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15 <Metadata name="Content">biography of Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) by Edward Spencer Beesly, 1892</Metadata>
16 <Metadata name="Page_topic">biography of Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) by Edward Spencer Beesly, 1892</Metadata>
17 <Metadata name="Author">Marilee Mongello</Metadata>
18 <Metadata name="Title">Secondary Sources: Queen Elizabeth by Edward Spencer Beesly, 1892: Chapter VI</Metadata>
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35
36&lt;table border=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;3&quot; width=&quot;100%&quot; height=&quot;667&quot;&gt;
37 &lt;tr&gt;
38 &lt;td width=&quot;25%&quot; height=&quot;29&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
39 &lt;td valign=&quot;top&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot; height=&quot;29&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;
40 &lt;td width=&quot;25%&quot; height=&quot;29&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
41 &lt;/tr&gt;
42 &lt;tr&gt;
43 &lt;td width=&quot;25%&quot; height=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
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46 &lt;/tr&gt;
47 &lt;tr&gt;
48 &lt;td width=&quot;25%&quot; height=&quot;610&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
49 &lt;td valign=&quot;top&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot; height=&quot;610&quot;&gt;
50 &lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;7&quot;&gt;Queen Elizabeth&lt;br&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/b&gt;
51 &lt;font size=&quot;4&quot;&gt;by Edward Spencer Beesly, 1892&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
52 &lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;
53 &lt;img border=&quot;2&quot; src=&quot;_httpdocimg_/eliz1-ermine.jpg&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; height=&quot;478&quot; alt=&quot;'The Ermine Portrait' of Elizabeth I, c1585, by Nicholas Hilliard&quot;&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;
54 &lt;i&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;2&quot;&gt;'The Ermine Portrait' of Elizabeth I, c1585, by Nicholas
55 Hilliard;&lt;br&gt;from the &lt;a href=&quot;_httpextlink_&amp;amp;rl=0&amp;amp;href=http:%2f%2fwww.marileecody.com%2feliz1-images.html&quot;&gt;Portraits of Queen Elizabeth I&lt;/a&gt; website&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
56 &lt;td width=&quot;25%&quot; height=&quot;610&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
57 &lt;/tr&gt;
58&lt;/table&gt;
59&lt;blockquote&gt;
60 &lt;blockquote&gt;
61 &lt;font style=&quot;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif&quot;&gt;
62 &lt;font style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman&quot;&gt;
63 &lt;div align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;
64 &lt;b&gt;CHAPTER VI&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
65 &lt;b&gt;FOREIGN AFFAIRS : 1572-1583&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
66 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;THE year 1572 witnessed two events of capital
67 importance in European history: the rising in the Netherlands, which
68 resulted in the establishment of the Dutch Republic (April); and the
69 massacre of St. Bartholomew, which marked the decisive rejection of
70 Protestantism by France (August). &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
71 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;In the beginning of that year--a few weeks
72 before the proceedings in Parliament just narrated--Elizabeth had at last
73 concluded the defensive alliance with France for which she had been so long
74 negotiating (19 April). It cannot be too often repeated that this was the
75 corner-stone of her foreign policy. For the sake of its superior importance
76 she had abstained from the interference in Scotland which her Ministers were
77 always urging. The more she interfered there the more she would have to
78 interfere, till it would end in her having a rebellious province on her
79 hands in addition to the hostility of both France and Spain; whereas an
80 alliance with France would give her security on all sides, Scotland
81 included. In the treaty it was agreed that if either country were invaded
82 &amp;quot;under any pretence or cause, none excepted,&amp;quot; the other should send 6000
83 troops to its assistance. This was accompanied with an explanation, in the
84 King's handwriting, that &amp;quot;any cause &amp;quot; included religion. The article
85 relating to Scotland is not less significant. The two sovereigns &amp;quot;shall make
86 no innovations in Scotland, but defend it against foreigners, not suffering
87 strangers to enter, or foment the factions in Scotland; but it shall be
88 lawful for the Queen of England to chastise by arms the Scots who shall
89 countenance the English rebels now in Scotland.&amp;quot; Mary was not mentioned.
90 France therefore tacitly renounced her cause. Immediately after the
91 conclusion of the treaty Charles IX. formally proposed a marriage between
92 Elizabeth and his youngest brother, Alençon. This proposal she managed to
93 encourage and elude for eleven years. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
94 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;It was just at this moment that the seizure
95 of Brill by some Dutch rovers, who had taken refuge on the sea from the
96 cruelty of Alva, caused most of the towns of Holland and Zealand to blaze
97 into rebellion (1 April). Thus began the great war of liberation, which was
98 to last thirty-seven years. The Protestant party in England hailed the
99 revolt with enthusiasm. Large subscriptions were made to assist it, and
100 volunteers poured across to take part in the struggle. Charles IX. and his
101 mother, full of schemes of conquest in the Netherlands, urged Elizabeth to
102 join them in a war against Philip. But, with a sagacity and self-restraint
103 which do her infinite honour, she refused to be drawn beyond the lines laid
104 down in the recent defensive alliance. Security, economy, fructification of
105 the tax-payers' money in the tax-payers' pocket--such were the guiding
106 principles of her policy. She was not to be dragged into dangerous
107 enterprises either ambitious or Quixotic. Schemes for the partition of the
108 Netherlands were laid before her. Zealand, it was said, would indemnify her
109 for Calais. What Englishman with any common sense does not now see that she
110 was right to reject the bribe? &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
111 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;To Elizabeth no rebellion against a
112 legitimate sovereign could be welcome in itself. Since Philip was so
113 possessed by religious bigotry as to be dangerous to all Protestant States,
114 she was not sorry that he should wear out his crusading ardour in the
115 Netherlands; and she was ready to give just as much assistance to the Dutch,
116 in an underhand way, as would keep him fully occupied without bringing a
117 declaration of war upon herself. But she would have vastly preferred that he
118 should repress Catholic and Protestant fanatics alike, and get along quietly
119 with the mass of his subjects as his father had done before him. Charles IX.
