157-543: The Traitors' Gate is an entrance through which many prisoners of the Tudors arrived at the Tower of London . The gate was built by Edward I to provide a water gate entrance to the Tower, part of St. Thomas' Tower, a section of the tower designed to provide additional accommodation for the royal family . In the pool behind Traitors' Gate was an engine that was used for raising water to
314-618: A Catholic aristocrat exiled to Spain and secretary to King Philip II. Three letters exist today describing the interview, detailing what Arthur proclaimed to be the story of his life, from birth in the royal palace to the time of his arrival in Spain. However, this failed to convince the Spaniards: Englefield admitted to King Philip that Arthur's "claim at present amounts to nothing", but suggested that "he should not be allowed to get away, but [...] kept very secure." The King agreed, and Arthur
471-672: A Scottish invasion; and it paved the way for a union of the two kingdoms in 1603 when the Scottish king James VI inherited the English throne as James I and launched the Stuart era. When the treaty was signed, Mary was in Paris as the wife of the French King Francis II . When he died in 1561, she returned to Scotland as Queen of Scotland. However, when Elizabeth refused to recognise her as the heir to
628-410: A body politic to govern, so shall I desire you all ... to be assistant to me, that I with my ruling and you with your service may make a good account to Almighty God and leave some comfort to our posterity on earth. I mean to direct all my actions by good advice and counsel. As her triumphal progress wound through the city on the eve of the coronation ceremony , she was welcomed wholeheartedly by
785-470: A cistern on the roof of the White Tower. The engine worked originally by the force of the tide or by horsepower and eventually by steam. In 1724–1726, it was adapted to drive machinery for boring gun barrels. It was removed in early 1866. The name Traitors' Gate has been used since before 1543, when that name is used on Anton van den Wyngaerde 's panorama of London . Prisoners were brought by barge along
942-588: A continuing consolidation of Catholic strength." Catholic historians, such as John Lingard , argued Mary's policies failed not because they were wrong but because she had too short a reign to establish them. In other countries, the Catholic Counter-Reformation was spearheaded by Jesuit missionaries; Mary's chief religious advisor, Cardinal Pole, refused to allow the Jesuits in England. Spain was widely seen as
1099-412: A devise to alter the succession, but that was not legal, for only Parliament could amend its own acts. Edward's Privy Council kept his death secret for three days to install Lady Jane, but Northumberland had neglected to take control of Princess Mary. She fled and organised a band of supporters, who proclaimed her Queen across the country. The Privy Council abandoned Northumberland, and proclaimed Mary to be
1256-620: A fleet that destroyed the French fleet in Scotland. Finally she sent 8,000 troops north. The death of Mary of Guise allowed England, France and Scotland to come to terms in the Treaty of Edinburgh in 1560, which had a far-reaching impact. France permanently withdrew all its forces from Scotland. It ensured the success of the Reformation in Scotland; it began a century of peace with France; it ended any threat of
1413-681: A long-running effect on shaping antisemitic views in the United Kingdom . The first written records of the Romani people in Scotland begin in 1505 and in England around 1513 or 1514. First believed to come from 'little Egypt', an English exonym given to an area around part of the Peloponnese peninsula in what is now modern-day Greece , the people were first called "Egyptians" in literature and from which
1570-498: A modern administration. He injected Tudor power into the darker corners of the realm and radically altered the role of the Parliament of England . This transition happened in the 1530s, Elton argued, and must be regarded as part of a planned revolution. Elton's point was that before Cromwell the realm could be viewed as the King's private estate writ large, where most administration was done by
1727-558: A modest level of fees. A JP's duties involved a great deal of paperwork – primarily in Latin – and attracted a surprisingly strong cast of candidates. For example, The 55 JPs in Devonshire holding office in 1592 included: Other local officials included constables, church-wardens, mayors, and city aldermen. The cultural achievements of the Elizabethan era have long attracted scholars, and since
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#17330862797911884-549: A permanent administrative and logistical structure, funded by tax revenue. His personal attention was concentrated on land, where he founded the royal dockyards, planted trees for shipbuilding, enacted laws for in land navigation, guarded the coastline with fortifications, set up a school for navigation and designated the roles of officers and sailors. He closely supervised the construction of all his warships and their guns, knowing their designs, speed, tonnage, armaments and battle tactics. He encouraged his naval architects, who perfected
2041-545: A predominantly Calvinist theology. Mary, Queen of Scots (1542–1587) was a devout Catholic and next in line for the throne of England after Elizabeth. Her status became a major domestic and international issue for England. especially after the death of King James IV at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. The upshot was years of struggle for control of the throne, nominally held by the infant King James V (1512–1542, r. 1513–42), until he came of age in 1528. Mary of Guise (1515–1560)
2198-592: A queen, having reigned such a time, lived and died a virgin". Later on, poets and writers took up the theme and developed an iconography that exalted Elizabeth. Public tributes to the Virgin by 1578 acted as a coded assertion of opposition to the queen's marriage negotiations with the Duke of Alençon. Ultimately, Elizabeth would insist she was married to her kingdom and subjects, under divine protection. In 1599, she spoke of "all my husbands, my good people". This claim of virginity
2355-567: A result, the Parliament of 1559 started to legislate for a church based on the Protestant settlement of Edward VI , with the monarch as its head, but with many Catholic elements, such as vestments . The House of Commons backed the proposals strongly, but the bill of supremacy met opposition in the House of Lords , particularly from the bishops. Elizabeth was fortunate that many bishoprics were vacant at
2512-489: A serious issue. The growing number of departments meant many new salaried bureaucrats. There were further financial and administrative difficulties in 1540–58, aggravated by war, debasement, corruption and inefficiency, which were mainly caused by Somerset. After Cromwell's fall, William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester , the Lord Treasurer , produced further reforms to simplify the arrangements, reforms which united most of
2669-458: A short-tempered, sometimes indecisive ruler, who enjoyed more than her fair share of luck. Towards the end of her reign, a series of economic and military problems weakened her popularity. Elizabeth is acknowledged as a charismatic performer ("Gloriana") and a dogged survivor ("Good Queen Bess") in an era when government was ramshackle and limited, and when monarchs in neighbouring countries faced internal problems that jeopardised their thrones. After
2826-477: A silver breastplate over a white velvet dress, she addressed them in her Speech to the Troops at Tilbury : My loving people, we have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit ourself to armed multitudes for fear of treachery; but I assure you, I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people ... I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman, but I have
2983-475: A small community in London during this time period. Notably, this was not the first written record of Jews in England which begins around the 1070s , but it was a new wave of migration and community development in England. Hector Nunez and Roderigo Lopez were both Jews and leading physicians during 1570s and 1580s Elizabethan England. Lopez's believed involvement in a plot to poison Elizabeth I may have had
3140-417: A sort broken our commandment in a cause that so greatly touches us in honour ... And therefore our express pleasure and commandment is that, all delays and excuses laid apart, you do presently upon the duty of your allegiance obey and fulfill whatsoever the bearer hereof shall direct you to do in our name. Whereof fail you not, as you will answer the contrary at your utmost peril. Elizabeth's "commandment"
