Elizabeth I’s monarchy, part one

Investigate the sources

1. Source 1: Letter to Dowager Queen Katherine, 1548

   Elizabeth wrote this letter to Katherine, her last and favourite stepmother, when she was in deep disgrace. With what many people viewed as unseemly haste, Katherine had married her long-standing love, Thomas Seymour, very soon after the death of Henry VIII.

   Elizabeth went to live with the newlyweds at Chelsea, and although she thrived in the intellectually stimulating environment, she soon found herself at the centre of a scandal. Seymour clearly found the 13 year-old princess an irresistible prospect. He would visit her early in the morning, before she was dressed, and tickle her in bed. At first, Katherine colluded in her husband’s antics, but when she found Elizabeth in his arms she sent the girl away.

   The episode had a profound effect upon the young princess, reinforcing the need to safeguard her reputation at all costs and strengthening her resolve never to marry.

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      Although I coulde not be plentiful in giving thankes for the manifold kindenis received at your hithnis hande at my departure, yet I am some thinge to be borne with al, for truly I was replete with sorowe to departe frome your highnnis, especially leaving you undoubtful of helthe, and albeit I answered litel I wayed [weighed] it more dipper [deeper] when you sayd you wolde warne me of al evelles that you shulde hire of me, for if your grace had not a good opinion of me you wolde not have offered friendship to me that way, that al men iuge [judge] the contrarye, but what may I more say than thanke God for providinge suche frendes to me, desiringe God to enriche me with ther [their] longe life, and me grace to be in hart no les thankeful to receyve it, than I nowe am glad in writinge to shewe it. And although I have plentye of matter, hire I wil staye [stop] for I knowe you ar not quiet to rede. Frome Cheston this present saterday.

2. Source 2: The Tide Letter, 1554

   This was one of the most important letters that Elizabeth ever wrote. She had been imprisoned by her half-sister Mary on suspicion of involvement in the Wyatt rebellion, which aimed to overthrow the queen because of her determination to marry Philip of Spain.

   Having heard that she was to be taken to the Tower, Elizabeth wrote in a desperate attempt to secure an audience with her sister. Fearing that her enemies might alter the text, she struck lines across the blank space above her signature.

   It is known as the ‘Tide Letter’ because Elizabeth wrote it deliberately slowly so that the daylight low-tide that enabled boats to pass safely under the narrow arches of London Bridge had turned, sparing her from the Tower for an extra day.

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      [f.3] If any ever did try this olde sayinge that a kinges worde was more than a nother mans othe [oath] I most humbly beseche your Majestie to verefie it in me and to remember your last promis and my last demaunde that I be not condemned without answer and due profe wiche it semes that now I am for that without cause provid [proved] I am by your counsel from you commanded to go unto the tower a place more wonted for a false traitor, than a tru subject wiche thogth I knowe I deserve it not, yet in the face of al this realme aperes that it is provid. wiche I pray god I may dye the shamefullyst dethe that ever any died afore [if] I may mene any suche thynge; and to this present hower I protest afor God (Who shall judge my trueth, whatsoever malice shall devis) that I neither practiced, conciled nor consented to any thinge that might be prejudicial to your parson any way or daungerous to the state by any mene [means]. And therefor I humbly beseche your majestie to let me answer afore your selfe and not suffer me to trust your counselors yea and that afore I go to the tower (if it be possible) if not afor I be further condemned, howbeit I trust assuredly your highnes wyl give me leve to do it afor I goe, for that thus shamfully I may not be cried out on as now I shall be, yea and without cause.  Let consciens move your highness to take some bettar way with me than to make me be condemned in al mens sigth [sight] afor my desert knowen. Also, I most humbly beseche your higthnes to pardon this my boldnes wiche innocency procures me to do togither with hope of your natural kindnis [kindness] wiche I trust wyl not se me cast away without desert, wiche what it is I wold desire no more of God but that you truly knewe. Wiche thinges I thinke and believe you shal never by report knowe unles by your selfe you hire [hear]. I have harde [heard] in my time of many cast away for want of comminge to the presence of ther prince and in late days I harde [heard] my lorde of Somerset say that if his brother had hime suffer’d to speke with him he had never suffer’d, but the perswasions wer made to him so gret that he was brogth [brought] in belefe that he coulde not live safely if the admiral lived and that made him give his consent to his dethe. Thogth [though] thes parsons [persons] ar not to be compared to your majestie yet I pray god that evil perswations [persuasions] perswade not one sistar agaynst the other and al for that they have harde [heard] false report and not harkened to the trueth.

      [f.3v] Therefor ons [once] again kneling [kneeling] with humblenes of my hart, bicause I am not suffer’d to bow the knees of my body I humbly crave to speke with your higthnis wiche I wolde not be so bold to desire if I knewe not my selfe most clere as I knowe my selfe most tru, and as for the traitor Wiat [Wyatt] he migth [might] paraventur [peradventure] writ me a lettar but on my faithe I never receved any from him and as for the copie of my lettar sent to the frenche kinge I pray God confound me eternally if ever I sent him word, message, token or lettar by any menes, and to this my truth I wil stande in to my dethe.

      I humbly crave but only one worde of answer from your selfe.

      Your hignes most faithful subject that hathe bine from the beginninge, and wylbe to my ende. Elizabeth.

3. Source 3: Elizabeth’s first speech, 1558

   Elizabeth came to the throne on a wave of popular rejoicing. She was the archetypal Tudor princess: flame-haired, charismatic and authoritative. In short, she was exactly what the country needed after the short but brutal reign of her older half-sister, ‘Bloody’ Mary.

   Elizabeth had received the news of Mary’s death at Hatfield House, where she had been living for several years. Many of the men and women who formed her household there were rewarded with appointments in the new queen’s court and council. First and foremost was Sir William Cecil (later Lord Burghley), whom Elizabeth trusted above all others.

   Just three days after her accession, she appointed him her principal secretary. It proved an inspired choice. Cecil’s tight control over the finances of the Crown, his leadership of the privy council, and the creation of a highly effective intelligence service under the direction of Francis Walsingham made him the most influential minister for the majority of Elizabeth’s reign. The queen nicknamed him her ‘Spirit’ and relied upon him utterly.

