of the kings of England to the
French throne and sent an army over to Guyenne, which had been an English possession for two
hundred years in Plantagenet times.
The campaign was badly mismanaged, and was a complete failure. In the following year, Henry VIII
tried again, this time in the north-east of France, instead of the South-east, and met with much greater
success. While Henry was busy in France, the Scots, despite the fact that their queen was an English

princess, once more invaded England. But they did not get very far. Queen Catherin collected force
which annihilated the Scots at the famous Battle of Flodden. A year later, Henry made peace. He had
come to realize that Ferdinand of Spain, the Emperor Maximilian and Pope Julius II were merely using
him for their own advantage. So he withdraw from the League and made a treaty with France, which he
cemented by giving his sister Mary in marriage to the old French King, Louis XII.
The chief reason why Henry's second campaign in France was more successful that the first was the
fact that the commissariat side of it was managed by a very able young minister narmed Thomas Wolsey.
Henry XVIII wanted a capable administrator to carry on the business of government while he was
enjoying life, and wolsey was just the man for him. Within three or four years, Wolsey was by far the
richest and most powerful personage in the country. He became Lord Chancellor, a Cardinal of the
Church, the Legate of the Pope, the Arcbishop of York, the Bishop of Winchester, and Abbot of St. Albans.
Wolsey's chief interest was in foreign affairs. The rivalry between the Valois kings of France and the
Hbasburg kings of Spain soon became more acute than ever. Wolsey tried to keep the peace between
them as long as he could, and was anxious to prevent either of them from becoming all powerful in
Europe by mastering the other. For England was still too weak to take an important part in war between
such powerful states, but in peace time Wolsey could convince each of them that England's friendship
was worth having.

8) The Reformation in Europe.

One of the worst practiced of the Church was the sale of indulgences. Whenever the Popes were in
special need of funds, they issued documents which excused the purchasers from penance. In 1517,
Pope Leo X,in order to raise money for the building of St. Peter's, Rome organized a special sale of these
indulgences. A Domenican friar, Tetzel, was particularly active in selling them. In the course of a sort of
sales- tour throughout Germany, he visited the university town of Wittemberg. The professor of theology
there was a monk, named Martin Luther, who felt how much harm these practices were doing to the
cause of religion, and so he nailed on the door of the church ninety five theses proving that the selling
of indulgences was a fraud. Luther was drawn into arguments, in the course of which he denied many of
the essential doctrines of the Catholic Church, including transubstantiation and celibacy. In 1520, the
Pope excommunicated him, but he went against the papal authority by publicly burning the Bull of
Excommunication outside the gates of Wittemberg.
At the desire of the Pope, the newly elected Emperor, Charles V, summoned Luther to appear before
the Diet, assembly of German princess, at Worms. The bold monk appeared, but refused to withdraw
any of his attacks on Catholic doctrine. Some of the princes were against him, while other were in his
side, and so many of the German people looked at him as a national hero that it was impossible for the
Imperial government to take any steps against him. The Emperor tried to act against this movement but
rather late. Many of the princesses protested against the Emperor decision, hence the name
Protestantism, and he was unable to resistance.
Towards the end of Luther's life, the Reformation in Germany entered on its disastrous political phase.
Many of the German Princes saw that it would benefit them to throw off the authority of the Pope. Civil
war broke out between the Protestant and Catholic princes. At last, by the Peace of Ausburg, it was
agreed to allowe certain States adopt the Lutheran religion and to throw off the authority of the Pope; the
religion of each state was to be decided by the religion of its ruler.
Luther's view of religion: he did not act against the Bible, thus he set up The Bible and the Bible
only, and also the individual conscience against the authority and the doctrine of the Catholic Church.
Furthermore, in a castle at Wartburtg, Luther occupies his days in translating the Bible into German. At
last, Protestantism ended the religious unity of Germany and ultimately of Europe, and it destroyed the
old Christendom with its band of one Church.
Presbyterianism: A French man called John Calvin went much further than Luther in opposition to
Catholicism. He would have no bishops or other ranks in the clergy, except ministers, chosen by their
congregations and assisted by layman. This type of church is known as Presbyterian, which was first set
up in Geneva and then in France. Presbiterianism is also characteristic of Scotland and Switzerland.

