Then Came
the Queens
The late Tudor Era
A Boy King – A Question of Which Faith – The Nine Days’ Queen –
A Letter to Queen Mary – A Spanish Match? – “I Pray You Dispatch Me
Quickly” - Thin and Delicate – The Fires of Smithfield - The Dread Sovereign
Lady, Elizabeth –Set a Limit to Your Love – I Will Marry as Soon As I Can –
The Tale of Mary Stuart – Elizabeth Threatens the Queen of Scots –
Sentence is Passed - The Last Letter of Mary, Queen of Scots – Rising in the
Night – The Spanish Armada - Let Tyrants Fear – Francis Drake Keeps
Bowling - A Challenge to the Queen – An Audience With the Queen
H. E. Marshall – A Boy King
From Our Island Story
HENRY VIII. had three children. They were called Mary, Elizabeth, and Edward.
Edward was the son of Lady Jane Seymour, Henry's third wife, and was the
youngest of the three. But for several reasons he was made King.
Edward was only nine years old and his uncle, Lord Somerset, was made Regent
or Protector. Lord Somerset was not a strong man and did not rule well. He wished to be
powerful and tried to make himself King in all but name. His brother, Thomas Seymour,
also wanted to rule, so there were plots and quarrels between them and between the other
great nobles.
… Lady Jane Seymour had been a Protestant and so was her brother who was
now Protector. Edward VI had been brought up in the new religion and although he had
very little power, he wanted the country to become Protestant. But this was not the wish
of the whole people. Many of them did not like the new English service which the King
ordered to be used in the churches. It was like a Christmas game, they said, and they
asked for the old Latin service called the Mass to which they were accustomed.
When Henry VIII shut up the monasteries he brought great distress on the poor in
many ways. He gave some of the monastery land to his friends, and these gentlemen,
growing greedy, began now to add to their possessions by enclosing with fences the
common lands, which before had been free to everyone. The poor had been allowed to
feed their cows and sheep on these common lands but now that they were enclosed by
fences, the sheep and cows died from hunger, and the poor people were worse off than
ever. …
At last the people rose in rebellion…. But the rebellion was soon crushed and the
ringleaders put to death. …But the people rose again and again. One of the chief
rebellions was under a man called Ket. He was a tanner. A great many people gathered
round him, and they camped near Norwich on a plain, in the centre of which stood a great
oak tree. This tree they called the Oak of Reformation, and under its branches Ket held
his Parliament and Court, deciding quarrels, making laws, and punishing wrong-doers.
Ket encouraged his followers to pull up the hedges, throw down the fences, and
fill up the ditches with which the common lands had been surrounded. Otherwise they
behaved in a wonderfully orderly manner. They did indeed steal sheep and cattle from the
rich gentlemen round so that they might have plenty to eat in the camp. But Ket ordered
his men not to hurt any honest or poor people. He called himself the King's friend, and
said he fought only against the wicked lords who gave him bad advice….
The Protector had gathered an army, intending to make war on Scotland, and this
army he now sent against Ket and his men. There was a good deal of fighting. Many
people on both sides were killed, the town of Norwich was taken and retaken, but in the
end Ket was defeated. He and his brother were made prisoners with many of their
followers. They were put to death, and nine of the chief rebels were hanged upon the
branches of the Oak of Reformation.
… Edward had never been strong, and Northumberland [the royal protector while
the king was underage] knew that he was not likely to live long. The next heir to the
throne was Mary, Edward's elder sister. She was the daughter of Katherine of Arragon,
the first wife of Henry VIII. Princess Mary was a Roman Catholic. She [rejected] the
Protestant religion as much as Edward loved it.
Edward VI – A Question of Which Faith
From Edward VI’s Private Diary
The lady Mary, my sister, came to me to Westminster, where after greetings she was called with
my council into a chamber where it was declared how long I had suffered her Mass, in hope of
her reconciliation, and how now, there being no hope as I saw by her letters, unless I saw some
speedy amendment I could not bear it. She answered that her soul was God's and her faith she
would not change, nor hide her opinion with dissembled doings. It was said I did not constrain
her faith but willed her only as a subject to obey. And that her example might lead to too much
inconvenience.
On 19 March the emperor's ambassador came with a short message from his master of
threatened war, if I would not allow his cousin the princess to use her mass. No answer was
given to this at the time.
The following day the bishops of Canterbury, London and Rochester, Thomas
Cranmer, Nicholas Ridley and John Scory, concluded that to give licence to sin was sin;
to allow and wink at it for a time might be born as long as all possible haste was used.
H. E. Marshall – The Nine Days’ Queen
From Our Island Story
It made Edward sad to think that, when he was dead, Mary would undo all that he
had done and that England would again become Roman Catholic. Northumberland knew
this, and he persuaded Edward to make a will leaving the throne to his cousin, Lady Jane
Grey. Of course Edward had no right to do this, but he did do it.
Lady Jane Grey was the great-granddaughter of Henry VII., and she was married
to the Duke of Northumberland's son. She was very young, being only about sixteen, and
the duke thought that if she were Queen, he would be able to do just as he liked. He tried
to keep his plan secret, for he knew that many of the people wished Mary to be Queen.
