source: documentation/trunk/tutorial_sample_files/tudor/englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/eliz2.html@ 18423

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3<head>
4<meta name="author" content="Marilee Mongello">
5<meta name="content" content="Queen Elizabeth I: Biography, Portraits with commentary, Primary Sources Elizabeth Tudor 1533 to 1603 The Virgin Queen Gloriana">
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11<title>Queen Elizabeth I: Biography, Portraits, Primary Sources</title>
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18<table border="0" cellpadding="3" width="100%" height="667">
19 <tr>
20 <td width="25%" height="29"></td>
21 <td valign="top" width="50%" height="29"><p align="center">&nbsp;</td>
22 <td width="25%" height="29"></td>
23 </tr>
24 <tr>
25 <td width="25%" height="3"></td>
26 <td width="50%" height="3">
27 <p align="center">
28 <IMG height=98 alt="Queen Elizabeth I"
29 src="eliz1-queenuse.gif" width=422></td>
30 <td width="25%" height="3"></td>
31 </tr>
32 <tr>
33 <td width="25%" height="610"></td>
34 <td valign="top" width="50%" height="610">
35 <p align="center">
36 <img border="2" src="eliz1-coronation.jpg" alt="The 'Coronation Portrait' of Elizabeth I; late 16th copy of a lost original" width="294" height="427"><blockquote>
37 <p align="left">
38 &nbsp;</blockquote>
39 <DIV align=left>Visit
40 <a href="http://www.marileecody.com/eliz1-images.html">Elizabethan
41 Images</a> to view portraits of the queen and her courtiers, with
42 commentary.<BR>Read poems, letters, and speeches by the queen at <A
43 href="../primary.html">Primary
44 Sources</A>.<BR><BR>Read ES Beesly's 1892 biography of Queen
45 Elizabeth I at <a href="../secondary.html">
46 Secondary Sources</a>.</DIV>
47 <DIV align=left>&nbsp;</DIV>
48 <DIV align=left>Visit <A
49 href="boleyn.html">the Anne
50 Boleyn website</A> to learn more about Elizabeth's mother.<BR>Visit <A
51 href="../relative/maryqos.html">the Mary,
52 queen of Scots website</A> to learn more about Elizabeth's
53 cousin.<BR><BR>Test your knowledge of Elizabeth's life and times at <A
54 href="../tudor1.html">Tudor
55 Quizzes</A>.</DIV>
56 <DIV align=left>&nbsp;</DIV>
57 <DIV align=left>Meet other Elizabethan enthusiasts at
58 <a href="http://www.alassea.net/fl/elizabeth/">The Virgin Queen
59 fanlisting</a>.</DIV>
60 <DIV align=left>&nbsp;</DIV>
61 </td>
62 <td width="25%" height="610"></td>
63 </tr>
64</table>
65
66<blockquote>
67 <blockquote>
68 <blockquote>
69 <hr>
70 </blockquote>
71 </blockquote>
72 <p><font size="4">'Some have fallen from being Princes of this land to be
73 prisoners in this place; I am raised from being prisoner in this place to be
74 Prince of this land.&nbsp; That dejection was a work of God's justice; this
75 advancement is a work of His mercy.' </font>&nbsp; <I><FONT size=-1>Elizabeth
76 I at the Tower of London, during her coronation ceremonies,
77 1559</FONT></I></p>
78 <blockquote>
79 <blockquote>
80 <hr>
81
82 <P>There is an apocryphal story about Elizabeth's accession.&nbsp; In it,
83 she was out in the meadows surrounding Hatfield when the courtiers
84 approached.&nbsp; They bowed before her, and presented Mary's signet
85 ring.&nbsp; Elizabeth supposedly fell upon her knees and exclaimed, most
86 aptly, 'A Domino factum est illud et est mirabile in oculis nostris.'
