3.3.4

Uprisings Against Elizabeth I

Test yourself

The Northern Rebellion

Two northern noblemen, the Earl of Westmorland and the Earl of Northumberland, led a rebellion against Elizabeth.

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Causes of rebellion

  • Elizabeth I refused to let the Duke of Norfolk marry her Catholic cousin, Mary Queen of Scots.
    • Many nobles in the north of England were Catholics and were hostile to the Protestants from the South who controlled many of affairs in the north.
  • Two northern noblemen, the Earl of Westmorland and the Earl of Northumberland, led a rebellion against Elizabeth.
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Course of rebellion

  • Elizabeth I had confiscated a lot of land from the Earl of Northumberland. She had then given this land to his principal rival in the north and a Protestant nobleman from the south.
  • In November 1569, the two Earls held an illegal Catholic mass in Durham Cathedral. 4,600 men marched with them as they headed south.
    • The loyalist Earl of Sussex raised troops against them and they dispersed.
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Consequence of rebellion

  • Elizabeth I executed Northumberland and Westmorland escaped to France. The Duke of Norfolk was imprisoned.
  • The plot had tried to maintain the northern nobles’ independence. In fact, it led to increased repression and government control in the region.
  • Henry Hastings, a Puritan, was installed as leader of the Council of the North (which helped to govern the region).

Jump to other topics

1Monarch & Government

2Religious Changes

3State Control & Popular Resistance

4Economic, Social & Cultural Change

5Historical Interpretations

5.1Significance of Threats to National Security

5.2Court Politics

5.3Elizabeth & Parliament

5.4Social Distress in the 1590s

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