120 was eager to strike in if she would join him. Those who blame her so
121 severely for her refusal seem to forget that a French conquest of the
122 Netherlands would have been far more dangerous to this country than their
123 possession by Spain. To keep them out of French hands has indeed been the
124 traditional policy of England during the whole of modern history. &lt;/font&gt;
125 &lt;/p&gt;
126 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;But, it is said, such a war would have
127 clinched the alliance recently patched up between the French court and the
128 Huguenots; there would have been no Bartholomew Massacre; &amp;quot;on Elizabeth
129 depended at that moment whether the French Government would take its place
130 once for all on the side of the Reformation.&amp;quot; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
131 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Whether it would have been for the advantage
132 of European progress in the long-run that France should settle down into
133 Calvinism, I will forbear to inquire. Fortunately for the immediate
134 interests of England, Elizabeth understood the situation in France better
135 than some of her critics do, even with the results before their eyes. The
136 Huguenots were but a small fraction of the nation. Whatever importance they
137 possessed they derived from their rank, their turbulence, and the ambition
138 of their leaders. In a few towns of the south and south-west they formed a
139 majority of the population. But everywhere else they were mostly noblemen,
140 full of the arrogance and reckless valour of their class, anything but
141 puritans in their morals, and ready to destroy the unity of the kingdom for
142 political no less than for religious objects. They had been losing ground
143 for several years. The mass of the people abhorred their doctrines, and
144 protested against any concession to their pretensions. Charles and his
145 mother were absolutely careless about religion. Their feud with the Guises
146 and their designs on the Netherlands had led them to invite the Huguenot
147 chiefs to court, and so to give them a momentary influence in shaping the
148 policy of France. It was with nothing more solid to lean on than this
149 ricketty and short-lived combination that Burghley and Walsingham were eager
150 to launch England into a war with the most powerful monarchy in Europe.
151 &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
152 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The massacre of St. Bartholomew (24 August)
153 was a rude awakening from these dreams. That thunderclap did not show that,
154 in signing the treaty with England and in proposing an attack on Philip, the
155 French Government had been playing a treacherous game all along, in order to
156 lure the Huguenots to the shambles. But it did show that when the Catholic
157 sentiment in France was thoroughly roused, the dynasty itself must bend
158 before it or be swept away. England might help the Huguenots to keep up a
159 desultory and harassing civil war; she could no more enable them to control
160 the policy of the French nation and wield its force, than she could at the
161 present day restore the Bourbons or Bonapartes. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
162 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The first idea of Elizabeth and her
163 ministers, on receiving the news of the massacre, naturally was that the
164 French Government had been playing them false from the first, that the
165 Catholic League for the extirpation of heresy in Europe, which had been so
166 much talked of since the Bayonne interview in 1565, was after all a reality,
167 and that England might expect an attack from the combined forces of Spain
168 and France. Thanks to the prudent policy of Elizabeth, England was in a far
169 better position to meet all dangers than she had been in 1565. The fleet was
170 brought round to the Downs. The coast was guarded by militia. An expedition
171 was organised to co-operate with the Dutch insurgents. Money was sent to the
172 Prince of Orange. Huguenot refugees were allowed to fit out a flotilla to
173 assist their co-religionists in Rochelle. The Scotch Regent Mar was
174 informed, with great secrecy, that if he would demand the extradition of
175 Mary, and undertake to punish her capitally for her husband's murder, she
176 should be given up to him. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
177 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;A few weeks sufficed to show that there was
178 no reason for panic. Confidence, indeed, between the French and English
179 Governments had been severely shaken. Each stood suspiciously on its guard.
180 But the alliance was too well grounded in the interests of both parties to
181 be lightly cast aside. The French ambassador was instructed to excuse and
182 deplore the massacre as best he could, and to press on the Alençon marriage.
183 Elizabeth, dressed in deep mourning, gave him a stiff reception, but let him
184 see her desire to maintain the alliance. The massacre did not restore the
185 ascendancy of the Guises. To the Huguenots, as religious reformers, it gave
186 a blow from which they did not recover. But as a political faction they were
187 not crushed. Nay, their very weakness became their salvation, since it
188 compelled them to fall into the second rank behind the &lt;i&gt;Politiques&lt;/i&gt;,
189 the true party of progress, who were before long to find a victorious leader
190 in Henry of Navarre. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
191 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Philip, for his part, was equally far from
192 any thought of a crusade against England. Sir Humphrey Gilbert, commanding
193 several companies of English volunteers, with the hardly concealed sanction
194 of his government, was fighting against the Spaniards in Walcheren and
195 hanging all his prisoners. Sir John Hawkins, with twenty ships, had sailed
196 to intercept the Mexican treasure fleet. Yet Alva, though gnashing his
197 teeth, was obliged to advise his master to swallow it all, and to be
198 thankful if he could get Elizabeth to reopen commercial intercourse, which
199 had been prohibited on both sides since the quarrel about the Genoese
200 treasure. A treaty for this purpose was in fact concluded early in 1573.