87 ('This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in Our eyes.')&nbsp; The
88 citizens of London undoubtedly felt the same; upon receiving word of
89 Mary's death, bonfires were lit and tables were set in the streets for a
90 grand celebratory feast.&nbsp; </P>
91 <P>&nbsp;A glorious accession, then, and much celebrated.&nbsp; A
92 contemporary observer, however, commented wryly upon the state of affairs
93 in England in 1558: 'The Queen poor; the realm exhausted; the nobility
94 poor and decayed; want of good captains and soldiers; the people out of
95 order; justice not executed; justices of peace unmeet for office; all
96 things dear; excess of meat and drink, and apparel; division among
97 ourselves; war with France and Scotland; the French King, having one foot
98 in Calais and the other in Scotland; steadfast enmity, but no steadfast
99 friendship abroad.'&nbsp; </P>
100 <P>Elizabeth was well aware of the dire situation she faced.&nbsp; She
101 herself had been the victim of the religious and political confusion of
102 Mary's reign.&nbsp; And<IMG height=412
103 alt="'The Ditchley Portrait' of Elizabeth I"
104 src="eliz1-ditchley.jpg" width=281 border=2 align="right"> even the weather had been uncooperative for Queen
105 Mary; the droughts which had plagued farmers led to high prices and much
106 poverty.&nbsp; Most of the poor flocked to London where they crowded into
107 ever-expanding slums.&nbsp; Mary's attempts to reform the debased currency
108 of Henry VIII and Edward VI's reign had been somewhat successful, but
109 England was still considered a poor credit risk on the Continent.&nbsp;
110 </P>
111 <P>And so the new queen, though popular and much-admired, did not inherit
112 a stable and prosperous country - and the quest for stability and
113 prosperity became the guiding force of her reign.&nbsp; To that end, she
114 came to eschew foreign entanglements and religious extremism.&nbsp;
115 Practical and pragmatic, Elizabeth chose as her motto 'Semper Eadem'
116 ('Always the Same'), and it was highly appropriate.&nbsp; </P>
117 <P>Her succession was assured and untroubled.&nbsp; But Elizabeth knew
118 that when the celebrations ended, the real work would begin.&nbsp; Almost
119 immediately, she would be forced to consider a rival claim to the throne
120 by her cousin, Mary Stuart.&nbsp; Queen of Scotland since infancy, and now
121 the wife of the French dauphin (and crowned queen of France in 1559), Mary
122 was denied a place in the Tudor succession by Henry VIII's will.&nbsp; But
123 she was a Catholic and had the French monarchy behind her.&nbsp; For her
124 part, she was content to stay in France.&nbsp; But she did - with spirit
125 and not much sense, as was her wont - choose to quarter the royal arms of
126 England, Wales and Ireland upon her heraldry, thus openly laying claim to
127 the throne of England.&nbsp; Even this symbolic act was fraught with
128 political danger for the queenly cousins.&nbsp; From her accession on,
129 Elizabeth knew her Scottish 'sister' was a serious concern; and while Mary
130 was safely in France, it was all for the better.&nbsp; Scotland was
131 already turning Protestant and England could continue to support its
132 religious dissension and political upheaval.&nbsp; If their northern
133 neighbor was kept busy with its own troubles, it was less likely to clash
134 with England.&nbsp; </P>
135 <P>As for her English subjects, even the Catholics were largely against
136 Mary Stuart's claims.&nbsp; In this case, nationalism trumped
137 religion.&nbsp; There were other English claimants, of course; the younger
138 sisters of the unfortunate <A
139 href="../relative/janegrey.html">Lady Jane
140 Grey</A>.&nbsp; But of the two, <A
141 href="../relative/cathgrey.html">Catherine</A>
142 was flighty and foolish and Mary was barely four feet tall.&nbsp; Neither
143 was a popular choice to be queen.&nbsp; </P>
144 <P>Her smooth accession was further assured by the Lord Chancellor,
145 Nicholas Heath.&nbsp; Parliament had been in session while Mary lay dying
146 and, on 17 November, Heath announced her death to the assembled lords and
147 commons.&nbsp; He then said, 'Which hap as it is most heavy and grievous
148 unto us, so have we no less cause another way to rejoice with praise to
149 Almighty God for that He hath left unto us a true, lawful and right
150 inheritrice to the crown of this realm, which is the Lady Elizabeth, of
151 whose lawful right and title we need not to doubt.&nbsp; Wherefore the
