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15 <Metadata name="Author">Marilee Mongello</Metadata>
16 <Metadata name="Content">Queen Elizabeth I: Biography, Portraits with commentary, Primary Sources Elizabeth Tudor 1533 to 1603 The Virgin Queen Gloriana</Metadata>
17 <Metadata name="Page_topic">Queen Elizabeth I: Biography, Portraits with commentary, Primary Sources Elizabeth Tudor 1533 to 1603 The Virgin Queen Gloriana</Metadata>
18 <Metadata name="Title">Queen Elizabeth I: Biography, Portraits, Primary Sources</Metadata>
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40
41&lt;table border=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;3&quot; width=&quot;100%&quot; height=&quot;667&quot;&gt;
42 &lt;tr&gt;
43 &lt;td width=&quot;25%&quot; height=&quot;29&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
44 &lt;td valign=&quot;top&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot; height=&quot;29&quot;&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;
45 &lt;td width=&quot;25%&quot; height=&quot;29&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
46 &lt;/tr&gt;
47 &lt;tr&gt;
48 &lt;td width=&quot;25%&quot; height=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
49 &lt;td width=&quot;50%&quot; height=&quot;3&quot;&gt;
50 &lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;
51 &lt;IMG height=98 alt=&quot;Queen Elizabeth I&quot;
52 src=&quot;_httpdocimg_/eliz1-queenuse.gif&quot; width=422&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
53 &lt;td width=&quot;25%&quot; height=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
54 &lt;/tr&gt;
55 &lt;tr&gt;
56 &lt;td width=&quot;25%&quot; height=&quot;610&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
57 &lt;td valign=&quot;top&quot; width=&quot;50%&quot; height=&quot;610&quot;&gt;
58 &lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;
59 &lt;img border=&quot;2&quot; src=&quot;_httpdocimg_/eliz1-coronation.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;The 'Coronation Portrait' of Elizabeth I; late 16th copy of a lost original&quot; width=&quot;294&quot; height=&quot;427&quot;&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;
60 &lt;p align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;
61 &amp;nbsp;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
62 &lt;DIV align=left&gt;Visit
63 &lt;a href=&quot;_httpextlink_&amp;amp;rl=0&amp;amp;href=http:%2f%2fwww.marileecody.com%2feliz1-images.html&quot;&gt;Elizabethan
64 Images&lt;/a&gt; to view portraits of the queen and her courtiers, with
65 commentary.&lt;BR&gt;Read poems, letters, and speeches by the queen at &lt;A
66 href=&quot;_httpextlink_&amp;amp;rl=1&amp;amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fprimary.html&quot;&gt;Primary
67 Sources&lt;/A&gt;.&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;Read ES Beesly's 1892 biography of Queen
68 Elizabeth I at &lt;a href=&quot;_httpextlink_&amp;amp;rl=1&amp;amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fsecondary.html&quot;&gt;
69 Secondary Sources&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/DIV&gt;
70 &lt;DIV align=left&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;
71 &lt;DIV align=left&gt;Visit &lt;A
72 href=&quot;_httpextlink_&amp;amp;rl=1&amp;amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fmonarchs%2fboleyn.html&quot;&gt;the Anne
73 Boleyn website&lt;/A&gt; to learn more about Elizabeth's mother.&lt;BR&gt;Visit &lt;A
74 href=&quot;_httpextlink_&amp;amp;rl=1&amp;amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2frelative%2fmaryqos.html&quot;&gt;the Mary,
75 queen of Scots website&lt;/A&gt; to learn more about Elizabeth's
76 cousin.&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;Test your knowledge of Elizabeth's life and times at &lt;A
77 href=&quot;_httpextlink_&amp;amp;rl=1&amp;amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2ftudor1.html&quot;&gt;Tudor
78 Quizzes&lt;/A&gt;.&lt;/DIV&gt;
79 &lt;DIV align=left&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;
80 &lt;DIV align=left&gt;Meet other Elizabethan enthusiasts at
81 &lt;a href=&quot;_httpextlink_&amp;amp;rl=0&amp;amp;href=http:%2f%2fwww.alassea.net%2ffl%2felizabeth&quot;&gt;The Virgin Queen
82 fanlisting&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/DIV&gt;
83 &lt;DIV align=left&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/DIV&gt;
84 &lt;/td&gt;
85 &lt;td width=&quot;25%&quot; height=&quot;610&quot;&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
86 &lt;/tr&gt;
87&lt;/table&gt;
88
89&lt;blockquote&gt;
90 &lt;blockquote&gt;
91 &lt;blockquote&gt;
92 &lt;hr&gt;
93 &lt;/blockquote&gt;
94 &lt;/blockquote&gt;
95 &lt;p&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;4&quot;&gt;'Some have fallen from being Princes of this land to be
96 prisoners in this place; I am raised from being prisoner in this place to be
97 Prince of this land.&amp;nbsp; That dejection was a work of God's justice; this
98 advancement is a work of His mercy.' &lt;/font&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;I&gt;&lt;FONT size=-1&gt;Elizabeth
99 I at the Tower of London, during her coronation ceremonies,
100 1559&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/I&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
101 &lt;blockquote&gt;
102 &lt;blockquote&gt;
103 &lt;hr&gt;
104
105 &lt;P&gt;There is an apocryphal story about Elizabeth's accession.&amp;nbsp; In it,
106 she was out in the meadows surrounding Hatfield when the courtiers
107 approached.&amp;nbsp; They bowed before her, and presented Mary's signet
108 ring.&amp;nbsp; Elizabeth supposedly fell upon her knees and exclaimed, most
109 aptly, 'A Domino factum est illud et est mirabile in oculis nostris.'