He succeeded so well that even Lady Jane herself did not know what he intended to do.
In 1553 A.D., [when Edward was sixteen] soon after [he] had made his will,
leaving the crown to his cousin, he died. He was a good and gentle boy, fond of books
and learning…. Edward was very anxious to do what was right, but like his father Henry
VIII., he was also fond of his own way. Had he lived to be old enough really to reign, he
might have proved to be a good King. But it is hard to tell….
A soon as King Edward VI. was dead, Northumberland, with several other nobles,
went to Lady Jane Grey, and offered her the crown. They knelt to her, kissing her hand
and greeting her as their Queen. It was a great thing to be Queen of England, but Lady
Jane was not glad. She was sad and frightened. She trembled as the duke spoke to her,
then covering her face with her hands, she fell fainting to the ground.
When she came to herself again she cried bitterly for sorrow at the death of her cousin,
whom she had loved dearly. She was only a very little older than he and, like him, she was fond
of learning; indeed they had often had the same masters. Lady Jane was even more clever than
Edward. She could speak and write Greek and Latin, and she knew some Hebrew. This was more
wonderful in those days than it would be now, for then very few people had any learning at all.
As Lady Jane wept for her cousin, the nobles tried to comfort her by reminding her how great
she herself now was. But that did not comfort her. It frightened her.
"I cannot be Queen," she said. "I cannot bear so great an honour. I am not fit for it."
"It is your duty," said the duke. "You cannot put away from you the duty God gives you."
With tears running down her face, Lady Jane fell upon her knees, and clasping her hands
said, "Then if it must be so, God give me strength to bear this heavy burden. God give me grace
to rule for His glory and the good of the people."
The next day Lady Jane was taken in state to the Tower. But no crowds gathered to greet
and cheer her as their Queen. A few people came out of idle curiosity, but they were all silent.
Not one voice cried, "God save the Queen!"
But while these things were happening, the Princess Mary did not sit still. [She was the
rightful heir to the throne according to the succession, and the entire country but for a few
courtiers upheld her as the true queen.] She raised an army and claimed the crown.
Northumberland marched against her with another army, leaving Lady Jane in the Tower. No
sooner had he gone, than many of the lords, who had joined him in helping to put Lady Jane on
the throne, began to regret it. They one and all declared for Queen Mary and, marching to the
Tower, demanded the keys in her name.
Lady Jane's father, who had been left to guard the Tower, was afraid to resist, and he
opened the gates to Mary's friends. Then running to his daughter's room he told her that her reign
was at an end.
"Dear father," she said, "these are the happiest words I have ever heard since you told me
that I must be Queen. May I go home now?" she added.
But alas! it was easier to enter the Tower than to leave it, and she was kept fast prisoner.
Meanwhile Mary had been proclaimed Queen in the streets of London. Instead of the gloomy
silence which had greeted Lady Jane Grey, the people shouted with joy, "God save the Queen!
God save the Queen!"
The news spread fast. The church bells rang, the people sang and shouted, bonfires were lit,
everywhere there was feasting and rejoicing. Mary was Queen. The news travelled on. It reached
Northumberland and his army. The duke knew when he heard it that his cause was lost, that his
hopes and his fortunes were fallen and broken. Only one thing was left to him. He, too, took off
his cap and shouted with the rest, "God save the Queen!" Poor Lady Jane, the nine days’ Queen,
was forgotten. …
Lady Jane Grey – A Letter to Queen Mary
From a Letter Addressed to the Queen, 1554
'Although my fault be such that but for the goodness and clemency of the Queen, I can have no
hope of finding pardon.... having given ear to those who at the time appeared not only to myself,
but also to the great part of this realm to be wise and now have manifested themselves to the
contrary, not only to my and their great detriment, but with common disgrace and blame of all,
they having with shameful boldness made to blamable and dishonourable an attempt to give to
others that which was not theirs...[and my own] lack of prudence...for which I deserve heavy
punishment...it being known that the error imputed to me has not been altogether caused by
myself. [The Privy Council]....who with unwontd caresses and pleasantness, did me such
reverence as was not at all suitable to my state. He [Dudley] then said that his Majesty had well
weighed an Act of Parliament...that whoever should acknowledge the most serene Mary...or the
lady Elizabeth and receive them as the true heirs of the crown of England should be had all for
traitors...wherefore, in no manner did he wish that they should be heirs of him and of that crown,
he being able in every way to disinherit them. And therefore, before his death, he gave order to
the Council, that for the honour they owed to him...they should obey his last will... All these I
have wished for the witness of my innocence and the disburdening of my conscience.'
H. E. Marshall – A Spanish Match?
From Our Island Story
Mary was so glad and happy to have won the crown that she was… kind to everyone. She would
not put Lady Jane and her husband to death—an innocent girl was not to blame, she said. But she
kept them both prisoners in the Tower.
