Queen Elizabeth I

Калужский государственный  университет

им. К. Э. Циолковского

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Queen

Elizabeth I

 

 

 

 

 

 

Работа выполнена: студенткой III курса

Софриковой Анастасией

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Калуга

2013 г.

 

Queen Elizabeth I

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The reign of Queen Elizabeth I is often referred to as The Golden Age of English history. Elizabeth was an immensely popular Queen, and her popularity has waned little with the passing of four hundred years. She is still one of the best loved monarchs, and one of the most admired rulers of all time. She became a legend in her own lifetime, famed for her remarkable abilities and achievements. Yet, about Elizabeth the woman, we know very little. She is an enigma, and was an enigma to her own people.

Elizabeth was the daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. She was born on 7 September 1533 at Greenwich Palace. Her birth was possibly the greatest disappointment of her father's life. He had wanted a son and heir to succeed him as he already had a daughter, Mary, by his first wife, Katherine of Aragon. He had not divorced Katherine, and changed the religion of the country in the process, to have only another daughter. Elizabeth's early life was consequently troubled. Her mother failed to provide the King with a son and was executed on false charges of incest and adultery on 19 May 1536. Anne's marriage to the King was declared null and void, and Elizabeth, like her half-sister, Mary, was declared illegitimate and deprived of her place in the line of succession. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next eight years of Elizabeth's life saw a quick succession of stepmothers. There was Jane Seymour who died giving birth to the King's longed for son, Edward; Anne of Cleves who was divorced; Catherine Howard who was beheaded; and finally Catherine Parr. For generations, historians have debated whether the constant bride changing of her father was responsible for Elizabeth's apparent refusal to marry. It is certainly possible that the tragic fates of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard impressed upon her a certain fear of marriage, but there may have been other reasons for the Queen's single state, such as a fear of childbirth, which claimed the lives of a significant number of women in this period. Even if the Queen had no personal reservations about marriage, there were political problems with almost every contender for her hand. Religion was a major divisive issue, and there was also the problem of whether Elizabeth would have to relinquish any of her royal powers to a husband in an age when the political sphere was exclusively male.

As a child, Elizabeth was given a very impressive education. It had become popular amongst the nobility to educate daughters as well as sons and Elizabeth excelled at her studies. She was taught by famous scholars such as William Grindal and Roger Ascham, and from an early age it was clear that she was remarkably gifted. She had an especial flare for languages, and by adulthood, she could reputedly speak five languages fluently.

Elizabeth's adolescence was no easier than her childhood. While the King lived, she was safe from political opportunists, but when he died in the January of 1547, and his young son became King Edward VI, she was vulnerable to those who saw her as a political pawn. Despite being officially illegitimate, Henry had reinstated his daughters in the line of succession. Mary was to follow Edward, and Elizabeth was to follow Mary. This meant that Elizabeth was now second in line to the throne. Edward was too young to rule himself as he was only nine years old, so his uncle, Edward Seymour, became Protector of England. His younger brother, Thomas Seymour, was jealous of his position and attempted to overthrow him. His scheme, which involved an attempted kidnapping of the Boy King, cost him his life. He had made no secret of his desire to marry Elizabeth (in Tudor times a girl was considered of marriageable age at twelve) so she was implicated in his plot. It was treason for an heir to the throne to marry without the consent of the King and his Council, and at only fifteen years of age, Elizabeth had to persuade her interrogators that she knew nothing of the plot and had not consented to marry the King's uncle. She succeeded in defending her innocence, but rumors of an illicit affair with Seymour, all the more scandalous because he had been married to her last step-mother, Katherine Parr, (before she died in childbirth), plagued her long afterwards.