3297-565: A standing national army. Working closely with Thomas Cramner , the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dudley pursued an aggressively Protestant religious policy. They promoted radical reformers to high Church positions, with the Catholic bishops under attack. The use of the Book of Common Prayer became law in 1549; prayers were to be in English not Latin. The Mass was no longer to be celebrated, and preaching became
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#17330862797913454-506: A successful military career. When the boy king was crowned, Somerset became Lord Protector of the realm and in effect ruled England from 1547 to 1549. Seymour led expensive, inconclusive wars with Scotland. His religious policies angered Catholics. Purgatory was rejected so there was no more need for prayers to saints, relics, and statues, nor for masses for the dead. Some 2400 permanent endowments called chantries had been established that supported thousands of priests who celebrated masses for
3611-649: A sympathetic teacher who believed that learning should be engaging. Current knowledge of Elizabeth's schooling and precocity comes largely from Ascham's memoirs. By the time her formal education ended in 1550, Elizabeth was one of the best educated women of her generation. At the end of her life, she was believed to speak the Welsh , Cornish , Scottish , and Irish languages in addition to those mentioned above. The Venetian ambassador stated in 1603 that she "possessed [these] languages so thoroughly that each appeared to be her native tongue". Historian Mark Stoyle suggests that she
3768-423: A talented and skilful tutor, she also progressed in French and Greek. By the age of 12, she was able to translate her stepmother Catherine Parr 's religious work Prayers or Meditations from English into Italian, Latin, and French, which she presented to her father as a New Year's gift. From her teenage years and throughout her life, she translated works in Latin and Greek by numerous classical authors, including
3925-452: A thousand pieces". However, after Parr discovered the pair in an embrace, she ended this state of affairs. In May 1548, Elizabeth was sent away. Thomas Seymour nevertheless continued scheming to control the royal family and tried to have himself appointed the governor of the King's person. When Parr died after childbirth on 5 September 1548, he renewed his attentions towards Elizabeth, intent on marrying her. Her governess Kat Ashley , who
4082-473: A very cautious hand. The 1559 treaty with France called for peace and she was unwilling to violate it, especially since England had no allies at the time. Supporting rebels against the lawful ruler violated Elizabeth's deeply held claims to the legitimacy of all royalty. On the other hand, a French victory in Scotland would establish a Catholic state on the northern border supported by a powerful French enemy. Elizabeth first sent money, then sent artillery, then sent
4239-448: A year later. Mary was the daughter of Henry VIII by Catherine of Aragon (the first wife); she closely identified with her Catholic, Spanish heritage. She was next in line for the throne. However, in 1553 as Edward VI lay dying, he and the Duke of Northumberland plotted to make his first cousin once removed, Lady Jane Grey , the new monarch. Northumberland wanted to keep control of the government, and promote Protestantism. Edward signed
4396-526: Is guilty". Seymour was beheaded on 20 March 1549. Edward VI died on 6 July 1553, aged 15. His will ignored the Succession to the Crown Act 1543 , excluded both Mary and Elizabeth from the succession, and instead declared as his heir Lady Jane Grey, granddaughter of Henry VIII's younger sister Mary Tudor, Queen of France . Jane was proclaimed queen by the privy council , but her support quickly crumbled, and she
4553-647: The Pro Marcello of Cicero , the De consolatione philosophiae of Boethius , a treatise by Plutarch , and the Annals of Tacitus . A translation of Tacitus from Lambeth Palace Library, one of only four surviving English translations from the early modern era, was confirmed as Elizabeth's own in 2019, after a detailed analysis of the handwriting and paper was undertaken. After Grindal died in 1548, Elizabeth received her education under her brother Edward's tutor, Roger Ascham ,
4710-550: The Byward Tower ). Elizabeth was brought to the Tower on 18 March 1554, following Wyatt's Rebellion , and John Foxe vividly described her reception, without specific mention of the gate. 51°30′27″N 0°04′37″W / 51.5074°N 0.0770°W / 51.5074; -0.0770 This article related to the history of the United Kingdom or its predecessor states is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Tudor period In England and Wales ,
4867-451: The Church of England but maintaining Catholic doctrines , Edward imposing a very strict Protestantism, Mary attempting to reinstate Catholicism, and Elizabeth arriving at a compromise position that defined the not-quite-Protestant Church of England. It began with the insistent demands of Henry VIII for an annulment of his marriage that Pope Clement VII refused to grant. Historians agree that
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5024-450: The Marian persecutions . However, a historiographical revisionism since the 1980s has to some degree improved her reputation among scholars. Christopher Haigh's bold reappraisal of the religious history of Mary's reign painted the revival of religious festivities and a general satisfaction, if not enthusiasm, at the return of the old Catholic practices. Her re-establishment of Roman Catholicism
5181-727: The Spanish ships to the northeast. The Armada straggled home to Spain in shattered remnants, after disastrous losses on the coast of Ireland (after some ships had tried to struggle back to Spain via the North Sea , and then back south past the west coast of Ireland). Unaware of the Armada's fate, English militias mustered to defend the country under the Earl of Leicester's command. Leicester invited Elizabeth to inspect her troops at Tilbury in Essex on 8 August. Wearing
5338-648: The Spanish Netherlands . In December 1584, an alliance between Philip II and the French Catholic League at Joinville undermined the ability of Anjou's brother, Henry III of France , to counter Spanish domination of the Netherlands. It also extended Spanish influence along the channel coast of France, where the Catholic League was strong, and exposed England to invasion. The siege of Antwerp in
5495-511: The Thames , passing under London Bridge , where the heads of recently executed prisoners were displayed on spikes. Notable prisoners such as Sir Thomas More entered the Tower by Traitors' Gate. Although Queen Anne Boleyn is often reported to have passed through the Traitors' Gate after her arrest, the contemporary chronicle of Charles Wriothesley stated she passed through only a "court gate" (in
5652-419: The Tower of London . Elizabeth fervently protested her innocence. Though it is unlikely that she had plotted with the rebels, some of them were known to have approached her. Mary's closest confidant, Emperor Charles's ambassador Simon Renard , argued that her throne would never be safe while Elizabeth lived; and Lord Chancellor Stephen Gardiner , worked to have Elizabeth put on trial. Elizabeth's supporters in
5809-564: The Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603, including the Elizabethan era during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603). The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England, which began with the reign of Henry VII . Under the Tudor dynasty , art, architecture, trade, exploration, and commerce flourished. Historian John Guy (1988) argued that "England was economically healthier, more expensive, and more optimistic under
5966-517: The University of Cambridge —King Henry VIII had vigorously and publicly denounced Luther's heresies. More important, the Catholic Church was in a strong condition in 1500. England was devoutly Catholic, it was loyal to the pope, local parishes attracted strong local financial support, religious services were quite popular both at Sunday Mass and at family devotions. Complaints about the monasteries and
6123-477: The crucifix ), and downplayed the role of sermons in defiance of a key Protestant belief. Elizabeth and her advisers perceived the threat of a Catholic crusade against heretical England. The Queen therefore sought a Protestant solution that would not offend Catholics too greatly while addressing the desires of English Protestants, but she would not tolerate the Puritans , who were pushing for far-reaching reforms. As
6280-419: The golden age in English history in terms of political, social and cultural development, and in comparison with Continental Europe . Calling her "Gloriana" and using the symbol of Britannia starting in 1572, marked the Elizabethan age as a renaissance that inspired national pride through classical ideals, international expansion, and naval triumph over the hated and feared Spanish. Elizabeth's reign marks