152 lords of this house have determined with your assents and consents, to
153 pass from hence into the palace, and there to proclaim the said Lady
154 Elizabeth Queen of this realm without further tract of time.'&nbsp; </P>
155 <P>There was no dissension at Heath's words.&nbsp; Traditionally,
156 Parliament dissolved upon the death of the reigning monarch - but Heath's
157 prompt actions ensured Elizabeth's lawful recognition as queen before the
158 lords and commons dispersed.&nbsp; And, as a leading Catholic, Heath also
159 secured the loyalty of his religious party for the new queen.&nbsp; </P>
160 <P>Elizabeth held court at Hatfield for about a week, assembling statesmen
161 and studying English affairs more acutely.&nbsp; Nicholas Throckmorton
162 wrote to her immediately; he advised her to be wary and careful, so that
163 neither 'the old or the new should wholly understand what you mean.'&nbsp;
164 She did not need such advice; it was already central to her
165 character.&nbsp; How else had she survived the reigns of Edward and
166 Mary?&nbsp; </P>
167 <P>
168 <IMG height=206 alt="Elizabeth I's greatest advisor, Sir William Cecil"
169 src="cecil-sm1.jpg" width=140 border=2 align="left">On 20 November, she held her first council meeting and appointed the
170 loyal William Cecil as her Principal Secretary of State.&nbsp; They had
171 been friends for a long while, since his appointment as her accountant
172 many years ago.&nbsp; And, for the next forty years, they were to rule
173 England as a virtually inseparable team.&nbsp; Elizabeth's words to Cecil
174 have become justly famous: 'I give you this charge, that you shall be of
175 my Privy Council and content to take pains for me and my realm.&nbsp; This
176 judgment I have of you that you will not be corrupted by any manner of
177 gift and that you will be faithful to the state; and that without respect
178 of my private will you will give me that counsel which you think best and
179 if you shall know anything necessary to be declared to me of secrecy, you
180 shall show it to myself only.&nbsp; And assure yourself I will not fail to
181 keep taciturnity therein and therefore herewith I charge you.'&nbsp; </P>
182 <P>All monarchs use such appointments to reward loyalty and friendship;
183 Cecil's was also a reward for ability.&nbsp; On a more personal note,
184 Elizabeth rewarded the faithful servants who had been her companions since
185 childhood, among them Thomas Parry and Kat Ashley.&nbsp; The handsome
186 Robert Dudley was appointed Master of the Horse; he was the son of the
187 late Lord Protector and had been imprisoned in the Tower with Elizabeth
188 during Mary's reign.&nbsp; Not coincidentally, this position required
189 close contact with the queen.&nbsp; Thus from the very beginning, a source
190 of rivalry was established amongst Elizabeth's closest councilors.&nbsp;
191 Cecil and Dudley disliked one another, each man viewing the other as his
192 main rival for the queen's attention.&nbsp; But even this potentially
193 untenable situation benefited the young queen; it meant that she alone
194 dominated her government while two rival factions developed, each centered
195 around Cecil and Dudley.</P>
196 <hr>
197 </blockquote>
198 </blockquote>
199 <p align="center"><font size="4">'Everything depends upon the husband this woman takes.'&nbsp;
200 <BR></font><I><FONT size=-1>the Spanish ambassador De Feria, 1560</FONT></I></p>
201 <blockquote>
202 <blockquote>
203 <hr>
204 </blockquote>
205 </blockquote>
206 <P align="left"><font size="4">'If I were a milkmaid with a pail on my
207 arm, whereby my private person might be little set by, I would not forsake
208 that poor and single state to match with the greatest monarch.'&nbsp;&nbsp;
209 </font><I><FONT size=-1>Elizabeth I
210 to Parliament, regarding marriage</FONT></I></P>
211 <blockquote>
212 <blockquote>
213 <hr>
214 <P>Elizabeth well understood the importance of public relations and knew
215 her entry into London must be a lavish spectacle; the coronation which
216 would follow must be even more impressive.&nbsp; Dudley was placed in
217 charge of the coronation plans.&nbsp; He was well-suited to the
218 task.&nbsp; Elizabeth's favorite astronomer, Dr John Dee, was consulted
219 and Sunday, 15 January 1559 was selected as the perfect date.&nbsp; </P>
220 <P>On 23 November, Elizabeth left Hatfield for London; she stayed at the
221 Charterhouse, and for the next five days she made regular appearances