Mary was a Roman Catholic, and she made up her mind to bring England back to that
faith. At first many of the people were glad of this, for… they did not like the new religion. But
when Mary let it be known that she meant to marry Philip of Spain, the people were very
angry…. The English hated the Spaniards, and were afraid of them. The Spaniards they knew
were cruel…. They tried to make Mary marry an Englishman, [but Mary was a believer in the
idea that a princess could marry no one less than a prince, and a queen no one less than a king.
No Englishmen could fit these qualifications.]
No one was pleased with this marriage, and the Protestants were very much afraid.
Anything, they thought, would be better than to allow a Spaniard to rule in England. So a plot
was formed to put Mary from the throne, and to set either her sister Elizabeth or Lady Jane Grey
in her place. But the plot failed. All the leaders were beheaded, and… their followers were
hanged… Lady Jane, who had never wished to rule, was blamed for this rebellion.
Anonymous Eyewitness – “I Pray You Dispatch Me Quickly”
From the Chronicle of Queen Jane and of Two Years of Queen Mary
By this time was there a scaffold made upon the green over against the White Tower, for the said
Lady Jane to die upon.... The said lady, being nothing abashed....with a book in her hand
whereon she prayed all the way till she came to the said scaffold.... First, when she mounted the
said scaffold she said to the people standing thereabout: 'Good people, I am come hither to die,
and by a law I am condemned to the same. The fact, indeed, against the queen's highness was
unlawful, and the consenting thereunto by me: but touching the procurement and desire thereof
by me or on my behalf, I do wash my hands thereof in innocency, before God, and the face of
you, good Christian people, this day' and therewith she wrung her hands, in which she had her
book.
And then, kneeling down, she turned to Feckenham [the dean of St Paul's] saying, 'Shall I say
this psalm?' And he said, 'Yea.' Then she said the psalm of Miserere mei Deus, in English, in
most devout manner, to the end. Then she stood up and gave...Mistress Tilney her gloves and
handkercher, and her book to master Bruges, the lieutenant's brother; forthwith she untied her
gown. The hangman went to her to help her therewith; then she desired him to let her alone, and
also with her other attire and neckercher, giving to her a fair handkercher to knit about her eyes.
Then the hangman kneeled down, and asked her forgiveness, whom she gave most willingly.
Then he willed her to stand upon the straw: which doing, she saw the block. Then she said, 'I
pray you dispatch me quickly.' Then she kneeled down, saying, 'Will you take it off before I lay
me down?' and the hangman answered her, 'No, madame.' She tied the kercher about her eyes;
then feeling for the block said, 'What shall I do? Where is it?' One of the standers-by guiding
her thereto, she laid her head down upon the block, and stretched forth her body and said: 'Lord,
into thy hands I commend my spirit!' And so she ended.
Giovanni Michele: Thin and Delicate
Description of an Audience With Mary Tudor
She is of short stature, well made, thin and delicate, and moderately pretty; her eyes are so lively
that she inspires reverence and respect, and even fear, wherever she turns them; nevertheless she
is very shortsighted. Her voice is deep, almost like that of a man. She understands five
languages, - English, Latin, French, Spanish, and Italian, in which last, however, she does not
venture to converse. She is also much skilled in ladies' work, such as producing all sorts of
embroidery with the needle. She has a knowledge of music, chiefly on the lute, on which she
plays exceedingly well.
As to the qualities of her mind, it may be said of her that she is rash, disdainful, and
parsimonious rather than liberal. She is endowed with great humility and patience, but withal
high-spirited, courageous, and resolute, having during the whole course of her adversity not been
guilty of the least approach to meanness of deportment. She is, moreover, devout and staunch in
the defense of her religion.
Some personal infirmities under which she labors are the causes to her of both public and private
affliction; to remedy these, recourse is had to frequent bloodletting, and this is the real cause of
her paleness and the general weakness of her frame….
The cabal she has been exposed to, the evil disposition of the people toward her, the present
poverty and the debt of the crown, and her passion for King Philip, from whom she is doomed to
live separate, are so many other causes of the grief with which she is overwhelmed. She is,
moreover, a prey to the hatred she bears my Lady Elizabeth, and which has its source in the
recollection of the wrongs she experienced on account of her mother, and in the fact that all eyes
and hearts are turned towards my Lady Elizabeth as successor to the throne..."
"An Audience with Queen Mary, 1557," EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2007).
Herbert Thurston – The Fires of Smithfield
From “Mary Tudor”
Meanwhile the restoration of the old religion went on vigorously. The altars were set up again,
the married clergy were deprived, High Mass was sung at St. Paul's, and new bishops were
consecrated according to the ancient ritual…. On 30 Nov., [Cardinal Pole, on behalf of the
universal Church,] pronounced the absolution of the kingdom over the king and queen and
Parliament all kneeling before him…
All this seems to have excited much feeling among the… Reformers, men who for some years
had railed against the Pope… Mary and her advisers [began to enforce penalties for teaching
Protestantism.] Both under Henry VIII and Edward VI men had been burned for religion, and
Protestant bishops like Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley had had a principal hand in their burning. It
seems to be generally admitted now that no vindictive thirst for blood prompted the deplorable
severities which followed, but they have weighed heavily upon the memory of Mary, and it
seems on the whole probable that in her conscientious but misguided zeal for the peace of the
Church, she was herself principally responsible for them. In less than four years 277 persons
were burned to death. Some, like Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley, were men of influence and high
position, but the majority belonged to the lower orders. Still these last were dangerous, because ,
as Dr. Gairdner has pointed, [most of the Protestants so were burned were also involved in
treasonable plots.] In regard to these executions, a much more lenient and at the same time more
equitable judgment now prevails than was formerly the case. As one recent writer observes,
Mary and her advisers "honestly believed themselves to be applying the only remedy left for the
removal of a mortal disease from the body politic...”
