Lecture 11: Queen Elizabeth--Constructing a Myth
I. Introductory Comments /Study Guide
First, you have your study guide, and there's a copy available online. I will ask only the
questions that are on this list, so basically you have the test in front of you. It is a closed
book test with no notes. Note: last week we had a good discussion, I think of A Man for
All Seasons, but in the course of the discussion, and in thinking about it later, I noticed a
trend in the manner of presenting your points. Too many of you simply make a claim
without providing evidence, and I'm finding myself asking you to further elaborate on
your point. So tonight when we talk about the readings, I will ask you to not simply make
a claim, but justify the claim as well. This is an important element in historical discussion
and critical analysis.
II. From Edward to Queen Elizabeth, a jaunt through time
A. Recapping Edward's reign (1549-1553)—Edward was only 9 when he took the
throne. He was raised a Protestant, and under the guidance of his stepmother
Katherine Parr and her new husband, Admiral Thomas Seymour, he became
more devoutly Protestant. I mentioned a couple of lectures ago that under
Edward, the Act of Uniformity was passed, prompting a series of popular
outbursts against the young King's seeming repression of any and all things
RCC.
B. Queen Mary's brief tenure (1553-1558)—more next time with social struggle
and Lady Jane Seymour's 9 days of reigning England.
III. Queen Elizabeth's reign (1558-1603)
A. Political stability
1. squelching rebellion—one thing Elizabeth had to do was squelch
rebellion at home. She was rather lenient towards RCs and others not of
Church of England, but she did defend the new faith. She called the
squabbles between various faiths petty things that were minor trifles as
long as everyone accepted the basic tenets of Christianity. However, she
did not tolerate disobedience. This rebellion culminated in the struggle in
Ireland at the end of the century, and the end of her reign. We'll talk
about Tyrone's Rebellion in more detail next time we meet in lecture. As
a political tactician, Elizabeth knew how to work her Privy Council to keep
it working for her (11). She excluded men from her privy group and
encouraged her ladies to remain single in order, suggest some historians,
Sayegh lecture
Constructing Elizabeth, page 2
to prevent male / familial influence on her ladies. She divided her
attention between her primary councilors—Robert Dudley (Earl of
Leicester) and William Cecil (Lord Burghley) to make sure they followed
her command. Thus, on all levels, we can see the ways in which
Elizabeth worked to maintain allegiance to the Crown—and specifically, to
HER.
2. Threats from the Spanish and the Spanish Armada (1588)—the
Spanish wanted England. They were angry at the split from the Church,
angry over the divorce, angry over Mary's death and the succession of
another Protestant to a throne that they wanted to control. The Spanish
controlled a great deal of the Continent, and the English under Elizabeth
were getting in the way. Elizabeth tolerated "piracy" aimed at Spanish
ships and Spanish ports and she used the money obtained from such
state-sponsored (though technically unofficial) acts to fund the rebellions
in the Netherlands against the Spanish. They knew it was just a matter of
time before the Spanish tried to invade the island, and first they destroyed
part of the Spanish fleet at Cadiz. Then, in 1588, the knowledge of the
inevitable. Philip of Spain was amassing a large armada to link with the
Spanish fleet in the Netherlands to attack, invade and destroy England.
They wanted to arrest Elizabeth as well. The English prepared for this
invasion with Queen Elizabeth right up there with the troops to oversee
their success. Part of the reading you have for today is the Queen's
speech upon inspecting the troops. The defeat of the Spanish Armada in
July made England a first-rate naval power—the English had decimated
the strongest navy in Europe, and this set the stage for further English
expansion in the New World. It is also a moment that helped to solidify
the Queen's reign—thirty years after she was crowned.
B. Economic development
1. colonization in the Americas—while Virginia had been founded in the
late 1580s, it was not until the seventeenth century that it became a
crown colony. Nevertheless, the role England played internationally was
growing, and the possibility of overtaking the Spanish at their own game
in the Americas led the English to build up their economic roles. While
overseas exploration would eventually strengthen the wealth of the
Sayegh lecture
Constructing Elizabeth, page 3
Crown, it is important to note that the fiscal stability of Henry VII was
nearly depleted by the time Elizabeth became Queen. England suffered
high inflation and there was a fairly successful attempt at recoinage to
stabilize prices and money (Hurstfield, Joel, 3). There was tremendous
social movement as the need for jobs fell and people migrated to find
one. Such economic insecurity, as all your readings suggest, lay the
leader wide open for manifestations of anxiety.
2. new foodstuffs—obviously the economy developed by the importation
of foodstuffs like tomatoes and potatoes.