Elizabeth again found herself implicated in treason after the Wyatt rebellion of 1554. Edward had died in the summer of 1553 from prolonged ill health, and Elizabeth's half-sister, Mary, was now Queen Mary I of England after a brief fight for the throne against the scheme of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, to make his daughter in law, Jane Grey, queen. Mary was not a particularly popular monarch, and was suspicious of her Protestant half-sister. It was thus not difficult to persuade her that Elizabeth may have been conspiring with Thomas Wyatt and his men to seize the throne. Whether or not the rebellion was to make Elizabeth queen is uncertain, and it is also unknown whether Elizabeth had any knowledge of the conspirators plans. Even if she did have knowledge of them, there is no evidence that she approved of the actions of Wyatt and his followers. Elizabeth said she was innocent of the accusations made against her, but she was still arrested and sent to the Tower of London as a prisoner. 

Many of those surrounding the Queen would have liked Elizabeth to have been executed, but there was no evidence against her and she was popular with the people. Elizabeth was kept a captive at the Tower for two months and then removed to Woodstock Manor in Oxfordshire, where she was kept a prisoner for a year. The house itself was uninhabitable so she had to be lodged in the gatehouse with her servants. It was only at the behest of the Queen's husband, Philip of Spain, that she was allowed to return to her childhood home of Hatfield in Hertfordshire. Philip was aware of the Queen's poor health and wanted to gain the friendship of Elizabeth to ensure peaceable relations between England and Spain should his wife die and Elizabeth succeed to the throne.

Elizabeth did finally succeed to the throne on 17th November 1558. It was a moment of supreme triumph for the unwanted daughter who had spent her life in the shadow of the court, cast aside and forgotten. The years following the death of her father had called for sobriety and caution, but now that she was Queen, Elizabeth was determined to enjoy her new found freedom and live life to the full. She loved all kinds of sports, especially horse riding, and in the early years of her reign spent many an hour riding. She also loved hunting, hawking, bear baiting, and watching the male courtiers excel at jousts or other sporting contests. She loved music and dancing, pageantry and masques, and could even play the virginals and the lute herself with skill. She had no time for the Puritan theologians who deemed such things impious. She also loved watching plays and created the atmosphere responsible for the flourishing of the literary masterpieces of the period against the Puritan demands for the closure of all theaters and playhouses.

Elizabeth was crowned Queen on Sunday 15th January 1559. In the months that followed, the new Queen re-established the Protestant Church in England and restored the debased coinage. Perhaps to appease Catholics or to appease those who did not believe a woman could become head of the church, Elizabeth became Supreme Governor of the Church of England, rather than Supreme Head as her father had been. While it is impossible to know what exactly the Queen's personal religious beliefs were, the Church she established is an indication of them. She was a committed Protestant, and reputedly spent time in prayer every day, but she was probably a conservative Protestant. She liked candles and crucifixes in her private chapel, liked church music, and enjoyed the more traditional style of worship in contrast to the sermon based service that was becoming popular in some Protestant circles. She did not like religious extremism and did not want to persecute any of her people for their religious beliefs. However, the tenacious political nature of the Catholic/Protestant split meant that her government had to take a harsher line towards Catholics than she wanted.

Now that Elizabeth was Queen, proposals of marriage flooded in, but Elizabeth committed herself to none of them. In a genius of political wheeling and dealing, she managed to use her single state to benefit the country by using the bait of marriage to draw in enemies, or to frighten them by suggesting she would marry one of their foes. Whatever Elizabeth's personal feelings towards marriage, on two occasions she did come close to matrimony. For many years, the most serious contender for her hand was Robert Dudley, created Earl of Leicester in 1564. He and Elizabeth had known each other for years and had been imprisoned in the Tower of London at the same time. He was the only serious personal love interest of the Queen's life. Politically, however, marrying him would have been a disaster. He was unpopular as he was the son of the traitor Northumberland, and was loathed even more after his wife was found dead in mysterious circumstances. It was thought he had murdered her so he would be free to marry Elizabeth. The other serious contender for the Queen's hand was Francis, Duke of Alencon/Anjou, heir to the French throne. But again, political considerations made the match ultimately impossible.

