the Queen; and it is said that she shook the dying Countess in her bed. Never happy since the death of Essex, she sank under this blow. Ten days and nights she lay on cushions on the floor, taking neither food nor medicine; and then, falling into a heavy sleep, she died. She was in her seventieth year.. 1603 A.D. 18. During all these years the High Commission Court, assuming inquisitorial powers, proceeded steadily with the work of enforcing uniformity. There was no true liberty in the country, either civil or religious. Elizabeth, like all the Tudor Sovereigns, treated the House of Commons very haughtily. She not only reproved members who opposed her will, but even at times committed them to prison. The Commons, at the same time, were careful to assert their privileges when a favourable opportunity arose, as if to lay the foundation of the cause which they were to defend in the subsequent reigns. Thus, in 1601, they opposed, with unusual firmness, the monopolies,1 which she had been granting during her whole reign. When the Queen saw their temper, she had the good sense to yield, and some of the monopolies complained of (though not all) were abolished. Elizabeth, however, maintained the reality of her prerogative. In a single session (that of 1597) she refused the royal assent to no fewer than forty-eight Bills which the Commons had passed. QUESTIONS.-1. What complicated ecclesiastical affairs in the time of Elizabeth? Who separated from the Church of England? What name did they receive? Why? 2. What Acts were the chief causes of the Puritan secession? What did the Act of Supremacy require? At whom was it levelled? What did the Act of Uniformity forbid? Who suffered by these laws? What name have the successors of the Puritans received? 3. What court was instituted to carry out these Acts? When did that court 1 Monopolies. The complaint of the Commons was, that the sole right of trading in indispensable articles, such as salt, coal, paper, &c., was in the hands of patentees, who were at liberty receive new powers? Who then became primate? How did he enforce the Acts? What effect had persecution on Puritanism? 4. What two continental events of this time had a special interest for England? What effect had the massacres in France and the cruelties in the Netherlands on England? 5. What offer did the Dutch make to Elizabeth in 1575? Did she accept? What did she do three years later? When did the provinces again appeal to her for help? Whom did she send to charge for them the most exorbitant prices. The Sovereign used the distribution of monopolies as a means of rewarding favourites and of bribing supporters. over with an army? Who was slain | What was the strength of the English near Zutphen? army? How was it divided? 6. Of what were the friends of Mary Stewart still hopeful? What brought matters to a crisis? Who was the chief conspirator? What was Mary's connection with it? How was the plot discovered? How many conspirators were executed? Whose trial was resolved on? 7. Where did Mary's trial take place? Before whom? Why did she consent to be tried? What was the chief evidence against her? 12. Where was the approach of the Armada announced? What plan of fighting did the English adopt? Where did the Armada anchor? Why? 13. How was the Armada attacked on the second night thereafter? What did Effingham then do? What completed the ruin of the Armada? How many vessels returned to Spain? 14. How long was Lord Burleigh Elizabeth's minister? Who succeeded him? Who was Elizabeth's favourite in middle 8. What was Mary's defence? What life? was her sentence? 9. What delayed the execution? Who interposed on Mary's behalf? What further proof of vacillation did Elizabeth give? When was Mary executed? 10. To whom had Mary transferred her interest in the English succession? On what did Philip now resolve? What were his motives? What was the fleet which he prepared called? Mention the number of ships, of soldiers, and of cannons. Who commanded the Armada? When did it sail? What army was to second the invasion? 11. What was the extent of the English Navy of that time? How was it increased? What was forgotten regarding the origin of the struggle? How was this shown? Who was the admiral ? Who served under him? 15. Who was the favourite of her old age? Where was his valour conspicuous? What anecdote shows the terms on which he was with the Queen? 16. To what command was Essex appointed in 1598? What rebellion was then in progress? Of what indiscretion was he guilty? Why was he impris oned? On what charge was he condemned? How might he have been saved? 17. Who had intercepted the ring? Why? When did she confess it? What effect had the discovery on the Queen? 18. What had been going on during all these years? How did Elizabeth treat the Commons? On what occasion did they oppose her firmly? What did she do? What shows the reality of the royal prerogative in her reign? CONTEMPORARY FOREIGN EVENTS. 1. 1572.-The marriage of the head of the Protestants, Henry of Navarre, with Margaret of Valois, was made the occasion of an attack on the Huguenots, in which 80,000 of them were massacred on St. Bartholomew's Day, and following days. Admiral Coligny, the Protestant leader, was the first to fall. Henry of Navarre was spared, but remained in custody for some years afterwards. 2. 1576.-The Huguenot power having revived, the Holy League was formed to oppose the French Protestants, and to place the Duke of Guise on the throne. The War of the Three Henries ensued:Henry III., who had succeeded his brother Charles in 1574; Henry, Duke of Guise; and Henry of Navarre. Henry III. (the last of the House of Valois) was murdered in 1589, and was succeeded by Henry of Navarre (the first of the House of Bourbon), who overthrew the League at the Battle of Ivry in 1590. 3. 1580.-Philip II. of Spain subdued Portugal, which continued subject to Spain for sixty years. Sebastian III. of Portugal had attacked the Moors in Africa in 1578, but was slain. He was succeeded by his uncle, Cardinal Henry. Philip is supposed to have encouraged the Moorish expedition in order to create a vacancy in the succession. 