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The Elizabethan System

The powers of the queen

 The English monarchy was based on the principle of the divine, or God-given, right of the monarch (king
or queen) to rule the nation. In principle, the queen was sovereign, but in practice, English kings did not
have absolute powers.
 The English King/Queen did not have enough money to pay for a national army, police force, or
bureaucracy. For these tasks the monarch depended on the country's upper classes—the nobility and
the gentry. (Nobles were a small group of elite men and women who held social titles. The gentry were
landowners of influential status, but no titles.
 Governmental institutions other than queen’s court: two houses of Parliament- The House of Lords and
the House of Commons.
 House of Lords: comprised the nobility and higher clergies. To sit in the House of Lords was a birthright;
every peer (noble holding the title of duke, marquis, earl, viscount, or baron) in England was personally
summoned to sit in the House of Lords.
 The House of Commons comprised knights, merchants, and other commoners, who were selected as
representatives by the shires, or counties, and towns of England.
 In brief, even though queen’s divine rights were accepted, practically, the administration was run by
queen and parliament.
 The Exchequer was the authority of finance and accounting.
 There was a central court system in Westminster Palace in London. Twice yearly its judges traveled to
the remote regions of England to check up on local law enforcement and administration.
 Elizabethan England had fifty-three shires. The gentry in each shire enforced the royal laws and
regulations.
 Local law and order was overseen by the country's fifteen hundred justices of the peace, who were
assisted by sheriffs, or law enforcers.
 The two most distant regions of England, Wales and the northern shires, each had their own Regional
Councils, which were powerful Crown-appointed assemblies headed by a Lord President. The royal
court, however, was the final authority over all governmental institutions in England.

archbishop:
The head bishop of a province or district.
bishop:
A clergyman with a rank higher than a priest who has the power to ordain priests and usually presides
over a district called a diocese.
bureaucracy:
Staff of administrative officials.
clergy:
Authorized religious leaders, such as priests and ministers.
coronation:
The crowning ceremony in which a monarch officially becomes king or queen.
courtier:
A person who serves or participates in the royal court or household as the king's or queen's advisor,
officer, or attendant.
dignitary:
A person of high rank or importance.
etiquette:
The conduct expected to be followed in a social or official environment.
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gentry:
Landowners who did not hold titles but were from influential families.
knight:
A man granted a rank of honor by the monarch for his personal merit or service to the country.
lady-in-waiting:
A woman in the queen's household who attends the queen.
masque:
A short drama, usually full of music and dance, that presents an allegory.
nobles:
Elite men and women who held social titles.

patronage system:
A system in which a person with a lot of power or wealth grants favors to, financially supports, enters into
contracts with, or appoints to office people who in return must promise to give their political support or
access to their artistic achievements.
peer:
A noble holding the title of duke, marquis, earl, viscount, or baron.
progress:
A royal procession, or trip, made by a monarch and a large number of his or her attendants.
retinue:
Group of attendants.
shire:
County.