Something, perhaps, of Mary's severity, which was in contradiction to the clemency and
generosity uniformly shown in the rest of her life, may be attributed to the bitterness which
seems to have been concentrated into these last years. Long an invalid, she had had more than
one serious illness during the reign of her brother. But the dropsy had now become chronic…
Again it was her misfortune to have conceived a passionate love for her husband. Philip had
never returned this affection, and when the hope of her bearing him an heir proved illusory, he
treated her with scant consideration and quit England forever…
Mary died most piously...
And for the third time, England looked to a queen to lead the sovereign island. Mary had been
the only living child of Henry VIII’s first wife, the unhappy, divorced Katherine of Aragon. Now
all England turned to her cousin, Elizabeth, the daughter of Henry’s fatal second wife, Anne
Boleyn. Elizabeth Tudor came out from the home she had made in the Tower of London, a fresh faced young woman with flowing, flame-red tresses, and made a stunning impression on the
nation – she would be England’s longest reigning queen until the nineteenth century.
Richard Mulcaster: The Dread Sovereign Lady, Elizabeth
From The Passage of our Most Dread Sovereign Lady, Queen Elizabeth, Through the
City of London to Westminster, the Day before her Coronation
Upon Saturday, which was the 14th day of January in the year of our Lord God 1558 [1559],
about two of the clock in the afternoon, the most noble and Christian Princess, our most dread
Sovereign Lady, Elizabeth, by the grace of God, Queen of England, France and Ireland, defender
of the faith, etc. marched from the Tower to pass through the City of London, towards
Westminster: richly furnished and most honorably accompanied, as well with Gentlemen, Barons
and other of the Nobility of this realm, as also with a noble train of goodly and beautiful Ladies,
richly appointed.
And entering the City, was of the people received marvelous entirely, as appeared by the
assembly’s prayers, wishes, welcomings, cries, tender words, and all other signs: which argue a
wonderful earnest love towards their sovereign. And on the other side, Her Grace, by holding up
her hands, and merry countenance to such as stood afar off, and most tender and gentle language
to those that stood nigh to her Grace, did declare herself no less thankfully to receive her
people’s goodwill, than they lovingly offered it.
Near to Fanchurch, was erected a scaffold richly furnished; whereon stood a noise of
instruments; and a child, in costly apparel, which was appointed to welcome the Queen’s
Majesty, in the whole of the City’s behalf.
In Cheapside, Her Grace smiled; and being thereof demanded the cause, answered “For that she
heard one say “Remember old King Henry VIII!” A natural child which at the very remembrance
of her father’s name took so great a joy; that all men may well think that as she rejoiced at his
name whom the realm doth hold of such worthy memory, so, in her doings, she will resemble the
same.
England was delighted with their young monarch, but most anxious that she should marry and
provide a secure heir to the throne.
Elizabeth I – Set a Limit to Your Love
Response to Erik of Sweden's Proposal, 1560
Elizabeth had dozens of suitors during her life, none so ardent as King Erik of Sweden, who had
proposed to her when she was only the "Lady Elizabeth." In 1560, he tried to come to England,
but was thwarted by storms, so he sent his brother as a proxy groom. Here is Elizabeth's reply:
Most Serene Prince Our Very Dear Cousin,
A letter truly yours both in the writing and sentiment was given us on 30 December by your very
dear brother, the Duke of Finland. And while we perceive there from that the zeal and love of
your mind towards us is not diminished, yet in part we are grieved that we cannot gratify your
Serene Highness with the same kind of affection. And that indeed does not happen because we
doubt in any way of your love and honour, but, as often we have testified both in words and
writing, that we have never yet conceived a feeling of that kind of affection towards anyone.
We therefore beg your Serene Highness again and again that you be pleased to set a limit to your
love, that it advance not beyond the laws of friendship for the present nor disregard them in the
future. And we in our turn shall take care that whatever can be required for the holy preservation
of friendship between Princes we will always perform towards your Serene Highness. It seems
strange for your Serene Highness to write that you understand from your brother and your
ambassadors that we have entirely determined not to marry an absent husband; and that we shall
give you no certain reply until we shall have seen your person.