9) The reformation in England

The Church was a huge landwoner, whose lands had never been involved in the quarrels, that is to
say they had never been taken by the King. The Church and the monasteries were no longer important to
economic and social growth in the way they had been two hundred years earlier. In fact they were
unpopular because many monks no longer led a good religious life but lived in wealth and comfort.
Henry VII disliked the power of the Church in England because since it was an international
organization, he could not completely control it. These were two far more powerful states than England,
France, and Spain, with the Holy Roman Empire, lying between Henry VIII and Rome. The power of the
Catholic Church in England could therefore work against his own authority, and the taxes paid to the
Church reduces his own income. But apart from the wish to centralize state authority to increas his
revenue, Henry had another reason for standing up to the authority of the Church.
In 1510, Henry had married Catherine of Aragon, his brother's widow, after a special dispensation
from the Pope. But by 1526, she had still had not a son, anly Princess Mary survived. Henry tried to
persuade the Pope to allow him to divorce Catherine. He sent his chief minister cardinal Wolsey to
persuade the Pope. But the Pope was controlled by Charles V, Catherine's nephew. For both political and
family reasons, he wanted Henry to stay with Catherine. Therefore the Pope forbade Hnery to divorce.
Henry was extremely angry and the first person to feel his anger was Cardinal Wolsey, who after
being accused of treason, died of natural causes. Henry decided to proceed without the Pope to obtain
the divorce and to marry Anne Boleyn, his new love. A chaplain of the boleyn family, Thomas Cranmer,
expressed the view that the permission of the Pope was not necessary, and that the Archbishop of
Canterbury had the power to grant the required decree. Later, Henry was secretly married to Protestant
Anne Boleyn, then Cranmer was made Archbishop of Canterbury and after a month the Archbishops
Court pronounced Henry's marriage.
Henry's break with Rome was purely political. He had simply wanted to control the Church and to
keep its wealth in his own kingdom. He did not approve of the new ideas of Reformation Protestantism
and he still believed in the Catholic faith. Indeed, Henry had earlier written a book criticizing Luther's
teaching and the Pope had rewarded him with the title of Fidei Defensor, defender of the faith. When he
broke with Rome, he used Parliament to make the brake legal.
 10) What is the legatine Court?
As Henry was a mere overgrown boy, Wolsey had had a free hand, but the King now was becoming
more serious minded taking a more actibe part in state affairs, so the minister had to fit his policy into
the whims of an imperious master. The divorce business was particularly difficult to handle. The Pope had
annulled marriages in similar circumstances before, but he was in a very difficult position because the
army of Charles V had gone on to sack Rome, taking refugee in his castle of St. Angelo, that is to say the
he was practically at the mercy of Charles V. The Pope did not want to offend Henry VIII neither Charles V,
that is why he delayed giving any decision as long as he could hope that something would turn up to
save the situation. In spite of this, he appointed a special court to meet in London and go into matter. It
was to be presided over by two legates; the resident legate, Wolsey, and an Italian cardinal named
Campeggio who was secretly instructed to delay judgement as long as possible. When at last the
Legatine Court met in the great hall of the Black Friars, the Queen refuses to plead before it and
appealed to the Pope. Another excuse to delay and when Campeggio had to say, the Pope's decision, he
announced that the case had been transeferred to Rome whether the King was cited to appear and plead
his case.

11) Definde the downfall of Wosley

This decision ruined the unfortunate Wosley. All his past services were forgotten in view of his failure
to carry out the King's wishes, Henry declared that by acting as papal legate he had broken the statute of
Praemunire. The state made illegal to bring law cases before the papl courts or to bring papel bulls into
the country without the King's permission.
Making him surrounded by enemies nobody could wield such immense powers without offending
people for his position as Chancellor made hum supreme in the law while his position as legate made
him supreme in the Church. As long as he enjoyed the King's favour he was safe, but the moment it was
withdran, he was a helpless victim of their hatred. Dismissed from all his offices, saved his archbishopric,
he went to York, and for the first time in his career, began to fulfill his function as a priest. His enemies
contrived that a charge of high treason should be brought against him. On his way back to London to
take his trial, he died at the Abbey of Leicester.

12) Refer to all the Acts passed during the Reformation in England
Meanwhile the quarrel with the Pope was going from bad to worse, Parliament passed one measure
after another, limiting Papal's powers and defining Papal's authority.
Several acts agains abuses: regulating free, abolishing Benefit of Clergy and forbade pluralities.

Annates Act: tribute paid to the Pope by newly appointed bishops and abbots.
Act forbidding appeals to the Pope against decisions by English church courts
 Act of succsession,, Appeal Act, Anne Boleyn's children could be heirs to the throne.
Act of supremacy: declaring the King head of church and state.
Act of dissolving the monasteries: made breach irrevocable for the purchased of church lands
would never give them up.
Henry VIII proved that his break with Rome was neither a religious nor a diplomatic disaster. He
remained loyal to catholic religious teaching, except in obedience to the Pope.