Not marrying and having a child of her own meant that the succession was unsettled. Elizabeth did not like to talk about the succession and tried to have talk of it suppressed, but people were anxious about what would happen to the country when she died. However, having a child of her own may not have been an end to all problems. In the eyes of Catholics, Elizabeth was illegitimate and had no right to the throne. To them, Mary, Queen of Scots was the rightful Queen of England. Plots were made to make Mary queen and these would have been formed regardless of whether Elizabeth had a child or not. This is perhaps especially so when Mary was Elizabeth's prisoner following her disastrous reign in Scotland. 

Forced to flee her own country, having abdicated her throne in favor of her son, she landed in England, seeking Elizabeth's help in restoring her to her kingdom. She was immediately imprisoned. This was as much to protect her as to minimize the danger she posed to Elizabeth. Mary was kept a prisoner for almost twenty years. In that time, Elizabeth refused to hear about executing her cousin, but Mary's complicity in the Babington plot of 1586 made the execution, in the eyes of many, unavoidable. It was a traumatic time for Elizabeth, and for a while it seemed that she would not have the strength to go ahead with the execution, but she did, and Mary was executed at Fotheringay Castle on 8 February 1587.

Relations between Elizabeth and Philip, now King of Spain, had begun amicably, but had deteriorated over the years as their different political and religious agendas clashed. By 1588 they were enemies of the first-rate. Philip had spoken of invading England and dethroning Elizabeth for years but the execution of the Queen of Scots gave him an added incentive. Now he could claim the English throne for himself and not for her. In the summer of 1588 he sent his mighty fleet against England. But by superior tactics, ship design, and sheer good fortune, the English defeated them. Elizabeth's popularity reached its zenith. It was also another personal triumph as she had proved that she, a woman, could lead in war as well as any man.

Elizabeth was dedicated to her country in a way few monarchs had been or have been since. Elizabeth had the mind of a political genius and nurtured her country through careful leadership and by choosing capable men to assist her, such as Sir William Cecil and Sir Francis Walsingham. Elizabeth was a determined woman, but she was not obstinate. She listened to the advice of those around her, and would change a policy if it was unpopular. In appearance she was extravagant, in behavior sometimes flippant and frivolous, but her approach to politics was serious, conservative, and cautious. When she ascended the throne in 1558, England was an impoverished country torn apart by religious squabbles. When she died at Richmond Palace on the 24th March 1603, England was one of the most powerful and prosperous countries in the world.

 

 

 

 

 

The Queen’s Wardrobe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Queen Elizabeth was a great follower of fashion. While in private she preferred to wear simple gowns, and would reputedly wear the same plain gown for two or three days, when she was in public, she dressed to impress. Clothes were an important status symbol to the Elizabethans, and a person had to dress in accordance with their social status. It was thus in keeping that the Queen dressed more magnificent than everyone else. No one was allowed to rival the Queen's appearance, and one unfortunate maid of honor was reprimanded for wearing a gown that was too sumptuous for her. The maids were meant to complement the Queen's appearance, not to outshine her.  In the later years of the reign, the maids wore gowns of plain colors such as white or silver. The Queen had dresses of all colors, but white and black were her favorite colors as they symbolized virginity and  purity, and more often than not she wore a gown of these colors.  The Queen's gowns would be gorgeously hand embroidered with all sorts of colored thread, and decorated with diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and all kinds of jewels. A book entitled Queen Elizabeth's wardrobe unlocked, details some of the jewels that fell off the Queen's gowns when she wore them.

Like all aristocratic Elizabethan women, the Queen would typically wear a chemise, a corset stiffened with wood or iron, a petticoat, a fathingale, stockings, a gown, sleeves, and a neck ruff and wrist ruffs. With the discovery of starch, ruffs became even more elaborate. 

To complete her appearance, the Queen would wear accessories such as a fan, a pomander to ward of  foul smells and it was thought infection, earrings, a diamond or pearl necklace, a brooch and a watch. Robert Dudley gave her a watch encased in a bracelet, the first known wrist watch in England. Like other women, she would also often wear a miniature Prayer Book attached to her girdle.