We certainly think that if God ever direct our hearts to consideration of marriage we shall never
accept or choose any absent husband how powerful and wealthy a Prince soever. But that we are
not to give you an answer until we have seen your person is so far from the thing itself that we
never even considered such a thing. But I have always given both to your brother, who is
certainly a most excellent prince and deservedly very dear to us, and also to your ambassador
likewise the same answer with scarcely any variation of the words, that we do not conceive in
our heart to take a husband, but highly commend this single life, and hope that your Serene
Highness will no longer spend time in waiting for us.
God keep your Serene Highness for many years in good health and safety. From our Palace at
Westminster, 25 February.
Your Serene Highness' sister and cousin,
Elizabeth
Elizabeth I – I Will Marry As Soon as I Can
Response to Parliamentary Delegation on Her Marriage, 1566
In 1566, Parliament was still nagging Elizabeth to marry. A delegation from both houses came
to petition her. Here is part of the angry dressing-down she gave them:
'Was I not born in the realm? Were my parents born in any foreign country? Is not my kingdom
here? Whom have I oppressed? Whom have I enriched to other's harm? What turmoil have I
made in this commonwealth that I should be suspected to have no regard to the same? How have
I governed since my reign? I will be tried by envy itself. I need not to use many words, for my
deeds do try me…
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 happen. I can say no more
except the party were present. And I hope to have children, otherwise I would never marry. A
strange order of petitioners that will make a request and cannot be otherwise assured but by the
prince's word, and yet will not believe it when it is spoken.
Elizabeth never did marry, much to the consternation of her ministers. After a number of years,
she declared that she was married – to England.
Charles Dickens – The Tale of Mary Stuart
From a History of England
The one great trouble of this reign [was the enormous trouble between Elizabeth Tudor and her
cousin,] MARY STUA RT, QUEEN OF S COTS…She was the daughter of the Queen Regent of
Scotland, MARY OF GUISE. She had been married, when a mere child, to the Dauphin, the son
and heir of the King of France. The Pope… was strongly opposed to Elizabeth[‘s treatment of
Roman Catholics, as she had reinstated all the old laws banning freedom of religion for them,
and daily had been executed numbers far exceeding any that that had died during the reign of
Mary Tudor.] And as Mary Queen of Scots would have inherited the English crown in right of
her birth, supposing the English Parliament not to have altered the succession, the Pope himself,
and most of the discontented who were followers of his, maintained that Mary was the rightful
Queen of England, and Elizabeth the wrongful Queen. Mary being so closely connected with
France, and France being jealous of England, there was far greater danger in this than there
would have been if she had had no alliance with that great power. And when her young husband,
on the death of his father, became FRANCIS THE S ECOND, King of France, the matter grew very
serious. For, the young couple styled themselves King and Queen of England…
Now, the Protestant religion, under the guidance of a stern and powerful preacher, named JOHN
KNOX, and other such men, had been making fierce progress in Scotland. It was still a half
savage country, where there was a great deal of murdering and rioting continually going on; and
the Reformers, instead of reforming those evils as they should have done, went to work in the
ferocious old Scottish spirit, laying churches and chapels waste, pulling down pictures and altars,
and knocking about the Grey Friars, and the Black Friars, and the White Friars, and the friars of
all sorts of colours, in all directions. This obdurate and harsh spirit of the Scottish Reformers
(the Scotch have always been rather a sullen and frowning people in religious matters) put up the
blood of the Roman Catholic French court, and caused France to send troops over to Scotland,
with the hope of setting the friars of all sorts of colours on their legs again; of conquering that
country first, and England afterwards; and so crushing the Reformation all to pieces. The
Scottish Reformers, who had formed a great league which they called The Congregation of the
Lord, secretly represented to Elizabeth that, if the Protestant religion got the worst of it with
them, it would be likely to get the worst of it in England too; and thus, Elizabeth, though she had
a high notion of the rights of Kings and Queens to do anything they liked, sent an army to
Scotland to support the Reformers, who were in arms against their sovereign. All these
proceedings led to a treaty of peace at Edinburgh, under which the French consented to depart
from the kingdom….
It happened, soon after matters had got to this state, that the young French King died, leaving
Mary a young widow. She was then invited by her Scottish subjects to return home and reign
over them; and as she was not now happy where she was, she, after a little time, complied.
Elizabeth had been Queen three years, when Mary Queen of Scots embarked at Calais for her
own rough, quarrelling country. As she came out of the harbour, a vessel was lost before her
eyes, and she said, ‘O! good God! what an omen this is for such a voyage!’ She was very fond
of France, and sat on the deck, looking back at it and weeping, until it was quite dark. When she
went to bed, she directed to be called at daybreak, if the French coast were still visible, that she
might behold it for the last time. As it proved to be a clear morning, this was done, and she again
wept for the country she was leaving, and said many times, ‘Farewell, France! Farewell,
France! I shall never see thee again! ….
When she came to Scotland, and took up her abode at the palace of Holyrood in Edinburgh, she
found herself among uncouth strangers and wild uncomfortable customs very different from her
experiences in the court of France. The very people who were disposed to love her, made her
head ache when she was tired out by her voyage, with a serenade of discordant music—a fearful
concert of bagpipes, I suppose—and brought her and her train home to her palace on miserable
little Scotch horses that appeared to be half starved.