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      Wordes spoken by her majestie to Mr. Cecille:

      I give you this chardge that you shallbe of my privy counsell and content yourself to take paynes for me and my Realme. This judgement I have of you that you will not be corrupted with any manner of gift, and that you wilbee faithful to the state, and that without respect of my pryvate will you will give me that counsaill that you thinke best, And if you shall knowe any thinge necessarye to bee declared to me of secresye, you shall show it to my self only, and assure yourself I will not fayle to keepe taciturnitye therein, and therefore herewith I chardge you.

      Wordes spoken by the Queene to the Lordes:

      My Lordes the lawe of nature moveth mee to sorrowe for my Sister, the burthen that is fallen upon me maketh me amazed, And yet consideringe I am Gods creature, ordeyned to obey his appoyntment I will therto yelde, desiringe from the bottome of my harte that I may have assistance of his grace to bee the minister of his heavenly will in this office nowe commytted to me, And as I am but one bodye naturallye considered though by his permission a bodye politique to governe, so I shall desyre yow all my Lordes (cheiflye yow of the nobility every one in his degree and power) to bee assistant to me; that I with my rulinge and yow with your service may make a good accoumpt to Almighty God, and leave some comforte to our posteritye in death, I meane to direct all my accions by good advise and counseill, And therfore consideringe that diverse of yow bee of the aintient [ancient] Nobility, having your beginnings and estates of my progenitors kings of this Realme, and therby ought in honour to have the more naturall care for maynteining of my estate and this comon wealthe, Some others have been of Long experience in governaunce and enabled by my father of Noble memorye, my Brother and my Late Sister to beare Office, The rest of yow beeing uppon speciall trust lately called to her service only and trust for your service considered and Rewarded, my meaning is to Require of yow all, nothing more but faithfull hartes in such service as from tyme to tyme shalbee in your powers towards the preservacion of me and this common wealthe, And for counseill and advise I shall accepte yow of my Nobility and suche others of yow the rest as in consultacion I shall thinke meete and shortly appoynt, to the which also with there advise I will joyne to their ayde and for ease of their Burthen others meet for my service; And they which I shall not appoynt let them not thinke the same for any disabilitye in them But for that I doe consider a multitude doth make rather discorde and confusion then good counseill, And of my good will yow shall not doubte using your selves as apperteynethe to good and loving subiectes.

4. Source 4: Letter from Sir Thomas Gresham, 1560

   Gresham was one of the wealthiest men in England. In this letter, he writes to inform his queen that he has arranged loans secured on the Antwerp Exchange from 15 bankers (who are listed in the letter), totalling £128,449 3s 4d. This was to help finance the first war of Elizabeth’s reign – her eventually successful attempt to eject the French from Scotland. Given that the Crown’s entire annual income was normally around £250,000, it was a substantial loan.

   The export of bullion from the Low Countries was prohibited, so Gresham used various subterfuges – such as on this occasion concealing it in some ‘stonne work’ [stonework], along with his letter. He wrote it when he was about to embark for the Netherlands to serve as ambassador to the Duchess of Parma, who was regent. In contrast to her father, Henry VIII, Elizabeth was averse to waging wars, which were ruinously expensive.

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      Yt maye please your most Excellent Majestie to understsand, that for the better profe to your hightnes: for the conveyans [conveyance] of soche bullion and golde as I shall provyde for you, I have sent you this letter inclossed [enclosed] in the stonne worke being no smale comforte unto me: that I have obteyned to the knowledge therof for the better conveyans of your treasure, which thing must be kept as secretlie as your Majestie can devize, for yf yt shulde be knowen or perseved [perceived] in fla[n]ders it were as moche as my liffe and goods were worth, besides the lose that your hightnes shuld susteyne therbie, whiche I shall not let to put in perse havinge no dowght but that your Majestie will have a consideracion of my Service as ther unto aperteyneth…

      [There follows a list of the bankers and how much each is lending.]

      Other I have not to molest your Majestie withal but I shall most humblie beseche your highthnis to be acomforte unto my pore wife in this my absens in the serviz of your Majestie. As knowest the Lorde whome preserve your noble Majestie in helth and long liffe and long to reigne over us with increas of honour. Ffrom my house in London the xxvth of ffebruarie anno 1559 [1560 N.S.]. By your Majesties most humble and faithfull obedient subject. Thomas Gresham.

5. Source 5: Letter to King Eric XIV of Sweden, 1560

   Although Elizabeth showed no inclination to marry, it was not long before the young queen was besieged by suitors. Among the first was the new king of Sweden, Eric XIV. Elizabeth employed what was to become a familiar tactic: she offered ‘fair words’ but no firm promises. But when Eric expressed his intention to visit her, she set aside her accustomed ambiguity. She fired off this letter, which was filled with apparent regret that she could not share his feelings, but made it clear that he should not set foot in England.

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      Most Serene Prince, our very dear Cousin,

      A letter truly yours both in the writing and sentiment, was given us on 30 December by your very dear brother, the Duke of Finland. And while we perceive therefrom that the zeal and love of your mind towards us is not diminished, yet in part we are grieved that we cannot gratify your Serene Highness with the same kind of affection. And that indeed does not happen because we doubt in any way of your love and honour, but, as often we have testified both in words and in writing, that we have never yet conceived a feeling of that kind of affection towards any one. We therefore beg your Serene Highness again and again that you be pleased to set a limit to your love, that it advance not beyond the laws of friendship for the present nor disregard them in future… I have always given both to your brother, who is certainly a most excellent Prince and deservedly very dear to us, and also to your ambassador likewise, the same answer with scarcely any variation of the words, that we do not conceive in our heart to take a husband but highly commend the single life, and hope that your Serene Highness will not longer spend time in waiting for us.