13) Why were the monasteries abolished? Describe the consequences of

this.
In the Middle Ages monasteries and nanneries had played a very valuable part in the religious,
social and intelectual life of the nation. But times were changing; to a great extent the monasteries and
nunneries had outlived their usefulnes. Many of them were badly managed, and in some the inmated
had taken advantage of their privileges to lead idle and even dissipated lives.
Cromwell sent round officials to the smaller monasteries first to make inquiries as to how they were
conducted, the reports were exaggerated. The real reason for the abolition was that the king and
Cromwell coveted their wealth, and parliament was vert ready to authorise its confiscation because the
members hoped to be able to get hold of some of the monastery lands for themselves.
The effects of Dissolution upon the nation were many and varied.
Thousand of monks and tens of thousands of persons employed as servants in these institutions,
were cast forth upon the world with no means of getting aliving.
Land was thrown upon the market that it could be bought very cheaply and many well-to-do
tradesmen and lawyers were able to buy estates and set as country gentlemen.
All the hundreds of influential people who profited by the dissolution had henceforth a personal
interest in preventing the papal authority from being re-established in England.

14) Who was Thomas Cromwell? Refer to his career and his end.
Thomas Cromwell was a man of obscure origin, who had begun life as a merchant and money-
lender and lawyer of doubtful reputation. He had been employed by Wolsey to do subordinate jobs for
the overnment, and on the far of the Cardinal he had limited to the King that he should act as his own
Pope of the future.
It was Cromwell who drew up the all important statues and steere them through parliament and it
was Cromwell who, with the tittle of Vicar-General, saw that they were carried out. He never acted as
independent as Wosley, but his position gave him tremendous influence in matters of detail. His great
object was to build up the power and wealth of the crown, and he was utterly ruthless in sweeping away
every obstacle to that policy.
In 1540 Cromwell was made Lord Chamberlain and Earl of Essect, but three months later he was
beheaded on a charge of high treason. The cause of this downfall was a question of foreign policy. For 8
years England was in danger of an invasion by either France or Spain, or both on behalf of the Pope.
The one thing that prevented it was the personal hostility between the two sovereigns.
Cromwell had been trying to get the King to become more definitely Protestant. Henry disliked the
Lutheran doctrines, but in the face of foreign danger he took Cromwell's advice, made an alliance with
the Lutheran princess (Henry married Anne of Cleaves). Cromwell had placed enormous wealth and
power in the King's hands bit in so doing he had made himself feared and loather by all. The Duke of
Norfolk, Cromwell's chief enemy, took advantage of the royal displeasure to accuse him of
mismanagement of the King's affairs. Parliament passed a bill of Attainden and he was beheaded.

15) Refer to the Pilgrimage of Grace.

One immediate result of the suppresion of the monasteries was a great rising in Lincolnshire and
Yorkshire. For the monasteries still served very useful purposes in those backward parts of the country,
and when fifty of them were abolished in Lincolnshire alone during the summer of 1563, anger rose to
feber heat. The insolent behaviour of Cromwell's agents led to revolt there and soon after an alarming
outbreak occurred in Yorkshire. Under the leadership of Robert Aske, a London lawyer, the malcontents
adopted a banner on which were depicted thr Five Wounds of Christ, and called their movement The
Pilgramage of Grace. They declared their devoted loyalty to the King, but petitioned him to dismiss
Cromwell from his service and to restore the monasteries.
One important result of the Pilgrimage was that a Council of the North was set up at York, to bring
the royal authority into more direct contact with the people of the northern shires.

16) Edward VI's reign: there were two different periods within his reign.

Describe them. What was the Prayer Book? Why was it introduced?
Henry VIII made a will by which he was to be succeeded by this only son Edward. As Edward was
only a child when he became King the country was ruled by a council whose membes were from the new
nobility created by the tudors and they were Protestan reformers.

