1. AQA A Level History Unit 1C: The Tudors: England, 1485–1603
Elizabeth I’s Coronation Portrait
(c.1600, copy of lost 1559 original)
Click to play William Byrd, O Lord Make Thy Servant Elizabeth (c.1570)
Elizabeth I: succession

2. The aim of today’s lesson is to answer these questions:
What challenges and aims did Elizabeth have at the start of her reign?
What sort of leader was she?

3. What insights can these words give us into Elizabeth’s upbringing and attitude to being Queen?
“How hath it, yesterday my Lady Princess, and today but my Lady Elizabeth?” Three year-old Elizabeth’s question to her governess. “It is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.” Psalm 118:22, quoted by twenty-five year-old Elizabeth on being told she was Queen. (The verse before it is: “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”)

4. Upbringing and character20
Using Ferriby pp.151-2, create the synopsis (outline) for a documentary entitled Elizabeth, the making of a Queen. Include people and events which influenced her character and attitudes. Which had the biggest impact, and why? Extension activity: was Elizabeth I really a man? Read the article and decide!
Princess Elizabeth aged c.12

5. What is N.L.Jones saying about Elizabeth’s beliefs and leadership style in the first years of her reign? Summarise the key points.
To understand what happened when she took the nation’s helm, it is important to realise that Elizabeth believed…that the king is under God and the law… This belief, however, imposed great responsibilities on a ruler. Responsible before God for her people, she was careful never to let them challenge her right to that responsibility. Politics and theology taught her that, when the people overreached themselves in religion or government, revolt and bloodshed were likely to follow. Stability, she believed, was what God wanted and would be the best for her beloved people, as well as what pleased her cautious, conservative personality, so she devoted herself to maintaining the status quo, showing great reluctance to innovate.

6. What is N.L.Jones saying about Elizabeth’s beliefs and leadership style in the first years of her reign? Summarise the key points.
To understand what happened when she took the nation’s helm, it is important to realise that Elizabeth believed…that the king is under God and the law… This belief, however, imposed great responsibilities on a ruler. Responsible before God for her people, she was careful never to let them challenge her right to that responsibility. Politics and theology taught her that, when the people overreached themselves in religion or government, revolt and bloodshed were likely to follow. Stability, she believed, was what God wanted and would be the best for her beloved people, as well as what pleased her cautious, conservative personality, so she devoted herself to maintaining the status quo, showing great reluctance to innovate.

7. Leadership
Read “The ideas and policies of Elizabeth I” (Tillbrook p.52). How did Elizabeth put her ideas about monarchy into practice? Extension activity: According to Alan Axelrod, what other leadership skills make Elizabeth a role model for business people today?

8. Character and aims
Early experiences made her cautious to the point of being reluctant to take decisions.
They also convinced her she had been spared by God and chosen to rule – this reinforced her faith.
Her main aim was establish her authority and maintain her prerogative powers.
She was determined not to be ruled by any man.

9. Elizabeth’s coronation, 15 January 1559
According to Penry Williams (1995), Elizabeth had two qualities essential to a successful monarch, “the ability to choose first-rate advisers and a remarkable gift for winning the devotion of the public.” Read the relevant information from Ferriby pp and find evidence which show how Elizabeth’s coronation was designed to win her subjects’ loyalty.

10. Elizabeth’s Privy Council
According to Penry Williams (1995), Elizabeth had two qualities essential to a successful monarch, “the ability to choose first-rate advisers and a remarkable gift for winning the devotion of the public.” Read the relevant information from Ferriby pp and find evidence which shows Elizabeth chose her Privy Councillors wisely and carefully.
Members of the
Privy Council, 1604

11. Elizabeth consolidated her power by
Having a lavish coronation which emphasised her authority as God’s chosen ruler
Chose her ministers and advisers carefully
Summoned Parliament within weeks of her accession, to settle the kingdom’s financial and religious affairs.

12. 5
Challenges
Read paragraph 2, Tillbrook p.50, and list the challenges facing Elizabeth in 1558.
From your knowledge of Mary’s reign, can you add any others?
Number the challenges, starting with the greatest (1), and give reasons for your choices.
Extension activity – Rogerson p.28.

13. Which of these was NOT a challenge for Elizabeth at the start of her reign?
Philip of Spain wanted to claim the throne.
Mary Queen of Scots was the true Queen of England in Catholic eyes, and the support of Henry II of France.
England was still at war with Scotland and France and had just lost Calais.
People were starving due to bad harvests, inflation and unemployment.
A flu epidemic had wiped out 10% of the population.
She was expected to marry and produce an heir.
The need for a church settlement to resolve religious strife (and the risk of excommunication if it was a Protestant one).
The Crown had debts of £300,000.