   2. Listen

      Letter to King Eric XIV of Sweden, 1560

      Audio transcript for "Letter to King Eric XIV of Sweden, 1560"

      Most Serene Prince, our very dear Cousin,

      A letter truly yours both in the writing and sentiment, was given us on 30 December by your very dear brother, the Duke of Finland. And while we perceive therefrom that the zeal and love of your mind towards us is not diminished, yet in part we are grieved that we cannot gratify your Serene Highness with the same kind of affection. And that indeed does not happen because we doubt in any way of your love and honour, but, as often we have testified both in words and in writing, that we have never yet conceived a feeling of that kind of affection towards any one. We therefore beg your Serene Highness again and again that you be pleased to set a limit to your love, that it advance not beyond the laws of friendship for the present nor disregard them in future… I have always given both to your brother, who is certainly a most excellent Prince and deservedly very dear to us, and also to your ambassador likewise, the same answer with scarcely any variation of the words, that we do not conceive in our heart to take a husband but highly commend the single life, and hope that your Serene Highness will not longer spend time in waiting for us.

6. Source 6: The death of Amy Robsart, 1561

   For all that she liked to keep foreign suitors in play, Elizabeth was already deeply in love with her Master of Horse, Robert Dudley. Ironically, though, the sudden death of Dudley’s wife in September 1560 removed any hope that the queen might have privately cherished of marrying him.

   Amy Robsart was found dead at the bottom of a short flight of stairs at Cumnor Place in Oxfordshire. The circumstances were suspicious. Her neck was broken and there were two small wounds to her head. On the day of her death, she had insisted that all of her servants attend the fair that was being held that day in Abingdon. When they returned, they found their mistress dead.

   Whether it was an accident, suicide or murder has never been resolved beyond doubt. The scandal reverberated not just around the kingdom but across the courts of Europe, so that Elizabeth was obliged to distance herself from Dudley in order to avoid being implicated any further.

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      Inquisition as indenture held at Cumnor in the aforesaid county [Oxfordshire] on 9 September in the second year of the reign of the most dread Lady Elizabeth, by the grace of God queen of England, France, and Ireland, defend of the faith, etc., before John Pudsey, gent, a coroner of the said lady queen in the aforesaid county, on inspection of the body of Lady Amy Dudley, late wife of Robert Dudley, knight of the most noble order of the garter, there lying dead: by oath of Richard Smith, gent., Humphrey Lewis, gent., Thomas Moulder, gent., Richard Knight, Thomas Spyre, Edward Stevenson, John Stevenson, Richard Hughes, William Cantrell, William Noble, John Buck, John Keene, Henry Lanlgey, Stephen Ruffyn, and John Sire: which certain jurors, sworn to tell the truth at our request, were adjourned from the aforesaid ninth day onwards day by day very often; and finally various several days were given to them by the selfsame coroner to appear both before the justices of the aforesaid lady queen at the assizes assigned to be held in the aforesaid county and before the same coroner in order there to return their verdict truthfully and speedily, until 1 August in the third year of the reign of the said lady queen; on which day the same jurors say under oath that the aforesaid Lady Amy on 8 September in the aforesaid second year of the reign of the said lady queen, being alone in a certain chamber within the home of a certain Anthony Forster, esq., in the aforesaid Cumnor, and intending to descend the aforesaid chamber by way of certain steps (in English called ‘steyres’) of the aforesaid chamber there and then accidentally fell precipitously down the aforesaid steps to the very bottom of the same steps, through which the same Lady Amy there and then sustained not only two injuries to her head (in English called ‘dyntes’) – one of which was a quarter of an inch deep and the other two inches deep – but truly also, by reason of the accidental injury or of that fall and of Lady Amy’s own body weight falling down the aforesaid stairs, the same Lady Amy there and then broke her own neck, on account of which certain fracture of the neck the same Lady Amy there and then died instantly; and the aforesaid Lady Amy was found there and then without any other mark or wound on her body; and thus the jurors say on their oath that the aforesaid Lady Amy in the manner and form aforesaid by misfortune came to her death and not otherwise, as they are able to agree at present; in testimony of which fact for this inquest both the aforesaid coroner and also the aforesaid jurors have in turn affixed their seals on the day

   2. Listen

      The death of Amy Robsart, 1561

      Audio transcript for "The death of Amy Robsart, 1561"

      Inquisition as indenture held at Cumnor in the aforesaid county [Oxfordshire] on 9 September in the second year of the reign of the most dread Lady Elizabeth, by the grace of God queen of England, France, and Ireland, defender of the faith, etc., before John Pudsey, gent, a coroner of the said lady queen in the aforesaid county, on inspection of the body of Lady Amy Dudley, late wife of Robert Dudley, knight of the most noble order of the garter, there lying dead: by oath of Richard Smith, gentleman, Humphrey Lewis, gentleman, Thomas Moulder, gentleman, Richard Knight, Thomas Spyre, Edward Stevenson, John Stevenson, Richard Hughes, William Cantrell, William Noble, John Buck, John Keene, Henry Lanlgey, Stephen Ruffyn, and John Sire: which certain jurors, sworn to tell the truth at our request, were adjourned from the aforesaid ninth day onwards day by day very often; and finally various several days were given to them by the selfsame coroner to appear both before the justices of the aforesaid lady queen at the assizes assigned to be held in the aforesaid county and before the same coroner in order there to return their verdict truthfully and speedily, until 1 August in the third year of the reign of the said lady queen; on which day the same jurors say under oath that the aforesaid Lady Amy on 8 September in the aforesaid second year of the reign of the said lady queen, being alone in a certain chamber within the home of a certain Anthony Forster, esquire, in the aforesaid Cumnor, and intending to descend the aforesaid chamber by way of certain steps (in English called ‘steyres’) of the aforesaid chamber there and then accidentally fell precipitously down the aforesaid steps to the very bottom of the same steps, through which the same Lady Amy there and then sustained not only two injuries to her head (in English called ‘dyntes’) – one of which was a quarter of an inch deep and the other two inches deep – but truly also, by reason of the accidental injury or of that fall and of Lady Amy’s own body weight falling down the aforesaid stairs, the same Lady Amy there and then broke her own neck, on account of which certain fracture of the neck the same Lady Amy there and then died instantly; and the aforesaid Lady Amy was found there and then without any other mark or wound on her body; and thus the jurors say on their oath that the aforesaid Lady Amy in the manner and form aforesaid by misfortune came to her death and not otherwise, as they are able to agree at present; in testimony of which fact for this inquest both the aforesaid coroner and also the aforesaid jurors have in turn affixed their seals on the day.