First Period: One member of the council, King Edawrds VI's uncle, Edward Seymour, took the control into
his own hands taking the office of Lord Protector with the title of Duke of Somerset.
He was a very incomplete ruler and he made a number of mistakes which caused his downfall.
Somerset commisioned Crammer to make a book of common prayer in England, he got
parliament to repeat the acts by which heresy was punished by death, and he had several city
churches despoiled to provide building materials for home. Crammer translated the Latin services
with some small changes of the Catholic Church.
Somerset had a fatal habit of taking the wrong way to do right things. He revived Henry VII's
 policy of uniting England and Scotland by a marriage between the young sovereigns of the two
countries. But the Scots disliked the project and they sent their little Queen to France to marry the
Dauphin.
The most notable Somerset's mistake was his treatment of the economic discontent. More and
more landowners were taking advantage, increasing demand for wool to turn their land into
pasturage for sheep.
The fact that Somerset established a court (Court of Request) made the member of the council
bitterly hostile to him. The climax came when a revolt broke out in East Anglia against the
enclosure. The rebels sent a strongly-worded petition; one member the Council John Dudley (Earl
of Warwick) took down some hired foreign troops and dispersed the commonwealth by force.
Somerset position as lord protector was becoming very weak, when subordinate member of his
council took the law into their own hands. Later Warwick and his supporters had him arrested few
months later. Somerset was released but little later he was re-arrested for conspiring against the
new regime and was beheaded.

Second Period: When Somerset's place was taken by Warwick who took the title of Duke of
Northumberland, the country went from bad to worse. He made Crammer revise the Prayer Book, in
order to make it more distinctly to Catholic and gave importance to the reading of the Bible.
Most of the Church's property had been confiscated, but these were a member of small foundations
called Chantries, which mantained priests who counducted daily services in behalf of corporations
andgilds. These were abolished and their funds fell into the hands of Northumberland. He replaced
Catholic bishops by protestant clergyman who were willing to reform the function for much smaller
income.
In 1553, Edward VI's health began to fail and the Duke saw a real light ahead. As the King
developed rapid consumption, Northumberland formed a plot by which he would be able to keep power
in his own hands. Northumberland's plan was to marry his son, Guildford Dudley, to lade Jane Gray.
When Edward VII died in July 1553, Northumberland had Jane proclaimed Queen. Mary fled to
eastern countries and thousands of nobles and gentry supported her. So strong was the feeling in favour
of the rightful heir that Mary was proclaimed Queen in London.

17) Refer to Ket's rebellion.

Somerset's economic discontent most of landowners were taking advantage of the increasing demand
for wool to them, thei arable land into pastorage for sheep, which recquired much less labour and was
far more profitable. Moreover, the took every opportunity to cheat the peasants out of their share of the
village lands. Much land that was too poor to bear crops was quite useful for pasture. Landlords often
enclosed for their own use, the waste and meadow land on which the village folk were accustomed to
graze their cattle and cut their fuel.
Matters were made worse by the dissolution of Monasteries; because the new owners knew little and
cared less about traditions. Sir Thomas More had protested against these enclosures in his Utopia and
the government had several times attempted in vain to grapple with the evil. Somerset set up a special
Court of Request to deal with complains from village folk and the fact that Somerset had established the
court made the members of the Council bitterly hostile to him. The climax came when a revolt broke out
in East Anglia against the enclosures. The revolt was lead by Robert Ket: they sent a strongly-worded
petition to the government. Meanwhile they refraimed from violence, and attended daily open-air
services conducted by the champlain on their little commonwealth.
Members of the Council feared that if the movement spread, their highly profitable depredations
would be stopped. So one of them, John Dudley (Earl of Warwick) took down some foreign troop and
dispersed the commonwealth by force. Several, several were hanged.

18) A catholic interlude. Refer to Mary's reign. What did she intend to do

as regard religion? Who did she marry? Were there problems? Describe

them.
When the King Edward VI died on 1553, Duke of Northumberland (Warwick), had James
proclaimed. Queen Mary fled to eastern countries, and thousands of people supported her. Warwick
collected some troops and marched out of London to attack, but his men hated the tasl and deserted. So
strong was the feeling in favour of the rightful heir that Mary was proclaimed Queen in London.
Mary was determined to restore England to the Catholic Church and she restored several of the
Catholic bishops to their sees, and imprisoned the the protestant clergy who had taken places, including
Crammer, Latimer and Ridley.
She, for political, religious and family reasons, chose to marry the King Phillip of Spain. The ordinary
people disliked the marriage and the popular feeling was so strong that a rebellion in Kent reached
London before ending in failure. Mary dealt with the rebel leader, Wyatt. Mary asked parliament for its
opinion about her marriage plan and they unwillingly agreed with it but it only accepted Philip as King
for Mary's life.
A time after Mary's wedding, a solemn ceremony of reconciliation to Rome took place in Whitehall
Palace. Philip and Mary welcomed Cardinal Pale, who was asked to allow England to return to the
bosom of the Mother Church. The Cardinal pronounced the country absolved from the sin of schism, and
accepted back into the Catholic Church.
Later Mary demanded parliament to re-enact the old laws which empowered the government to burn
all who maintained doctrines other than those taught by the Catholic Church. Parliament replaced the
Act of Supremacy and Acts against the church but it could not be persuaded to return monastery lands.
Parliament re-enacted the statute De Heretico de Comburento which introduced inquisition in England.
Through this statute, protestant people began to persecute, such as, Crammer, Ridley and Latimer, as
they did not deny their Protestantism, they were burnt. During the next three years, nearly 300 persons
(young, old, men, women bishop and working-men) were burnt for their faith. For centuries, common
people associated papalism and Christianity, witht the fires of Smithfield and the connection with Spain.
Mary's husband had deserted her because Parliament could not make him king of England. She had no
children and died very sad in 1558. The heir to the throne was he half sister Elizabeth, who was a heretic
at heart.

