The Reign Of Elizabeth I - The Virgin Queen - The Last Tudor Monarch
Accession of Elizabeth - 1558-1603.
At the time of her sister Mary's death, Elizabeth was living quietly at Hatfield House, close to London, spending most of her time finding out Greek and Latin. On hearing the news of her accession to the throne, she said "It is the Lord's doings; it's marvelous in our eyes." Days later, she travelled to London along the same road over which she had traveled in previous times when she was being carried as a prisoner on her manner to the Tower of London.
The Query of the Queen's Marriage.
It wasn't long before Parliament broached the topic of wedding because the welfare of the country largely relied on whom the Queen should marry. She replied by saying that she had resolved to measure and die a maiden queen. Her ministers never received a straight answer even when they continued to press her on the subject, for Elizabeth was clever and used words that would be interpreted in many ways.
The Flirting Queen.
Although, she never married, Elizabeth I used to be an incorrigible flirt and also the court constantly buzzed with scandals regarding her love life. When Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester, was initial her favourite, Elizabeth was still a young woman. She known as him "Robin" and organized for him to possess flats next to her own - there have been even rumours at court that the queen intended to marry "her Robin". However, when Dudley's wife died in mysterious circumstances, Elizabeth was led by her head and not by her heart. In later life, the Earl of Essex became her favourite and although she was over thirty years his senior, for a very long time this headstrong young man could do no wrong in her eyes - it's his name that's forever inter-linked with hers.
Vanity and Adulation
Elizabeth was so vain that she issued a proclamation forbidding anybody to sell her picture, lest it ought to fail to do her justice. Even when she was past sixty, she still demanded flattery and a willing court provided her with it. Her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots wrote to her, saying, "Your aversion to wedding proceeds from your not wishing to lose the freedom of compelling people to form love to you." The nice writers and the great men of that point competed with each other in their compliments to Elizabeth's wisdom, beauty and wit. Spenser composed his poem, the "Faerie Queen," for her, Shakespeare is reported to own written the "Merry Wives of Windsor" to amuse her and he addresses her as the "honest vestal within the West." in his "Midsummer Night's Dream". Her common subjects loved to sing the praises of their "sensible Queen Bess."
Mary, Queen of Scots beheaded. 1587.
Elizabeth signed her cousin's execution warrant and then seemingly blanked this act from her mind. When the news of Mary's execution was delivered to Elizabeth, she became frightened of how the act might be viewed in Europe so Together with her usual duplicity she angrily blamed the minister who had advised it and threw Davidson, her secretary, into the Tower of London. Elizabeth even had the nerve to put in writing to Mary's son, James VI of Scotland, telling him his mother had been beheaded by mistake!
Elizabeth's Death (1603).
As Elizabeth's sensible reign was coming back to an finish several things had changed. Most of her counselors and previous friends were dead, her subjects no longer welcomed her with the same warmth as that they had in the past however most of all the death of her favourite, Essex, who had been beheaded for leading a rebellion against her, led to her becoming terribly sad and significant-hearted. From that point she grew weaker and stayed in her palace. In her final days she sat muttering to herself "Mortua, sed non sepulta!" (Dead, however not buried). The queen died at Richmond and her body was conveyed down the River Thames to Westminster. Her recumbent effigy is placed on the tomb she shares together with her [*fr1] sister, Mary I (Bloody Mary) in Westminster Abbey's Henry VII's Chapel. Nearby, is the effigy and tomb of her cousin and rival, Mary Queen of Scots.
At the time of her sister Mary's death, Elizabeth was living quietly at Hatfield House, close to London, spending most of her time finding out Greek and Latin. On hearing the news of her accession to the throne, she said "It is the Lord's doings; it's marvelous in our eyes." Days later, she travelled to London along the same road over which she had traveled in previous times when she was being carried as a prisoner on her manner to the Tower of London.
The Query of the Queen's Marriage.
It wasn't long before Parliament broached the topic of wedding because the welfare of the country largely relied on whom the Queen should marry. She replied by saying that she had resolved to measure and die a maiden queen. Her ministers never received a straight answer even when they continued to press her on the subject, for Elizabeth was clever and used words that would be interpreted in many ways.
The Flirting Queen.
Although, she never married, Elizabeth I used to be an incorrigible flirt and also the court constantly buzzed with scandals regarding her love life. When Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester, was initial her favourite, Elizabeth was still a young woman. She known as him "Robin" and organized for him to possess flats next to her own - there have been even rumours at court that the queen intended to marry "her Robin". However, when Dudley's wife died in mysterious circumstances, Elizabeth was led by her head and not by her heart. In later life, the Earl of Essex became her favourite and although she was over thirty years his senior, for a very long time this headstrong young man could do no wrong in her eyes - it's his name that's forever inter-linked with hers.
Vanity and Adulation
Elizabeth was so vain that she issued a proclamation forbidding anybody to sell her picture, lest it ought to fail to do her justice. Even when she was past sixty, she still demanded flattery and a willing court provided her with it. Her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots wrote to her, saying, "Your aversion to wedding proceeds from your not wishing to lose the freedom of compelling people to form love to you." The nice writers and the great men of that point competed with each other in their compliments to Elizabeth's wisdom, beauty and wit. Spenser composed his poem, the "Faerie Queen," for her, Shakespeare is reported to own written the "Merry Wives of Windsor" to amuse her and he addresses her as the "honest vestal within the West." in his "Midsummer Night's Dream". Her common subjects loved to sing the praises of their "sensible Queen Bess."
Mary, Queen of Scots beheaded. 1587.
Elizabeth signed her cousin's execution warrant and then seemingly blanked this act from her mind. When the news of Mary's execution was delivered to Elizabeth, she became frightened of how the act might be viewed in Europe so Together with her usual duplicity she angrily blamed the minister who had advised it and threw Davidson, her secretary, into the Tower of London. Elizabeth even had the nerve to put in writing to Mary's son, James VI of Scotland, telling him his mother had been beheaded by mistake!
Elizabeth's Death (1603).
As Elizabeth's sensible reign was coming back to an finish several things had changed. Most of her counselors and previous friends were dead, her subjects no longer welcomed her with the same warmth as that they had in the past however most of all the death of her favourite, Essex, who had been beheaded for leading a rebellion against her, led to her becoming terribly sad and significant-hearted. From that point she grew weaker and stayed in her palace. In her final days she sat muttering to herself "Mortua, sed non sepulta!" (Dead, however not buried). The queen died at Richmond and her body was conveyed down the River Thames to Westminster. Her recumbent effigy is placed on the tomb she shares together with her [*fr1] sister, Mary I (Bloody Mary) in Westminster Abbey's Henry VII's Chapel. Nearby, is the effigy and tomb of her cousin and rival, Mary Queen of Scots.