7. Source 7: Letter from John Knox, 1561

   Elizabeth despised John Knox – with good reason. The influential Scottish clergyman and reformer was scathing in his attacks on women. His famous tract The First Blast of the Trumpet against the Monstrous Regiment of Women (‘regiment’ meaning rule or regime), was published just a few months before Elizabeth became queen. In it he declared: ‘To promote a woman to bear rule, superioritie, dominion or empire above any realme, nation, or citie, is repugnant to nature.’ He slammed Elizabeth’s half-sister Mary, who was then queen, as ‘unworthy by reason of her bloody tyranny of the name of woman.’

   Knox’s letter to Elizabeth was written a fortnight before Mary Stuart’s arrival in Scotland from France to begin her queenship. Although Mary and Elizabeth would become deadly rivals, they were rare examples of queens regnant (female monarch) in a world dominated by men. Mary shared Elizabeth’s hatred of Knox and, as his letter shows, tried to have it censured.

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      Grace from god the father throught our Lord Jesus with perpetuall Encrease of his holie spiritt.

      May it please your majestie that it is heir [here] certainlie spoken that the Quen of Scotland traveleht [travails, or is attempting] earnestlie to have a treatiss intitilled the ferst blast of the trompett [con]futed by the censure of the learned in divers realmes, and father that she lauboreht to inflambe the hartes of princess against the writer And becaus that it may appear that your majestie hath interest, that she myndeht [mindeth] to travall with your grace, your graces counsall, and learned menn for Judgement against such a common enemey to womenn and to thare regiment. It were but foolishnes to me to prescribe unto your majestie what is to be donn in any thing, but especiallie in such thinges as men suppos do tuoch [touch] my self…’

8. Source 8: Answer of the Queen, 1563

   From the very beginning of her reign, Elizabeth was determined never to marry. In an age when women were considered naturally subservient to, and in need of guidance from men, this was deeply shocking to her advisers and subjects. Moreover, the kingdom needed an heir so it was imperative that the queen take a husband. But having battled so hard for the throne, Elizabeth was not minded to cede any of her authority to a husband. Fully appreciating the diplomatic importance of keeping her various suitors in play, however, she proved a master of procrastination and giving ‘answers answerless’.

   The matter became more pressing after the queen’s near-fatal attack of smallpox in October 1562, so Parliament again petitioned her to marry. Elizabeth cleverly used her gender to side-step the issue, claiming that she could not respond as a woman ‘wanting wit and memory’, and that she was too bashful to speak of marriage.

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      Williams: I have hard [heard] by yow the common request of my Commons, which I may well terme (me thinketh) the whole realme because they geve, and I have hard [heard] in all these matters of parliament their common consent to such as be hear assembled. The weight and greatnes of this matter might cause in me being a woman wanting both witt and memory some feare to speake and bashfulnes besides, a thing appropriat to my sex. But yet the princely seate and Kingly throne, wherein God (though unworthy) hath constituted me, maketh these two causes to seme litle in myne eyes, though grevous perhaps to your eares, and boldeneth me to saye somewhat in this matter, which I meane only to touche but not presently to answer: for this so great a demand needeth both great and grave advise. I read of a philosopher, whose dedes upon this occasion I remember better then his name, who always when he was required to give answer in any hard question, of schole [school] poyntes, wold rehearse over his Alphabett before he wold procede to any further answer therin, not for that he could not presently have answerd, but have his witt the riper and better sharpened to answer the matter withal.  If he a common man, but in matters of schole [school] tooke suche delaye, the better to show his eloquent tale, great cause may justly move me in this so great a matter touching the benefit of this realme and the safety of you all, to differ [defer] myne answer till some other time, wherin I assure you the consideration of my owne safety (although I thank you for the great care that you seme to have therof) shalbe litle in comparison of that great regard, that I meane to have of the safety and surety of yow all.  And thoughe God of late semed to touché me, rather like one, that he chastised, then that he punished, and thoughe death possessed almost every joint of me, so as I wyshed then that the feble thread of life, which lasted, me thought, all to longe, might by Clotho’s hand have quietly ben cut off: yet desired I not then life (as I have some witnesses hear) so much for myne owne safety as for yours. For I know that in exchanging of this reigne, I shuld have enjoyed a better reigne, where residence is perpetuall. There nedes no boding of my bane. I know now aswell as I did before that I am mortall. I know also that I must seke to discharge my self of that great burthen, that God hath layed upon me. For of them, to whom much is committed, much is required. Think not that I that in other matters have had convenient care of you all, will in this matter touching the safety of my self and you all be careless. For I know, that this matter toucheth me much nearer, then it doth you all. Who, if the worst happen, can loose but your bodies. But if I take not that convenient care, that it behoveth me to have therin, I hazzard to loose both body and soule. And though I am determined in this so great and weighty a matter to differ [defer] myne answer till some other time, because I will not in so depe a matter wade with so shallowe a witt; yet have I thought good to use these few wordes, aswell to shew you that I am nether careles nor unmindfull of your safety in this case, as I trust yow likewise do not forgett, that by me you were delivered, whilest you were hanging on the bowgh [bough] redy to fall into the mudd, yea to be drowned in the dogne [dung], nether yet the promise, which you have here made concerning your dutis and due obedience, wherewith I assure you, I meane to charge you, as further to let you understand, that I neither mislike any of your requestes herin, nor the great care, that you seme to have of the surety and safety of yourselves in this matter. Lastly because I will discharge some restles heads, in whose braines the needless hammers beate with vaine judgement, that I should mislike this their petition, I saye, that of the matter and some thereof I like and allowe very well. As to the circumstances, if any be, I meane upon further advyse further to answer, And as I assure you all that though after my death yow may have many stepdames, yet shall yow never have any a more mother, then I meane to be unto you all.