6437-715: The succession question became a heated issue in Parliament. Members urged the Queen to marry or nominate an heir, to prevent a civil war upon her death. She refused to do either. In April she prorogued the Parliament, which did not reconvene until she needed its support to raise taxes in 1566. Having previously promised to marry, she told an unruly House: I will never break the word of a prince spoken in public place, for my honour's sake. And therefore I say again, I will marry as soon as I can conveniently, if God take not him away with whom I mind to marry, or myself, or else some other great let [obstruction] happen. By 1570, senior figures in
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6594-447: The 16th century as a golden age of peace, law, order, and prosperity. The House of Tudor produced five monarchs who ruled during this reign. Occasionally listed is Lady Jane Grey, sometimes known as the 'Nine Days' Queen' for the shortness of her de facto reign. Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She
6751-450: The 1960s they have conducted intensive research on the social history of England . Main subjects within Tudor social history includes courtship and marriage , the food they consumed and the clothes they wore . Such research has debunked the common misconception that Tudor elites were unclean. Award-winning research published in 2017 by Miranda Kaufmann delves into the lives of 10 of
6908-467: The Babington Plot. Elizabeth's proclamation of the sentence announced that "the said Mary, pretending title to the same Crown, had compassed and imagined within the same realm diverse things tending to the hurt, death and destruction of our royal person." On 8 February 1587, Mary was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle , Northamptonshire. After the execution, Elizabeth claimed that she had not intended for
7065-458: The Catholic enemies of England, they detained her in England, where she was imprisoned for the next nineteen years. Mary was soon the focus for rebellion. In 1569 there was a major Catholic rising in the North ; the goal was to free Mary, marry her to Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk , and put her on the English throne. After the rebels' defeat, over 750 of them were executed on Elizabeth's orders. In
7222-625: The Catholics to retake the port. Elizabeth's intention had been to exchange Le Havre for Calais , lost to France in January 1558. Only through the activities of her fleets did Elizabeth pursue an aggressive policy. This paid off in the war against Spain , 80% of which was fought at sea. She knighted Francis Drake after his circumnavigation of the globe from 1577 to 1580, and he won fame for his raids on Spanish ports and fleets. An element of piracy and self-enrichment drove Elizabethan seafarers, over whom
7379-555: The Crown's financial system to manage the money. He created a new department of state and a new official to collect the proceeds of the dissolution and the First Fruits and Tenths. The Court of Augmentations and number of departments meant a growing number of officials, which made the management of revenue a major activity. Cromwell's new system was highly efficient with far less corruption or secret payoffs or bribery than before. Its drawback
7536-551: The English throne, Mary rejected the Treaty of Edinburgh. She made an unfortunate marriage to Lord Darnley who mistreated her and murdered her Italian favourite David Rizzio . Darnley in turn was murdered by the Earl of Bothwell . He was acquitted of murder; she quickly married Bothwell. Most people at the time thought she was deeply involved in adultery or murder; historians have argued at length and are undecided. However rebellion broke out and
7693-540: The English throne, but from the Ridolfi Plot of 1571 (which caused Mary's suitor, the Duke of Norfolk, to lose his head) to the Babington Plot of 1586, Elizabeth's spymaster Francis Walsingham and the royal council keenly assembled a case against her. At first, Elizabeth resisted calls for Mary's death. By late 1586, she had been persuaded to sanction Mary's trial and execution on the evidence of letters written during
7850-521: The English throne. The marriage was the first of a series of errors of judgement by Mary that handed the victory to the Scottish Protestants and to Elizabeth. Darnley quickly became unpopular and was murdered in February 1567 by conspirators almost certainly led by James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell . Shortly afterwards, on 15 May 1567, Mary married Bothwell, arousing suspicions that she had been party to
8007-465: The Italian technique of mounting guns in the waist of the ship, thus lowering the centre of gravity and making it a better platform. He supervised the smallest details and enjoyed nothing more than presiding over the launching of a new ship. He drained his treasury on military and naval affairs, diverting the revenues from new taxes and the sales of monastery lands. Elton argues that Henry indeed built up
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#17330862797918164-559: The King's household servants rather than separate state offices. By masterminding these reforms, Cromwell laid the foundations of England's future stability and success. Cromwell's luck ran out when he picked the wrong bride for the King; he was beheaded for treason. More recently historians have emphasised that the king and others played powerful roles as well. The king had an annual income of about £100,000, but he needed much more in order to suppress rebellions and finance his foreign adventures. In 1533, for example, military expenditures on
8321-511: The Protestant nobles defeated the Queen's forces in 1567. She was forced to abdicate in favour of her infant son James VI; she fled to England, where Elizabeth confined her in house arrest for 19 years. Mary engaged in numerous complex plots to assassinate Elizabeth and become queen herself. Finally Elizabeth caught her plotting the Babington Plot and had her executed in 1587. Elizabeth's final two decades saw mounting problems that were left for
8478-575: The Queen had little control. After the occupation and loss of Le Havre in 1562–1563, Elizabeth avoided military expeditions on the continent until 1585, when she sent an English army to aid the Protestant Dutch rebels against Philip II. This followed the deaths in 1584 of the Queen's allies William the Silent , Prince of Orange, and the Duke of Anjou, and the surrender of a series of Dutch towns to Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma , Philip's governor of
8635-625: The Regent became alarmed that widespread Scottish hostility against French rule was strengthening the partisan cause, so she banned unauthorised preaching. But the fiery preacher John Knox sent Scotland aflame with his preaching, leading the coalition of powerful Scottish nobles, calling themselves the Lords of the Congregation raised the rebellion to overthrow the Catholic Church and seize its lands. The Lords appealed to Elizabeth for English help, but she played
8792-456: The Roses . Henry engaged in a number of administrative, economic and diplomatic initiatives. He paid very close attention to detail and, instead of spending lavishly, concentrated on raising new revenues. His new taxes were unpopular, and when Henry VIII succeeded him, he executed Henry VII's two most hated tax collectors. Henry VIII, flamboyant, energetic, militaristic and headstrong, remains one of
8949-692: The Spanish fleet of war ships intended for the Enterprise of England , as Philip II had decided to take the war to England. On 12 July 1588, the Spanish Armada, a great fleet of ships, set sail for the channel, planning to ferry a Spanish invasion force under the Duke of Parma to the coast of southeast England from the Netherlands. The armada was defeated by a combination of miscalculation, misfortune, and an attack of English fire ships off Gravelines at midnight on 28–29 July (7–8 August New Style), which dispersed
9106-496: The Stuarts to solve after 1603. John Cramsie, in reviewing the recent scholarship in 2003, argues: Elizabeth remained a strong leader, but almost all of her earlier advisers had died or retired. Robert Cecil (1563–1612) took over the role of leading advisor long held by his father Lord Burghley. Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex (1567–1601) was her most prominent general, a role previously held by his stepfather Robert Dudley , who
9263-513: The Thames under command of Sir Edmund Howard. It was the most powerful naval force to date in English history: 24 ships led by the 1600 ton "Henry Imperial"; the fleet carried 5000 combat marines and 3000 sailors. It forced the outnumbered French fleet back to its ports, took control of the English Channel, and blockaded Brest. Henry was the first king to organise the navy as a permanent force, with
9420-606: The Tudors" than at any time since the Roman occupation . Following the Black Death (1348) and the agricultural depression of the late 15th century, the population of England began to increase. In 1520, it was around 2.3 million. By 1600 it had almost doubled to 4 million. The growing population stimulated economic growth, accelerated the commercialisation of agriculture, increased the production and export of wool, encouraged trade, and promoted