110 ('This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in Our eyes.')&amp;nbsp; The
111 citizens of London undoubtedly felt the same; upon receiving word of
112 Mary's death, bonfires were lit and tables were set in the streets for a
113 grand celebratory feast.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/P&gt;
114 &lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;A glorious accession, then, and much celebrated.&amp;nbsp; A
115 contemporary observer, however, commented wryly upon the state of affairs
116 in England in 1558: 'The Queen poor; the realm exhausted; the nobility
117 poor and decayed; want of good captains and soldiers; the people out of
118 order; justice not executed; justices of peace unmeet for office; all
119 things dear; excess of meat and drink, and apparel; division among
120 ourselves; war with France and Scotland; the French King, having one foot
121 in Calais and the other in Scotland; steadfast enmity, but no steadfast
122 friendship abroad.'&amp;nbsp; &lt;/P&gt;
123 &lt;P&gt;Elizabeth was well aware of the dire situation she faced.&amp;nbsp; She
124 herself had been the victim of the religious and political confusion of
125 Mary's reign.&amp;nbsp; And&lt;IMG height=412
126 alt=&quot;'The Ditchley Portrait' of Elizabeth I&quot;
127 src=&quot;_httpdocimg_/eliz1-ditchley.jpg&quot; width=281 border=2 align=&quot;right&quot;&gt; even the weather had been uncooperative for Queen
128 Mary; the droughts which had plagued farmers led to high prices and much
129 poverty.&amp;nbsp; Most of the poor flocked to London where they crowded into
130 ever-expanding slums.&amp;nbsp; Mary's attempts to reform the debased currency
131 of Henry VIII and Edward VI's reign had been somewhat successful, but
132 England was still considered a poor credit risk on the Continent.&amp;nbsp;
133 &lt;/P&gt;
134 &lt;P&gt;And so the new queen, though popular and much-admired, did not inherit
135 a stable and prosperous country - and the quest for stability and
136 prosperity became the guiding force of her reign.&amp;nbsp; To that end, she
137 came to eschew foreign entanglements and religious extremism.&amp;nbsp;
138 Practical and pragmatic, Elizabeth chose as her motto 'Semper Eadem'
139 ('Always the Same'), and it was highly appropriate.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/P&gt;
140 &lt;P&gt;Her succession was assured and untroubled.&amp;nbsp; But Elizabeth knew
141 that when the celebrations ended, the real work would begin.&amp;nbsp; Almost
142 immediately, she would be forced to consider a rival claim to the throne
143 by her cousin, Mary Stuart.&amp;nbsp; Queen of Scotland since infancy, and now
144 the wife of the French dauphin (and crowned queen of France in 1559), Mary
145 was denied a place in the Tudor succession by Henry VIII's will.&amp;nbsp; But
146 she was a Catholic and had the French monarchy behind her.&amp;nbsp; For her
147 part, she was content to stay in France.&amp;nbsp; But she did - with spirit
148 and not much sense, as was her wont - choose to quarter the royal arms of
149 England, Wales and Ireland upon her heraldry, thus openly laying claim to
150 the throne of England.&amp;nbsp; Even this symbolic act was fraught with
151 political danger for the queenly cousins.&amp;nbsp; From her accession on,
152 Elizabeth knew her Scottish 'sister' was a serious concern; and while Mary
153 was safely in France, it was all for the better.&amp;nbsp; Scotland was
154 already turning Protestant and England could continue to support its
155 religious dissension and political upheaval.&amp;nbsp; If their northern
156 neighbor was kept busy with its own troubles, it was less likely to clash
157 with England.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/P&gt;
158 &lt;P&gt;As for her English subjects, even the Catholics were largely against
159 Mary Stuart's claims.&amp;nbsp; In this case, nationalism trumped
160 religion.&amp;nbsp; There were other English claimants, of course; the younger
161 sisters of the unfortunate &lt;A
162 href=&quot;_httpextlink_&amp;amp;rl=1&amp;amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2frelative%2fjanegrey.html&quot;&gt;Lady Jane
163 Grey&lt;/A&gt;.&amp;nbsp; But of the two, &lt;A
164 href=&quot;_httpextlink_&amp;amp;rl=1&amp;amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2frelative%2fcathgrey.html&quot;&gt;Catherine&lt;/A&gt;
165 was flighty and foolish and Mary was barely four feet tall.&amp;nbsp; Neither
166 was a popular choice to be queen.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/P&gt;
167 &lt;P&gt;Her smooth accession was further assured by the Lord Chancellor,
168 Nicholas Heath.&amp;nbsp; Parliament had been in session while Mary lay dying
169 and, on 17 November, Heath announced her death to the assembled lords and
170 commons.&amp;nbsp; He then said, 'Which hap as it is most heavy and grievous
171 unto us, so have we no less cause another way to rejoice with praise to
172 Almighty God for that He hath left unto us a true, lawful and right
173 inheritrice to the crown of this realm, which is the Lady Elizabeth, of
