5th Parliament of Queen Elizabeth I
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The 5th Parliament of Queen Elizabeth I was summoned by
Queen Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...
on 12 October 1584 and assembled on 23 November 1584. The size of the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
had by now increased further to 460 members, compared with only 402 in her first Parliament of 1558/9. Like the 4th Parliament of 1572, Elizabeth's 5th Parliament was called in response to a Catholic conspiracy aimed at putting
Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...
on to the English throne. The Throckmorton plot, as it came to be known, was a foiled conspiracy to assassinate Queen Elizabeth and free Mary Stuart from house arrest. The plan envisaged coordinating the assassination with an invasion of England led by
Henry I, Duke of Guise Henry I, Prince of Joinville, Duke of Guise, Count of Eu (31 December 1550 – 23 December 1588), sometimes called ('Scarface'), was the eldest son of Francis, Duke of Guise, and Anna d'Este. His maternal grandparents were Ercole II d'Este, Du ...
, financed by Spain and the Pope, and a simultaneous revolt of English Roman Catholics, involving both the Jesuits and the English Cardinal Allen. Fears for the safety of Queen and country were amplified by the recent assassination of William of Orange, leader of the Dutch Protestants.
John Puckering Sir John Puckering (1544 – 30 April 1596) was a lawyer and politician who served as Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House of Commons and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal from 1592 until his death. Origins He w ...
, a sergeant-at-law, was appointed
Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...
and as in previous Parliaments Elizabeth attempted to prevent the House of Commons from engaging in debate on religious matters. After two weeks' discussion of national security issues the debate turned inexorably to a proposal to control Jesuits and seminary priests, which was challenged by Dr William Parry, MP for
Queenborough Queenborough is a town on the Isle of Sheppey in the Swale borough of Kent in South East England. Queenborough is south of Sheerness. It grew as a port near the Thames Estuary at the westward entrance to the Swale where it joins the River M ...
. Parry was an inconsistent Government spy, a double agent who had secretly converted to Roman Catholicism. He was interrogated about his motives and released, but denounced by a colleague a short time later. Confessing under further interrogation to plans to kill the Queen, he was himself hanged, drawn and quartered on 2 March 1585. Further debate on religious matters such as better observance of the Sabbath and clerical abuses was interrupted by a warning from the Queen, although the Sabbath observance bill and several other religion orientated bills passed the third reading, only to be vetoed by Elizabeth at the end of the Parliament. The usual question of supply (funds voted to the crown for the administration of the realm) was not settled until February 1585. During the session a total of 31 Statutes and 18 private measures received royal assent, including an Act to preserve timber supplies by regulating iron mills. The Parliament was then prorogued (suspended) until 14 November 1586, but dissolved in the prior September to allow a new Parliament to be urgently summoned.


Notable Acts of the Parliament

* Safety of the Queen, etc. Act 1584 *
Jesuits, etc. Act 1584 An act against Jesuits, seminary priests, and such other like disobedient persons, also known as the Jesuits, etc. Act 1584, (27 Eliz.1, c. 2) was an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of England passed during the English Reformation. The A ...
* Treason Act 1586


See also

* Acts of the 5th Parliament of Elizabeth I *
List of parliaments of England This is a list of parliaments of England from the reign of King Henry III, when the '' Curia Regis'' developed into a body known as Parliament, until the creation of the Parliament of Great Britain in 1707. For later parliaments, see the List ...


References

* {{cite web, url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/parliament/1584, title=5th Parliament of Elizabeth I, 27 Eliz. I, publisher= History of Parliament Online, access-date= 2 November 2017 1584 establishments in England 1584 in politics