9577-523: The around 360 recorded persons of Black African heritage, the majority of whom lived out their lives as free persons, living in England or otherwise a part of Tudor English society between 1500 and 1640, showing some of the first recorded evidence of Black British people after the Roman period . Jews , mainly Marranos from Portugal or Spain fleeing persecution from the Inquisition began developing
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#17330862797919734-530: The autumn of 1559, several foreign suitors were vying for Elizabeth's hand; their impatient envoys engaged in ever more scandalous talk and reported that a marriage with her favourite was not welcome in England: "There is not a man who does not cry out on him and her with indignation ... she will marry none but the favoured Robert." Amy Dudley died in September 1560, from a fall from a flight of stairs and, despite
9891-634: The belief that the revolt had been successful, Pope Pius V issued a bull in 1570, titled Regnans in Excelsis , which declared "Elizabeth, the pretended Queen of England and the servant of crime" to be excommunicated and a heretic , releasing all her subjects from any allegiance to her. Catholics who obeyed her orders were threatened with excommunication . The papal bull provoked legislative initiatives against Catholics by Parliament, which were, however, mitigated by Elizabeth's intervention. In 1581, to convert English subjects to Catholicism with "the intent" to withdraw them from their allegiance to Elizabeth
10048-402: The bishops were uncommon. The kings backed the popes and by the time Luther appeared on the scene, England was among the strongest supporters of orthodox Catholicism, and seemed a most unlikely place for a religious revolution. Henry VII , founder of the House of Tudor , became King of England by defeating King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field , the culmination of the Wars of
10205-418: The cause, Leicester's own shortcomings as a political and military leader, and the faction-ridden and chaotic situation of Dutch politics led to the failure of the campaign. Leicester finally resigned his command in December 1587. Meanwhile, Francis Drake had undertaken a major voyage against Spanish ports and ships in the Caribbean in 1585 and 1586. In 1587 he made a successful raid on Cádiz , destroying
10362-634: The centerpiece of church services. Purgatory , Protestantism declared, was a Catholic superstition that falsified the Scriptures. Prayers for the dead were useless because no one was actually in Purgatory. It followed that prayers to saints, veneration of relics, and adoration of statues were all useless superstitions that had to end. For centuries devout Englishman had created endowments called chantries designed as good works that generated grace to help them get out of purgatory after they died. Many chantries were altars or chapels inside churches, or endowments that supported thousands of priests who said Masses for
10519-402: The centre of [Elizabeth's] emotional life", as historian Susan Doran has described the situation. He died shortly after the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. After Elizabeth's own death, a note from him was found among her most personal belongings, marked "his last letter" in her handwriting. Marriage negotiations constituted a key element in Elizabeth's foreign policy. She turned down
10676-420: The citizens and greeted by orations and pageants, most with a strong Protestant flavour. Elizabeth's open and gracious responses endeared her to the spectators, who were "wonderfully ravished". The following day, 15 January 1559, a date chosen by her astrologer John Dee , Elizabeth was crowned and anointed by Owen Oglethorpe , the Catholic bishop of Carlisle , in Westminster Abbey . She was then presented for
10833-473: The coinage. The cost of war in the short reign of Edward VI was another £1,387,000. After 1540, the Privy Coffers were responsible for 'secret affairs', in particular for the financing of war. The Royal Mint was used to generate revenue by debasing the coinage; the government's profit in 1547–51 was £1.2 million. However, under the direction of regent Northumberland, Edward's wars were brought to an end. The mint no longer generated extra revenue after debasement
10990-402: The continent. The interpretation by Geoffrey Elton in 1960 is representative of the orthodox interpretation. He argued that: Social historians after 1960 investigated English religion at the local level, and discovered the dissatisfaction had not been so widespread. The Lollardy movement had largely expired, and the pamphleteering of continental reformers hardly reached beyond a few scholars at
11147-467: The coroner's inquest finding of accident, many people suspected her husband of having arranged her death so that he could marry the Queen. Elizabeth seriously considered marrying Dudley for some time. However, William Cecil , Nicholas Throckmorton , and some conservative peers made their disapproval unmistakably clear. There were even rumours that the nobility would rise if the marriage took place. Among other marriage candidates being considered for
11304-447: The country. He was overthrown by his former ally John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland . Until recent decades, Somerset's reputation with historians was high, in view of his many proclamations that appeared to back the common people against a rapacious landowning class. In the early 20th century this line was taken by the influential A. F. Pollard , to be echoed by Edward VI's leading biographer W. K. Jordan . A more critical approach
11461-523: The crown to a Protestant cousin, Lady Jane Grey , and ignoring the claims of his two half-sisters, the Catholic Mary and the younger Elizabeth, in spite of statutes to the contrary. Edward's will was set aside within weeks of his death and Mary became queen, deposing and executing Jane. During Mary's reign, Elizabeth was imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels. Upon her half-sister's death in 1558, Elizabeth succeeded to
11618-511: The crown's finance under the exchequer. The courts of general surveyors and augmentations were fused into a new Court of Augmentations, and this was later absorbed into the exchequer along with the First Fruits and Tenths. At the end of his reign, Henry VII's peacetime income was about £113,000, of which customs on imports amounted to about £40,000. There was little debt, and he left his son a large treasury. Henry VIII spent heavily on luxuries, such as tapestries and palaces, but his peacetime budget
11775-411: The dead, or operated schools or hospitals in order to earn grace for the soul in purgatory. The endowments were seized (by the king? Somerset?) in 1547. Historians have contrasted the efficiency of Somerset's takeover of power in 1547 with the subsequent ineptitude of his rule. By autumn 1549, his costly wars had lost momentum, the crown faced financial ruin, and riots and rebellions had broken out around
11932-543: The dead. In addition there were many schools and hospitals established as good works. In 1547 a new law closed down 2,374 chantries and seized their assets. Although the Act required the money to go to "charitable" ends and the "public good," most of it appears to have gone to friends of the Court. Historian A. G. Dickens has concluded: The new Protestant orthodoxy for the Church of England
12089-427: The decisive turning point in English religious history, as a predominantly Catholic nation at the beginning of her reign was predominantly Protestant by the end. Although Elizabeth executed 250 Catholic priests, she also executed some extreme Puritans, and on the whole she sought a moderately conservative position that mixed Royal control of the church (with no people role), combined with predominantly Catholic ritual, and
12246-536: The enemy". He enraged Elizabeth by accepting the post of Governor-General from the Dutch States General . Elizabeth saw this as a Dutch ploy to force her to accept sovereignty over the Netherlands, which so far she had always declined. She wrote to Leicester: We could never have imagined (had we not seen it fall out in experience) that a man raised up by ourself and extraordinarily favoured by us, above any other subject of this land, would have in so contemptible
12403-536: The enemy, and her marriage to King Philip II of Spain was deeply unpopular, even though he had practically no role in English government and they had no children. The military loss of Calais to France was a bitter humiliation to English pride. Failed harvests increased public discontent. Although Mary's rule was ultimately ineffectual and unpopular, her innovations regarding fiscal reform, naval expansion, and colonial exploration were later lauded as Elizabethan accomplishments. Historians often depict Elizabeth's reign as
