 Hello and welcome to our video summarising all you need to know about Queen Elizabeth I and the Elizabethan era. My name is Barbara and in this video we'll examine Queen Elizabeth, her birth, background, her accession to become Queen of England as well as the obstacle she faced when in power. Bear in mind that this is the first of a five-part revision series where we examine Queen Elizabeth's reign in depth including the structure of her government, her favourites at court, the threats she faced as a monarch both within England and externally, the important role of explorers during her time as well as many acts and laws that she passed during her tenor. So let's get started. Now Queen Elizabeth I became Queen in 1558 and she reigned for almost 45 years until her death in 1603 and she was from the house of Tudor. The Tudor family had ruled England since Henry VII became King in 1485. Elizabeth I was known as very cautious, intelligent and also very powerful. She was Henry VIII's second child and the doctor of her second wife Anne Boleyn. As a child she was the third in line to the throne so no one really expected her to become Queen. She was really cautious and only had a trusted few close advisers whilst she became Queen and she could also be indecisive. She was reluctant to make decisions without carefully considering their possible consequences. During her reign however she was intelligent, confident and really well educated despite having little training in how to govern. Remember she was the third in line for the throne so she really didn't receive that much training. However in spite of that she became a powerful and effective leader. However of course some people didn't want her to rule. Now one of the reasons why a lot of people felt very strongly against her rule during the time was her gender. So most people believed at the time that the monarch should be a man and not a woman. They thought that a rule by a woman was unnatural and thus Elizabeth was expected to be a figurehead without any real power. They thought she should let her male councillors take control or find a husband to govern for her and Queen Elizabeth was determined to rule on her own right and she refused to let any councillors take over. Another reason why some people didn't feel she was suited for the throne was claims of illegitimacy. So when Henry VIII's marriage to Anne Boleyn was dissolved and Anne was executed in 1536, King Henry VIII declared her to be illegitimate. Although he did later change his mind and saw Queen Elizabeth as his legitimate daughter, some Protestants still questioned her legitimacy. Now of course one of the major things during her life was that she never really got married and marriage and succession remained a key issue during her time. So one of Queen Elizabeth's biggest headaches as Queen was the issue of marriage and succession. She was expected to marry and produce an heir. And this is because people believed that women could rule effectively and so there was a pressure on her to find a husband who could rule for her. There were also concerns about succession. If she died without an heir there would be a risk of civil war with different groups competing for the throne and to prevent this Elizabeth was expected to marry and produce an heir as quickly as possible. Also the Privy Council and Parliament were really concerned about succession. They repeatedly asked the Queen to marry or find an heir but she always refused and when they asked her to find a husband in 1563 she refused to even discuss the matter. Also for Queen Elizabeth she found it quite difficult to find a suitable husband. If she married a European prince or king for instance this could give a foreign country too much power and influence over England. Fast Queen Mary I's marriage to King Philip II of Spain forced England to become involved in a really expensive war with France. Also Queen Elizabeth worried that if she chose a member of the English nobility this could create anger and resentment amongst those who weren't chosen. The religious settlement had made England a Protestant country so it was difficult for Elizabeth to also marry a Catholic and growing anti-Catholic sentiment feeling in England also made Catholic husband really unpopular and this therefore if she had chosen a Catholic husband where there was lots of anti-Catholic sentiments this could have undermined support for her. Queen Elizabeth was reluctant to marry anyone. Women were expected to obey the husband so she would lose a lot of power if she married. Queen Elizabeth however during her time did consider many suitors however she still rejected them all. Early in her reign she received proposals from foreign rulers including King Philip II of Spain, Archduke Charles of Austria and King Eric of Sweden. She and her privy council seriously considered King Eric's proposals but in the end nearly all suitors were rejected. Queen Elizabeth does seem to have been in love with her favourite Robert Dudley and seriously considered marrying him. However members of the privy council and the nobility including William Cecil were really opposed to this match thus it didn't go ahead. In the 1570s Elizabeth was courted by Duke Francis of Andrew, a brother of King of France although there was some support for the match there was also quite a lot of opposition to the idea of Elizabeth marrying a French Catholic and in the end marriage negotiations were abandoned. By the late 1570s Elizabeth was in the mid 40s and it was clear that she wouldn't have children. The issue of succession still needed to be resolved but Elizabeth refused to name a successor. She was concerned that a successor might become the focus of plots to overthrow her. Towards the end of her reign her advisers began secret negotiations to make King James VI of Scotland so the son of Mary Queen of Scots heir to the throne and when Elizabeth died in 1603 he did become King of England. Now of course there were lots of problems at the start of her reign. She faced a very weak economy and there was a threat of a French invasion so in 1557 Queen Mary I took England to war with France. She did this to support her husband Philip II of Spain who was already fighting the French. The war wasn't a success and in January 1558 the French conquered Calais England's last territory on the European