9. Source 9: Mary Queen of Scots to Elizabeth, 1566

   This letter, which is written in broad Scots, describes the murder in Mary’s presence at Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh of her Italian secretary David Rizzio. The murder had been orchestrated by her husband, Lord Darnley, and a group of Protestant Lords who were jealous of the influence that Rizzio enjoyed over the Scottish queen. It took place on the evening of 9 March 1565 when Mary had been taking supper with Rizzio in her private apartments. Her husband held her down and one of his fellow conspirators pointed a pistol at her belly while her hapless secretary was dragged out of the room, clutching at her hem and screaming for her to save him. He was then stabbed to death, in all receiving 56 wounds.

   After the murder, Mary was held prisoner at Holyrood but persuaded Darnley to run away with her. They reached Dunbar on 12 March, and it was from here that Mary dictated this letter, breathlessly describing the horrific episode to Elizabeth, to whom she always referred as a ‘sister queen’. Although Elizabeth replied in the same affectionate terms, she never trusted Mary and must have derived some satisfaction from hearing about the collapse of her rival’s regime.

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      As first hes takin our houss slane our maist [most] speciall servand in our awin [own] presence & thaireftir haldin our propper personis captive tressonneblie, quhairby [whereby] we war constrainit to escaipe straitlie about midnyght out of our palice of halliruidhouss to the place quhair [where] we ar for the present, in the grittest danger feir of our lywis & ewill [ill] estate that evir princes on earth stuid [stood] in….

      We thotht to have writtin to you this letter with oure awin [own] hand, that therby ye myght have better onestand all our meaning & takin mair [more] familliarlie therewit. Bot of trewt [truth] we ar so tyrit [tired] & ewill [ill] at eass [ease], quhat [what] throw rydding of twenty millis [miles] in v [5] horis [hours] of the nyght as wit the frequent seikness & weill dispositioun be th’occasioun of our child/that we could not at this tyme as we was willing to have done…

      Your richt [right] gud sister and cusignes [cousin] Marie R.

10. Source 10: Speech to a joint delegation, 1566

    In November 1566, a delegation of 60 Lords and Commoners met with the queen to urge the question of her marriage and the succession. By now, eight years into her reign and aged 33, Elizabeth was under more intense pressure about this than ever before. Her response was unusually haughty and immoderate, which betrays the stress under which she was labouring. It was probably spoken impromptu and recorded after the event, then reported to the full Parliament.

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       If the order of your cause had mached [matched] the waight of your matter the one might wel have craved reward and the other muche the sooner satisfyed but whan I call to mynd how far from dutyful care, yea, rather how ny [night] a traitorous trik this tumbling cast did springe I muse how men of wit can so hardly use that gift they hold. I marvel not muche that bridleless colts do not know ether ridars hand whom bit of kingly reine [or ‘reign’, a pun] did nevere snaffle yet, whither it was fit that so great a cause as this shuld have had his beginning in suche a publik place as that, let it be well waighed [weighed]. Must all evill bodings that might be recited bee founde litel inough to hap to my share. Was it wel ment think you that those that knewe not how fit this matter was to be graunted by the Prince wold prejudicat [judge in advance] ther Prince in aggravating the matter so all ther argumentes tended to my careles care of this my dere realme.

11. Source 11: Peter Wentworth’s questions, 1566

    The queen’s angry response to the parliamentary delegation was followed, on 9 November, by a verbal ‘gagging order’ to Parliament, forbidding them to debate matters of the succession. Their response was no less vitriolic. The issue of monarchical versus parliamentary power was one that would have explosive consequences for Elizabeth’s successors.

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       Whether hyr hyghnes’ commandment, forbyddyng the Lower Howse to speake or treate any more of the succession or of any theyre escewsses in that behalffe, be a breache of the lybertie of the free speache of the howse or not?

       Wheter Mr Controller, the vicechamberlaine, and Mr Secretarye pronowncyng in the Howse the sayd commandment in hyr hyghness’ name, are of awthorytye suffycyent to bynde the howse to silence in that behalffe, or to bynde the howse to acknowledge the same to be a direct and sufficient commandment or not?

       Yf hr hyghness’ said commandment be no breache of ye lybertie of the howse, or yf the commandment pronownced as afore is sayde be a suffycyent commandment to bynd the howse to take knoledge theroff, then what offence is it for anye of the howse to err in declaryng his opynyon to be otherwys?

12. Source 12: The murder of Lord Darnley, 1567

    Events in Scotland were now unraveling with frightening speed. Early in the morning on 10 February 1567, Mary’s husband, Lord Darnley, was found murdered. His body and that of his valet were discovered in the orchard of Kirk o’Field in Edinburgh, where they had been staying. The house had been torn apart by two large explosions in the middle of the night. Darnley was undoubtedly the intended victim because two barrels of gunpowder had been placed in a small room underneath his sleeping quarters. Darnley was dressed only in his nightshirt, which suggests he had fled in some haste from his bedchamber. Upon further examination, the bodies had no signs of injuries that could be associated with the explosion, so the blast was not considered to have killed Darnley. It was determined that the two men were killed by strangulation, believed to have taken place after the explosion.

    1. 

13. Source 13: Letter to Mary, Queen of Scots, February 1567

    The finger of blame for Darnley’s murder soon pointed to the Earl of Bothwell and Mary herself. Bothwell had long been suspected of having designs on the throne, and his close relationship with the queen gave rise to rumours they were sexually intimate. Suspicions that Mary had colluded in her husband’s death sparked the downward spiral that led to her loss of the Scottish crown.

    Elizabeth was so shocked when she heard of this latest turn of events that she wrote at once to urge Mary to prove her innocence and salvage her reputation – and her throne.

    1. 

       Madam,

       My ears have been so astounded and my heart so frightened to hear of the horrible and abominable murder of your husband and my own cousin that I have scarcely spirit to write: yet I cannot conceal that I grieve more for you than him. I should not do the office of a faithful cousin and friend, if I did not urge you to preserve your honour, rather than look through your fingers at revenge on those who have done you that pleasure as most people say. I counsel you so to take this matter to heart, that you may show the world what a noble Princess and loyal woman you are. I write thus vehemently not that I doubt, but for affection.