12560-459: The established religion, setting up an undertone of anti-clericalism that indicated a rightness for reform. A secondary influence was the intellectual impact of certain English reformers, such as the long-term impact of John Wycliffe (1328–1384) and his " Lollardy " reform movement, together with a stream of Reformation treatises and pamphlets from Martin Luther , John Calvin , and other reformers on
12717-424: The final stages of Mary's apparent pregnancy . If Mary and her child died, Elizabeth would become queen, but if Mary gave birth to a healthy child, Elizabeth's chances of becoming queen would recede sharply. When it became clear that Mary was not pregnant, no one believed any longer that she could have a child. Elizabeth's succession seemed assured. King Philip, who ascended the Spanish throne in 1556, acknowledged
12874-490: The firm support of the king, and with special powers over the church given by the Pope, Wolsey dominated civic affairs, administration, the law, the church, and foreign-policy. He was amazingly energetic and far-reaching. In terms of achievements, he built a great fortune for himself, and was a major benefactor of arts, humanities and education. He projected numerous reforms, but in the end English government had not changed much. For all
13031-536: The focus of plots against her predecessor. Elizabeth's unmarried status inspired a cult of virginity related to that of the Virgin Mary . In poetry and portraiture, she was depicted as a virgin, a goddess, or both, not as a normal woman. At first, only Elizabeth made a virtue of her ostensible virginity: in 1559, she told the Commons, "And, in the end, this shall be for me sufficient, that a marble stone shall declare that
13188-497: The gentry through compromise, consensus, and the inclusion of opposing factions. He was in charge of mobilising the militia if necessary for defence, or to assist the monarch in military operations. In Yorkshire in 1588, the Lord Lieutenant was the Earl of Huntington, who urgently needed to prepare defences in the face of the threatened invasion from the Spanish Armada. The Queen's Privy Council urgently called upon him to mobilise
13345-455: The government privately accepted that Elizabeth would never marry or name a successor. William Cecil was already seeking solutions to the succession problem. For her failure to marry, Elizabeth was often accused of irresponsibility. Her silence, however, strengthened her own political security: she knew that if she named an heir, her throne would be vulnerable to a coup; she remembered the way that "a second person, as I have been" had been used as
13502-412: The government, including William Paget, 1st Baron Paget , convinced Mary to spare her sister in the absence of hard evidence against her. Instead, on 22 May, Elizabeth was moved from the Tower to Woodstock Palace , where she was to spend almost a year under house arrest in the charge of Henry Bedingfeld . Crowds cheered her all along the way. On 17 April 1555, Elizabeth was recalled to court to attend
13659-446: The great theme of Tudor history was the Reformation, the transformation of England from Catholicism to Protestantism. The main events, constitutional changes, and players at the national level have long been known, and the major controversies about them largely resolved. Historians until the late 20th century thought that the causes were a widespread dissatisfaction or even disgust with the evils, corruptions, failures, and contradictions of
13816-400: The growth of London . The high wages and abundance of available land seen in the late 15th and early 16th centuries were replaced with low wages and a land shortage. Various inflationary pressures, perhaps due to an influx of New World gold and a rising population, set the stage for social upheaval, with the gap between the rich and poor widening. This was a period of significant change for
13973-544: The hand of Philip, her half-sister's widower, early in 1559 but for several years entertained the proposal of King Eric XIV of Sweden . Earlier in Elizabeth's life, a Danish match for her had been discussed; Henry VIII had proposed one with the Danish prince Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp , in 1545, and Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, suggested a marriage with Prince Frederick (later Frederick II) several years later, but
14130-447: The hands of King Philip II of Spain, marriage offered the chance of an heir. However, the choice of a husband might also provoke political instability or even insurrection. In the spring of 1559, it became evident that Elizabeth was in love with her childhood friend Robert Dudley . It was said that his wife Amy was suffering from a "malady in one of her breasts" and that the Queen would like to marry Robert if his wife should die. By
14287-522: The king the protector and only supreme head of the church and clergy of England. After Henry imposed a heavy fine on the bishops, they nearly all complied. The laws of treason were greatly strengthened so that verbal dissent alone was treasonous. There were some short-lived popular rebellions that were quickly suppressed. The league level in terms of the aristocracy and the Church was supportive. The highly visible main refusals came from Bishop Fisher and Chancellor Thomas More ; they were both executed. Among
14444-474: The king. Henry worked closely with Parliament in passing a series of laws that implemented the break. Englishmen could no longer appeal to Rome. All the decisions were to be made in England, ultimately by the King himself, and in practice by top aides such as Cardinal Wolsey and Thomas Cromwell . Parliament proved highly supportive, with little dissent. The decisive moves came with the Act of Supremacy in 1534 that made
14601-673: The local government operated at the county level (also called "shire") were the sheriff and the Lord Lieutenant . The power of the sheriff had declined since medieval days, but the position was still very prestigious. A sheriff was appointed for a one-year term, with no renewal, by the Privy Council. He was paid many small fees, but they probably did not meet the sheriff's expenses in terms of hospitality and hiring his under-sheriffs and bailiffs. The sheriff held court every month to deal with civil and criminal cases. He supervised elections, ran
14758-484: The local jail and meted out punishments. His subordinates provided staffing for the county's justices of the peace. The Lord Lieutenant was a new office created by Henry VIII to represent the royal power in each county. He was a person with good enough connections at court to be selected by the sovereign and served at the monarch's pleasure, often for decades. He had limited powers of direct control, so successful Lords Lieutenant worked with deputy lieutenants and dealt with
14915-406: The majority of the rural population, with manorial lords beginning the process of enclosure of village lands that previously had been open to everyone. The Reformation transformed English religion during the Tudor period. The five sovereigns, Henry VII , Henry VIII , Edward VI , Mary I , and Elizabeth I , had entirely different approaches, with Henry VIII replacing the pope as the head of
15072-412: The militia were not actually used. During the civil wars of the mid-17th century, the Lord Lieutenant played an even more important role in mobilising his county either for King Charles I or for Parliament. The day-to-day business of local government was in the hands of several dozen justices of the peace (JPs) in each county. They handled routine police administrative functions, and were paid through
15229-426: The militia, and report on the availability of men and horses. Huntington's challenge was to overcome the reluctance of many militia men, the shortages of arms, training mishaps, and jealousy among the gentry as to who would command which unit. Despite Huntingdon's last-minute efforts, the mobilisation of 1588 revealed a reluctant society that only grudgingly answered the call to arms. The Armada never landed troops, and
15386-461: The monarch as the supreme governor or risk disqualification from office; the heresy laws were repealed, to avoid a repeat of the persecution of dissenters by Mary. At the same time, a new Act of Uniformity was passed, which made attendance at church and the use of the 1559 Book of Common Prayer (an adapted version of the 1552 prayer book ) compulsory, though the penalties for recusancy , or failure to attend and conform, were not extreme. From
15543-503: The monks farmed and most of which was leased to local gentry. Taking ownership meant the rents went to the king. Selling the land to the gentry at a bargain price brought in £1 million in one-time revenue and gave the gentry a stake in the administration. The clerical payments from First Fruits and Tenths , which previously went to the pope, now went to the king. Altogether, between 1536 and Henry's death, his government collected £1.3 million; this huge influx of money caused Cromwell to change