222 before adoring crowds.&nbsp; On Monday 28 November, she left the
223 Charterhouse to ride through London and to the Tower.&nbsp; She wore a
224 purple velvet gown and had a scarf tied loosely around her neck.&nbsp;
225 Dudley rode closely behind her.&nbsp; When they neared the Tower, both the
226 queen and her Master of the Horse appreciated the irony of the
227 moment.&nbsp; Elizabeth said simply, and wittily: 'Some have fallen from
228 being Princes of this land to be prisoners in this place; I am raised from
229 being prisoner in this place to be Prince of this land.&nbsp; That
230 dejection was a work of God's justice; this advancement is a work of His
231 mercy.'&nbsp; </P>
232 <P>She spent the next ten days at the Tower, holding council meetings and
233 slowly but steadily learning how to rule.&nbsp; She had been welcomed to
234 the throne with great celebration, but few monarchs have inherited such a
235 dire predicament.&nbsp; Religious turmoil was inevitable; though
236 the Protestants regarded Elizabeth as their savior, many Marian exiles
237 believed she would maintain her sister's religious changes.&nbsp; She had
238 to tread carefully - and fortunately for both Elizabeth and her nation,
239 she was uniquely suited to do so.&nbsp; She made it clear to her
240 councilors that she wanted no windows into men's souls.&nbsp; Also, she
241 would not be dominated by one religious party at the expense of
242 another.&nbsp; For Elizabeth, her citizens were Englishmen first; their
243 religious loyalties - whether Catholic or Protestant - were to remain
244 subservient to their loyalty to her as queen of England.&nbsp; This
245 explains her later disregard for Puritanism.&nbsp; She characteristically
246 remarked that she preferred loyal Catholics to Puritans; this may have
247 confused some of her subjects since she was a Protestant queen, and the
248 Puritans were simply Protestant extremists.&nbsp; However, Elizabeth
249 recognized that, by the end of her reign, most of her Catholic subjects
250 were loyal to her instead of the pope (despite her excommunication) and
251 accepted royal prerogative.&nbsp; Her Puritan subjects, however, did not
252 recognize the sanctity of the crown, and their presence in Parliament
253 ensured a steady erosion of royal power.&nbsp; The end result of this
254 conflict occurred during the reign of Charles I, when a powerful Puritan
255 populace revolted against their Catholic king and beheaded him.&nbsp; </P>
256 <P>Luckily, most of Elizabeth's councilors were of the same mind as the
257 queen.&nbsp; Their first priority was the stability of the realm, and they
258 wanted to negotiate a truce of sorts between the two factions.&nbsp; Of
259 course, the more extreme members of both parties could not be
260 satisfied.&nbsp; Also, Philip II of Spain and Henri II of France had
261 recently ended their near-constant warfare, and now England remained
262 outside Continental affairs; perhaps it would become the prey of both
263 powers.&nbsp; When Elizabeth's court moved to Whitehall for Christmas, the
264 Spanish ambassador De Feria tried to secure a possible marriage between
265 Elizabeth and one of Philip's innumerable relatives.&nbsp; Already her
266 expected marriage dominated European politics.&nbsp; No one expected her
267 to rule alone.&nbsp; </P>
268 <P>The Christmas festivities at Whitehall were quite extravagant.&nbsp;
269 The English court had not had cause for much celebration in years; Mary's
270 reign had been increasingly insular and solemn.&nbsp; But Elizabeth, young
271 and beautiful, was determined to celebrate her near-miraculous
272 triumph.&nbsp; And yet Christmas would pale in comparison to her
273 coronation festivities.&nbsp; </P>
274 <P>On the 12th of January, she set out once again to the Tower, traveling
275 by river from Whitehall.&nbsp; Two days later, at two o'clock in the
276 afternoon, she rode in an open litter for her recognition procession
277 throughout London.&nbsp; She wore a gown of crimson velvet and cloth of
278 gold with an ermine cape for warmth, and was surrounded by richly-dressed
279 lords and ladies.&nbsp; Crowds of Londoners thronged the streets, to the
280 queen's open delight.&nbsp; It was a cold and wet Saturday with snow
281 flurries settling upon the brocade canopy of the queen's litter, but the
282 weather could not distract from the spectacle.&nbsp; </P>
283 <P>The entire route through the city was marked by pageants, plays, and