C. Social Concerns in Elizabethan England—one social concern was the role of
colonization and empire. Ireland was getting restless, as we'll see in detail after
the midterm, Scotland was dangerous as long as Mary tried to wield power, but
these are high political affairs. On the popular level, people were still concerned
with enclosures and the increasing shortage of common grazing land.
IV. Constructing the Kingly Queenly Image
A. Why "the virgin queen"?
1. the politics of marriage—the politics of marriage in an up-and-coming
country like England were very problematic. Elizabeth, if she were to
marry, had to marry someone that would not stimulate popular (or noble)
crisis. She courted many princes from overseas, including Prince Eric of
Sweden. The concern was over 1. national identity, 2. faith—a Roman
Catholic marriage would not bode well given the history of her sister, 3.
equity among the nobility—had she seriously considered marrying Robert
Dudley, she might have provoked unrest among the nobility clamouring to
increase their own blood line. While England at large was fairly matter-offact in accepting a Queen, there was still a resonance of fear and concern
over a. whether a woman ought to rule and b. whether she could do it
alone. Recent historical work has detailed Elizabeth's role as Head of
Church. As Head of Church, she looked to God for support, but to get
that, she relied on her Church ministers (male) to assure it, or so the men
of the Church argued in their sermons. This would make the role of
Queen more "natural"dependant on male authority.
In a speech to Parliament in 1566, she responded:
Sayegh lecture
Constructing Elizabeth, page 4
Was I not born in this realm? Were my parents born in any foreign
country? IS there any cause that I should alienate myself from
being careful over this country? Is not my kingdom here? Whom
have I oppressed? Whom have I enriched to others' harm? What
turmoil have I made to this Commonwealth that I should be
suspected to have no regard of the same? How have I governed
since my reign? As for mine own part, I care not for death, for all
men are mortal. And though I be a woman, yet I have as good a
courage, answerable to my place, as ever my father had. I am
your anointed Queen. I will never be by violence constrained to
do anything. I thank God I am endued with such qualities that I
were turned out of the realm in my petticoat I were able to live in
any place in Christendom (Bassinett 54).
2. the politics of indiscreet behavior—in any case, Elizabeth chose to
remain single, none of her suitors ultimately accruing enough Royal favor.
But if she chose to remain single, then another popular question is, did
she remain celibate? The debates abound (as do the crazy theories,
such as that she was a man, which my high-school English teacher
taught with reckless abandon), but one thing is certain. Queen Elizabeth
was very politic about personal behavior, and knew the consequences of
such behavior. She worked hard most of her life to make sure that she
cultivated the best image of herself—either to prevent execution (as
during her sister's reign) or to court confidence in her reign.
3. the politics of dying without an heir—She also understood that with her
death, she would die without a Tudor heir, but she believed, according to
the sources that we have, that the price to pay for a bad marriage was not
worth an heir. She spent the greater part of two decades (she became
queen at 25) seeking a proper husband who would be a consort, not a
king, who would be a Protestant and a loyal subject of England, but to no
avail. To maintain social stability—in a break from her father—she
decided that no heir was preferable to a questionable one.
B. The notion of Gloriana (1552-1599)—"Gloriana" really comes late in her
tenure as Queen, as it is the name of the queen in Edmund Spenser's "The
Faerie Queene" (published in 1590 [1-3] and 1596 [1-6]). He has been described
as profoundly patriotic where "nationality and religion were inextricably joined"
(Norton Anthology 530). "The Fairie Queene" is moralistic, yet is also part
historical analogy; Spenser wrote parts of the poem trying to gain court
sponsorship, and by the late 1590s he had not yet obtained it. Spenser was born
Sayegh lecture
Constructing Elizabeth, page 5
of "humble" origins, went to school and achieved an M.A. He wrote not only to
honor Queen Elizabeth and court her favor, but also to question policies in the
provinces, particularly in the problematic Ireland, where he would deal with Hugh
O'Neil (more next time on O'Neil).
C. Queen Elizabeth's death and the end of the Tudor Age—Queen Elizabeth died
in late March, 1603 at the age of 69. She had reigned for 45 years and many
English people had only known her reign and her diplomacy. She died without
an heir, leaving the throne to her cousin James VI of Scotland, who became
James I of England. The Tudor dynasty, despite all the early efforts, died a little
more than a century after it emerged.
IV. Concluding comments / discussion of readings—Next time we'll be talking about
Tyrone's Rebellion in Ireland and other issues problematic to the later Tudors and early
Stuarts. We'll see that the issue of social struggle transcended the small border of
England and went into the colonies and the sister states.