The Privy Council Under Elizabeth Ⅰ (1558-1603)

After she ascended the throne, Elizabeth's first task was the creation of an administration centred on the Privy Council. She reverted to the small Privy Council and recruited experienced administrators instead of magnates and ecclesiastics. The Elizabethan Privy Council became an increasingly professional administrative body as the reign progressed.The privy councilors exercised three basic functions: they advised the monarch on matters of policy, handled day-to-day administration, and acted as judicial boards for cases of various types. On matters of policy, Council members met to discuss an issue, formulate a consensus, and then offer their best advice to the queen, who then set the policy for the Council to implement. Elizabeth often rejected the councilors' advice, however, the councilors always tried to manipulate her into receiving them. Elizabeth took their advices about the negotiation of her marriage with Alenson and English military action in the Netherlands. The essay argues that the Privy Council had an effective influence on Elizabeth's thinking.Significant increase in the Privy Council's workload strengthened its administrative power. The Council was preoccupied with the routine task of managing the country: the supervision of local officials, the consideration of private suits and the maintenance of various government bodies and help judge judicial matters. Gradually the Privy Council developed into a supreme administrative machinery.Confronted with the pressures of the Privy Council, Elizabeth managed tokeep her own policy going despite majority opposition. For example, she attended the meetings in the Council and expounded her idea in order to hold down the objection. Later, Elizabeth achieved the same end by insulating herself from her Council. She consulted her councilors individually, and took the views of informed men outside the Council.Before the 1590s, the policy differences within the Privy Council were not sufficient to threaten the consensus. However, the specter of true factionalism between Essex and Robert Cecil could be discerned during the 1590s. As a result, the balance in the Council was tilted, and Robert Cecil was able to dominate the Court.