Question Format and Expectations

This page outlines the format of the exam questions and what is expected from students in their answers.

The questions follow a consistent structure:

• "How convincing...?" or "How far do you agree?"
• All questions are worth 8 marks
• Students are required to explain their answers using contextual knowledge

Example: A typical question might be: "How convincing is interpretation C about the reasons why Elizabeth did not get married?"

Highlight: The emphasis on using contextual knowledge indicates that students are expected to draw upon their broader understanding of Elizabethan history to support their arguments.

Sample Interpretations on Elizabeth's Marriage

This page presents two sample interpretations related to Elizabeth I's decision not to marry.

Interpretation C, written by historian Hugh Oakeley Arnold-Forster in 1898, discusses the potential problems of Elizabeth marrying either a foreigner or an Englishman. It highlights the political complexities and risks associated with the queen's marriage.

Quote: "If he were a foreigner there was no knowing what power he might get over the queen, power which he would very likely use for the good of a foreign country, and not for the good England."

Another interpretation from J. Hurstfield's "Elizabeth and the Unity of England" (1960) suggests that Elizabeth's reluctance to marry was due to her unwillingness to share or renounce power.

Quote: "Marriage and motherhood would deprive her temporarily - perhaps permanently of the authority and power to rule. To share power she would hate. To renounce it she would find intolerable."

These interpretations provide students with contrasting views on Elizabeth's motivations for remaining unmarried, encouraging critical analysis of historical perspectives.

Interpretations on Elizabethan Theatre

This page focuses on interpretations of Elizabethan theatre and its audience.

Interpretation B, adapted from "The Facts about Shakespeare" (1913), presents a rather critical view of Elizabethan theatre-goers:

Quote: "These people who watched with joy the cruel torment of a bear or the execution of a Catholic also delighted in the romantic comedies of Shakespeare. These people were so appallingly gullible and ignorant, so brutal and childish compared with Englishmen of today, yet they set the standard of national greatness."

This interpretation challenges students to consider the complexity of Elizabethan society, where apparent contradictions existed between brutality and appreciation for high art.

The page also includes a visual interpretation (Interpretation A) showing a drawing of a performance in an Elizabethan theatre, providing a visual context for students to analyze.

Highlight: These contrasting interpretations of Elizabethan theatre encourage students to think critically about the nature of historical evidence and the evolution of societal norms.

Poverty in Elizabethan England

This page presents an interpretation about the causes of poverty in Elizabethan England.

Interpretation B, from the Spartacus Educational website, highlights several factors contributing to poverty:

1. Unemployment due to changes in agricultural practices
2. The closure of monasteries in the 1530s
3. The illegality of leaving villages to seek work

Quote: "Unemployment was a major cause of poverty. When large landowners changed from arable to sheep farming, unemployment increased rapidly."

Vocabulary: Vagabonds - people who left their villages illegally in search of work.

This interpretation provides students with a multi-faceted view of the economic and social challenges faced by the poor in Elizabethan England.

Elizabeth's Religious Policy

This page focuses on Elizabeth's approach to religion in the first ten years of her reign.

Interpretation D, adapted from the Royal Museums Greenwich website, describes Elizabeth's aims when she became queen:

Quote: "The message was very clear: that they were all, including Elizabeth, members of the same team, working together for a common goal - that of a united, prosperous England. Extremes were to be avoided in order to unite, not divide."

This interpretation emphasizes Elizabeth's desire for unity and her deliberate distancing from the unpopular policies of her predecessor, Mary.

Highlight: This interpretation provides insight into Elizabeth's political strategy and her approach to the religious divisions of the time.

Threats to Queen Elizabeth I

This page presents an interpretation about the threats faced by Queen Elizabeth I during her reign.

Interpretation A, from "The Life and Times of Elizabeth I" by Neville Williams (1972), discusses various plots against Elizabeth:

Quote: "There were other plots against Elizabeth's life in later years. However the revelations of the Ridolfi conspiracy, coming so soon after the Northern Rebellion, alarmed her most. That her own cousin, the Duke of Norfolk, should have plotted her downfall was the cruellest blow she had yet suffered."

Vocabulary: Ridolfi conspiracy - a plot in 1571 to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots.

This interpretation highlights the personal nature of some threats to Elizabeth and the impact they had on her.

Sir Walter Raleigh's Career

This page includes a visual interpretation (Interpretation A) of Sir Walter Raleigh's career, specifically depicting his dismissal from court. The image is described as being drawn for a children's story book in the 1960s.

Highlight: This visual interpretation challenges students to consider how historical figures are portrayed in different contexts and for different audiences.

Elizabeth's Early Life

This page presents an interpretation about Elizabeth's early life before becoming queen.

Interpretation A, from "Elizabeth I" by W. MacCaffrey (1993), states:

Quote: "Elizabeth's experience was very limited. Her life had been led almost exclusively in the seclusion of country houses, with only an occasional short visit to the Court."

This interpretation suggests that Elizabeth had limited exposure to court life and governance before ascending to the throne, which could have influenced her early reign.

The Elizabethan Poor Law

This page focuses on the effectiveness of the Elizabethan Poor Law.

Interpretation B, from "England and Wales under the Tudors" by Sinclair Atkins (1975), provides a critical view of the law's implementation:

Quote: "[The] Tudor poor law was more impressive on paper than in fact. Careful study of parish accounts for Elizabeth's reign has shown that a poor rate was levied only in times of dire emergency... It was private charity that bore almost the entire burden of poor relief right down to 1660..."

Highlight: This interpretation challenges the effectiveness of the Poor Law, suggesting that it was not consistently enforced and that private charity played a more significant role in poor relief.

Sir Francis Drake

The final page begins to discuss Sir Francis Drake, a key figure in Elizabethan England.

Interpretation A, from "Drake's Voyages" by K.R. Andrews (1967), describes Drake's significance:

Quote: "[Drake] provided in his person a hero-figure upon which public imagination could focus. His remarkable achie..."

Highlight: This interpretation suggests Drake's importance as a national hero during Elizabeth's reign, though the quote is incomplete in the provided transcript.