19) Which were the measures taken to restore Catholicism? Why do we

say that he had an unhappy ending?

The story of Mary's reign is the story of how the Queen lost all her popularity and died brokenhearted
within five and a half years of her triumphant accession. She was determined to restore England to
Catholic Church, but first she had the wisdom to set to work cautiously. She restored several of the
Catholic bishops to their sees and imprisoned the Protestant clergy who had taken their places, including
Crammer, Latimer and Ridle. But for a time she took no further steps towards enforcing Catholic
doctrines on the Church. For she could not alter the laws without consent of parliament, and parliament
was very hard to drive. The members were quite ready to authorize the use of the Latin services in place
of the Prayer Book, but they dreaded lest the re-establishment of Catholic Church should lead to a
restoration of the monastery lands which many of the had bought.

20) Refer to Elizabet I's reign. Home and foreign policy. The new trading

Empire.
Elizabeth and her advisers considered trade the most important foreign policy matter, as Henry VII
had done. For them, whichever country was England's greatest trade rival was also it greatest enemy. This
idea remained the basis of England's foreign policy until the nineteenth century.
Elizabeth's foreign policy carried Henry VII's work much further, encouraging merchant expansion.
She recognized Spain as her main trade rival and enemy. Spain at that time ruled the Netherlands,
although many of the people were Protestant and were fighting for their independence- Because Spain
and France were rivals, Spanish soldiers could only reach the Netherlands from Spain by sea, dialing up
the English Channel. Elizabeth helped the Duch Protestants by allowing their ships to use English
harbours from which they could attack Spanish ships, often by the help of the English. Elizabeth agreed
to help them with money and soldiers. It was almost a declaration of war on Spain.
English ships had already been attacking Spanish ships as they returned from America with silver and
gold. It was the result of the Spain's refusal to trade freely with Spanish American colonies. Although
these were privately owned privateers, the treasure was shared with the queen. These seamen were
traders as well as pirates and adventurers. She apologized to Spain but kept her share of what had been
taken from Spanish ships.
 The King of Spain, Philip, decided to ocnquer England in 1587 because he believed this had to be
done before he would be able to defeat the Dutch. He hoped that Catholics in England would be willing
to help him. His few fighting ships were not as good as the English ones. Finally, the Spanish Army was
defeated. For England was in a glorious moment, but it was not an end of the wat, and England found
itself having to spend more than ever on England's defence. Peace was only made with Spain once
Elizabeth was dead.
Both before and after the Armada, Elizabeth followed two policies. She encouraged English sailors to
continue to attack and destroy Spanish ships bringing gold, silver and other treasures back from the
newly discovered continent of America. She also encouraged English traders to settle abroad and to creat
colonies. This second policy led to Britain's colonial empire of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
England also began selling West African slaves to work for the Spanish in America.
The Mercant Adventurers Company had already been established with royal support bedore the end
of the fifteenth century. During Elizabeth's reign, more chartered companies, as they were known, were
established. A charter gave a company the right to all the business in its particular trade or religion. In
return for this important advantage, the chartered company gave some of its profits to the Crown.
Respect to the home policy, the last of the problems which Elizabeth had inherited was the economic
dislocation which was paralyizing bith the government and the nation. To lessen the bad effects of
enclosures, she did not merely forbid them by law, she encouraged manufactures and commerce. This
led to an increase of town population, which recquired foodstuffs, which had to be grown on the manors.
This gradually sent up the price of corn, and encouraged landlords to go back to arable farming.
To remedy the disturbed state of the towns, parliament passed the Statute of Apprentices, which
enacted that nobody might carry on the trade until he had served a seven years apprenticeship, and that
master were to be responsible for the welfare of their apprentices.
A drastic remedy for the debasement of the coinage was when the government announced a date
after which it would be a crime to possess base coins, and meanwhile these were exhanged at the
Treasury at a rate a little above their real value. This was hard on the people who happened to hold a
good deal of the bad money.