For the outdoors, the Queen would wear rich velvet cloaks, gloves of cloth or leather,  and in warm weather, she would wear hats to shelter her pale face from the sun.  For riding or hunting she would wear special riding outfits that gave easier movement. She would also wear boots such as these. 

The Queen was never fully dressed without her make-up. In the early years she wore little, but following her attack of the smallpox in 1562, she would wear quite a lot to cover up the scars left on her face. She would paint her face with white lead and vinegar, put  rouge on her lips, and paint her cheeks with red dye and egg white. This make-up was very bad for her health, particularly the white lead, as it slowly poisoned the body. While the Elizabethan tried very hard to take care of their teeth, and knew that to keep them clean was to keep them healthy, they did not have very sophisticated dental care, and teeth rotted. As a consequence, Elizabeth had to have several teeth removed as she grew older. To prevent the appearance of hollow cheeks, she would stuff rags into her mouth. It was very fashionable to wear a wig, and the Queen did so from a young age.

The Queen had a substantial influence on the fashion of her time, and encouraged her courtiers to dress well. 

 

 

Power & Government

 

The England of Elizabeth was a very structured place, and had a rather complicated system of government. First there were the national bodies of government such as the Privy Council and Parliament, then the regional bodies such as the Council of the Marches and the North, and then county and community bodies.

National, or rather Central, government, consisted of:  
 

Monarch   ~   Privy Council   ~   Parliament

These three bodies would work together to rule the country, make laws, raise money, and decide upon matters of religion and national defense. The Privy Council was largely an administrative body, but it could not oversee the administration and government of all England and Wales, and so the Council of the North and the Council of the Marches helped. The Council of the North, residing in York, was responsible for the North of England, and the Council of the Marches was responsible for Wales and some of the English border counties. During Elizabeth's reign, it became settled in Ludlow, which made it effectively the capital of Wales, although it was in England. The Council of the North and the Council of the Marches were also part of a more localized method of government, and in Tudor England, local government was very important. To ensure that the Queen's commands and the laws of the land were being obeyed, there were royal representatives in every county in the country. The most important of these were the Justices of the Peace, the Sheriffs, and later the Lord Lieutenants. Cities and towns even had their own hierarchy of government, and various officials to oversee certain matters, the principal official being the mayor.

Also of great influence in Tudor and Elizabethan times were the nobility and gentry. Land was power in the early modern period. Those who possessed it were wealthy, and masters of the tenants on the land as well as those who worked for them. The Nobility and Gentry were considered to be in a position of responsibility, and were meant to aid the monarch in governing the lands over which they presided. People could take their grievances to their lord, or to the lord of the manor. Some members of the nobility took their duties seriously and were involved in establishing institutions of religion or education. The Earl of Leicester, for example, established a hospital in Warwick. Tenants owed loyalty to their lord, and if called upon, were expected to go to war for their master or mistress. One of the reasons the Tudor monarchs feared the rebellion of one of their greatest noblemen, was because that nobleman was likely to command the loyalty of a significant proportion of the people over who he presided. Indeed, the political or religious views of an aristocrat was very important as it could and did influence the views of his tenants and subjects.

Also important to the government of the country were the courts of the land. The most important courts were probably the Great Session (or Assizes), held twice a year in each county, and the Quarter Sessions Court, held four times a year. Between them, these courts dealt with most crimes, such  as theft, witchcraft, recusancy, murder, and assault. The Assizes in particular had the power to inflict harsh punishments. For not so important crimes, there were other courts such as the Petty Sessions, Manor courts, or even town courts. For civil cases, there were various courts to choose from, but choice was probably limited by a person's wealth. For the wealthy, there was Star Chamber, one on the highest profile courts as it largely consisted of  Privy Councilors; there was the Court of Chancery, a court that could also judge criminal cases; there was the Exchequer of Pleas, especially expedient in dealing with financial suits, and for those lacking wealth, there was the Court of Requests, popularly known for this reason as "The court of poor man's causes". The Church Courts were important in dealing with religious or moral affairs. There were also other courts with particular functions such as the court of Admiralty for naval matters.

