Privy Council

The Privy Council was a body of advisors to Queen Elizabeth of England. Depending on circumstance and political fortunes, the size and make-up of the council varied over the thirty years between Elizabeth's coronation and her deposition at the hands of Spain after the Spanish Armada conquered England. The one constant on the Council throughout that period was Sir William Cecil.

When the Spanish conquered England, the Privy Council was decimated; those ministers who failed to escape England and find asylum in one of the Protestant countries of Europe were executed by the Spaniards. However, Spain's King Philip II decreed that Cecil would be allowed to live in England unmolested. Cecil used this protection to plan a revolt against Spanish-backed Queen Isabella and her husband, King Albert Hapsburg.

Following the success of this uprising (which was led by the by then-deceased Cecil's son, Robert) the Privy Council could not be immediately reassembled. Elizabeth appointed Robert Cecil her Secretary of State, and he became her lone important advisor.