174 whose lawful right and title we need not to doubt.&amp;nbsp; Wherefore the
175 lords of this house have determined with your assents and consents, to
176 pass from hence into the palace, and there to proclaim the said Lady
177 Elizabeth Queen of this realm without further tract of time.'&amp;nbsp; &lt;/P&gt;
178 &lt;P&gt;There was no dissension at Heath's words.&amp;nbsp; Traditionally,
179 Parliament dissolved upon the death of the reigning monarch - but Heath's
180 prompt actions ensured Elizabeth's lawful recognition as queen before the
181 lords and commons dispersed.&amp;nbsp; And, as a leading Catholic, Heath also
182 secured the loyalty of his religious party for the new queen.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/P&gt;
183 &lt;P&gt;Elizabeth held court at Hatfield for about a week, assembling statesmen
184 and studying English affairs more acutely.&amp;nbsp; Nicholas Throckmorton
185 wrote to her immediately; he advised her to be wary and careful, so that
186 neither 'the old or the new should wholly understand what you mean.'&amp;nbsp;
187 She did not need such advice; it was already central to her
188 character.&amp;nbsp; How else had she survived the reigns of Edward and
189 Mary?&amp;nbsp; &lt;/P&gt;
190 &lt;P&gt;
191 &lt;IMG height=206 alt=&quot;Elizabeth I's greatest advisor, Sir William Cecil&quot;
192 src=&quot;_httpdocimg_/cecil-sm1.jpg&quot; width=140 border=2 align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;On 20 November, she held her first council meeting and appointed the
193 loyal William Cecil as her Principal Secretary of State.&amp;nbsp; They had
194 been friends for a long while, since his appointment as her accountant
195 many years ago.&amp;nbsp; And, for the next forty years, they were to rule
196 England as a virtually inseparable team.&amp;nbsp; Elizabeth's words to Cecil
197 have become justly famous: 'I give you this charge, that you shall be of
198 my Privy Council and content to take pains for me and my realm.&amp;nbsp; This
199 judgment I have of you that you will not be corrupted by any manner of
200 gift and that you will be faithful to the state; and that without respect
201 of my private will you will give me that counsel which you think best and
202 if you shall know anything necessary to be declared to me of secrecy, you
203 shall show it to myself only.&amp;nbsp; And assure yourself I will not fail to
204 keep taciturnity therein and therefore herewith I charge you.'&amp;nbsp; &lt;/P&gt;
205 &lt;P&gt;All monarchs use such appointments to reward loyalty and friendship;
206 Cecil's was also a reward for ability.&amp;nbsp; On a more personal note,
207 Elizabeth rewarded the faithful servants who had been her companions since
208 childhood, among them Thomas Parry and Kat Ashley.&amp;nbsp; The handsome
209 Robert Dudley was appointed Master of the Horse; he was the son of the
210 late Lord Protector and had been imprisoned in the Tower with Elizabeth
211 during Mary's reign.&amp;nbsp; Not coincidentally, this position required
212 close contact with the queen.&amp;nbsp; Thus from the very beginning, a source
213 of rivalry was established amongst Elizabeth's closest councilors.&amp;nbsp;
214 Cecil and Dudley disliked one another, each man viewing the other as his
215 main rival for the queen's attention.&amp;nbsp; But even this potentially
216 untenable situation benefited the young queen; it meant that she alone
217 dominated her government while two rival factions developed, each centered
218 around Cecil and Dudley.&lt;/P&gt;
219 &lt;hr&gt;
220 &lt;/blockquote&gt;
221 &lt;/blockquote&gt;
222 &lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;4&quot;&gt;'Everything depends upon the husband this woman takes.'&amp;nbsp;
223 &lt;BR&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;I&gt;&lt;FONT size=-1&gt;the Spanish ambassador De Feria, 1560&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/I&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
224 &lt;blockquote&gt;
225 &lt;blockquote&gt;
226 &lt;hr&gt;
227 &lt;/blockquote&gt;
228 &lt;/blockquote&gt;
229 &lt;P align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;4&quot;&gt;'If I were a milkmaid with a pail on my
230 arm, whereby my private person might be little set by, I would not forsake
231 that poor and single state to match with the greatest monarch.'&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;
232 &lt;/font&gt;&lt;I&gt;&lt;FONT size=-1&gt;Elizabeth I
233 to Parliament, regarding marriage&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/I&gt;&lt;/P&gt;
234 &lt;blockquote&gt;
235 &lt;blockquote&gt;
236 &lt;hr&gt;
237 &lt;P&gt;Elizabeth well understood the importance of public relations and knew
238 her entry into London must be a lavish spectacle; the coronation which
239 would follow must be even more impressive.&amp;nbsp; Dudley was placed in
240 charge of the coronation plans.&amp;nbsp; He was well-suited to the
241 task.&amp;nbsp; Elizabeth's favorite astronomer, Dr John Dee, was consulted
242 and Sunday, 15 January 1559 was selected as the perfect date.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/P&gt;