14. Source 14: Letter to Mary, Queen of Scots, June 1567

    Even though Bothwell was formally acquitted of the murder, he continued to be viewed as the chief suspect. In late April 1567, he persuaded Mary to accompany him to Dunbar, claiming that her life would be in danger if she stayed in Edinburgh. But upon arriving, Mary was taken prisoner by Bothwell. What happened next has been the subject of intense speculation ever since.

    It has been claimed that Bothwell raped Mary in order to force her into marriage. Other sources allege that she was complicit in the act. Either way, they were married on 15 May and Mary soon fell pregnant (she later miscarried twins). Their opposers met them at Carberry Hill on 15 June, and Bothwell fled the country. Mary was forced to surrender both the battle and her crown.

    Having heard all of this, Elizabeth set aside her accustomed diplomacy and wrote a furious letter full of contempt for Mary, whom she chastised for her reckless actions.

    1. 

       [Draft by Lord Burghley] Madame, it hath bene allweise held for a special principle in friendship, that prosperitie provideth but adversite proveth frendes, wherof at this tyme fyndyng occasion to verify the same with our actions, we have thought mete both for our profession and your comefort in these few words, to testify our friendship not only by admonyshyng of your worst but to comfort you for your best. We have understood by your trusty servant Robert Melvill such thyngs as yow gave hym in chardg to declare on your behalf concerning your estate and specially of as much as should be sayd for ye allowance of your mariadg. Madam, to be playne with you our greef hath not bene small that in this marriadg so slender consideration hath bene had that, as we perceave manifestly no good frend you have in ye whole world can lyke thereof, and if we shuld otherwise wryte or saye we shuld abuse you. For how cold a worse choise be made for your honour than in such hast to marry such a subject who besides other notorious lackes publick fame has chargyd with the murdre of your late husband, beside ye touchyng of your self also in some part, though we trust in that behalf falsely. And with what perill have you marryed hym that hath an other lawfull wyfe a lyve, whereby neither by God’s law nor man’s your selff can be his lawfull wiff [wife], nor any children betwixt you legitimate. Thus you see playnely what we thynk of the marriadg wherof we ar hartely sorry that we can conceave no better, what collourable reasons so ever we have hard of your servant to induce us therein. We wish uppon ye deth of your husband that first care had been to have serched out and punished ye murderers of our neare coosyn, your husband, which having bene doone effectually, as easily it might have bene in a matter so notorious, ther myght have bene many more thyngs tollerated better in your mariadg than now can be suffered to be spoken of. And surely we can not but for friendshipp to your self, besides ye natural instynction that we have of blood to your late husband, profess our selves ernestly bent to doo any thyng in our power to procure ye dew punishment of that murdre agaynst any subject that you have, how deare so ever you should hold hym, and next thereto, to be carefull how your sonne ye prynce may be preserved for ye comfort of yours and your realme. Which two thynges we have from ye begyning allweise taken to hart, and therin doo meane to contynew, and wold be very sorry but you shuld allow us therin, what dangerous perswasions so ever be made to you for ye contrary. Now for your Estat in such adversitie as we here you shuld be wherof we [know?] not well what to think to be how having a great part of your Nobilitie as we here separated from yow, we assure you that what so ever we can imagyn mete for your honor and surety that shall lye in our power, we will perform the same that it shall and will appear you have a good neighbour, a deare sistar and a faythfull frend, and so shall you undoubtedly allweise fynd and prove us to be in dede towards yow. For which purpose we ar determyned to send with all spede on [one] of our owne trusty servants, not only to understand your state but also thereuppon so to deale with your Nobility and people, as they shall fynd yow not to lack our friendshipp and power for ye preservacyon of honor in quyetness. And upon knolledg had what shall be furder ryght to be done for your comfort and for ye tranquilitie of your realme we will omytt no tyme to furder ye same as yow shall and will see. And so we recommend ourselves to you good sistar in as affectionate a manner as heretofor we war accustomed. At our manor of Rychmond ye 23 of June 1567.

15. Source 15: Sketch of Mary Queen of Scots, 1567

    Mary paid a heavy price for her impetuous marriage to James, Earl of Bothwell. Not only did she forfeit her crown, but her reputation. In this allegorical sketch, the fallen Scottish queen is depicted as a mermaid, a symbol of prostitution. Elizabeth made the most of her rival’s disgrace and promoted herself even more vigorously as the virtuous Virgin Queen. It was a vindication of the personal sacrifices that she had made in the interests of her country.

    1. 

16. Source 16: Letter to Lord Hunsdon, 1570

    As a prisoner on English soil, Mary Queen of Scots was even more of a threat to Elizabeth than she had been in Scotland. Now she was tantalisingly within reach for all of the powerful Catholic nobles who wanted to oust the ‘heretical’ Elizabeth from the throne and replace her with her Scottish cousin. One of the first rebellions against Elizabeth’s regime was the Rising of the North in November 1569, led by the Earls of Northumberland and Westmorland.

    Although it was quickly suppressed, the investigation proved that the tendrils of revolt had spread wider than had first appeared. Another prominent nobleman, Leonard Dacre, had been deeply involved, and when Lord Hunsdon was sent to arrest him, Dacre and his followers engaged him in battle. They were defeated, and Dacre fled to Scotland.

    In this letter, Elizabeth thanks Hunsdon, who was her first cousin, being the son of Mary Boleyn. It was written the day after Pope Pius V issued a bull of excommunication against Elizabeth, which effectively sanctioned her assassination by those subjects who stayed loyal to the Roman Catholic faith.

    1. 