Among the people who were not disposed to love her, she found the powerful leaders of the
Protestant Church, who were bitter upon her amusements, however innocent, and denounced
music and dancing as works of the devil. John Knox himself often lectured her, violently and
angrily, and did much to make her life unhappy. All these reasons confirmed her old attachment
to the Roman Catholic religion, and caused her…. to give a solemn pledge to the heads of the
Roman Catholic Church that if she ever succeeded to the English crown, she would set up that
religion again….
That Elizabeth, on the other hand, was not inclined to like her, is pretty certain. Elizabeth was
very vain and jealous, and had an extraordinary dislike to people being married. She treated
Lady Catherine Grey, sister of the beheaded Lady Jane, with such shameful severity, for no other
reason than her being secretly married, that she died and her husband was ruined; so, when a
second marriage for Mary began to be talked about, probably Elizabeth disliked her more. Not
that Elizabeth wanted suitors of her own, for they started up from Spain, Austria, Sweden, and
England….
Divers princes proposed to marry Mary, but the English court had reasons for being jealous of
them all, and even proposed as a matter of policy that she should marry that very Earl of
Leicester who had aspired to be the husband of Elizabeth. At last, LORD DARNLEY, son of the
Earl of Lennox, and himself descended from the Royal Family of Scotland, went over with
Elizabeth’s consent to try his fortune at Holyrood. He was a tall simpleton; and could dance and
play the guitar; but I know of nothing else he could do, unless it were to get very drunk, and eat
gluttonously, and make a contemptible spectacle of himself in many mean and vain ways.
However, he gained Mary’s heart, not disdaining in the pursuit of his object to ally himself with
one of her secretaries, DAVID RIZZIO, who had great influence with her. He soon married the
Queen….
Mary had been married but a little while, when she began [she became dreadfully unhappy, due
to her husband’s notorious conduct,] who, in his turn, began to hate that David Rizzio, with
whom he had leagued to gain her favour, and whom he now believed to [be secretly working
against him.] He hated Rizzio to that extent, that he made a compact with LORD RUTHVEN and
three other lords to get rid of him by murder. This wicked agreement they made in solemn
secrecy upon the first of March, fifteen hundred and sixty-six, and on the night of Saturday the
ninth, the conspirators were brought by Darnley up a private staircase, dark and steep, into a
range of rooms where they knew that Mary was sitting at supper with her sister, Lady Argyle,
and this doomed man. When they went into the room, Darnley took the Queen round the waist,
and Lord Ruthven, who had risen from a bed of sickness to do this murder, came in, gaunt and
ghastly, leaning on two men. Rizzio ran behind the Queen for shelter and protection. ‘Let him
come out of the room,’ said Ruthven. ‘He shall not leave the room,’ replied the Queen; ‘I read
his danger in your face, and it is my will that he remain here.’ They then set upon him, struggled
with him, overturned the table, dragged him out, and killed him with fifty-six stabs….
[Not long afterwards, Darnley was found murdered it is not known to this day who did it. Some
said it was undoubtedly Rizzio’s friends, seeking revenge for his murder. But others accused
Mary Stuart, sayng that she had so wearied of her husband behaviour that she could endure him
no more. Whatever the case, a riot broke out, and people began to chase after Mary, screaming
out that she was a murderess, even going so far as to interrupt her prayers. The people did not so
much believe that she had murdered her husband, as to take the opportunity to posit that Mary
was secretly working to undermine Elizabeth I’s reign. The lords forced her under duress to sign
an abdication. She was for a time confined on suspicion at the castle of Lochleven.]
She had better have remained in the castle of Lochleven, dull prison as it was, with the rippling
of the lake against it, and the moving shadows of the water on the room walls; but she could not
rest there, and more than once tried to escape. The first time she had nearly succeeded, dressed
in the clothes of her own washer-woman, but, putting up her hand to prevent one of the boatmen
from lifting her veil, the men suspected her, seeing how white it was, and rowed her back again.
A short time afterwards, her fascinating manners enlisted in her cause a boy in the Castle, called
the little DOUGLAS, who, while the family were at supper, stole the keys of the great gate, went
softly out with the Queen, locked the gate on the outside, and rowed her away across the lake,
sinking the keys as they went along.
On the opposite shore she was met by another Douglas, and some few lords; and, so
accompanied, rode away on horseback to Hamilton, where they raised three thousand men.
Here, she issued a proclamation declaring that the abdication she had signed in her prison was
illegal, and requiring the Regent to yield to his lawful Queen. Being a steady soldier, and in no
way discomposed although he was without an army, Murray [who had made himself regent of
Scotland,] pretended to treat with her, until he had collected a force about half equal to her own,
and then he gave her battle. In one quarter of an hour he cut down all her hopes. She had
another weary ride on horse-back of sixty long Scotch miles, and took shelter at Dundrennan
Abbey, whence she fled for safety to Elizabeth’s dominions…
When Mary Queen of Scots arrived in England, without money and even without any other
clothes than those she wore, she wrote to Elizabeth, representing herself as an innocent and
injured piece of Royalty, and entreating her assistance to oblige her Scottish subjects to take her
back again and obey her. …She was told in answer that she must first clear herself. Made
uneasy by this condition, Mary, rather than stay in England, would have gone to Spain, or to
France, or would even have gone back to Scotland. But, as her doing either would have been
likely to trouble England afresh, it was decided that she should be detained here. She first came
to Carlisle, and, after that, was moved about from castle to castle, as was considered necessary;
but England she never left again….