243 &lt;P&gt;On 23 November, Elizabeth left Hatfield for London; she stayed at the
244 Charterhouse, and for the next five days she made regular appearances
245 before adoring crowds.&amp;nbsp; On Monday 28 November, she left the
246 Charterhouse to ride through London and to the Tower.&amp;nbsp; She wore a
247 purple velvet gown and had a scarf tied loosely around her neck.&amp;nbsp;
248 Dudley rode closely behind her.&amp;nbsp; When they neared the Tower, both the
249 queen and her Master of the Horse appreciated the irony of the
250 moment.&amp;nbsp; Elizabeth said simply, and wittily: 'Some have fallen from
251 being Princes of this land to be prisoners in this place; I am raised from
252 being prisoner in this place to be Prince of this land.&amp;nbsp; That
253 dejection was a work of God's justice; this advancement is a work of His
254 mercy.'&amp;nbsp; &lt;/P&gt;
255 &lt;P&gt;She spent the next ten days at the Tower, holding council meetings and
256 slowly but steadily learning how to rule.&amp;nbsp; She had been welcomed to
257 the throne with great celebration, but few monarchs have inherited such a
258 dire predicament.&amp;nbsp; Religious turmoil was inevitable; though
259 the Protestants regarded Elizabeth as their savior, many Marian exiles
260 believed she would maintain her sister's religious changes.&amp;nbsp; She had
261 to tread carefully - and fortunately for both Elizabeth and her nation,
262 she was uniquely suited to do so.&amp;nbsp; She made it clear to her
263 councilors that she wanted no windows into men's souls.&amp;nbsp; Also, she
264 would not be dominated by one religious party at the expense of
265 another.&amp;nbsp; For Elizabeth, her citizens were Englishmen first; their
266 religious loyalties - whether Catholic or Protestant - were to remain
267 subservient to their loyalty to her as queen of England.&amp;nbsp; This
268 explains her later disregard for Puritanism.&amp;nbsp; She characteristically
269 remarked that she preferred loyal Catholics to Puritans; this may have
270 confused some of her subjects since she was a Protestant queen, and the
271 Puritans were simply Protestant extremists.&amp;nbsp; However, Elizabeth
272 recognized that, by the end of her reign, most of her Catholic subjects
273 were loyal to her instead of the pope (despite her excommunication) and
274 accepted royal prerogative.&amp;nbsp; Her Puritan subjects, however, did not
275 recognize the sanctity of the crown, and their presence in Parliament
276 ensured a steady erosion of royal power.&amp;nbsp; The end result of this
277 conflict occurred during the reign of Charles I, when a powerful Puritan
278 populace revolted against their Catholic king and beheaded him.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/P&gt;
279 &lt;P&gt;Luckily, most of Elizabeth's councilors were of the same mind as the
280 queen.&amp;nbsp; Their first priority was the stability of the realm, and they
281 wanted to negotiate a truce of sorts between the two factions.&amp;nbsp; Of
282 course, the more extreme members of both parties could not be
283 satisfied.&amp;nbsp; Also, Philip II of Spain and Henri II of France had
284 recently ended their near-constant warfare, and now England remained
285 outside Continental affairs; perhaps it would become the prey of both
286 powers.&amp;nbsp; When Elizabeth's court moved to Whitehall for Christmas, the
287 Spanish ambassador De Feria tried to secure a possible marriage between
288 Elizabeth and one of Philip's innumerable relatives.&amp;nbsp; Already her
289 expected marriage dominated European politics.&amp;nbsp; No one expected her
290 to rule alone.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/P&gt;
291 &lt;P&gt;The Christmas festivities at Whitehall were quite extravagant.&amp;nbsp;
292 The English court had not had cause for much celebration in years; Mary's
293 reign had been increasingly insular and solemn.&amp;nbsp; But Elizabeth, young
294 and beautiful, was determined to celebrate her near-miraculous
295 triumph.&amp;nbsp; And yet Christmas would pale in comparison to her
296 coronation festivities.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/P&gt;
297 &lt;P&gt;On the 12th of January, she set out once again to the Tower, traveling
298 by river from Whitehall.&amp;nbsp; Two days later, at two o'clock in the
299 afternoon, she rode in an open litter for her recognition procession
300 throughout London.&amp;nbsp; She wore a gown of crimson velvet and cloth of
301 gold with an ermine cape for warmth, and was surrounded by richly-dressed
302 lords and ladies.&amp;nbsp; Crowds of Londoners thronged the streets, to the
303 queen's open delight.&amp;nbsp; It was a cold and wet Saturday with snow
304 flurries settling upon the brocade canopy of the queen's litter, but the
305 weather could not distract from the spectacle.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/P&gt;
306 &lt;P&gt;The entire route through the city was marked by pageants, plays, and
307 orations; even Anne Boleyn appeared in a tableau beside Henry VIII.&amp;nbsp;
308 Elizabeth's replies to each presentation were memorable and kind; to the
