She was called Gloriana. The Virgin Queen. Elizabeth created a propaganda image of herself embodying English victories and English power which has endured into the 21st century. But what was the reality of her reign? This course will seek to explore the life and times of this extraordinary woman and, in the process, uncover something of the truth behind the mask. We will explore such topics as her troubled and often dangerous youth, her policies as Queen where she was a woman in a man's world, as well as looking at some of the famous events and personalities of her reign.
Course Dates
Course details
Tutors
Key Features
Aims of the course
- To provide a narrative of the life and times of Elizabeth I.
- To introduce the key personalities and events in her life and reign and their significance.
- To consider some aspects of the social and cultural life of Elizabethan England.
Course content overview
This course aims to provide a comprehensive introduction to the general narrative of the period 1533-1603, focusing upon the life and reign of Elizabeth I. The course will examine the personalities involved, religious, social and cultural history, the war with Spain and the Armada as well as discussing some of the long-term consequences of the reign.
Welcome week (Week 0)
Purpose:
- personal introductions
- introducing the course
- useful reading
- personal objectives
Learning outcomes
- By studying this week, the students should have:
- become familiar with navigating around the Virtual Learning environment (VLE) and from VLE to links and back
- tested their ability to access files and the web conferencing software and sorted out any problems with the help of the eLearning team
- learnt how to look for, assess and reference internet resources
- used Quickmail to introduce themselves to other students
- contributed to a discussion forum to introduce themselves to other students and discuss why they are interested in the course, what they hope to get out of their studies and also to respond to news items sent out on behalf of tutor
Week 1: Elizabeth: Princess, bastard and Queen, 1533 - 1558
Purpose:
To study the life of Elizabeth Tudor from her birth in 1533 to her accession in 1558, this will include:
- the exploration of her changing status from being heir presumptive, to being declared illegitimate after the fall of her mother, Anne Boleyn
- Elizabeth’s education
- Elizabeth’s religion
- her relationship with her half-brother Edward VI
- her relationship with her half-sister Mary and the dangers she faced as a focus for opposition to Mary
- her accession to the throne
Learning outcomes:
By studying this week, the students should have:
- understood something of Elizabeth’s upbringing and its affects upon her personality
- how she survived the reign of her half-sister Mary
- the manner of her accession
Week 2: A woman in a man’s world – Elizabeth and her rule
Purpose:
This week will concentrate on how Elizabeth established and maintained her rule – as a woman in a man’s world – for over forty years. We will look at her relationships with her leading ministers, her Parliaments and the Church. We will consider why she never married and how she used her sex to win the allegiance of her leading male subjects, an important aspect of this being the propagation of the cult of ‘Gloriana’ and the strict control of the Queen’s image.
Learning outcomes:
By studying this week, the students should have:
- considered how Elizabeth worked with her ministers, Parliaments and leading subjects
- considered why Elizabeth never married
- some understanding of the significance of the ‘cult’ of the Queen
- some understanding of the significance of such figures as Burghley, Walsingham, Leicester, etc.
Week 3: The Elizabethan Religious Settlement – Anglicans, Puritans and Catholics
Purpose:
When Elizabeth came to the throne England had experienced over 30 years of religious upheaval. Elizabeth rejected the Catholicism of her predecessor, Mary, and reasserted the Royal Supremacy. However, she also aimed to defuse religious tensions by creating an Anglican Church wide enough to comprehend most of her subjects. We will look at the successes and failures of this policy, in particular, the threats to it from, on the one hand, the Puritans and on the other, the Roman Catholics.
Learning outcomes:
By studying this week, the students should have:
- some understanding of Elizabeth’s religious views
- some understanding of the Elizabethan Religious Settlement and the Anglican compromise
- some insight into the views and actions of those who contested the religious settlement – Puritans and Roman Catholics
- understood the link between religious allegiance in England and politics abroad
Week 4: Religion, Spain and the Armada
Purpose:
From 1570, when Elizabeth was excommunicated by the Pope, English Catholics were increasingly seen as a treasonous fifth column within the realm, working for the Papacy and the great Catholic power of Spain. This week will explore the threat to Elizabeth’s rule and person posed by Catholic powers abroad and the danger of Catholic plots and rebellion at home. We will consider the place of Mary, Queen of Scots, the significance of the Jesuit missions, and whether English Catholics were ever a real threat to the regime and the events surrounding the Spanish Armada of 1588.
Learning outcomes:
By studying this week, the students should have:
- some understanding of the place of English Catholics under Elizabeth and the significance of the Jesuit missions
- some understanding of the life and significance of Mary, Queen of Scots
- understood the narrative of the Spanish Armada
- considered the place of the ‘sea dogs’ – Drake, Raleigh, Frobisher, etc. The contest with Spain before 1588 and its significance for the birth of English seapower and empire.
Week 5: The Elizabethan Age
Purpose:
In art, architecture and literature the Elizabethan Age is one of the most significant in English history. This week will concentrate on looking at something of that legacy, from the ‘prodigy’ houses of the aristocracy to the early plays of William Shakespeare. We will end the course with a consideration of the last years of Elizabeth and the accession of James VI of Scotland as James I of England in 1603.
Learning outcomes:
By studying this week, the students should have:
- some appreciation of developments in the arts, architecture and literature
- some understanding of why this period should have been so culturally fertile
- some insight into the way people lived and worked
- some insight into the ‘mental world’ of the age
- some understanding of why the Stuarts succeeded the Tudors in 1603
Week 6: what next?
- assessment of student learning
- assessment of student satisfaction
- encouragement of further study
This course is open to everyone, and you don’t need any previous knowledge or experience of the subject to attend.
Our short courses are designed especially for adult learners who want to advance their personal or professional development. They are taught by tutors who are expert in both their subjects and in teaching students of all ages and experiences.
Please note that all teaching is in English. You should have near-native command of the English language to get the maximum benefit from the course.
Each week of an online course is roughly equivalent to 2-3 hours of classroom time. On top of this, participants should expect to spend roughly 2-3 hours of self-study time, for example, reading materials, although this will vary from person to person.
While they have a specific start and end date and will follow a weekly schedule (for example, week 1 will cover topic A, week 2 will cover topic B), our tutor-led online courses are designed to be flexible and as such would normally not require participants to be online for a specific day of the week or time of the day (although some tutors may try to schedule times where participants can be online together for web seminars, which will be recorded so that those who are unable to be online at certain times are able to access material).
Unless otherwise stated, all course material will be posted on the VLE so that they can be accessed at any time throughout the duration of the course and interaction with your tutor and fellow participants will take place through a variety of different ways which will allow for both synchronous and asynchronous learning (using discussion boards etc).
Fees
The course fee includes access to the course on our VLE, personal feedback on your work from an expert tutor, a certificate of participation (if you complete work and take part in discussions), and access to the class resources for two years after your course finishes.
Concessions
For more information, please see our concessions information page.
Alison Fordham Bursary
University of Cambridge Professional and Continuing Education is proud to offer the Alison Fordham bursary, which is awarded to students who wish to study on one of our short online courses via our VLE, reducing the fee paid by 50%. The bursary is limited to a single award for each set of online courses.
Application criteria:
- applicants should set out their personal learning motivations since priority will be given to those who are returning to learning after an extended break, or have not previously engaged with fully online learning, or are seeking to use the online short course as a bridge towards undergraduate award-bearing study
- applicants who can demonstrate financial need
For more information, please see our bursaries information page.
A certificate of participation and a digital credential will be awarded to those who contribute constructively to weekly discussions, exercises and assignments for the duration of the course.