201 Thus the chief result of the Bartholomew Massacre, as far as Elizabeth was
202 concerned, was to show how strong her position was, and that she had no need
203 either to truckle to Catholics or let her hand be forced by Protestants. A
204 balance of power on the Continent was what suited her, as it has generally
205 suited this country. Let her critics say what they will, it was no business
206 of hers to organise a Protestant league, and so drive the Catholic
207 sovereigns to sink their mutual jealousies and combine against the common
208 enemy. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
209 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The Scotch Regent was quite ready to
210 undertake the punishment of Mary, but only on condition that Elizabeth would
211 send the Earl of Bedford or the Earl of Huntingdon with an army to be
212 present at the execution and to take Edinburgh Castle. It need hardly be
213 said that there was also a demand for money. Mar died during the
214 negotiations, but they were continued by his successor Morton. Elizabeth was
215 determined to give no open consent to Mary's execution. She meant, no doubt,
216 as soon as it should be over, to protest, as she did fifteen years
217 afterwards, that there had been an unfortunate mistake, and to lay the blame
218 of it on the Scotch Government and her own agents. This part of the
219 negotiation therefore came to nothing. But money was sent to Morton, which
220 enabled him to establish a blockade of Edinburgh Castle, and by the
221 mediation of Elizabeth's ambassador, the Hamiltons, Gordons, and all the
222 other Marians except those in the Castle, accepted the very favourable terms
223 offered them, and recognised James. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
224 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;All that remained was to reduce the Castle.
225 Its defenders numbered less than two hundred men. The city and the
226 surrounding country were--as far as preaching and praying went--vehemently
227 anti-Marian. The Regent had now no other military task on his hands.
228 Elizabeth might well complain when she was told that unless she sent an army
229 and paid the Scotch Protestants to co-operate with it, the Castle could not
230 be taken. For some time she resisted this thoroughly Scotch demand. But at
231 last she yielded to Morton's importunity. Sir William Drury marched in from
232 Berwick, did the job, and marched back again (May 1573). Among the captives
233 were the brilliant Maitland of Lethington, once the most active of
234 Anglophiles, and Kirkaldy of Grange, who had begun the Scottish Reformation
235 by the murder of Cardinal Beaton, and had taken Mary prisoner at Carberry
236 Hill. A politician who did not turn his coat at least once in his life was a
237 rare bird in Scotland. Maitland died a few days after his capture, probably
238 by his own hand. Kirkaldy was hanged by his old friend Morton. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
239 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;By taking Edinburgh Castle Elizabeth did not
240 earn any gratitude from the party who had called her in. What they wanted,
241 and always would want, was money. Morton himself, treading in the steps of
242 his old leader Moray, remained an unswerving Anglophile. But his coadjutors
243 told the English ambassador plainly that, if they could not get money from
244 England, they could and would earn it from France. Elizabeth's councillors
245 were always teasing her to comply with these impudent demands. If there had
246 been a grown-up King on the throne, a man with a will of his own, and whose
247 right to govern could not be contested, it might have been worth while to
248 secure his good-will by a pension; and this was what Elizabeth did when
249 James became real ruler of the country. But she did not believe in paying a
250 clique of greedy lords to call themselves the English party. An English
251 party there was sure to be, if only because there was a French party. Their
252 services would be neither greater nor smaller whether they were paid or
253 unpaid. The French poured money into Scotland, and were worse served than
254 Elizabeth, who kept her money in her treasury. It was no fault of Elizabeth
255 if the conditions of political life in Scotland during the King's minority
256 were such that a firmly established government was in the nature of things
257 impossible. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
258 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;As Mary was kept in strict seclusion during
259 the panic that followed on the Bartholomew Massacre, she did not know how
260 narrow was her escape from a shameful death on a Scottish scaffold. When the
261 panic subsided she was allowed to resume her former manner of life as the
262 honoured guest of Lord Shrewsbury, with full opportunities for communication
263 with all her friends at home and abroad. Any alarm she had felt speedily
264 disappeared. If Elizabeth had for a moment contemplated striking at her life
265 or title by parliamentary procedure, that intention was evidently abandoned
266 when the Parliament of 1572 was prorogued without any such measure becoming
267 law. The public assumed, and rightly, that Elizabeth still regarded the
268 Scottish Queen as her successor. Peter Wentworth in the next session (1576)
269 asserted, and probably with truth, that many who had been loud in their
270 demands for severity repented of their forwardness when they found that Mary
271 might yet be their Queen, and tried to make their peace with her.