309 Recorder of London, she memorably said, 'Whereas your request is that I
310 should continue your good lady and Queen, be ye assured that I will be as
311 good unto you as ever Queen was to her people.&amp;nbsp; No will in me can
312 lack, neither do I trust shall there lack any power.&amp;nbsp; And persuade
313 yourselves, that for the safety and quietness of you all, I will not spare
314 if need be to spare my blood.'&amp;nbsp; These words were not merely facile
315 endearments.&amp;nbsp; Long ago, during the dark days of Mary's reign, she had
316 realized the importance of public relations and popular support.&amp;nbsp;
317&lt;/P&gt;
318 &lt;P&gt;The next day she was crowned queen of England.&amp;nbsp; She entered
319 Westminster on foot, walking upon a long blue carpet which the crowd
320 promptly cut up for souvenirs.&amp;nbsp; The great Abbey was crowded full of
321 both rural and urban dignitaries, and their ladies.&amp;nbsp; They watched as
322 the queen marched slowly forward, the long red velvet train of her gown
323 carried by the duchess of Norfolk.&amp;nbsp; Hundreds of candles and lamps
324 burned, and the boys' choir sang beautifully while a medley of pipes,
325 drums, and the church organ played.)&amp;nbsp; She was crowned by Owen
326 Oglethorpe, the bishop of Carlisle.&amp;nbsp; The&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;_httpdocimg_/eliz1woodcrop.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;portrait of Elizabeth I on wood; c1565&quot; align=&quot;right&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; height=&quot;285&quot;&gt; archbishop of Canterbury,
327 Reginald Pole, had died the same day as Queen Mary; the archbishop of York
328 asked to be excused on grounds of conscience; the bishop of Durham said he
329 was too old to perform the ceremony.&amp;nbsp; And so it fell to Dr
330 Oglethorpe, who was as good as anyone else in Elizabeth's eyes.&amp;nbsp; The
331 ceremony itself was a mish-mash of Catholic and Protestant rituals - the
332 Mass was said in Latin but the celebrant did not elevate the Host; the
333 epistle and gospel were read in Latin and English; and the coronation oath
334 itself was read from an English Bible.&amp;nbsp; In other words, it was a
335 ceremony which accurately reflected the religious confusion of mid-16th
336 century England.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/P&gt;
337 &lt;P&gt;Oglethorpe placed the heavy Crown of St Edward on her head, but it was
338 quickly removed after the oath was administered.&amp;nbsp; Then, wearing a
339 lighter crown, the new queen was presented to the congregation.&amp;nbsp;
340 There was an explosion of noise (the Venetian ambassador said it sounded
341 like the end of the world) as bells were rung, trumpets were blown, and
342 every other musical instrument played with such force that spectators
343 winced.&amp;nbsp; The coronation banquet was held at Westminster Hall at three
344 o'clock and lasted until one o'clock Monday morning.&amp;nbsp; The new queen,
345 who now wore a becoming gown of purple velvet, sat beneath the great
346 window on a raised dais.&amp;nbsp; There were eight hundred guests, and the
347 queen was served by the Lord Chamberlain and the Chief Steward.&amp;nbsp; She
348 spoke little during the banquet, and was so tired when it ended that a
349 tournament planned for Monday afternoon was canceled.&amp;nbsp; She had also
350 caught a cold; the opening of Parliament was thus delayed from the 23rd of
351 January to the 25th.&amp;nbsp; Her arrival at Parliament, however, was another
352 moment of triumph for Elizabeth.&amp;nbsp; She wore a crimson gown and a cap
353 decorated with pearls and was quite lovely and energetic despite her
354 recent cold.&amp;nbsp; When the crowd called out, 'God save and maintain
355 thee!', she responded with enthusiasm, 'God a' mercy, good people!'&amp;nbsp;
356 &lt;/P&gt;
357 &lt;P&gt;All things considered, these first two months on the throne had gone
358 very smoothly.&amp;nbsp; But most European powers were convinced she wouldn't
359 last a year as queen.&amp;nbsp; If she did, it would only be due to a
360 quick marriage.&amp;nbsp; And so, over the next several years, the dominant
361 issue of her reign would be one which she personally detested - who would
362 the queen marry, and when?&amp;nbsp; For Elizabeth, treading carefully and
363 conscious of the novelty of her position, the issue was a personal and
364 political threat - and one which she handled with exquisite care.&lt;/P&gt;
365 &lt;hr&gt;
366 &lt;/blockquote&gt;
367 &lt;/blockquote&gt;
368 &lt;p&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;4&quot;&gt;'She [Elizabeth] is incomparably more feared than her
369 sister, and gives her orders and has her way as absolutely as her father did.'&lt;/font&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;4&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;
370 &lt;/font&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;-1&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;I&gt;&lt;FONT size=-1&gt;the Spanish ambassador De Feria,