284 orations; even Anne Boleyn appeared in a tableau beside Henry VIII.&nbsp;
285 Elizabeth's replies to each presentation were memorable and kind; to the
286 Recorder of London, she memorably said, 'Whereas your request is that I
287 should continue your good lady and Queen, be ye assured that I will be as
288 good unto you as ever Queen was to her people.&nbsp; No will in me can
289 lack, neither do I trust shall there lack any power.&nbsp; And persuade
290 yourselves, that for the safety and quietness of you all, I will not spare
291 if need be to spare my blood.'&nbsp; These words were not merely facile
292 endearments.&nbsp; Long ago, during the dark days of Mary's reign, she had
293 realized the importance of public relations and popular support.&nbsp;
294</P>
295 <P>The next day she was crowned queen of England.&nbsp; She entered
296 Westminster on foot, walking upon a long blue carpet which the crowd
297 promptly cut up for souvenirs.&nbsp; The great Abbey was crowded full of
298 both rural and urban dignitaries, and their ladies.&nbsp; They watched as
299 the queen marched slowly forward, the long red velvet train of her gown
300 carried by the duchess of Norfolk.&nbsp; Hundreds of candles and lamps
301 burned, and the boys' choir sang beautifully while a medley of pipes,
302 drums, and the church organ played.)&nbsp; She was crowned by Owen
303 Oglethorpe, the bishop of Carlisle.&nbsp; The<img border="0" src="eliz1woodcrop.jpg" alt="portrait of Elizabeth I on wood; c1565" align="right" width="200" height="285"> archbishop of Canterbury,
304 Reginald Pole, had died the same day as Queen Mary; the archbishop of York
305 asked to be excused on grounds of conscience; the bishop of Durham said he
306 was too old to perform the ceremony.&nbsp; And so it fell to Dr
307 Oglethorpe, who was as good as anyone else in Elizabeth's eyes.&nbsp; The
308 ceremony itself was a mish-mash of Catholic and Protestant rituals - the
309 Mass was said in Latin but the celebrant did not elevate the Host; the
310 epistle and gospel were read in Latin and English; and the coronation oath
311 itself was read from an English Bible.&nbsp; In other words, it was a
312 ceremony which accurately reflected the religious confusion of mid-16th
313 century England.&nbsp; </P>
314 <P>Oglethorpe placed the heavy Crown of St Edward on her head, but it was
315 quickly removed after the oath was administered.&nbsp; Then, wearing a
316 lighter crown, the new queen was presented to the congregation.&nbsp;
317 There was an explosion of noise (the Venetian ambassador said it sounded
318 like the end of the world) as bells were rung, trumpets were blown, and
319 every other musical instrument played with such force that spectators
320 winced.&nbsp; The coronation banquet was held at Westminster Hall at three
321 o'clock and lasted until one o'clock Monday morning.&nbsp; The new queen,
322 who now wore a becoming gown of purple velvet, sat beneath the great
323 window on a raised dais.&nbsp; There were eight hundred guests, and the
324 queen was served by the Lord Chamberlain and the Chief Steward.&nbsp; She
325 spoke little during the banquet, and was so tired when it ended that a
326 tournament planned for Monday afternoon was canceled.&nbsp; She had also
327 caught a cold; the opening of Parliament was thus delayed from the 23rd of
328 January to the 25th.&nbsp; Her arrival at Parliament, however, was another
329 moment of triumph for Elizabeth.&nbsp; She wore a crimson gown and a cap
330 decorated with pearls and was quite lovely and energetic despite her
331 recent cold.&nbsp; When the crowd called out, 'God save and maintain
332 thee!', she responded with enthusiasm, 'God a' mercy, good people!'&nbsp;
333 </P>
334 <P>All things considered, these first two months on the throne had gone
335 very smoothly.&nbsp; But most European powers were convinced she wouldn't
336 last a year as queen.&nbsp; If she did, it would only be due to a
337 quick marriage.&nbsp; And so, over the next several years, the dominant
338 issue of her reign would be one which she personally detested - who would
339 the queen marry, and when?&nbsp; For Elizabeth, treading carefully and
340 conscious of the novelty of her position, the issue was a personal and
341 political threat - and one which she handled with exquisite care.</P>
342 <hr>
343 </blockquote>
344 </blockquote>
345 <p><font size="4">'She [Elizabeth] is incomparably more feared than her
346 sister, and gives her orders and has her way as absolutely as her father did.'</font><i><font size="4">&nbsp;