Elizabeth I – Elizabeth Threatens the Queen of Scots
From a Letter to Mary, Queen of Scots
To Mary, queen of Scots, October 1586 :
You have in various ways and manners attempted to take my life and to bring my kingdom to
destruction by bloodshed. I have never proceeded so harshly against you, but have, on the
contrary, protected and maintained you like myself. These treasons will be proved to you and all
made manifest. Yet it is my will, that you answer the nobles and peers of the kingdom as if I
were myself present. I therefore require, charge, and command that you make answer for I have
been well informed of your arrogance.
Act plainly without reserve, and you will sooner be able to obtain favour of me.
Elizabeth
Charles Dickens – Sentence is Passed
From a History of England
Queen Elizabeth had been warned long ago, by one in France who had good information of what
was secretly doing, that in holding Mary alive, she held ‘the wolf who would devour her.’ [for
people would support Mary Stuart’s claim to the throne.] The Bishop of London had, more
lately, given the Queen’s favourite minister the advice in writing, ‘forthwith to cut off the
Scottish Queen’s head.’ The question now was, what to do with her? The Earl of Leicester
wrote a little note home from Holland, recommending that she should be quietly poisoned… His
black advice, however, was disregarded, and she was brought to trial at Fotheringay Castle in
Northamptonshire, before a tribunal of forty, composed of both religions. There, and in the Star
Chamber at Westminster, the trial lasted a fortnight. [Though her prosecutors believed her
guilty, they knew there was not enough evidence to convict her, and so produced forged
confessions of guilt, as well as papers Mary had actually written to her friends asking for help in
escaping, which had fallen into their hands.] She was found guilty, and declared to have
incurred the penalty of death. The Parliament met, approved the sentence, and prayed the Queen
to have it executed. … The citizens illuminated their houses and lighted bonfires, in token of
their joy that all these plots and troubles were to be ended by the death of the Queen of Scots.
She, feeling sure that her time was now come, wrote a letter to the Queen of England, making
three entreaties; first, that she might be buried in France; secondly, that she might not be
executed in secret, but before her servants and some others; thirdly, that after her death, her
servants should not be molested, but should be suffered to go home with the legacies she left
them. It was an affecting letter, and Elizabeth shed tears over it, but sent no answer. Then came
a special ambassador from France, and another from Scotland, to intercede for Mary’s life; and
then the nation began to clamour, more and more, for her death.
What the real feelings or intentions of Elizabeth were, can never be known now; but I strongly
suspect her of only wishing one thing more than Mary’s death, and that was to keep free of the
blame of it. On the first of February, one thousand five hundred and eighty-seven, Lord Burleigh
having drawn out the warrant for the execution, the Queen sent to the secretary DAVISON to bring
it to her, that she might sign it: which she did. Next day, when Davison told her it was sealed,
she angrily asked him why such haste was necessary? Next day but one, she joked about it, and
swore a little. Again, next day but one, she seemed to complain that it was not yet done, but still
she would not be plain with those about her. So, on the seventh, the Earls of Kent and
Shrewsbury, with the Sheriff of Northamptonshire, came with the warrant to Fotheringay, to tell
the Queen of Scots to prepare for death.
Mary Stuart: The Last Letter of Mary, Queen of Scots
From a Letter to Henry III of France
8 February 1587
To the most Christian king, my brother and old ally,
Royal brother, having by God's will, for my sins I think, thrown myself into the
power of the Queen my cousin, at whose hands I have suffered much for almost
twenty years, I have finally been condemned to death by her and her Estates. I
have asked for my papers, which they have taken away, in order that I might
make my will, but I have been unable to recover anything of use to me, or even get
leave either to make my will freely or to have my body conveyed after my death, as
I would wish, to your kingdom where I had the honor to be queen, your sister and
old ally.
Tonight, after dinner, I have been advised of my sentence: I am to be executed like
a criminal at eight in the morning. I have not had time to give you a full account of
everything that has happened, but if you will listen to my doctor and my other
unfortunate servants, you will learn the truth, and how, thanks be to God, I scorn
death and vow that I meet it innocent of any crime, even if I were their subject.