15700-568: The most visible kings of England, primarily because of his six marriages, all of which were designed to produce a male heir, and his heavy retribution in executing many top officials and aristocrats. In foreign-policy, he focused on fighting France—with minimal success—and had to deal with Scotland, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire, often with military mobilisation or actual highly expensive warfare that led to high taxes. The chief military success came over Scotland. The main policy development
15857-615: The murder of her husband. Elizabeth confronted Mary about the marriage, writing to her: How could a worse choice be made for your honour than in such haste to marry such a subject, who besides other and notorious lacks, public fame has charged with the murder of your late husband, besides the touching of yourself also in some part, though we trust in that behalf falsely. These events led rapidly to Mary's defeat and imprisonment in Lochleven Castle . The Scottish lords forced her to abdicate in favour of her one-year-old son, James VI . James
16014-682: The negotiations had abated in 1551. In the years around 1559, a Dano-English Protestant alliance was considered, and to counter Sweden's proposal, King Frederick II proposed to Elizabeth in late 1559. For several years, she seriously negotiated to marry Philip's cousin Charles II, Archduke of Austria . By 1569, relations with the Habsburgs had deteriorated. Elizabeth considered marriage to two French Valois princes in turn, first Henry, Duke of Anjou , and then from 1572 to 1581 his brother Francis, Duke of Anjou , formerly Duke of Alençon. This last proposal
16171-576: The new political reality and cultivated his sister-in-law. She was a better ally than the chief alternative, Mary, Queen of Scots , who had grown up in France and was betrothed to Francis, Dauphin of France . When his wife fell ill in 1558, Philip sent the Count of Feria to consult with Elizabeth. This interview was conducted at Hatfield House , where she had returned to live in October 1555. By October 1558, Elizabeth
16328-529: The northern border cost £25,000, while the 1534 rebellion in Ireland cost £38,000. Suppressing the Pilgrimage of Grace cost £50,000, and the king's new palaces were expensive. Meanwhile, customs revenue was slipping. The Church had an annual revenue of about £300,000; a new tax of 10% was imposed which brought in about £30,000. To get even larger sums it was proposed to seize the lands owned by monasteries, some of which
16485-506: The organisation and infrastructure of the Navy, but it was not a useful weapon for his style of warfare. It lacked a useful strategy. It did serve for defence against invasion, and for enhancing England's international prestige. Professor Sara Nair James says that between 1515 and 1529, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey , "would be the most powerful man in England except, possibly, for the king." Historian John Guy explains Wolsey's methods: Operating with
16642-436: The people's acceptance, amidst a deafening noise of organs, fifes, trumpets, drums, and bells. Although Elizabeth was welcomed as queen in England, the country was still in a state of anxiety over the perceived Catholic threat at home and overseas, as well as the choice of whom she would marry. Elizabeth's personal religious convictions have been much debated by scholars. She was a Protestant, but kept Catholic symbols (such as
16799-499: The pro-reformation factions suddenly seized control of the new king, and of the Regency Council, under the leadership of Edward Seymour . Bishop Gardiner was discredited, and the Duke of Norfolk was imprisoned for all of the new king's reign. The short reign of Edward VI marked the triumph of Protestantism in England. Somerset, the elder brother of the late Queen Jane Seymour (married to Henry VIII) and uncle to King Edward VI had
16956-457: The promise, there was very little achievement of note. From the king's perspective, his greatest failure was an inability to get a divorce when Henry VIII needed a new wife to give him a son who would be the undisputed heir to the throne. Historians agree that Wolsey was a disappointment. In the end, he conspired with Henry's enemies, and died of natural causes before he could be beheaded. Historian Geoffrey Elton argued that Thomas Cromwell , who
17113-435: The queen, Robert Dudley continued to be regarded as a possible candidate for nearly another decade. Elizabeth was extremely jealous of his affections, even when she no longer meant to marry him herself. She raised Dudley to the peerage as Earl of Leicester in 1564. In 1578, he finally married Lettice Knollys , to whom the queen reacted with repeated scenes of displeasure and lifelong hatred. Still, Dudley always "remained at
17270-424: The reins of power, the country had an established Protestant church and was run by a council of Protestant nobles supported by Elizabeth. Mary refused to ratify the treaty. In 1563, Elizabeth proposed her own suitor, Robert Dudley, as a husband for Mary, without asking either of the two people concerned. Both proved unenthusiastic, and in 1565, Mary married Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley , who carried his own claim to
17427-477: The rest of her life. Thomas Seymour engaged in romps and horseplay with the 14-year-old Elizabeth, including entering her bedroom in his nightgown, tickling her, and slapping her on the buttocks. Elizabeth rose early and surrounded herself with maids to avoid his unwelcome morning visits. Parr, rather than confront her husband over his inappropriate activities, joined in. Twice she accompanied him in tickling Elizabeth, and once held her while he cut her black gown "into
17584-414: The royal succession. Eleven days after Anne Boleyn's execution, Henry married Jane Seymour . Queen Jane died the next year shortly after the birth of their son, Edward , who was the undisputed heir apparent to the throne. Elizabeth was placed in her half-brother's household and carried the chrisom , or baptismal cloth, at his christening. Elizabeth's first governess , Margaret Bryan , wrote that she
17741-448: The senior aristocrats, trouble came from the Pole family, which supported Reginald Pole who was in exile in continental Europe. Henry destroyed the rest of the family, executing its leaders, and seizing all its property. The second stage involved the seizure of the monasteries. The monasteries operating religious and charitable institutions were closed, the monks and nuns were pensioned off, and
17898-421: The short, disastrous reigns of her half-siblings, her 44 years on the throne provided welcome stability for the kingdom and helped to forge a sense of national identity. Elizabeth was born at Greenwich Palace on 7 September 1533 and was named after her grandmothers, Elizabeth of York and Lady Elizabeth Howard . She was the second child of Henry VIII of England born in wedlock to survive infancy. Her mother
18055-563: The signed execution warrant to be dispatched, and blamed her secretary, William Davison , for implementing it without her knowledge. The sincerity of Elizabeth's remorse and whether or not she wanted to delay the warrant have been called into question both by her contemporaries and later historians. Elizabeth's foreign policy was largely defensive. The exception was the English occupation of Le Havre from October 1562 to June 1563, which ended in failure when Elizabeth's Huguenot allies joined with
18212-399: The son of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and an active Catholic. Discontent spread rapidly through the country, and many looked to Elizabeth as a focus for their opposition to Mary's religious policies. In January and February 1554, Wyatt's rebellion broke out; it was soon suppressed. Elizabeth was brought to court and interrogated regarding her role, and on 18 March, she was imprisoned in
18369-411: The sovereign after nine days of the pretended Jane Grey. Queen Mary imprisoned Lady Jane and executed Northumberland. Mary is remembered for her vigorous efforts to restore Roman Catholicism after Edward's short-lived crusade to minimise Catholicism in England. Protestant historians have long denigrated her reign, emphasising that in just five years she burned several hundred Protestants at the stake in
18526-509: The sovereign's "two bodies": the body natural and the body politic : My lords, the law of nature moves me to sorrow for my sister; the burden that is fallen upon me makes me amazed, and yet, considering I am God's creature, ordained to obey His appointment, I will thereto yield, desiring from the bottom of my heart that I may have assistance of His grace to be the minister of His heavenly will in this office now committed to me. And as I am but one body naturally considered, though by His permission
18683-544: The start did not really back this course of action. Her strategy, to support the Dutch on the surface with an English army, while beginning secret peace talks with Spain within days of Leicester's arrival in Holland, had necessarily to be at odds with Leicester's, who had set up a protectorate and was expected by the Dutch to fight an active campaign. Elizabeth, on the other hand, wanted him "to avoid at all costs any decisive action with