4. 1582.-Pope Gregory XIII. corrected the calendar by appointing every fourth year to be a leap year (of three hundred and sixty-six days) except once a century. The errors which had accumulated during the preceding centuries were corrected by dropping eleven days out of the reckoning. This "new style," as it was called, has been adopted in every country of Europe except Russia. 5. 1584.-Geneva allied itself with the Swiss cantons. The Republic of Geneva was established in 1512, independent of the Empire. The Duke of Savoy, whose dominions surrounded it, attempted to seize it in 1534, with the view of crushing Calvinism, of which it was the headquarters. With the aid of the Bernese the Savoyards were driven off, and lost a great part of their possessions on both sides of the Lake of Geneva. 6. 1598.-Henry IV. of France granted toleration to his Protestant subjects by the Edict of Nantes. Before his accession he was the champion of Protestantism; but, to conciliate the Roman Catholics, he had joined their Church. This alarmed the Protestants, to pacify whom the Edict was issued. He was murdered by Ravaillac in 1610. 7. 1598.-The royal line of Ruric (see 862) came to an end in Russia. Usurpers and impostors held the throne till 1613, when the reigning House of Romanoff began with Michael, a descendant of Ivan, the first Czar (1462). QUESTIONS.-1. What was made the occasion of the massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day? How many perished? The date?-2. Why was the Holy League formed? What war ensued? Where was the League overthrown?— 3. By whom was Portugal subdued in 1580? How long did it continue subject to Spain?-4. What made the correction of the calendar necessary? When was it effected? How? What country of Europe still adheres to the old style?-5. What was the peculiar position of Geneva at the beginning of the sixteenth century? What change took place in 1584?-6. When was the Edict of Nantes issued? Why? How did Henry IV. die?-7. What royal line came to an end in Russia in 1598? When did the House of Romanoff begin? 1. BEFORE the sixteenth century, crime was fearfully common. Even in the reign of Henry VIII. about two thousand persons were hanged every year for robbery alone. In the days of Elizabeth the number was reduced to three or four hundred a year. This remarkable change was, without doubt, owing to the diffusion of education and religion among all classes. In the fifth year of Elizabeth the first law to relieve the poor was passed. The population was then under five million; and the Queen's revenue cannot have exceeded £500,000 a year. The highest legal interest was 10 per cent. Most of the silver coins now current were in use, crowns, half-crowns, and sixpences having been issued by Edward VI. 2. The Tudor style of architecture was also called "Florid," from its profusion of ornament. Henry the Seventh's Chapel at Westminster is a good example of it. Brick and stone were generally used in the houses of the upper classes, and glass windows became common. The poor lived in hovels made of wattles plastered over with clay. The fire was in the middle of the floor, and the smoke escaped through a hole in the blackened roof. This was the case in all houses until the reign of Henry VII., when chimneys began to be built. 3. Erasmus, a famous Dutch scholar who became Professor of Greek at Oxford in the time of Henry VIII., gives no pleasant description of the floors of the poorer houses. He says: The floors are commonly of clay, strewed with rushes; under which lies unmolested an ancient collection of beer, grease, 66 fragments, bones, spittle, and everything that is nasty." To these uncleanly habits were owing the terrible plagues that fell on the people. In Elizabeth's time the majority of the houses were built of oak. 4. Then, too, many changes were made in furniture. Bedding was much improved. In early Tudor reigns, a straw pallet, a coarse sheet and rug, and a log of wood for a bolster, were commonly used. The man who slept on a pillow of chaff was thought luxurious. Servants lay on bare straw. Before Elizabeth reigned, all dishes and spoons were wooden, or, as they were called, "treen."1 But then pewter platters and silver or tin spoons came into use among farmers and people of the same class. The pewter dishes were at first flat, but were afterwards made deeper and more like basins. About the year 1580 coaches were introduced: before that time ladies rode on a pillion behind their chief servants, whom they held by the belt. 5. Hops were now first grown in England. Cabbages, cherries, gooseberries, plums, apricots, and grapes might be seen in English gardens. Wheaten bread was eaten more generally, rye and barley being the food only of the poor. Potatoes were brought by Sir Francis Drake from Santa Fé in America, and were first planted in Lancashire. They were introduced into Ireland by Sir Walter Ralegh. brought tobacco from the West India island Tobago, and taught the English its use. Beef and mutton sold in the time of Henry VIII. for a halfpenny per pound; veal and pork for three farthings. But fresh meat was not eaten even by gentlemen, except from Midsummer to Michaelmas. Ralegh also 6. The families of the nobles and gentry still dined in the great hall with all the servants. Half way down the table stood a large salt-cellar of silver or pewter. Above this sat the master, his family, and guests; below it were retainers and servants of all degrees; hence the expression, to sit above, or below, the salt. The nobles kept up princely style. The Earl of Leicester, who owned Kenilworth Castle, kept arms there for 10,000 men. There in 1576 he entertained Elizabeth for seventeen days with the most splendid feasts and shows.2 Lord 1 Treen. That is, tree-en, made of! 2 This is grandly described in Sir tree; as wood-en means made of wood. Walter Scott's romance, Kenilworth. |