272 Wentworth's outburst (for which he was sent to the Tower) was the only
273 demonstration against Mary in that session. She told the Archbishop of
274 Glasgow that her prospects had never been better, and when opportunities for
275 secret escape were offered her she declined to use them, thinking that it
276 was for her interest to remain in England. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
277 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The desire of the English Queen to reinstate
278 her rival arose principally from an uneasy consciousness that, by detaining
279 her in custody, she was fatally impairing that religious respect for
280 sovereigns which was the main, if not the only, basis of their power. The
281 scaffold of Fotheringay was, in truth, the prelude to the scaffold of
282 Whitehall. But as year succeeded year, and Elizabeth became habituated to
283 the situation which had at first given her such qualms, she could not shut
284 her eyes to the fact that, troublesome and even dangerous as Mary's presence
285 in England was, the trouble and the danger had been very much greater when
286 she was seated on the Scottish throne. The seething caldron of Scotch
287 politics had not, indeed, become a negligible quantity. It required
288 watching. But experience had shown that, while the King was a child, the
289 Scots were neither valuable as friends nor formidable as foes. This was a
290 truth quite as well understood at Paris and Madrid as at London, though the
291 French, no less keen in those days than they are now to maintain that
292 shadowy thing called &amp;quot;legitimate French influence&amp;quot; in countries with which
293 they had any historical connection, continued to intrigue and waste their
294 money among the hungry Scotch nobles. It was a fixed principle with
295 Elizabeth, as with all English statesmen, not to tolerate the presence of
296 foreign troops in Scotland. But she believed--and her belief was justified
297 by events-that a French expedition was not the easy matter it had been when
298 Mary of Guise was Regent of Scotland and Mary Tudor Queen of England. And,
299 more important still, in spite of much treachery and distrust, the French
300 and English Governments were bound together by a treaty which was equally
301 necessary to each of them. Scotland, therefore, was no longer such a cause
302 of anxiety to Elizabeth as it had been during the first ten years of her
303 reign. Her ministers had neither her coolness nor her insight. Yet modern
304 historians, proud of having unearthed their croaking criticisms, ask us to
305 judge Elizabeth's policy by prognostications which turned out to be false
306 rather than by the known results which so brilliantly justified it. &lt;/font&gt;
307 &lt;/p&gt;
308 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;How to deal with the Netherlands was a much
309 more complicated and difficult problem. Here again Elizabeth's ministers
310 were for carrying matters with a high hand. In their view, England was in
311 constant danger of a Spanish invasion, which could only be averted by openly
312 and vigorously supporting the revolted provinces. They would have had
313 Elizabeth place herself at the head of a Protestant league, and dare the
314 worst that Philip could do. She, on the other hand, believed that every year
315 war could be delayed was so much &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
316 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;gained for England. There were many ways in
317 which she could aid the Netherlands without openly challenging Philip. A
318 curious theory of international relations prevailed in those days--an
319 English Prime Minister, by the way, found it convenient not long ago to
320 revive it--according to which, to carry on warlike operations against
321 another country was a very different thing from going to war with that
322 country. Of this theory Elizabeth largely availed herself. English generals
323 were not only allowed, but encouraged, to raise regiments of volunteers to
324 serve in the Low Countries. When there, they reported to the English
325 Government, and received instructions from it with hardly a pretence of
326 concealment. Money was openly furnished to the Prince of Orange. English
327 fleets-also nominally of volunteers--were encouraged to prey on Spanish
328 commerce, Elizabeth herself subscribing to their outfit and sharing in the
329 booty. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
330 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;We are not to suppose, because the revolt of
331 the Netherlands crippled Philip for any attack on England, that Elizabeth
332 welcomed it, or that she contemplated the prolongation of the struggle with
333 cold-blooded satisfaction. Its immediate advantage to this country was
334 obvious. But Elizabeth had a sincere abhorrence of war and disorder. She was
335 equally provoked with Philip for persecuting the Dutch Protestants into
336 rebellion, and with the Dutch for insisting on religious concessions which
337 Philip could not be expected to grant, and which she herself was not
338 granting to Catholics in England. At any time during the struggle, if Philip
339 would have guaranteed liberty of conscience (as distinguished from liberty
340 of public worship), the restoration of the old charters, and the removal of
341 the Spanish troops, Elizabeth would not only have withheld all help from the
342 Dutch, but would have put pressure on them to submit to Philip. The presence
343 of Spanish veterans opposite the mouth of the Thames was a standing menace
344 to England. &amp;quot;As they are there,&amp;quot; argued Burghley, we must help the Dutch to
345 keep them employed. &amp;quot;If the Dutch were not such impracticable fanatics,&amp;quot;
346 rejoined Elizabeth, &amp;quot;the Spanish veterans need not be there at all.&amp;quot; &lt;/font&gt;
347 &lt;/p&gt;
348 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The &amp;quot;Pacification of Ghent&amp;quot; (November 1576),
349 by which the Belgian Netherlands, for a short time, made common cause with
350 Holland and Zealand, relieved Elizabeth, for a time, from the necessity of
351 taking any decisive step. Philip was still recognised as sovereign, but he
352 was required to be content with such powers as the old constitution gave
353 him. It seemed likely that Catholic bigots would have to give up
354 persecuting, and Protestant bigots to acquiesce in the official
355 establishment of the old religion. This was precisely the settlement
356 Elizabeth had always desired. It would get rid of the Spanish troops. It
357 would keep out the French. It would relieve her from the necessity of
358 interfering. If it put some restriction on the open profession of Calvinism
359 she would not be sorry. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
360 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;If this arrangement could have been carried
361 out, would it in the long-run have been for the benefit of Europe? Those who
362 hold that the conflict between Protestantism and Catholicism was simply a
363 conflict between truth and falsehood will, of course, have no difficulty in
364 giving their answer. Others may hold that freedom of conscience was all that
365 was needed at the time, and they may picture the many advantages which
366 Europe would have reaped during the last three centuries from the existence
367 of a united Netherlands, independent, as it must soon have become, of Spain,
368 and able to make its independence respected by its neighbours. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
369 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Short-lived as the coalition was destined to
370 be, it secured for the Dutch a breathing-time when they were most sorely
371 pressed, and enabled Elizabeth to avoid quarrelling with Spain. The first
372 step of the newly allied States was to apply to her for assistance and a
373 loan of money. The loan they obtained-£40,000--a very large sum in those
374 days. But she earnestly advised them that if the new Governor, Don John of
375 Austria, would accept the Pacification, they should use the money to pay the
376 arrears of the Spanish troops; otherwise they would refuse to leave the
377 country for Don John or any one else. This was done. Don John had treachery
378 in his heart. But the departure of the Spaniards was a solid gain; and if
379 the Protestants and Catholics of the Netherlands had been able to tolerate
380 each other, they would have achieved the practical independence of their
381 country, and achieved it by their own unaided efforts. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
382 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;But Don John, the crusader, the victor of
383 Lepanto, the half-brother of Philip, was a man of soaring ambition. His
384 dream was to invade England, marry the Queen of Scots, and seat himself with
385 her on the English throne. It was in vain that Philip, who never wavered in
386 his desire to conciliate Elizabeth, and was jealous of his showy brother,
387 had strictly enjoined him to leave England alone. He persisted in his
388 design, and sent his confidant Escovedo to persuade Philip that to conquer
389 the Netherlands it was necessary to begin by conquering England. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
390 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;For a pair of determined enemies, Elizabeth
391 and Philip were just now upon most amicable, not to say affectionate, terms.