       [Draft by Lord Burghley] Right trusty and welbeloved cousin we grete you well.  And right glad we ar, that it hath pleased God to assist youe in your late service against that cankred subtil traitor Leonard Dacres, whose force, being farr greater in nombre then yours we perceave you have overthrowen, and how he thereuppon was ye first that fled having as it semeth a hart readyer to shewe his unloyall falshood and malice, then to abyde the fight. And though, the best we cold have desyred, was to have had hym taken: yet we thank God that he is in this sort overthrowen and forced to flee oure realme, to his lyke company of rebells, whom we doubt not but God of his favourable Justyce will confounnd with such endes as ar mete for them…

       [Added by Elizabeth in her own hand] I dowte much, my Harry whither that the victory were given me more ioyed [joyed] me, or that yow were by God appoynted the Instrument of my Glory, and I assure yow for my countreys good the first might suffice but for my hartes contentation, the second more pleased me.  It likes me not a litle that, with a good testimony of your faith, there is seen a stowte courage of your mind, that more trusted to the goodness of your quarrell than to the weakness of your nomber…

17. Source 17: Mary, Queen of Scots to Sir William Cecil, 1570

    Some of Mary’s letters to Cecil during her imprisonment are written in Scottish-English, like this one; others are in French. She refers to John Leslie, bishop of Ross, who was her ambassador to Elizabeth. Leslie also carried on intrigues with her supporters in Scotland and abroad. Early in 1570, he was arrested on suspicion of involvement in the Northern Rebellion, but was freed after four months for lack of evidence.

    Tutbury Castle was one of several locations where Mary was held prisoner. She was first taken there in February 1569 and complained of its cold, draughty and damp rooms, which she claimed aggravated her already delicate health.

    1. 

       Mester Cessilles, iff I mindet ani uther thing nor to deal plenli to the contentemant off the quin, my good sister, I would nott adres me (let be privatli) publikli to sik yowr good furderance in my affayres, knouing yowr upricht service to her, bott sens I wische nothing bott to havve the meanes to satisfie her and obtein her good favour… I am bold thus priveli to pray yow to let me havve yowr advis in the sam mener, wiche I will at my pouer falou, using yowr sed advice with the discretion required to yowr satisfaction. Be this will yow oblisg me, pleis God, qhuo [who] willes everi minister to labour for the paisifiing of his cuntri, and I trust efteruardes to be beloved for it off the quin… I must also thank yow for his delivring and pray yow to furder his audiance at the quine’s handis, qhuarby [whereby] with the rest I may perceave that al ivel opinions off me be out off your heid, as yow promised me and I yow… preing god to move the quins hert to considere of me or wors com … I pray yow let my harti commendations be ten in als good pert to yowr bedfalou [bedfellow], as I wisch her wilingli to doe weil and be me frind.

       Your richt assured good frind Marie R.

18. Source 18: Letter to George and Elizabeth Talbot, 1577

    Elizabeth has gone down in history as the Virgin Queen. In stark contrast to her much-married father, she famously declared: ‘I will have but one mistress here, and no master.’ During the course of her long reign, she was besieged by many suitors but gave each one nothing more than ‘fair words but no promises.’ Yet it is generally accepted that there was one man who, more than any other, tempted Elizabeth to relinquish her virgin state: Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, to whom she had been close since childhood.

    Their tempestuous relationship endured for almost 50 years, and the obvious intimacy that existed between the couple prompted endless gossip. Even though she probably remained the Virgin Queen, Elizabeth loved Dudley above all others and missed him whenever he was away from court, as this letter proves.

    Dudley had stayed with the Earl and Countess whilst visiting Buxton baths for his health. The queen wrote them this lighthearted letter thanking them for their hospitality and prescribing an abstemious diet for her favourite.

    1. 

       Right trusty etc.  Being geven to understand from owre cosyn of Leycester howe honorably he was lately receyved and used by you, our cosyn the Cowntesse at Chatswoorth, and howe his dyet is by you bothe dyscharged at Buxtons we should doe him great wrong holding him in that place of our favour as we do in case we should not let you understande in how thankfull sorte we accept the same at bothe your handes which wee doe not acknowledg to be done unto him but to owre selves, and therefore doe mean to take uppon us the debt and to acknowledge you bothe as credytors so you can be content to accept us for debtor wherin is the daynger unless you cut off some part of the large allowance of dyat you geve him, lest otherwyse the debt thereby may growe to be so great as we shall not be able to dyscharge the same, and so become bankrowte [bankrupt] and therefore we thinke yt meet for the saving of owre credyt to prescribe unto you a proportyon of dyet which we mean in no case you shall exceed, and that is to allow him by the daye for his meate two ounces of fleshe, reserving the qualytye to your selves so as you excead not the quantytye, and for his drynke the twentyeth parte of a pynte of wyne to comforte his stomacke and as muche of St Anne’s sacred water [probably May dew; early morning dew gathered during May and early June was believed to have special healing powers] as he lystethe to drynke. On festyvall dayes, as is fyt for a man of his qualyty, we can be content you shall enlarge his dyat by allowing unto him for his dynner the shoulder of a wren and for his supper a leg of the same, besides his ordinary ownces.  The lyke proportyon we meane you shall allowe unto our brother of Warwycke [Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick, the older brother of Robert] saving that we thinke yt meet that in respectt that his boddye is more replete than his brothers that the wren’s legg allowed at supper on festyvall dayes be abated for that lyght supper agreeth best with rules of physyke. This order owre meanyng is you shall inviolably observe and so may you ryght well assure your selves of a most thankfull debtor to so well deserving a credytor.

19. Source 19: Letter to the Duke of Alençon, 1579

    Anjou was the last serious contender for Elizabeth’s hand in marriage. When this letter was written, Elizabeth was 45 and her suitor just 23. Despite the considerable age gap, the pair became very close – aided by the fact that the Duke was the only one of the Queen’s many suitors to court her in person.  Perhaps, also, Elizabeth was aware that Anjou represented her last realistic chance of matrimony and of bearing an heir. She referred to him as her ‘frog’ and they exchanged a number of affectionate letters.

    Much as they wished their queen to take a husband, Elizabeth’s xenophobic subjects disapproved of Anjou and the proposed marriage caused a great deal of discontent, as is clear from this letter. Elizabeth eventually abandoned it in 1581 with apparently genuine regret.

    1. 

