AQA GCSE History · BC

Elizabethan England, c1568–1603

50 exam-style questions with answers for BC Elizabethan England, c1568–1603 in AQA GCSE History (spec 8145). Practise with flashcards, a topic quiz, a random quiz across the course, 5 crosswords, or read every question and answer below. Not official AQA material.

All 50 questions and answers

Question 1 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part one
Describe two features of Elizabeth I’s background. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn (1); declared illegitimate after her mother’s execution (1); well educated (1); imprisoned under Mary I (1); became queen in 1558 (1).
Question 2 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part one
Define the term ‘Privy Council’. [1 mark]
Answer:
The group of Elizabeth’s leading advisers who helped run the government.
Question 3 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part one
Who was William Cecil (Lord Burghley)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Elizabeth’s chief minister, Secretary of State and later Lord Treasurer.
Question 4 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part one
Who was Francis Walsingham? [1 mark]
Answer:
Elizabeth’s Secretary of State and spymaster, who uncovered Catholic plots.
Question 5 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part one
Who was Robert Dudley? [1 mark]
Answer:
Earl of Leicester, a favourite of Elizabeth and a leading member of the Privy Council.
Question 6 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part one
Explain how Elizabeth used patronage. [2 marks]
Answer:
She gave titles, land, offices and monopolies to loyal courtiers (1); this kept them dependent on her and competing for her favour (1).
Question 7 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part one
Describe court life under Elizabeth. [2 marks]
Answer:
The court followed Elizabeth on royal progresses around the country (1); it was full of entertainment and courtiers competing for favour (1).
Question 8 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part one
Explain why Elizabeth faced difficulties as a female ruler. [2 marks]
Answer:
Many believed women were unfit to rule (1); she was expected to marry, and a husband might control her (1).
Question 9 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part one
Explain why Elizabeth’s marriage was an issue. [2 marks]
Answer:
She needed an heir to secure the succession (1); a foreign husband could drag England into wars (1).
Question 10 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part one
Explain why Elizabeth never married. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: to keep power for herself (1); to avoid foreign influence (1); she used her marriage prospects as a diplomatic tool (1); she presented herself as married to her country (1).
Question 11 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part one
How did Elizabeth manage Parliament? [2 marks]
Answer:
She called it rarely, for only 13 sessions in 45 years (1); she banned it from discussing marriage, religion and the succession (1).
Question 12 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part one
What were monopolies and why did they cause conflict? [2 marks]
Answer:
The sole right to sell a product, given to courtiers (1); they raised prices, and Parliament protested in 1601 (1).
Question 13 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part one
Why did Essex rebel in 1601? [2 marks]
Answer:
He had lost Elizabeth’s favour after failing in Ireland (1); she refused to renew his monopoly on sweet wines (1).
Question 14 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part one
What happened in Essex’s rebellion? [1 mark]
Answer:
Essex and about 200 followers marched into London, but there was little support and he was executed.
Question 15 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part one
What were royal progresses? [1 mark]
Answer:
Elizabeth’s summer tours around southern England, staying in nobles’ houses to be seen by her subjects.
Question 16 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part one
How strong was Elizabeth’s authority by the 1590s? [2 marks]
Answer:
She faced faction between Cecil’s son Robert and Essex (1); but she defeated Essex and kept control until her death in 1603 (1).
Question 17 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part two
Define the term ‘Golden Age’. [1 mark]
Answer:
A period of peace, prosperity and cultural achievement.
Question 18 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part two
Who were the gentry? [1 mark]
Answer:
Landowners below the nobility, who grew richer and more important in Elizabeth’s reign.
Question 19 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part two
Describe Elizabethan prodigy houses. [2 marks]
Answer:
Large houses built by wealthy courtiers to impress the queen (1); eg Hardwick Hall and Longleat, with lots of glass and symmetry (1).
Question 20 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part two
Describe Elizabethan fashion for the wealthy. [2 marks]
Answer:
Elaborate clothes with ruffs, padding and jewels (1); sumptuary laws limited who could wear certain fabrics and colours (1).
Question 21 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part two
Name two Elizabethan playwrights. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: William Shakespeare (1); Christopher Marlowe (1); Ben Jonson (1).
Question 22 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part two
Name two Elizabethan theatres. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: The Theatre (1576) (1); the Rose (1); the Globe (1599) (1); the Swan (1).
Question 23 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part two
Describe the layout of an Elizabethan open-air theatre. [2 marks]
Answer:
A polygonal building open to the sky with a raised stage (1); groundlings stood in the yard while richer people sat in covered galleries (1).
Question 24 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part two
Explain why Puritans opposed the theatre. [2 marks]
Answer:
They believed plays were sinful and encouraged immoral behaviour (1); theatres attracted crowds, crime and disease (1).
Question 25 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part two
State three reasons for the increase in poverty. [3 marks]
Answer:
Any three from: population growth (1); inflation (1); enclosure (1); bad harvests in the 1590s (1); the decline of the cloth trade (1); the dissolution of the monasteries (1).
Question 26 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part two