392 She knew well that he had incited assassins to take her life, and that
393 nothing would at any time give him greater pleasure than to hear that one of
394 them had succeeded. But she bore him no malice for that. She took it all in
395 the way of business, and intended, for her part, to go on robbing and
396 damaging him in every way she could short of going to war. Philip bore it
397 all meekly. Alva himself insisted that he could not afford to quarrel with
398 her. Diplomatic relations by means of resident ambassadors, which had been
399 broken off by the expulsion of De Espes in 1571, were resumed; and English
400 heretics in the prisons of the Inquisition were released in spite of the
401 outcries of the Grand Inquisitor. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
402 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;In the summer of 1557 it seemed as if Don
403 John's restless ambition would interrupt this pacific policy which suited
404 both monarchs. He had sent for the Spanish troops again. He was known to be
405 projecting an invasion of England. He was said to have a promise of help
406 from Guise. Elizabeth's ministers, as usual, believed that she was on the
407 brink of ruin, and implored her to send armies both to the Netherlands and
408 to France. But she refused to be hustled into any precipitate action, and
409 reasons soon appeared for maintaining an expectant attitude. The treaty of
410 Bergerac between Henry III. and Henry of Navarre (September 1557) showed
411 once more that the French King had no intention of letting the Huguenots be
412 crushed. The invitation of the Archduke Matthias by the Belgian nobles
413 showed that they were deeply jealous of English interference. Here, surely,
414 was matter for reflection. The most Elizabeth could be got to do was to
415 become security for a loan of £100,000 to the States, on condition that
416 Matthias should leave the real direction of affairs to William of Orange,
417 and to promise armed assistance (January 1578). At the same time she
418 informed Philip that she was obliged to do this for her own safety; that she
419 had no desire to contest his sovereignty of the Netherlands; on the
420 contrary, she would help him to maintain it if he would govern reasonably;
421 but he ought to remove Don John, who was her mortal enemy, and to appoint
422 another Governor of his own family; in other words, Matthias. Her policy
423 could not have been more candidly set forth, and Philip showed his
424 disapproval of Don John's designs in a characteristic way--by causing
425 Escovedo to be assassinated. Don John himself died in the autumn, of a fever
426 brought on by disappointment, or, as some thought, of a complaint similar to
427 Escovedo's (September 1578). &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
428 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;When Elizabeth feared that Don John's scheme
429 was countenanced by his brother, she had risked an open rupture by promising
430 to send an army to the Netherlands. The murder of Escovedo and the arrival
431 of the Spanish ambassador Mendoza (March 1578) reassured her. Philip was
432 evidently pacific to the point of tameness. Instead, therefore, of sending
433 an English army, she preferred to pay John Casimir, the Count Palatine, to
434 lead a German army to the assistance of the States. As far as military
435 strength went, they were probably no losers by the change. But what they
436 wanted was to see Elizabeth committed to open war with Philip, and that was
437 just what she desired to avoid. Indirect and underhand blows she was
438 prepared to deal him, for she knew by experience that he would put up with
439 them. Thus in the preceding autumn she had despatched Drake on his famous
440 expedition to the South Pacific. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
441 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Don John was succeeded by his nephew,
442 Alexander of Parma. The fine prospects of the revolted provinces were now
443 about to be dashed. In the arts which smooth over difficulties and
444 conciliate opposition, Parma had few equals. He was a head and shoulders
445 above all contemporary generals; and no soldiers of that time were
446 comparable to his Spanish and Italian veterans. When he assumed the command,
447 he was master of only a small corner of the Low Countries. What he effected
448 is represented by their present division between Belgians and Dutch. The
449 struggle in the Netherlands continued, therefore, to be the principal object
450 of Elizabeth's attention. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
451 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Shortly before the death of Don John, the
452 Duke of Alençon, (1) brother and heir-presumptive of Henry III. had been
453 invited by the Belgian nobles to become their Protector, and Orange, in his
454 anxiety for union, had accepted their nominee. Alençon was to furnish 12,000
455 French troops. It was hoped and believed that, though Henry had ostensibly
456 disapproved of his brother's action, he would in the end give him open
457 support, thus resuming the enterprise which had been interrupted six years
458 before by the Bartholomew Massacre. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
459 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Now, how was Elizabeth to deal with this new