mainland and this made it harder for the English to control the channel and increase the risk of French invasion. When Elizabeth I became Queen in November 1558 she wanted to end the war with France as quickly as possible and peace was agreed in 1559. Queen Elizabeth did try to avoid foreign wars as the policy partly influenced by England's financial weakness. She feared that raising taxes to fund war would be unpopular and might fuel opposition to her rule. Her reign began also with a French threat in Scotland so she'd quickly ended the war in France but there was still a French threat in Scotland and when she became Queen Scotland was controlled by France's Catholic royal family and there were many French troops in the country however French rule was really unpopular with the Scots. In 1558 Mary Queen of Scots married the heir to the French throne and as Catholics the French royal family disliked Elizabeth who was a Protestant and wanted England to be ruled by Catholic. Mary's marriage increased the risk that the French might invade from Scotland and try and put her on the English throne. Also in the late 1550s Scottish Protestants led by the preacher John Knox rebelled against French rules they asked England for support and in 1560 English troops and ships were sent to help them. The French were defeated and forced to leave Scotland in the departure of the French combined with the death of Mary's French husband in 1560 greatly reduced the French invasion. Now the English economy was also weak and this was another problem that Queen Elizabeth faced at the start of her reign. So under King Edward VI huge sums of money had been spent on wars in Scotland and Queen Mary I had also spent too much money and as a result Elizabeth inherited enormous debts when she became Queen. Also Mary I had sold off lots of plots owned by the Crown to cover her debts and this had raised money in the short term but reduced the monarch's income from rents. The tax system was also very old fashioned and ineffective ordinary people paid high taxes but it had become common for the nobility and gentry to pay less tax than they owed and England then suffered high levels of inflation this is when prices rise and wages don't and the poor and those living in urban areas were hardest hit. Other issues were social and economic divisions that she inherited at the beginning of her reign. So England's population have been rising steadily since around 1500s this is a medieval period. Most people lived and worked in rural areas but towns and cities were growing rapidly and London was by far the largest and most important city. The economy was dominated by agriculture but farming was changing. The expert of woolen cloth to Europe was a key part of the economy but merchants started to trade with Americans in Asia. Thus Elizabeth's society was dominated by small land owning aristocracy of nobility and gentry and there was also a growing number of wealthy men who made their living as lawyers or merchants. This therefore led to great inequality and the divide between rich and poor was growing and poverty became a major problem in the Elizabethan England. Now Elizabeth's court was at the heart of social and political life and everyone who was anyone could be found there and the court was the centre of Elizabethan social life. The royal court was made up of a large group of people who surrounded the monarch at all times and over a thousand people attended the court including Elizabeth's personal servants, members of the Privy Council, members of the nobility, ambassadors and other foreign visitors as well as Elizabeth's favourites. Now to a little bit about her favourites. Early on in her reign Elizabeth was really close to Robert Dudley who we've mentioned earlier on. She made him the Earl of Leicester in 1564 and may have considered marrying him. Christopher Hatton was another one of her favourites and in 1587 she made him Lord Chancellor even though he had little relevant experience. Sir Walter Raleigh also came to Elizabeth's court in 1581 and she gave him many valuable gifts including the right to colonise the new world. Obviously in exchange courtiers were expected to flatter Queen Elizabeth, shower her with gifts and often pretend to be in love with her. Courtly pastimes included plays, concerts, hunting, jousting and tennis and there were also grand meals. Members of the court tended to travel with Elizabeth when she moved between her palaces and when great possessions were held. They also went with her when she went on her royal progresses. Political power thus relied on access to the Queen when it came to Elizabethan England. So the Queen was at the centre of government and political power revolved around her. This therefore meant that those closest to Queen Elizabeth had the greatest influence and power. The court was at the centre of political life and anyone who wanted to get ahead and increase the political power had to have a place at court and courtiers didn't necessarily hold government positions however they became powerful through the close relationship with the Queen. Also patronage helped ensure loyalty so patronage involved the handing out of titles and offices which gave men a source of income and Elizabeth had lots of these to give away including high positions to the church. Hence patronage was distributed at court during her time and that's how she bought favours with lots of people at court. So Queen Elizabeth's use of patronage helped ensure loyalty and those who received her patronage became dependent on Elizabeth for some or all of the income and status so they were likely to be very loyal to her. She also distributed patronage very widely and this helped ensure political stability as all members of the elite felt they had a chance to be rewarded by her so they were unlikely to rebel. So that's all for this video. If you found this video useful please do head over to our website which is www.firstreet tutors.com Also it would be of great help to us if you could give this video a like and a thumbs up and share it with other people who you think it might be relevant. Also make sure you check out our website as there you will find history model answers and exam papers that you can use to enhance your essay writing skills and get top marks in your exams. Thank you so much for listening.