       If the urgent request of this bearer did not constrain me, I should not have annoyed your eyes with another letter so soon after my last, although my courage was doubled by the good acceptance which the others had; whereby you put me under obligation, as on other occasions of more consequence. Of which your return to France in consequence of your wish to come to me has not been the least. It was not a thing I should have wished, fearing how it might end; but my desire would be quite other if I am to understand by it that you have set aside most of the advice in order to follow the desire which proceeds from yourself. I assure you I am much displeased that that ungrateful multitude, a true mob, should so misuse such a Prince; and I think that God, if not men, will be revenged on them for it, and am glad that you have safely escaped their iniquitous hands. Nor do I doubt that having passed Scylla you will beware of entering Charybdis, as I beg M. Simier [Anjou’s envoy] to set out to you at more length, as also in respect of the advice which you have asked of me; protesting that though I recognise by lack of wit to instruct you, you may accept it as from one who will never have a thought not dedicated to your honour and will never betray you by her advice, but will give it as if my soul depended thereon.

20. Source 20: Letter from Thomas Cely, 1579

    Thomas Cely, from Bristol, was one of Elizabeth’s Yeomen of the Guard and most probably also a spy for the queen. He wrote this letter from the port of Santa Maria, Andalucia, to where he had been sent by the Spanish Inquisition as a galley slave after having been put to the rack. He tells Elizabeth that he had been arrested ‘only for saying service in the churches of her Majesty’s realm and saying it in ships at sea.’ Elizabeth had already written in his favour, but Cely begs that she might do so again.

    Although the English queen was a religious moderate and famously declared that she had no wish to ‘make windows into men’s souls’, her reign saw the consolidation of the Protestant reforms instituted by her father’s Reformation. She was regarded as a heretic by most of Catholic Europe, and Philip II of Spain in particular, who made it his quest to conquer England and return it to papal authority.

    1. 

       I am wher I can not atteyn to Cownsell, nether wyll I that eny man shall understand that I wryte for that I am sworen by the Inquizision of spayne nether yet to speke nether to wryte nothynge tochyn the secretes of the ynquizision or ther howes wher I was thri [three] yeer In cloes pryzon for godes cawes [cause] & youres & all my goodes taken frome me most unjustly for god I take to wytnes I never dyd eny thynge contrary to spayn In all the deyes of my lyffe not withstandyng thes grete injeryes [injuries] they have condemnyd me to the galys [galleys] for fower [four] yeeres the thrye [three] of them within ii monethes be paste [passed].’

Background information

Elizabeth I is one of the most celebrated monarchs in British history. She was also the longest-reigning Tudor. Yet, as the younger of two daughters born to Henry VIII, she was never supposed to be Queen at all.

Elizabeth was just two years and eight months old when her mother, Anne Boleyn, was convicted for treason and executed. Her parents’ marriage had been annulled prior to Anne’s execution, which rendered Elizabeth illegitimate. The birth of her half-brother Edward the following year made her prospects of inheriting the throne even more distant. But thanks to his premature death in 1553 after just six years as king, followed by the short and disastrous reign of her half-sister Mary, Elizabeth at last came into her inheritance in 1558.

There was great rejoicing across the kingdom upon Elizabeth’s accession. Church bells were rung and bonfires were lit, and thousands of people gathered to drink and make merry. Beneath the euphoria, however, lay the deep-seated prejudice against female rulers that had existed for centuries. The vast majority of Elizabeth’s new subjects believed that women were naturally inferior to men in every respect. They had neither the intelligence nor the strength of character to make their own way in the world. Even Elizabeth’s closest adviser, William Cecil, was furious when one of the queen’s messengers discussed with her a dispatch for her ambassador in Paris, exclaiming that it was ‘too much for a woman’s knowledge.’

Whereas Mary Tudor had confirmed such prejudices during her brief but turbulent reign, Elizabeth set out to confound them. Although she shared her male subjects’ views on the inferiority of women, she saw herself as an exception and was determined to stamp her authority upon all aspects of her court and government. She started by refusing to marry – a deeply shocking concept in an age when it was universally accepted that a woman (let alone a queen) could not make her way in the world without the guidance of a husband. But Elizabeth was adamant: ‘I will have but one mistress here, and no master’, she told her courtiers. Although she encountered fierce resistance to this at first, over time her single state became one of the cornerstones of her success: it secured her place as the Virgin Queen of legend.

Another part of Elizabeth’s strategy to win over her misogynistic new subjects was to refer to herself time and again in masculine terms. She was a ‘prince’ who led her people with just as much authority as her formidable father, Henry VIII. But she also knew exactly when to flaunt her femininity. She created a court based upon the principles of chivalric love, with herself at the centre – at turns delighting, frustrating and enslaving the male courtiers who flocked to pay her homage. She would also use her womanly ‘weaknesses’ as an excuse not to take action. When under intense pressure to sign the death warrant of Mary, Queen of Scots, she told a parliamentary delegation that ‘my sex doth not permit it.’

Elizabeth’s first biographer, William Camden, claimed that she had ‘surprised her sex’. This implies that she triumphed in spite of being a woman, whereas in fact she triumphed because of this. Her feminine traits enabled her to stand out in a world dominated by men – and to dominate these men in turn.

The other keynote of Elizabeth’s queenship was her extraordinary self-discipline. She always put the interests of her country ahead of her own private hopes and fears – including the love she bore for her long-standing favourite, Robert Dudley. Her long reign witnessed a number of notable achievements: a new, moderate religious settlement, overseas expansion, great military victories like the Armada and a flowering of cultural life epitomised by Shakespeare. Little wonder that it has been described as a ‘Golden Age’.

But there was another side to the story too. Seen by most of Catholic Europe as a heretical and (thanks to her infamous mother Anne Boleyn) illegitimate usurper, from the very beginning of her reign Elizabeth was beset by rival claimants. The most deadly of them all was Mary, Queen of Scots, who was a thorn in the English queen’s side for almost 30 years. Elizabeth also courted opposition thanks to being notoriously parsimonious when it came to supplying and paying her troops – notably the sailors who won her most celebrated victory in 1588. A succession of failed harvests and economic hardship during the later years of her reign added to the climate of dissatisfaction, and prompted Elizabeth to introduce two new poor laws.

Despite all of this, Elizabeth won widespread adulation among her people as ‘Gloriana’ and ‘Good Queen Bess’, and transformed their attitude towards female rulers. It was a legacy that all subsequent queens had cause to be grateful for – none more so than her namesake, Queen Elizabeth II (1926–2022).

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