347 </font><font size="-1">&nbsp;</font></i><I><FONT size=-1>the Spanish ambassador De Feria,
348 1559</FONT></I></p>
349 <blockquote>
350 <blockquote>
351 <hr>
352 <P>Elizabeth's seeming obliviousness to marriage, her refusal to discuss
353 it, or her occasional witty but vague comments - all these infuriated her
354 councilors.&nbsp; They seemed incapable of appreciating the impact
355 marriage would have upon her life, while its impact was distressingly
356 clear to Elizabeth.&nbsp; The councilors wanted a king, and an heir, a
357 natural enough desire since her throne could not be completely secure without
358 them.&nbsp; But Elizabeth knew herself to be intellectually superior to
359 most men and she relished her independence.&nbsp; And, of course, her
360 father's marital history - as well as her sister's - made her question
361 both the personal and political cost of marriage.&nbsp; The new queen always
362 had a low opinion of marital happiness, and saw little reason to change
363 her mind.&nbsp; </P>
364 <P>Even in her own lifetime, rumors abounded that Elizabeth was physically
365 deformed, incapable of pleasing a husband or bearing a child.&nbsp; It was
366 also whispered that she was a sexual deviant whose appetites could not be
367 satisfied by marriage.&nbsp; However, it is clear enough that Elizabeth's
368 character - pragmatic, rational, and calculating - was not overly
369 romantic; she was openly fond of many courtiers, particularly Robert
370 Dudley.&nbsp; But she never wed Dudley, and a healthy flirtation does not
371 indicate sexual deviancy.&nbsp; Rather, it shows Elizabeth to be a normal
372 young woman who enjoyed the company of a handsome man.&nbsp; If she had
373 not flirted with Dudley, or her other courtiers, then speculation about
374 her character would be understandable.&nbsp; In truth, she was no less
375 flirtatious than her father, but the simple, unavoidable fact of her
376 gender made her flirtations far more politically charged.&nbsp; </P>
377 <P>Furthermore, any sexual activity would have been immediately
378 reported.&nbsp; 'I do not live in a corner,' the queen once commented. 'A
379 thousand eyes see all I do, and calumny will not fasten on me for
380 ever.'&nbsp; A foreign ambassador was caught paying one of her laundresses
381 for proof of the queen's regular menstrual cycle; everyone at court
382 gossiped about her relationships with the handsome courtiers who soon
383 flocked to London.&nbsp; The queen herself preferred to rise above such
384 discussion.&nbsp; If she fulfilled her royal duties with care and
385 diligence, and if she brought prosperity and peace to her country, then
386 she was successful.&nbsp; And since she had great faith in her own
387 talents, she saw no reason to share her throne with a husband.&nbsp; </P>
388 <P>And so, out of love of independence and power, and a native distrust of
389 marriage, Elizabeth was determined to remain single.&nbsp; Her councilors,
390 for their part, pretended to believe otherwise for quite a long
391 time.&nbsp; Despite her repeated vows to 'live and die a virgin', they
392 embarked upon countless rounds of diplomatic negotiations searching for a
393 husband.&nbsp; They visited her in private, they
394 openly begged her; they eventually forced a parliamentary showdown upon
395 her.&nbsp; William Cecil prayed that 'God would send our mistress a
396 husband, and by time a son, that we may hope our posterity shall have a
397 masculine succession.'&nbsp; Despite their close friendship, and mutual
398 respect, even Cecil succumbed to the sexism of their age - he rebuked a
399 messenger for talking to the queen of something that 'was too much for
400 woman's knowledge.'&nbsp; </P>
401 <P>But over the years, her councilor's discomfort lessened.&nbsp; Mary
402 Stuart bore a son, James, in 1566 and was imprisoned in England shortly
403 afterwards.&nbsp; James was raised as a Protestant and was soon the only
404 Tudor relative with a viable claim.&nbsp; His religion allowed most
405 Englishmen to look favorably upon him as Elizabeth's eventual heir.&nbsp;
406 The queen wisely dangled its possibility before him and thus ensured
407 Scottish political cooperation throughout the later years of her
408 reign.&nbsp; Also, as the years passed, so did the possibility that
409 Elizabeth would bear a child.&nbsp; And why marry, if not for an
410 heir?&nbsp; </P>
411 <P>It is also worth noting the endless difficulties in selecting a