371 1559&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/I&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
372 &lt;blockquote&gt;
373 &lt;blockquote&gt;
374 &lt;hr&gt;
375 &lt;P&gt;Elizabeth's seeming obliviousness to marriage, her refusal to discuss
376 it, or her occasional witty but vague comments - all these infuriated her
377 councilors.&amp;nbsp; They seemed incapable of appreciating the impact
378 marriage would have upon her life, while its impact was distressingly
379 clear to Elizabeth.&amp;nbsp; The councilors wanted a king, and an heir, a
380 natural enough desire since her throne could not be completely secure without
381 them.&amp;nbsp; But Elizabeth knew herself to be intellectually superior to
382 most men and she relished her independence.&amp;nbsp; And, of course, her
383 father's marital history - as well as her sister's - made her question
384 both the personal and political cost of marriage.&amp;nbsp; The new queen always
385 had a low opinion of marital happiness, and saw little reason to change
386 her mind.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/P&gt;
387 &lt;P&gt;Even in her own lifetime, rumors abounded that Elizabeth was physically
388 deformed, incapable of pleasing a husband or bearing a child.&amp;nbsp; It was
389 also whispered that she was a sexual deviant whose appetites could not be
390 satisfied by marriage.&amp;nbsp; However, it is clear enough that Elizabeth's
391 character - pragmatic, rational, and calculating - was not overly
392 romantic; she was openly fond of many courtiers, particularly Robert
393 Dudley.&amp;nbsp; But she never wed Dudley, and a healthy flirtation does not
394 indicate sexual deviancy.&amp;nbsp; Rather, it shows Elizabeth to be a normal
395 young woman who enjoyed the company of a handsome man.&amp;nbsp; If she had
396 not flirted with Dudley, or her other courtiers, then speculation about
397 her character would be understandable.&amp;nbsp; In truth, she was no less
398 flirtatious than her father, but the simple, unavoidable fact of her
399 gender made her flirtations far more politically charged.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/P&gt;
400 &lt;P&gt;Furthermore, any sexual activity would have been immediately
401 reported.&amp;nbsp; 'I do not live in a corner,' the queen once commented. 'A
402 thousand eyes see all I do, and calumny will not fasten on me for
403 ever.'&amp;nbsp; A foreign ambassador was caught paying one of her laundresses
404 for proof of the queen's regular menstrual cycle; everyone at court
405 gossiped about her relationships with the handsome courtiers who soon
406 flocked to London.&amp;nbsp; The queen herself preferred to rise above such
407 discussion.&amp;nbsp; If she fulfilled her royal duties with care and
408 diligence, and if she brought prosperity and peace to her country, then
409 she was successful.&amp;nbsp; And since she had great faith in her own
410 talents, she saw no reason to share her throne with a husband.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/P&gt;
411 &lt;P&gt;And so, out of love of independence and power, and a native distrust of
412 marriage, Elizabeth was determined to remain single.&amp;nbsp; Her councilors,
413 for their part, pretended to believe otherwise for quite a long
414 time.&amp;nbsp; Despite her repeated vows to 'live and die a virgin', they
415 embarked upon countless rounds of diplomatic negotiations searching for a
416 husband.&amp;nbsp; They visited her in private, they
417 openly begged her; they eventually forced a parliamentary showdown upon
418 her.&amp;nbsp; William Cecil prayed that 'God would send our mistress a
419 husband, and by time a son, that we may hope our posterity shall have a
420 masculine succession.'&amp;nbsp; Despite their close friendship, and mutual
421 respect, even Cecil succumbed to the sexism of their age - he rebuked a
422 messenger for talking to the queen of something that 'was too much for
423 woman's knowledge.'&amp;nbsp; &lt;/P&gt;
424 &lt;P&gt;But over the years, her councilor's discomfort lessened.&amp;nbsp; Mary
425 Stuart bore a son, James, in 1566 and was imprisoned in England shortly
426 afterwards.&amp;nbsp; James was raised as a Protestant and was soon the only
427 Tudor relative with a viable claim.&amp;nbsp; His religion allowed most
428 Englishmen to look favorably upon him as Elizabeth's eventual heir.&amp;nbsp;
429 The queen wisely dangled its possibility before him and thus ensured
430 Scottish political cooperation throughout the later years of her
431 reign.&amp;nbsp; Also, as the years passed, so did the possibility that
432 Elizabeth would bear a child.&amp;nbsp; And why marry, if not for an
433 heir?&amp;nbsp; &lt;/P&gt;
434 &lt;P&gt;It is also worth noting the endless difficulties in selecting a
435 suitable husband.&amp;nbsp; A foreign match would have dragged England into
436 the morass of European politics, with possibly the same disastrous results
437 of Mary's marriage.&amp;nbsp; But marriage to an Englishman would have given
438 too much power to one political faction or the other.&amp;nbsp; And so
