Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I (7 September, 1533 – 24 March, 1603 ) was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes referred to as The Virgin Queen (since she never married), Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth I was the fifth and final monarch of the Tudor dynasty, having succeeded her half-sister, Mary I. She reigned during a period of turmoil in English history.

Plots and rebellions

At the end of 1562, Elizabeth fell ill with smallpox, but later recovered. In 1563, alarmed by the Queen's near-fatal illness, parliament demanded that she marry or nominate an heir to prevent civil war upon her death. She refused to do either, and in April, she prorogued parliament. Parliament did not reconvene until Elizabeth needed its assent to raise taxes in 1566. The House of Commons threatened to withhold funds until the Queen agreed to provide for the succession, but Elizabeth still refused.

Related Topics:
1562 - Smallpox - 1563 - April - Prorogued - 1566 - House of Commons

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Different lines of succession were considered during Elizabeth's reign. One possible line was that of Margaret Tudor, Henry VIII's elder sister, which led to Mary I, Queen of Scots. The alternative line descended from Henry VIII's younger sister, Mary Tudor, Duchess of Suffolk; the heir in this line would be the Lady Catherine Grey, Lady Jane Grey's sister. An even more distant possible successor was Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon, who could claim descent only from Edward III, who reigned during the fourteenth century. Each possible heir had his or her disadvantages: Mary I was a Catholic, Lady Catherine Grey had married without the Queen's consent, and the Puritan Lord Huntingdon was unwilling to accept the Crown.

Related Topics:
Margaret Tudor - Mary Tudor, Duchess of Suffolk - Lady Catherine Grey - Lady Jane Grey - Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon - Edward III - Puritan

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Mary, Queen of Scots, had to suffer her own troubles in Scotland. Elizabeth had suggested that if she married the Protestant Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, then Elizabeth would "proceed to the inquisition of her right and title to be our next cousin and heir." Mary Stuart refused, and in 1565 married a Catholic, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. Lord Darnley was murdered in 1567, and Mary then married the alleged murderer, James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell. Scottish nobles then rebelled, imprisoning Mary and forcing her to abdicate in favour of her infant son, who consequently became James VI.

Related Topics:
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester - 1565 - Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley - 1567 - James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell - James VI

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The succession question was becoming a heated issue in Parliament and 30 MP's were assigned to a special committe to debate the matter. On 19 October, 1566, Sir Robert Bell boldly pursued Elizabeth for the royal answer despite her command to leave it alone; in her own words "Mr. Bell with his complices must needs prefer their speeches to the upper house to have you my lords, consent with them, whereby you were seduced, and of simplicity did assent unto it'. Sir Robert Bell would revisit this matter in 1575, as Speaker of the House of Commons, where he humbly petitioned Elizabteh "to make the knigdom further happy in her marriage, so that they might hope for a continual succession of benefits in her posterity', This event having been preceded by the last viable English heir to the throne, Catherine Grey, who died in 1568. Catherine had left a son, but he was deemed illegitimate. Catherine's heiress was her sister, the Lady Mary Grey, a hunchbacked dwarf. Elizabeth was once again forced to consider a Scottish successor, from the line of her father's sister, Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots. Mary I, however, was unpopular in Scotland, where she had been imprisoned. She later escaped from her prison and fled to England, where she was captured by English forces. Elizabeth was faced with a conundrum: sending her back to the Scottish nobles would create political problems; sending her to France would put a powerful pawn in the hands of the French king; forcefully restoring her to the Scottish Throne may have been seen as an heroic gesture, but would cause too much conflict with the Scots; and imprisoning her in England would allow her to participate in plots against the Queen. Elizabeth chose the last option: Mary was kept confined for eighteen years, much of it in Sheffield Castle and Sheffield Manor in the custody of George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, and his redoubtable wife Bess of Hardwick.

Related Topics:
Robert Bell - Lady Mary Grey - Sheffield Castle - Sheffield Manor - George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury - Bess of Hardwick

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In 1569, Elizabeth faced a major uprising, known as the Northern Rebellion, instigated by Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland and Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland. Pope Pius V excommunicated Elizabeth for apostasy and for her persecution of Catholics; he declared her deposed in a Papal Bull. The Bull of Deposition, Regnans in Excelsis, was only issued in 1570, arriving after the Rebellion had been put down. After the Bull of Deposition was issued, however, Elizabeth escalated her policy of religious persecution.

Related Topics:
1569 - Northern Rebellion - Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk - Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland - Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland - Pope Pius V - Papal Bull - Regnans in Excelsis - 1570

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Elizabeth then found a new enemy in her brother-in-law, Philip II, King of Spain. After Philip had launched a surprise attack on the English pirates Sir Francis Drake and John Hawkins in 1568, Elizabeth assented to the detention of a Spanish treasure ship in 1569. Philip was already involved in putting down a rebellion in the Netherlands, and could not afford to declare war on England.

Related Topics:
Francis Drake - John Hawkins - Netherlands

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Philip II participated in some conspiracies to remove Elizabeth, albeit reluctantly. The 4th Duke of Norfolk was also involved in the first of these plots, the Ridolfi Plot of 1571. After the Catholic Ridolfi Plot was discovered (much to Elizabeth's shock) and foiled, the Duke of Norfolk was executed and Mary lost the little liberty she had remaining. Spain, which had been friendly to England since Philip's marriage to Elizabeth's predecessor, ceased to be on cordial terms.

Related Topics:
Ridolfi Plot - 1571

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In 1571, Sir William Cecil was created Baron Burghley; a shrewd man, who always advised caution in international relations, he had been Elizabeth's chief advisor from the earliest days, and he remained so until his death in 1598. In 1572, Burghley was raised to the powerful position of Lord High Treasurer; his post as Secretary of State was taken up by the head of Elizabeth's spy network, Sir Francis Walsingham.

Related Topics:
1571 - Baron Burghley - 1572 - Lord High Treasurer - Sir Francis Walsingham

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Also in 1572, Elizabeth made an alliance with France. The St Bartholomew's Day Massacre, in which many French Protestants (Huguenots) were killed, strained the alliance but did not break it. Elizabeth even began marriage negotiations with Henry, Duke of Anjou (later King Henry III of France and of Poland), and afterwards with his younger brother François, Duke of Anjou and Alençon. During the latter's visit in 1581, it is said that Elizabeth "drew off a ring from her finger and put it upon the Duke of Anjou's upon certain conditions betwixt them two." The Spanish Ambassador reported that she actually declared that the Duke of Anjou would be her husband. However, Anjou, who is in any case said to have preferred men to women, returned to France and died in 1584 before he could be married.

Related Topics:
1572 - France - St Bartholomew's Day Massacre - Henry, Duke of Anjou - François, Duke of Anjou and Alençon - 1581 - 1584

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