412 suitable husband.&nbsp; A foreign match would have dragged England into
413 the morass of European politics, with possibly the same disastrous results
414 of Mary's marriage.&nbsp; But marriage to an Englishman would have given
415 too much power to one political faction or the other.&nbsp; And so
416 Elizabeth's personal dislike of marriage turned out to be a shrewd
417 political decision, though it confounded everyone for several years.&nbsp;
418 </P>
419 <P>From the earliest days of her reign, one of Elizabeth's greatest
420 political attributes was her endless prevarication.&nbsp; Many historians
421 have described it less as an attribute, and more as her greatest failing.&nbsp;
422 They mention her inability to decide upon marriage, or - most famously -
423 her refusal to execute Mary queen of Scots.&nbsp; They argue that these
424 incidents prove she was hesitant and indecisive.&nbsp; But it actually
425 reveals a formidable political talent, and one which greatly benefited her
426 nation.&nbsp; The new queen was not one to whole-heartedly plunge into any
427 scheme, personal or political; thus, she refused to become involved in
428 foreign entanglements which would have bankrupted her country and produced
429 strife and discontent.&nbsp; She sent money and a few troops to
430 continental Protestants, but no more.&nbsp; In terms of religion, she
431 sought to strike a balance between two extremes through careful thought
432 and debate.&nbsp; In doing so, she negotiated a truce of sorts which
433 lasted through most of her reign - in contrast to the religious turmoil
434 which marked the reigns before and after her own.&nbsp; One could label
435 her indecisive since she did not strike a definitive stance on either
436 issue.&nbsp; But she preserved the peace and prosperity of her nation; she
437 put England, and the welfare of its citizens, first.&nbsp; Thus, the
438 ability to prevaricate was an essential tool of her political success,
439 however much it frustrated those who wanted her to take sides.&nbsp; In
440 Elizabeth's case, one could argue that she took only the English side.</P>
441 <hr>
442 </blockquote>
443 </blockquote>
444 <p><font size="4">'She is a very vain and clever woman.&nbsp; She must have
445 been thoroughly schooled in the manner in which her father conducted his
446 affairs.&nbsp; She is determined to be governed by no one.' </font>
447 <font size="2">&nbsp; </font><I><FONT size=-1>the Spanish ambassador De Feria, 1559</FONT></I></p>
448 <blockquote>
449 <blockquote>
450 <hr>
451 <P>
452 <IMG height=307 alt="Elizabeth I's greatest love, Sir Robert Dudley"
453 src="eliztruelove.jpg" width=300 align="left">This understandably caused strife within her council.&nbsp; It was
454 clear from the beginning that Robert Dudley was the queen's favorite
455 courtier.&nbsp; They were openly affectionate and Dudley enjoyed flaunting
456 the queen's favor.&nbsp; Cecil was often terrified that Elizabeth would
457 wed Dudley, but that fear at least was soon put to rest.&nbsp; At the
458 start of Elizabeth's reign, Dudley was still married to an heiress called
459 Amy Robsart; she was safely tucked away in the country while her husband
460 flirted at court.&nbsp; Elizabeth knew of the match; she had attended the
461 wedding.&nbsp; But the marriage, which had begun happily, was soon torn
462 apart by Dudley's ambition.&nbsp; But whatever he planned for the future,
463 it was soon impossible for him to dream of becoming king.&nbsp; Amy was
464 living in secluded and deprived circumstances at Cumnor Place, the
465 Oxfordshire manor of Anthony Forster, an MP and close friend of
466 Dudley's.&nbsp; She had been ill for some time.&nbsp; On Sunday the 8th of
467 September 1560, roughly nine months after Elizabeth's coronation, she gave
468 her few servants permission to visit a fair.&nbsp; When they returned,
469 they found her lying dead at the bottom of the staircase with a broken
470 neck.&nbsp; There had been other ladies in the home; they reported playing
471 backgammon with Amy until, suddenly and without explanation, she left the
472 room and fell to her death.&nbsp; Dudley was informed of the news while at
473 Windsor Castle with the queen.&nbsp; He immediately ordered a thorough
474 investigation.&nbsp; Why?&nbsp; His close relationship with the queen was
475 already a minor scandal; Amy's suspicious death could make it
476 explosive.&nbsp; </P>
477 <P>Amy had been ill for some months, with a 'canker in her breast', as the