Define the terms ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ poor. [2 marks]
Answer:
Deserving poor could not work, eg the old, sick or very young (1); undeserving poor were seen as able but unwilling to work, such as vagabonds (1).
Question 27 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part two
What was the 1601 Poor Law? [2 marks]
Answer:
Each parish had to collect a poor rate to help the poor (1); overseers of the poor gave relief, provided work and punished vagrants (1).
Question 28 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part two
State two achievements of John Hawkins. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: began English involvement in the slave trade (1); as Navy Treasurer he improved English warships (1); fought against the Armada (1).
Question 29 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part two
What was the significance of Drake’s circumnavigation (1577–1580)? [2 marks]
Answer:
He was the first Englishman to sail around the world (1); he brought back huge Spanish treasure and was knighted (1).
Question 30 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part two
Who was Walter Raleigh? [2 marks]
Answer:
A courtier and explorer (1); he organised the failed Roanoke colony in Virginia in the 1580s (1).
Question 31 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part two
State two reasons why the government acted on poverty. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: fear of disorder and rebellion (1); the scale of the problem in the 1590s (1); vagrancy spread crime and disease (1); Christian duty (1).
Question 32 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part two
Define the term ‘vagabond’. [1 mark]
Answer:
A homeless person wandering in search of work, often treated as a criminal.
Question 33 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part three
What was the Elizabethan religious settlement (1559)? [2 marks]
Answer:
It made England Protestant, with Elizabeth as Supreme Governor of the Church (1); it kept some Catholic features to reduce opposition (the ‘middle way’) (1).
Question 34 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part three
Define the term ‘recusant’. [1 mark]
Answer:
A Catholic who refused to attend Church of England services.
Question 35 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part three
What was the Northern Rebellion (1569)? [2 marks]
Answer:
The Catholic earls of Northumberland and Westmorland rose against Elizabeth (1); they planned to marry Mary Queen of Scots to the Duke of Norfolk, but the rising was crushed (1).
Question 36 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part three
Explain why Elizabeth’s excommunication (1570) increased the Catholic threat. [2 marks]
Answer:
The Pope released Catholics from loyalty to Elizabeth (1); this made Catholics seem potential traitors (1).
Question 37 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part three
Who were the seminary priests and Jesuits? [2 marks]
Answer:
Catholic missionaries trained abroad, eg at Douai, who came to England from 1574 (1); they kept the Catholic faith alive, and many, eg Edmund Campion, were executed (1).
Question 38 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part three
What was the Ridolfi Plot (1571)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A plan for a Spanish invasion to put Mary Queen of Scots on the throne, married to the Duke of Norfolk.
Question 39 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part three
What was the Throckmorton Plot (1583)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A plan for a French invasion, funded by Spain, to free Mary and restore Catholicism.
Question 40 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part three
Who were the Puritans? [2 marks]
Answer:
Strict Protestants who wanted to ‘purify’ the Church of all Catholic features (1); they disliked bishops, vestments and church decoration (1).
Question 41 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part three
Describe Elizabeth’s response to Puritans. [2 marks]
Answer:
She suspended Archbishop Grindal for supporting prophesyings (1); Archbishop Whitgift enforced conformity and Puritan separatists were punished (1).
Question 42 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part three
Explain why Mary Queen of Scots was a threat to Elizabeth. [2 marks]
Answer:
She had a strong claim to the English throne (1); she was a Catholic focus for plots (1).
Question 43 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part three
Why did Mary Queen of Scots flee to England in 1568? [1 mark]
Answer:
She was forced to abdicate after a rebellion and lost the Battle of Langside.
Question 44 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part three
What was the Babington Plot (1586)? [2 marks]
Answer:
A plot to murder Elizabeth and put Mary on the throne (1); Walsingham intercepted coded letters showing Mary approved (1).
Question 45 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part three
When was Mary Queen of Scots executed? [1 mark]
Answer:
February 1587, at Fotheringhay Castle.
Question 46 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part three
State two reasons for conflict with Spain. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: religion (1); English support for the Dutch revolt (1); English piracy against Spanish treasure ships (1); the execution of Mary Queen of Scots (1).
Question 47 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part three
What was the raid on Cadiz (1587)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Drake attacked the Spanish fleet, ‘singeing the King of Spain’s beard’ and delaying the Armada.
Question 48 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part three
State three reasons for the defeat of the Spanish Armada (1588). [3 marks]
Answer:
Any three from: fireships at Calais broke the crescent formation (1); English ships were faster and had better cannon (1); the Battle of Gravelines (1); Parma’s army was not ready (1); storms on the voyage home (1).
Question 49 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part three
Explain why English naval tactics were effective against the Armada. [2 marks]
Answer:
English ships kept their distance and used long-range cannon (1); the Spanish relied on boarding, which the English avoided (1).
Question 50 · Spec 3.3.2 BC, Part three
What was the Act of Supremacy (1559)? [1 mark]
Answer:
It made Elizabeth Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

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Elizabethan England, c1568–1603

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