460 combination? The Protectorship of Alençon might bring on annexation to
461 France, the result which most of all she wished to avoid. For a moment she
462 thought of offering her own protection (which Orange would have much
463 preferred), and an army equal to that promised by Alençon. But upon further
464 reflection, she determined to adhere to the policy of not throwing down the
465 glove to Philip, and to try whether she could not put Alençon in harness,
466 and make him do her work. One means of effecting this would be to allow him
467 subsidies--the means employed on such a vast scale by Pitt in our wars with
468 Napoleon. But Elizabeth intended to spend as little as possible in this way.
469 She relied chiefly on a revival of the marriage comedy--now to be played
470 positively for the last time; the lady being forty-five, and her wooer
471 twenty-four. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
472 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;A dignified policy it certainly was not. All
473 that was ridiculous and repulsive in her coquetry with Henry had now to be
474 repeated and outdone with his younger brother. To overcome the incredulity
475 which her previous performances had produced, she was obliged to exaggerate
476 her protestations, to admit a personal courtship, to simulate amorous
477 emotion, and to go through a tender pantomime of kisses and caresses. But
478 Elizabeth never let dignity stand in the way of business. What to most women
479 would have been an insupportable humiliation did not cost her a pang. She
480 even found amusement in it. From the nature of the case, she could not take
481 one of her counsellors into her confidence. There was no chance of imposing
482 upon foreigners unless she could persuade those about her that she was in
483 earnest. They were amazed that she should run the risk of establishing the
484 French in the Netherlands. She had no intention of doing so. When Philip
485 should be brought so low as to be willing to concede a constitutional
486 government, she could always throw her weight on his side and get rid of the
487 French. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
488 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The match with Alençon had been proposed six
489 years before. It had lately slumbered. But there was no difficulty in
490 whistling him back, and making it appear that the renewed overture came from
491 his side. After tedious negotiations, protracted over twelve months, he at
492 length paid his first visit to Elizabeth ( August 1579). He was an
493 under-sized man with an over-sized head, villainously ugly, with a face
494 deeply seamed by smallpox, a nose ending in a knob that made it look like
495 two noses, and a croaking voice. Elizabeth's liking for big handsome men is
496 well known. But as she had not the least intention of marrying Alençon, it
497 cost her nothing to affirm that she was charmed with his appearance, and
498 that he was just the sort of man she could fancy for a husband. The only
499 agreeable thing about him was his conversation, in which he shone, so that
500 people who did not thoroughly know him always at first gave him credit for
501 more ability than he possessed. Elizabeth, who had a pet name for all
502 favourites, dubbed him her &amp;quot;frog&amp;quot;; and &amp;quot;Grenouille&amp;quot; he was fain to subscribe
503 himself in his love-letters. This first visit was a short one, and he went
504 away hopeful of success. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
505 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The English people could only judge by
506 appearances, and for the first time in her reign Elizabeth was unpopular.
507 The Puritan Stubbs published his &lt;i&gt;Discovery of a Gaping Gulf wherein
508 England is like to be swallowed by another French Marriage&lt;/i&gt;. But the
509 excitement was by no means confined to the Puritans. Hatred of Frenchmen
510 long remained a ruling sentiment with most Englishmen. Elizabeth vented her
511 rage on Stubbs, who had been so rude as to tell her that childbirth at her
512 age would endanger her life. He was sentenced to have his hand cut off. &amp;quot;I
513 remember,&amp;quot; says Camden, &amp;quot;being then present, that Stubbs, after his right
514 hand was cut off, put off his hat with his left, and said with a loud voice,
515 'God save the Queen.' The multitude standing about was deeply silent.&amp;quot;
516 &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
517 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Not long after Alençon's visit, a treaty of
518 marriage was signed (November 1579), with a proviso that two months should
519 be allowed for the Queen's subjects to become reconciled to it. If, at the
520 end of that time, Elizabeth did not ratify the treaty, it was to be null and
521 void. The appointed time came and went without ratification. Burghley, as
522 usual, predicted that the jilted suitor would become a deadly enemy, and
523 drew an alarming picture of the dangers that threatened England, with the
524 old exhortation to his mistress to form a Protestant league and subsidise
525 the Scotch Anglophiles. But in 1572 she had slipped out of the Anjou
526 marriage, and yet secured a French alliance. She confided in her ability to
527 play the same game now. Though she had not ratified the marriage treaty, she
528 continued to correspond with Alençon and keep up his hopes, urging him at
529 the same time to lead an army to the help of the States. This, however, he
530 was unwilling to do till he had secured the marriage. The French King was
531 ready, and even eager, to back his brother. But he, too, insisted on the
532 marriage, and that Elizabeth should openly join him in war against Spain.
533 &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
534 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;In the summer of 1580, Philip conquered
535 Portugal, thus not only rounding off his Peninsular realm, but acquiring the
536 enormous transmarine dominions of the Portuguese crown. All Europe was
537 profoundly impressed and alarmed by this apparent increase of his power.
538 Elizabeth incessantly lectured Henry on the necessity of abating a
539 preponderance so dangerous to all other States, and tried to convince him
540 that it was specially incumbent on France to undertake the enterprise. But
541 she preached in vain. Henry steadily refused to stir unless England would
542 openly assist him with troops and money, of which the marriage was to be the
543 pledge. He did not conceal his suspicion that, when Elizabeth had pushed him
544 into war, she would &amp;quot;draw her neck out of the collar&amp;quot; and leave him to bear
545 the whole danger. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
546 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;This was, in fact, her intention. She
547 believed that a war with France would soon compel Philip to make proper
548 concessions to the States; whereupon she would interpose and dictate a
549 peace. &amp;quot;Marry my brother,&amp;quot; Henry kept saying, &amp;quot;and then I shall have
550 security that you will bear your fair share of the fighting, and expenses.&amp;quot;
551 &amp;quot;If I am to go to war,&amp;quot; argued Elizabeth, &amp;quot;I cannot marry your brother; for
552 my subjects will say that I am dragged into it by my husband, and they will
553 grudge the expense. Suppose, instead of a marriage, we have an alliance not
554 binding me to open war; then I will furnish you with money &lt;i&gt;underhand&lt;/i&gt;.