18840-512: The start of Elizabeth's reign it was expected that she would marry, and the question arose to whom. Although she received many offers, she never married and remained childless; the reasons for this are not clear. Historians have speculated that Thomas Seymour had put her off sexual relationships. She considered several suitors until she was about 50 years old. Her last courtship was with Francis, Duke of Anjou , 22 years her junior. While risking possible loss of power like her sister, who played into
18997-487: The summer of 1585 by the Duke of Parma necessitated some reaction on the part of the English and the Dutch. The outcome was the Treaty of Nonsuch of August 1585, in which Elizabeth promised military support to the Dutch. The treaty marked the beginning of the Anglo-Spanish War , which lasted until the Treaty of London in 1604. The expedition was led by Elizabeth's former suitor, the Earl of Leicester. Elizabeth from
19154-474: The throne and set out to rule by good counsel. She depended heavily on a group of trusted advisers led by William Cecil , whom she created Baron Burghley . One of her first actions as queen was the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the supreme governor . This era, later named the Elizabethan Religious Settlement , would evolve into the Church of England . It
19311-468: The throne. Mary was considered by many to be the heir to the English crown, being the granddaughter of Henry VIII's elder sister, Margaret . Mary boasted being "the nearest kinswoman she hath". Elizabeth was persuaded to send a force into Scotland to aid the Protestant rebels, and though the campaign was inept, the resulting Treaty of Edinburgh of July 1560 removed the French threat in the north. When Mary returned from France to Scotland in 1561 to take up
19468-526: The time, including the Archbishopric of Canterbury . This enabled supporters amongst peers to outvote the bishops and conservative peers. Nevertheless, Elizabeth was forced to accept the title of Supreme Governor of the Church of England rather than the more contentious title of Supreme Head , which many thought unacceptable for a woman to bear. The new Act of Supremacy became law on 8 May 1559. All public officials were forced to swear an oath of loyalty to
19625-671: The valuable lands were sold to friends of the King, thereby producing a large, wealthy, gentry class that supported Henry. In terms of theology and ritual there was little change, as Henry wanted to keep most elements of Catholicism and detested the "heresies" of Martin Luther and the other reformers. Biographer J.J. Scarisbrick says that Henry deserved his traditional title of "Father of the English navy." It became his personal weapon. He inherited seven small warships from his father, and added two dozen more by 1514. In addition to those built in England, he bought up Italian and Hanseatic warships. By March 1513, he proudly watched his fleet sail down
19782-431: The wars against Scotland £954,000; the naval wars cost £149,000 and large sums were spent to build and maintain inland and coastal fortifications. The total cost of war and defence between 1539 and 1547 was well over £2,000,000, although the accounting procedures were too primitive to give an accurate total. Adding it all up, approximately 35% came from taxes, 32% from selling land and monastery holdings, and 30% from debasing
19939-510: The word " Gypsy " is derived. Discriminatory laws were passed in response to their arrival, including the Egyptians Act 1530 and the Egyptians Act 1554 . The Tudor myth is a particular tradition in English history , historiography , and literature that presents the period of the 15th century, including the Wars of the Roses , as a dark age of anarchy and bloodshed, and sees the Tudor period of
20096-407: Was video et taceo ("I see and keep silent"). In religion, she was relatively tolerant and avoided systematic persecution. After the pope declared her illegitimate in 1570, which in theory released English Catholics from allegiance to her, several conspiracies threatened her life, all of which were defeated with the help of her ministers' secret service, run by Sir Francis Walsingham . Elizabeth
20253-495: Was "as toward a child and as gentle of conditions as ever I knew any in my life". Catherine Champernowne , better known by her later, married name of Catherine "Kat" Ashley, was appointed as Elizabeth's governess in 1537, and she remained Elizabeth's friend until her death in 1565. Champernowne taught Elizabeth four languages: French, Dutch , Italian, and Spanish. By the time William Grindal became her tutor in 1544, Elizabeth could write English, Latin , and Italian. Under Grindal,
20410-402: Was Henry VIII's chief minister from 1532 to 1540, not only removed control of the Church of England from the hands of the Pope, but transformed England with an unprecedented modern, bureaucratic government. Cromwell (1485–1540) replaced medieval government-as-household-management. Cromwell introduced reforms into the administration that delineated the King's household from the state and created
20567-601: Was Henry VIII's second wife, Anne Boleyn . At birth, Elizabeth was the heir presumptive to the English throne. Her elder half-sister Mary had lost her position as a legitimate heir when Henry annulled his marriage to Mary's mother, Catherine of Aragon , to marry Anne, with the intent to sire a male heir and ensure the Tudor succession. She was baptised on 10 September 1533, and her godparents were Thomas Cranmer , Archbishop of Canterbury ; Henry Courtenay, Marquess of Exeter ; Elizabeth Stafford, Duchess of Norfolk ; and Margaret Wotton, Dowager Marchioness of Dorset . A canopy
20724-535: Was Henry's taking full control of the Church of England. This followed from his break from Rome, which was caused by the refusal of the Pope to annul his original marriage. Henry thereby introduced a very mild variation of the Protestant Reformation. There were two main aspects. First Henry rejected the Pope as the head of the Church in England, insisting that national sovereignty required the Absolute supremacy of
20881-477: Was a French woman close to the French throne. She ruled as the regent for her teenaged daughter Queen Mary, 1554–1560. The regent and her daughter were both strong proponents of Catholicism and attempted to suppress the rapid growth of Protestantism in Scotland. Mary of Guise was a strong opponent of Protestantism, and worked to maintain a close alliance between Scotland and France, called the Auld Alliance . In 1559
21038-414: Was a bloodthirsty tyrant. In the mid-20th century, H. F. M. Prescott attempted to redress the tradition that Mary was intolerant and authoritarian by writing more objectively, and scholarship since then has tended to view the older, simpler, partisan assessments of Mary with greater scepticism. Haigh concluded that the "last years of Mary's reign were not a gruesome preparation for Protestant victory, but
21195-405: Was already making plans for her government. Mary recognised Elizabeth as her heir on 6 November 1558, and Elizabeth became queen when Mary died on 17 November. Elizabeth became queen at the age of 25, and declared her intentions to her council and other peers who had come to Hatfield to swear allegiance. The speech contains the first record of her adoption of the medieval political theology of
21352-430: Was carried at the ceremony over the infant by her uncle George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford ; John Hussey, Baron Hussey of Sleaford ; Lord Thomas Howard ; and William Howard, Baron Howard of Effingham . Elizabeth was two years and eight months old when her mother was beheaded on 19 May 1536, four months after Catherine of Aragon's death from natural causes. Elizabeth was declared illegitimate and deprived of her place in
21509-462: Was cautious in foreign affairs, manoeuvring between the major powers of France and Spain . She half-heartedly supported a number of ineffective, poorly resourced military campaigns in the Netherlands , France, and Ireland. By the mid-1580s, England could no longer avoid war with Spain . As she grew older, Elizabeth became celebrated for her virginity . A cult of personality grew around her which
21666-490: Was celebrated in the portraits, pageants, and literature of the day. Elizabeth's reign became known as the Elizabethan era . The period is famous for the flourishing of English drama , led by playwrights such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe , the prowess of English maritime adventurers, such as Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh , and for the defeat of the Spanish Armada . Some historians depict Elizabeth as