439 Elizabeth's personal dislike of marriage turned out to be a shrewd
440 political decision, though it confounded everyone for several years.&amp;nbsp;
441 &lt;/P&gt;
442 &lt;P&gt;From the earliest days of her reign, one of Elizabeth's greatest
443 political attributes was her endless prevarication.&amp;nbsp; Many historians
444 have described it less as an attribute, and more as her greatest failing.&amp;nbsp;
445 They mention her inability to decide upon marriage, or - most famously -
446 her refusal to execute Mary queen of Scots.&amp;nbsp; They argue that these
447 incidents prove she was hesitant and indecisive.&amp;nbsp; But it actually
448 reveals a formidable political talent, and one which greatly benefited her
449 nation.&amp;nbsp; The new queen was not one to whole-heartedly plunge into any
450 scheme, personal or political; thus, she refused to become involved in
451 foreign entanglements which would have bankrupted her country and produced
452 strife and discontent.&amp;nbsp; She sent money and a few troops to
453 continental Protestants, but no more.&amp;nbsp; In terms of religion, she
454 sought to strike a balance between two extremes through careful thought
455 and debate.&amp;nbsp; In doing so, she negotiated a truce of sorts which
456 lasted through most of her reign - in contrast to the religious turmoil
457 which marked the reigns before and after her own.&amp;nbsp; One could label
458 her indecisive since she did not strike a definitive stance on either
459 issue.&amp;nbsp; But she preserved the peace and prosperity of her nation; she
460 put England, and the welfare of its citizens, first.&amp;nbsp; Thus, the
461 ability to prevaricate was an essential tool of her political success,
462 however much it frustrated those who wanted her to take sides.&amp;nbsp; In
463 Elizabeth's case, one could argue that she took only the English side.&lt;/P&gt;
464 &lt;hr&gt;
465 &lt;/blockquote&gt;
466 &lt;/blockquote&gt;
467 &lt;p&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;4&quot;&gt;'She is a very vain and clever woman.&amp;nbsp; She must have
468 been thoroughly schooled in the manner in which her father conducted his
469 affairs.&amp;nbsp; She is determined to be governed by no one.' &lt;/font&gt;
470 &lt;font size=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/font&gt;&lt;I&gt;&lt;FONT size=-1&gt;the Spanish ambassador De Feria, 1559&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/I&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
471 &lt;blockquote&gt;
472 &lt;blockquote&gt;
473 &lt;hr&gt;
474 &lt;P&gt;
475 &lt;IMG height=307 alt=&quot;Elizabeth I's greatest love, Sir Robert Dudley&quot;
476 src=&quot;_httpdocimg_/eliztruelove.jpg&quot; width=300 align=&quot;left&quot;&gt;This understandably caused strife within her council.&amp;nbsp; It was
477 clear from the beginning that Robert Dudley was the queen's favorite
478 courtier.&amp;nbsp; They were openly affectionate and Dudley enjoyed flaunting
479 the queen's favor.&amp;nbsp; Cecil was often terrified that Elizabeth would
480 wed Dudley, but that fear at least was soon put to rest.&amp;nbsp; At the
481 start of Elizabeth's reign, Dudley was still married to an heiress called
482 Amy Robsart; she was safely tucked away in the country while her husband
483 flirted at court.&amp;nbsp; Elizabeth knew of the match; she had attended the
484 wedding.&amp;nbsp; But the marriage, which had begun happily, was soon torn
485 apart by Dudley's ambition.&amp;nbsp; But whatever he planned for the future,
486 it was soon impossible for him to dream of becoming king.&amp;nbsp; Amy was
487 living in secluded and deprived circumstances at Cumnor Place, the
488 Oxfordshire manor of Anthony Forster, an MP and close friend of
489 Dudley's.&amp;nbsp; She had been ill for some time.&amp;nbsp; On Sunday the 8th of
490 September 1560, roughly nine months after Elizabeth's coronation, she gave
491 her few servants permission to visit a fair.&amp;nbsp; When they returned,
492 they found her lying dead at the bottom of the staircase with a broken
493 neck.&amp;nbsp; There had been other ladies in the home; they reported playing
494 backgammon with Amy until, suddenly and without explanation, she left the
495 room and fell to her death.&amp;nbsp; Dudley was informed of the news while at
496 Windsor Castle with the queen.&amp;nbsp; He immediately ordered a thorough
497 investigation.&amp;nbsp; Why?&amp;nbsp; His close relationship with the queen was
498 already a minor scandal; Amy's suspicious death could make it
499 explosive.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/P&gt;
500 &lt;P&gt;Amy had been ill for some months, with a 'canker in her breast', as the
501 doctors said.&amp;nbsp; They had assured Dudley that his wife would not live
502 much longer.&amp;nbsp; So the immediate supposition after her death - that
503 Dudley had murdered Amy so he could marry the queen - does not make
504 sense.&amp;nbsp; There were only three other conclusions to draw - first, that
505 Amy, knowing her own condition, was depressed and angry at her husband;