555 You know you have got to fight. You cannot afford to let Philip go on
556 increasing his power.&amp;quot; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
557 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Henry remained doggedly firm. No marriage, no
558 war. At last, finding she could not stir him, Elizabeth again concluded a
559 treaty of marriage, but with the extraordinary proviso that six weeks should
560 be left for private explanations by letter between herself and Alençon. It
561 soon appeared what this meant. In these six weeks Elizabeth furnished her
562 suitor with money, and incited him to make a sudden attack on Parma, who was
563 then besieging Cambray, close to the French frontier. Alençon, thinking
564 himself now sure of the marriage, collected 15,000 men; and Henry, though
565 not openly assisting him, no longer prohibited the enterprise. But, as soon
566 as Elizabeth thought they were sufficiently committed, she gave them to
567 understand that the marriage must be again deferred, that her subjects were
568 discontented, that she could only join in a defensive alliance, but that she
569 would furnish money &amp;quot;in reasonable sort&amp;quot; &lt;i&gt;underhand&lt;/i&gt;. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
570 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;All this is very unscrupulous, very
571 shameless, even for that shameless age. Hardened liars like Henry and
572 Alençon thought it too bad. &lt;i&gt;They&lt;/i&gt; were ready for violence as well as
573 fraud, and availed themselves of whichever method came handiest. Elizabeth
574 also used the weapon which nature had given her. Being constitutionally
575 averse from any but peaceful methods, she made up for it by a double dose of
576 fraud. &lt;i&gt;Dente lupus, cornu taurus&lt;/i&gt;. It would have been useless for a
577 mate statesman to try to pass himself off as a fickle impulsive, susceptible
578 being, swayed from one moment to another in his political schemes by
579 passions and weaknesses that are thought natural in the other sex. This was
580 Elizabeth's advantage, and she made the most of it. She was a masculine
581 woman simulating, when it suited her purpose, a feminine character. The men
582 against whom she was matched were never sure whether they were dealing with
583 a crafty and determined politician, or a vain, flighty, amorous woman. This
584 uncertainty was constantly putting them out in their calculations. Alençon
585 would never have been so taken in if he had not told himself that any folly
586 might be expected from an elderly woman enamoured of a young man. &lt;/font&gt;
587 &lt;/p&gt;
588 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;On this occasion Elizabeth scored, if not the
589 full success she had hoped from her audacious mystification, yet no
590 inconsiderable portion of it. Henry managed to draw back just in time, and
591 was not let in for a big war. But Alençon, at the head of 15,000 men, and
592 close to Cambray, could not for very shame beat a retreat. Parma retired at
593 his approach, and the French army entered Cambray in triumph (August 1581).
594 Alençon therefore had been put in harness to some purpose. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
595 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Though Henry III. had good reason to complain
596 of the way he had been treated, he did not make it a quarrel with Elizabeth.
597 His interests, as she saw all along, were too closely bound up with hers to
598 permit him to think of such a thing. On the contrary, he renewed the
599 alliance of 1572 in an ampler form, though it still remained strictly
600 defensive. Alençon, after relieving and victualling Cambray, disbanded his
601 army, and went over to England again to press for the marriage (November
602 1581). Thither he was followed by ambassadors from the States. By the advice
603 of Orange they had resolved to take him as their sovereign, and they were
604 now urgently pressing him to return to the Netherlands to be installed.
605 Elizabeth added her pressure; but he was unwilling to leave England until he
606 should have secured the marriage. For three months (November 1581 to
607 February 1582) did Elizabeth try every art to make him accept promise for
608 performance. She was thoroughly in her element. To win her game in this way,
609 not by the brutal arbitrament of war, or even by the ordinary tricks of
610 vicarious diplomacy, but by artifices personally executed, feats of cajolery
611 that might seem improbable on the stage,--this was delightful in the highest
612 degree. The more distrustful Alençon showed himself, the keener was the
613 pleasure of handling him. One day he is hidden behind a curtain to view her
614 elegant dancing; not, surely, that he might be smitten with it, but that he
615 might think she desired him to be smitten. Another day she kisses him on the
616 lips (&lt;i&gt;en la boca&lt;/i&gt;) in the presence of the French ambassador. She gives
617 him a ring. She presents him to her household as their future master. She
618 orders the Bishop of Lincoln to draw up a marriage service. It is a
619 repulsive spectacle; but, after all, we are not so much disgusted with the
620 elderly woman who pretends to be willing to marry the young man, as with the
621 young man who is really willing to marry the elderly woman. Unfortunately
622 for Elizabeth, her acting was so realistic that it not only took in
623 contemporaries, but has persuaded many modern writers that she was really
624 influenced by a degrading passion. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
625 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Henry III. himself was at last induced to
626 believe that Elizabeth was this time in earnest. But he could not be driven
627 from his determination to risk nothing till he saw the marriage actually
628 concluded. Pinart, the French Secretary of State, was accordingly sent over
629 to settle the terms. Elizabeth demanded one concession after another, and
630 finally asked for the restitution of Calais. There was no mistaking what
631 this meant. Pinart, in the King's name, formally forbade Alençon to proceed
632 to the Netherlands except as a married man, and tried to intimidate
633 Elizabeth by threatening that his master would ally himself with Philip. But
634 she laughed at him, and told him that she could have the Spanish alliance
635 whenever she chose, which was perfectly true. Alençon himself gave way. He
636 felt that he was being played with. He had come over here, with a &lt;i&gt;fatuilé&lt;/i&gt;