478 doctors said.&nbsp; They had assured Dudley that his wife would not live
479 much longer.&nbsp; So the immediate supposition after her death - that
480 Dudley had murdered Amy so he could marry the queen - does not make
481 sense.&nbsp; There were only three other conclusions to draw - first, that
482 Amy, knowing her own condition, was depressed and angry at her husband;
483 she therefore took her own life in an attempt to end her suffering and
484 Dudley's hopes to be king.&nbsp; Second, that one of Dudley's enemies had
485 murdered Amy in an attempt to discredit him and make marriage with the
486 queen impossible.&nbsp; Or third, that nothing so nefarious occurred and
487 her death was completely accidental; she simply fell while walking down
488 the stairs.&nbsp; </P>
489 <P>But everyone enjoyed gossip and scandal too much to let it pass.&nbsp;
490 And Amy's maid told a jury that her mistress had often 'prayed to God to
491 deliver her from desperation', and many courtiers remembered Dudley's
492 public speculation about divorcing his wife.&nbsp; Elizabeth was forced to
493 send Dudley from court until the funeral, but he did not attend the
494 service.&nbsp; The queen sent Lady Norton as her representative, and it
495 was known that other ladies had been asked but refused to go because of
496 the scandal.&nbsp; But Elizabeth's affection for Dudley was at its
497 greatest during these early years and could not be denied.&nbsp; Soon
498 enough he was back at court and in as much favor as always.&nbsp; Once,
499 during a boating party on the Thames, he asked the ambassador de Quadra,
500 who was also Bishop of Avila, to marry he and Elizabeth immediately.&nbsp;
501 The ambassador remarked that he would do so as soon as the queen dismissed
502 her Protestant councilors from service.&nbsp; </P>
503 <P>In light of Amy Robsart's death, it is worth considering Elizabeth's
504 own feelings on the matter.&nbsp; Her closest advisors thought she had
505 good cause to dread the woman's death, though not because of any
506 scandal.&nbsp; The queen, they realized, enjoyed flirting with Dudley and
507 occasionally encouraged his fantasies, but she did not want to be given
508 the opportunity to marry him.&nbsp; When Amy Robsart died, Elizabeth had
509 no ready excuse for denying Dudley's proposals.</P>
510 </blockquote>
511 </blockquote>
512</blockquote>
513
514<blockquote>
515 <blockquote>
516 <blockquote>
517 <P>But the queen had other, far more appropriate suitors.&nbsp; Cecil's
518 natural inclination was to make peace with England's
519 traditional enemy, France.&nbsp; He urged a match with one of Queen Catherine d'Medici and
520 King Henry II's sons.&nbsp; These Francophile maneuvers began seriously
521 after Mary Stuart's French husband died in 1560 and she returned to
522 Scotland.&nbsp; To thwart Cecil, other councilors pressed a Spanish
523 marriage, perhaps even to her former brother-in-law Philip.&nbsp; The
524 queen expertly considered all options but never committed to any.&nbsp;
525 This routine would continue until advancing age made childbirth
526 impossible.&nbsp; Only then was Elizabeth truly free of parliamentary
527 meddling in her private affairs, a situation which had inspired several
528 famously bitter outbursts in 1566.&nbsp; After insisting that the
529 succession was too weighty an issue for such &quot;a knot of harebrains&quot; as the
530 House of Commons, she later invoked her own arrest during Wyatt's
531 rebellion as the reason for her refusal to name a successor (if she would
532 not marry): &quot;I did differ from her [Mary I] in religion and I was sought
533 for divers ways.&nbsp; And so shall never be my successor.&quot;&nbsp; And, she
534 warned them, &quot;as your Prince and head&quot;, it was up to her to judge such
535 weighty political issues without parliamentary interference, &quot;For it is
536 monstrous that the feet should direct the head.&quot;</P>
537 <P>In other words, they could discuss and debate and suggest - but only
538 Elizabeth could rule.</P>
539 <P>&nbsp;</P>
540 <CENTER>
541 <P><B><A
542 href="eliz3.html">CONTINUE
543 READING</A> <BR>&nbsp;</B></P>
544 <P>&nbsp; <FONT size=-1><A
545 href="../monarchs.html">to Tudor
546 Monarchs<BR></A><A
547 href="eliz1.html">back to Queen
548 Elizabeth I, part one</A></FONT></P>
549 </CENTER>
550 </blockquote>
551 </blockquote>
552</blockquote>
553
554</body>
555
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