506 she therefore took her own life in an attempt to end her suffering and
507 Dudley's hopes to be king.&amp;nbsp; Second, that one of Dudley's enemies had
508 murdered Amy in an attempt to discredit him and make marriage with the
509 queen impossible.&amp;nbsp; Or third, that nothing so nefarious occurred and
510 her death was completely accidental; she simply fell while walking down
511 the stairs.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/P&gt;
512 &lt;P&gt;But everyone enjoyed gossip and scandal too much to let it pass.&amp;nbsp;
513 And Amy's maid told a jury that her mistress had often 'prayed to God to
514 deliver her from desperation', and many courtiers remembered Dudley's
515 public speculation about divorcing his wife.&amp;nbsp; Elizabeth was forced to
516 send Dudley from court until the funeral, but he did not attend the
517 service.&amp;nbsp; The queen sent Lady Norton as her representative, and it
518 was known that other ladies had been asked but refused to go because of
519 the scandal.&amp;nbsp; But Elizabeth's affection for Dudley was at its
520 greatest during these early years and could not be denied.&amp;nbsp; Soon
521 enough he was back at court and in as much favor as always.&amp;nbsp; Once,
522 during a boating party on the Thames, he asked the ambassador de Quadra,
523 who was also Bishop of Avila, to marry he and Elizabeth immediately.&amp;nbsp;
524 The ambassador remarked that he would do so as soon as the queen dismissed
525 her Protestant councilors from service.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/P&gt;
526 &lt;P&gt;In light of Amy Robsart's death, it is worth considering Elizabeth's
527 own feelings on the matter.&amp;nbsp; Her closest advisors thought she had
528 good cause to dread the woman's death, though not because of any
529 scandal.&amp;nbsp; The queen, they realized, enjoyed flirting with Dudley and
530 occasionally encouraged his fantasies, but she did not want to be given
531 the opportunity to marry him.&amp;nbsp; When Amy Robsart died, Elizabeth had
532 no ready excuse for denying Dudley's proposals.&lt;/P&gt;
533 &lt;/blockquote&gt;
534 &lt;/blockquote&gt;
535&lt;/blockquote&gt;
536
537&lt;blockquote&gt;
538 &lt;blockquote&gt;
539 &lt;blockquote&gt;
540 &lt;P&gt;But the queen had other, far more appropriate suitors.&amp;nbsp; Cecil's
541 natural inclination was to make peace with England's
542 traditional enemy, France.&amp;nbsp; He urged a match with one of Queen Catherine d'Medici and
543 King Henry II's sons.&amp;nbsp; These Francophile maneuvers began seriously
544 after Mary Stuart's French husband died in 1560 and she returned to
545 Scotland.&amp;nbsp; To thwart Cecil, other councilors pressed a Spanish
546 marriage, perhaps even to her former brother-in-law Philip.&amp;nbsp; The
547 queen expertly considered all options but never committed to any.&amp;nbsp;
548 This routine would continue until advancing age made childbirth
549 impossible.&amp;nbsp; Only then was Elizabeth truly free of parliamentary
550 meddling in her private affairs, a situation which had inspired several
551 famously bitter outbursts in 1566.&amp;nbsp; After insisting that the
552 succession was too weighty an issue for such &amp;quot;a knot of harebrains&amp;quot; as the
553 House of Commons, she later invoked her own arrest during Wyatt's
554 rebellion as the reason for her refusal to name a successor (if she would
555 not marry): &amp;quot;I did differ from her [Mary I] in religion and I was sought
556 for divers ways.&amp;nbsp; And so shall never be my successor.&amp;quot;&amp;nbsp; And, she
557 warned them, &amp;quot;as your Prince and head&amp;quot;, it was up to her to judge such
558 weighty political issues without parliamentary interference, &amp;quot;For it is
559 monstrous that the feet should direct the head.&amp;quot;&lt;/P&gt;
560 &lt;P&gt;In other words, they could discuss and debate and suggest - but only
561 Elizabeth could rule.&lt;/P&gt;
562 &lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/P&gt;
563 &lt;CENTER&gt;
564 &lt;P&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;A
565 href=&quot;_httpextlink_&amp;amp;rl=1&amp;amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fmonarchs%2feliz3.html&quot;&gt;CONTINUE
566 READING&lt;/A&gt; &lt;BR&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/B&gt;&lt;/P&gt;
567 &lt;P&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;FONT size=-1&gt;&lt;A
568 href=&quot;_httpextlink_&amp;amp;rl=1&amp;amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fmonarchs.html&quot;&gt;to Tudor
569 Monarchs&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;A
570 href=&quot;_httpextlink_&amp;amp;rl=1&amp;amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fmonarchs%2feliz1.html&quot;&gt;back to Queen
571 Elizabeth I, part one&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/FONT&gt;&lt;/P&gt;
572 &lt;/CENTER&gt;
573 &lt;/blockquote&gt;
574 &lt;/blockquote&gt;
575&lt;/blockquote&gt;
576
577
578
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581</Content>
582</Section>
583</Archive>
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