Elizabethan revision resource (AQA GCSE)

The succession crisis

Marriage

Parliament and the Privy Council were keen for Elizabeth to get married as soon as possible after she became queen, especially because at 25 years old, she was old by Tudor standards to be unmarried.

More importantly, she needed to marry in order to produce an heir.

Both the Privy Council & Parliament tried to pressure her to marry.

Foreign suitors:

Philip II was the King of Spain and had married Elizabeth's sister, Mary. This had made him technically King of England as well; however, he spent very little time there and didn't get on well with Mary. He wanted to keep his title as English King so suggested to Elizabeth that they marry. Spain was a potential ally in the war against France, but Philip was a strong Catholic.

Prince Eric of Sweden - heir to the Swedish throne. Sweden was Protestant and could be an ally for England because of their shared religion however Sweden was not a major country. Elizabeth spent years negotiating with the Swedes over the potential match however she did not seem to warm to the idea of marrying him despite his Protestant faith.

Charles was Archduke of Austria and a member of the powerful Habsburg family, who dominated central Europe. The family was however fiercely Catholic and closely allied to the Papacy. One of the main sticking points was that he seemed to be unwilling to move to England. Before Elizabeth, Mary's husband, Philip, had often been absent.

English suitors:

Robert Dudley was the Earl of Leicester and the only serious English candidate for Elizabeth. The two had been close friends since childhood and she had made him a key member of her Privy Council. He was a Puritan. However, he was a rival of Elizabeth's most trusted Counsellor, William Cecil and was already married. His wife Amy was found dead at the bottom of her stairs with a broken neck. There were rumours of murder and a huge scandal.

The last suitor:

Francis, the Duke of Alencon, was the younger brother of the King of France. France was a powerful Catholic country and England's old enemy; however, such a marriage could have healed those divisions. He famously had a deformed ear however Elizabeth liked him and affectionately called him her "little frog". But many members of the public and Privy Council were opposed, as they were angered by a massacre of Protestants in France.

Elizabeth never married and by the time she was 50, she had established a reputation as the 'Virgin Queen'.

An Heir to the throne

In 1562 Elizabeth fell ill with smallpox. Doctors told Cecil that the Queen would not survive.

Though she survived, parliament and the council (which was split on the succession issue) were worried about the lack of an heir to take over should Elizabeth die. They asked her to marry or nominate someone as her heir. She refused to do either.

Elizabeth had 3 cousins who could be her heir

Lady Catherine and Lady Mary Grey were both Protestants and seen as potential heirs. They were not permitted to marry without the Queen's permission. 

In December 1560, however, Catherine Grey had secretly married Edward Seymour, the eldest son of the Protector Somerset, and had fallen pregnant. A furious Elizabeth imprisoned her in the Tower of London, where she starved herself to death.

Mary also married without Elizabeth's permission and was placed under house arrest, dying childless a little over a decade later.

Mary, Queen of Scots had a stronger claim to the throne than the Greys. However, she was a controversial claimant, having been brought up in France and being a devout Catholic. Much to the anger of Elizabeth, Mary also married without her permission. Mary strengthened her already strong claim by marrying her cousin, Lord Darnley, and uniting two Stuart claims for any children they might have.

James VI of Scotland (born to Mary Queen of Scots in 1566) became later in Elizabeth's reign the most likely successor. This was due to the fact he was the closest descendant (Being related through Henry VII who was Elizabeth's grandfather, (Father of Henry VIII).

Resolution:

The succession crisis resolved itself due to the deaths of the most eligible contenders

This left MQS's son, James VI, King of Scotland, as the most obvious claimant to the throne.

Despite Elizabeth never confirming him as her heir, she did send him teasing letters hinting that he might succeed her

Despite the issue of the succession dominating her whole reign and causing considerable worry, when she died in March 1603 the transition was smooth thanks to the work of Robert Cecil.

From 1601 onwards Cecil had been secretly corresponding with James in order to prepare for life after Elizabeth, ensuring that the Tudor Dynasty gave way to the Stuarts smoothly and calmly.