21823-471: Was deposed after nine days. On 3 August 1553, Mary rode triumphantly into London, with Elizabeth at her side. The show of solidarity between the sisters did not last long. Mary, a devout Catholic , was determined to crush the Protestant faith in which Elizabeth had been educated, and she ordered that everyone attend Catholic Mass; Elizabeth had to outwardly conform. Mary's initial popularity ebbed away in 1554 when she announced plans to marry Philip of Spain ,
21980-410: Was expected that Elizabeth would marry and produce an heir; however, despite numerous courtships, she never did. Because of this she is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". She was eventually succeeded by her first cousin twice removed, James VI of Scotland , the son of Mary, Queen of Scots . In government, Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and siblings had been. One of her mottoes
22137-466: Was expressed in the Forty-Two Articles of Faith in 1553. But when the king suddenly died, Dudley's last-minute efforts to make his daughter-in-law Lady Jane Grey the new sovereign failed after only nine days of her reign. Queen Mary took over and had him beheaded and had Jane Grey beheaded after Thomas Wyatt's Protestant rebellion against the marriage of the queen and Philip II of Spain less than
22294-655: Was fond of Seymour, sought to convince Elizabeth to take him as her husband. She tried to convince Elizabeth to write to Seymour and "comfort him in his sorrow", but Elizabeth claimed that Thomas was not so saddened by her stepmother's death as to need comfort. In January 1549, Seymour was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower on suspicion of conspiring to depose his brother Somerset as Protector, marry Lady Jane Grey to King Edward VI, and take Elizabeth as his own wife. Elizabeth, living at Hatfield House , would admit nothing. Her stubbornness exasperated her interrogator, Robert Tyrwhitt , who reported, "I do see it in her face that she
22451-450: Was generally satisfactory. The heavy strain came from warfare, including building defences, building a Navy, suppressing insurrections, warring with Scotland, and engaging in very expensive continental warfare. Henry's Continental wars won him little glory or diplomatic influence, and no territory. Nevertheless, warfare 1511 to 1514 with three large expeditions and two smaller ones cost £912,000. The Boulogne campaign of 1544 cost £1,342,000 and
22608-641: Was initiated by M. L. Bush and Dale Hoak in the mid-1970s. Since then, Somerset has often been portrayed as an arrogant ruler, devoid of the political and administrative skills necessary for governing the Tudor state. Dudley by contrast moved quickly after taking over an almost bankrupt administration in 1549. Working with his top aide William Cecil , Dudley ended the costly wars with France and Scotland and tackled finances in ways that led to some economic recovery. To prevent further uprisings he introduced countrywide policing, appointed Lords Lieutenants who were in close contact with London, and set up what amounted to
22765-519: Was made a treasonable offence, carrying the death penalty. From the 1570s missionary priests from continental seminaries went to England secretly in the cause of the "reconversion of England". Some were executed for treasonable conduct, engendering a cult of martyrdom . Regnans in Excelsis gave English Catholics a strong incentive to look to Mary as the legitimate sovereign of England. Mary may not have been told of every Catholic plot to put her on
22922-431: Was mysteriously bedridden with an illness that caused her body to swell. In 1587, a young man calling himself Arthur Dudley was arrested on the coast of Spain under suspicion of being a spy. The man claimed to be the illegitimate son of Elizabeth and Robert Dudley, with his age being consistent with birth during the 1561 illness. He was taken to Madrid for investigation, where he was examined by Francis Englefield ,
23079-464: Was never heard from again. Modern scholarship dismisses the story's basic premise as "impossible", and asserts that Elizabeth's life was so closely observed by contemporaries that she could not have hidden a pregnancy. Elizabeth's first policy toward Scotland was to oppose the French presence there. She feared that the French planned to invade England and put her Catholic cousin Mary, Queen of Scots , on
23236-497: Was not universally accepted. Catholics accused Elizabeth of engaging in "filthy lust" that symbolically defiled the nation along with her body. Henry IV of France said that one of the great questions of Europe was "whether Queen Elizabeth was a maid or no". A central issue, when it comes to the question of Elizabeth's virginity, was whether the Queen ever consummated her love affair with Robert Dudley. In 1559, she had Dudley's bedchambers moved next to her own apartments. In 1561, she
23393-659: Was probably taught Cornish by William Killigrew , Groom of the Privy Chamber and later Chamberlain of the Exchequer . Henry VIII died in 1547 and Elizabeth's half-brother, Edward VI, became king at the age of nine. Catherine Parr, Henry's widow, soon married Thomas Seymour, Baron Seymour of Sudeley , Edward VI's uncle and the brother of Lord Protector Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset . The couple took Elizabeth into their household at Chelsea . There Elizabeth experienced an emotional crisis that some historians believe affected her for
23550-568: Was reversed by her younger half-sister and successor Elizabeth I . Protestant writers at the time took a highly negative view, blasting her as "Bloody Mary". John Knox attacked her in his First Blast of the Trumpet against the Monstrous Regiment of Women (1558), and she was prominently vilified in Actes and Monuments (1563), by John Foxe . Foxe's book taught Protestants for centuries that Mary
23707-408: Was stopped in 1551. Although Henry was only in his mid-50s, his health deteriorated rapidly in 1546. At the time the conservative faction, led by Bishop Stephen Gardiner and Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk that was oppose to religious reformation seemed to be in power, and was poised to take control of the regency of the nine-year-old boy who was heir to the throne. However, when the king died,
23864-400: Was taken to Stirling Castle to be raised as a Protestant. Mary escaped in 1568 but after a defeat at Langside sailed to England, where she had once been assured of support from Elizabeth. Elizabeth's first instinct was to restore her fellow monarch, but she and her council instead chose to play safe. Rather than risk returning Mary to Scotland with an English army or sending her to France and
24021-539: Was that her emissary read out her letters of disapproval publicly before the Dutch Council of State, Leicester having to stand nearby. This public humiliation of her "Lieutenant-General" combined with her continued talks for a separate peace with Spain irreversibly undermined Leicester's standing among the Dutch. The military campaign was severely hampered by Elizabeth's repeated refusals to send promised funds for her starving soldiers. Her unwillingness to commit herself to
24178-558: Was the last monarch of the House of Tudor . Elizabeth was the only surviving child of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn . When Elizabeth was two years old, her parents' marriage was annulled, her mother was executed, and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate . Henry restored her to the line of succession when she was 10, via the Third Succession Act 1543 . After Henry's death in 1547, Elizabeth's younger half-brother Edward VI ruled until his own death in 1553, bequeathing
24335-554: Was the love of Elizabeth's life; and the adventurer/historian Sir Walter Raleigh (1552–1618) was a new face on the scene. The three new men formed a triangle of interlocking and opposing forces that was hard to break into. The first vacancy came in 1601, when Devereux was executed for attempting to take the Queen prisoner and seize power. After Elizabeth died the new king kept on Cecil as his chief advisor, and beheaded Raleigh. Numerous popular uprisings occurred; all suppressed by royal authorities. The largest were: The main officials of
24492-459: Was the multiplication of departments whose sole unifying agent was Cromwell; his fall caused confusion and uncertainty; the solution was even greater reliance on bureaucratic institutions and the new Privy Council. In dramatic contrast to his father, Henry VIII spent heavily, in terms of military operations in Britain and in France, and in building a great network of palaces. How to pay for it remained
24649-500: Was tied to a planned alliance against Spanish control of the Southern Netherlands . Elizabeth seems to have taken the courtship seriously for a time, wearing a frog-shaped earring that Francis had sent her. In 1563, Elizabeth told an imperial envoy: "If I follow the inclination of my nature, it is this: beggar-woman and single, far rather than queen and married". Later in the year, following Elizabeth's illness with smallpox ,
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