637 not uncommon among young Frenchmen, expecting to bend a love-sick Queen to
638 serve his political designs. He found himself, to his intense mortification,
639 bent to serve hers. Ashamed to show his face in France without either his
640 Belgian dominions or his English wife, he was fain to accept Elizabeth's
641 solemn promise that she would marry him as soon as she could, and allowed
642 himself to be shipped off under the escort of an English fleet to the
643 Netherlands (February 1582). &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
644 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;According to Mr. Froude, &amp;quot;the Prince of
645 Orange intimated that Alençon was accepted by the States only as a pledge
646 that England would support them; if England failed them, they would not
647 trust their fortunes to so vain an idiot.&amp;quot; This statement appears to be
648 drawn from the second-band tattle of Mendoza, and is probably, like much
649 else from that source, unworthy of credit. But whether Orange sent such an
650 &amp;quot;intimation&amp;quot; or not, it cannot be allowed to weigh against the ample
651 evidence that Alençon was accepted by him and by the States mainly for the
652 sake of the French forces he could raise on his own account, and the
653 assistance which he undertook to procure from his brother. Neither Orange
654 nor any one else regarded him as an idiot. Orange had not been led to expect
655 that he would bring any help from England except money supplied underhand;
656 and money Elizabeth did furnish in very considerable quantities. But the
657 Netherlanders now expected everything to be done for them, and were backward
658 with their contributions both in men and money. Clearly there is something
659 to be said for the let-alone policy to which Elizabeth usually leant. &lt;/font&gt;
660 &lt;/p&gt;
661 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;The States intended Alençon's sovereignty to
662 be of the strictly constitutional kind, such as it had been before the
663 encroachments of Philip and his father. This did not suit the young
664 Frenchman, and at the beginning of 1583 he attempted a &lt;i&gt;coup d'état&lt;/i&gt;,
665 not without encouragement from some of the Belgian Catholics. At Antwerp his
666 French troops were defeated with great bloodshed by the citizens, and the
667 general voice of the country was for sending him about his business. But
668 both Elizabeth and Orange, though disconcerted and disgusted by his
669 treachery, still saw nothing better to be done than to patch up the breach
670 and retain his services. Both of them urged this course on the
671 States--Orange with his usual dignified frankness; Elizabeth in the crooked,
672 blustering fashion which has brought upon her policy, in so many instances,
673 reproach which it does not really deserve. Norris, the commander of the
674 English volunteers, had discountenanced the &lt;i&gt;coup-d'état&lt;/i&gt; and taken his
675 orders from the States. Openly Elizabeth reprimanded him, and ordered him to
676 bring his men back to England. Secretly she told him he had done well, and
677 bade him remain where he was. Norris was in fact there to protect the
678 interests of England quite as much against the French as against Spain.
679 There is not the least ground for the assertion that in promoting a
680 reconciliation with Alençon, Orange acted under pressure from Elizabeth.
681 Everything goes to show that he, the wisest and noblest statesman of his
682 time, thought it the only course open to the States, unless they were
683 prepared to submit to Philip. Both Elizabeth and Orange felt that the first
684 necessity was to keep the quarrel alive between the Frenchman and the
685 Spaniard. The English Queen therefore continued to feed Alençon with hopes
686 of marriage, and the States patched up a reconciliation with him (March
687 1583). But his heart failed him. He saw Parma taking town after town. He
688 knew that he had made himself odious to the Netherlanders. He was covered
689 with shame. He was fatally stricken with consumption. In June 1583 he left
690 Belgium never to return. Within a twelvemonth he was dead. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
691 &lt;/font&gt;
692 &lt;hr&gt;
693 &lt;/font&gt;
694 &lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&gt;
695 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;Notes:&lt;/b&gt;
696 &lt;/font&gt;
697 &lt;font style=&quot;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif&quot;&gt;
698 &lt;font style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman&quot;&gt;1. He had received the Duchy of
699 Anjou in addition to that of Alençon, and some historians call him by the
700 former title.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
701 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font style=&quot;font-family: Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;2&quot;&gt;From &lt;i&gt;
702 Queen Elizabeth&lt;/i&gt; by Edward Spencer Beesly.&amp;nbsp; Published in London by
703 Macmillan and Co., 1892.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
704 &lt;/font&gt;
705 &lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;2&quot;&gt;
706 &lt;/blockquote&gt;
707&lt;/blockquote&gt;
708
709 &lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;
710 &lt;a href=&quot;_httpextlink_&amp;amp;rl=1&amp;amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fbeeslychapterseven.html&quot;&gt;to Chapter
711 VII The Papal Attack: 1570-1583&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
712 &lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;
713 &lt;a href=&quot;_httpextlink_&amp;amp;rl=1&amp;amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fmonarchs%2feliz1.html&quot;&gt;to the Queen
714 Elizabeth I website&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; /&amp;nbsp;
715 &lt;a href=&quot;_httpextlink_&amp;amp;rl=1&amp;amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2frelative%2fmaryqos.html&quot;&gt;to the Mary,
716 queen of Scots website&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
717 &lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;_httpextlink_&amp;amp;rl=1&amp;amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fsecondary.html&quot;&gt;
718 to Secondary Sources&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
719 &lt;/font&gt;
720
721
722
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725</Content>
726</Section>
727</Archive>
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