High Treason was usually dealt with by the Queen and her ministers and carried a death sentence. For other serious crimes, such as murder,  a person wa salso put to death. Lesser crimes were punished by imprisonment or the stocks, or sometimes both. 

 

The Queen’s Pastimes

 

The Elizabethan age is celebrated for its literary and dramatic culture, its music and chivalry. The Elizabethan nobility loved to have a good time, and knew just how to have it. The wealthy of the land would entertain each other with great banquets of rich foods, wine, music and dancing. They would play games against each other, play sports such as tennis or bowls, and they would ride and hunt. Women too would participate in some of these sports, aswell as play musical instruments, draw, sew and embroider.

When Queen Elizabeth was not busy with matters of state, she too would enjoy some of  these pleasures.  Evenings at court were full of entertainments often dedicated to the Queen, and often there would be public performances conducted especially for her, but the Queen also enjoyed less public activities.

Elizabeth loved to horse ride. She would spend many an hour riding fast through the Palace grounds. Her love for the sport terrified her Councilors, who feared that she would seriously injure, or even kill herself, from a fall. But Elizabeth was undaunted, and continued to ride long distances and at great speed until the end of her life. Even in her sixties she could ride a distance of ten miles, which she once proved to a courtier who advised the aging Queen to take the carriage. Elizabeth would tire out her ladies by riding hard, and early in her reign, Robert Dudley,  her Master of Horse, had to bring over some new horses from Ireland, as the Queen's own horses were not fast or strong enough for her. Elizabeth and Dudley would ride together often. He was probably the most accomplished horse-man in England, and could match the Queen's speed and vigor. In the summer of 1560, Elizabeth and Dudley rode together almost everyday, while some of her ministers bewailed that the Queen was neglecting matters of state.

Elizabeth also loved to hawk and to hunt. She would hunt deers and stags with her courtiers, and when the unfortunate animal was caught, she would be invited to cut its throat.  In 1575, the French Ambassador reported that she had killed “six does” with her cross bow.  Hunting was quite an event, and would take several hours, so the Queen and her courtiers would often have a picnic in the forest.

The Elizabethans had no concept of animal cruelty, and enjoyed a whole manner of violent animal sports, such as bear baiting, cock-fighting, and dog fighting. Elizabeth was particularly fond of bear baiting. However, animals were also kept as much loved pets, and pets were well looked after. Elizabeth's horses were well cared for, and in all likelihood, Elizabeth had her favorite horses that meant a lot to her. She also had a little dog (perhaps several over the course of her long reign) that she loved very much, and who went everywhere with her.

As well as participating in sports, the Queen also enjoyed watching them. She would occasionally watch a game of tennis, especially if one of her favorite courtiers was playing, and once she even dressed up as one of her ladies so that she could secretly watch Robert Dudley compete in a shooting match, and afterwards surprised him by revealing her identity. Sometimes tournaments would be held, and from 1572 onwards, a very grand tilt tournament was held to celebrate the Queen's accession day.

Elizabeth loved the outdoors, and was especially fond of taking long walks in her beautifully ornate gardens.  In one of her many palaces, she even had a terrace built so that she could walk away from prying eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elizabeth I playing the lute

 

The Elizabethans loved music, and Elizabeth was no exception. She was a skilled musician and played the virginals and the lute.  She enjoyed musical entertainments, encouraged musicians and composers, and was especially fond of dancing.  She would dance the difficult and demanding dance, The Galliard,  every morning to keep herself fit. She also loved to dance with her courtiers, and was fond of The Volta. In this dance, the ladies elegantly jumped high in the air, although not everyone believed it was elegant, as some people thought it was disgraceful as the women showed their knees. Robert Dudley also loved to dance, and he and Elizabeth danced as well together as they rode. A dance was even named after him,  “The Leicester Dance”. As she got older and could not dance as much as she used to, Elizabeth enjoyed watching her ladies dance. Elizabeth also liked to sing and reputedly sang well.