The Catholic faith and the assertion of my God-given right to the English crown are
the two issues on which I am condemned, and yet I am not allowed to say that it is
for the Catholic religion that I die, but for fear of interference with theirs. The
proof of this is that they have taken away my chaplain, and although he is in the
building, I have not been able to get permission for him to come and hear my
confession and give me the Last Sacrament, while they have been most insistent
that I receive the consolation and instruction of their minister, brought here for that
purpose. The bearer of this letter and his companions, most of them your subjects,
will testify to my conduct at my last hour. It remains for me to beg Your Most
Christian Majesty, my brother-in-law and old ally, who have always protested your
love for me, to give proof now of your goodness on all these points: firstly by
charity, in paying my unfortunate servants the wages due them - this is a burden on
my conscience that only you can relieve: further, by having prayers offered to God
for a queen who has borne the title Most Christian, and who dies a Catholic,
stripped of all her possessions. As for my son, I commend him to you in so far as
he deserves, for I cannot answer for him. I have taken the liberty of sending you
two precious stones, talismans against illness, trusting that you will enjoy good
health and a long and happy life. Accept them from your loving sister-in-law, who,
as she dies, bears witness of her warm feeling for you. Again I commend my
servants to you. Give instructions, if it please you, that for my soul's sake part of
what you owe me should be paid, and that for the sake of Jesus Christ, to whom I
shall pray for you tomorrow as I die, I be left enough to found a memorial mass and
give the customary alms.
Wednesday, at two in the morning
Your most loving and most true sister,
Mary R
Charles Dickens - Rising in the Night
From a History of England
When those messengers of ill omen were gone, Mary made a frugal supper, drank to her
servants, read over her will, went to bed, slept for some hours, and then arose and passed the
remainder of the night saying prayers. In the morning she dressed herself in her best clothes;
and, at eight o’clock when the sheriff came for her to her chapel, took leave of her servants who
were there assembled praying with her, and went down-stairs, carrying a Bible in one hand and a
crucifix in the other. Two of her women and four of her men were allowed to be present in the
hall; where a low scaffold, only two feet from the ground, was erected and covered with black;
and where the executioner from the Tower, and his assistant, stood, dressed in black velvet. The
hall was full of people.
While the sentence was being read she sat upon a stool; and, when it was finished, she again
denied her guilt, as she had done before. The Earl of Kent and the Dean of Peterborough, in their
Protestant zeal, made some very unnecessary speeches to her; to which she replied that she died
in the Catholic religion, and they need not trouble themselves about that matter. When her head
and neck were uncovered by the executioners, she said that she had not been used to be
undressed by such hands, or before so much company. Finally, one of her women fastened a
cloth over her face, and she laid her neck upon the block, and repeated more than once in Latin,
‘Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit!’ Some say her head was struck off in two blows,
some say in three. However that be, when it was held up, streaming with blood, the real hair
beneath the false hair she had long worn was seen to be as grey as that of a woman of seventy,
though she was at that time only in her forty-sixth year. All her beauty was gone.
But she was beautiful enough to her little dog, who cowered under her dress, frightened, when
she went upon the scaffold, and who lay down beside her headless body when all her earthly
sorrows were over.
H. E. Marshall – The Spanish Armada
From Our Island Story
PHILIP, King of Spain, who had been married to Mary I., wanted, after her death, to
marry her sister Elizabeth who was now Queen of England. But Elizabeth would not
marry him… He made up his mind to conquer England…. He gathered together a great
number of soldiers and sailors and guns and ships, and made ready to invade…
Among the many famous Englishmen of this time was a man called [Sir Francis]
Drake. He had sailed in far-off seas to newly-discovered countries, and was very bold and
daring. While Philip was busy making ready to invade England, Drake sailed over to
Spain, and boldly entered the harbour where the Spanish vessels lay. He sank and burned
thirty or more of them, damaged others, and then sailed away again. "This," he said with
a laugh, "was just singeing the King of Spain's beard."
King Philip was very angry, but he at once set to work to repair his ships and to
build others, and next year was ready to attack England.
In May 1588 A.D., one hundred and twenty-nine great ships sailed out from Spain
but, hindered by a storm, it was many weeks later before they came in sight of the
English coast. These Spanish ships with their gilded prows and white sails shining in the
sun made a splendid show as they sailed along in the shape of a crescent seven miles
long. King Philip called his fleet the Invincible Armada. … Armada is a Spanish word
meaning "navy."
Once again, as in the days of the Romans and as in the days of the Danes, the little
green island in the lonely sea was threatened with conquerors coming in great ships. The
people of England had been slow to believe that there was any danger from Spain, and
the Queen was unwilling to make preparations. But when at last they saw that the
Spaniards meant to come, the country rose like one man. Roman Catholics and
Protestants forgot their quarrels, and remembering only that they were Englishmen,
worked together against the common enemy.
The English navy at this time was very small, but gentlemen and merchants gave
money and ships, and soon it was almost as large as the Spanish navy, although the ships
were smaller.
Besides these ships and sailors, a great army gathered on land in order to resist
Philip, should he succeed in reaching England, in spite of the "wooden walls" as the
English war vessels came to be called.
Men young and old flocked to the standard. Very few were real soldiers, but all of
them were eager to fight for their Queen and for their country. Elizabeth herself reviewed
the army and spoke such brave words that the hopes of the men who heard her rose high.
Doctor Leonel Sharpe – Let Tyrants Fear
From a Letter to the Duke of Buckingham
I remember in '88 waiting upon the Earl of Leicester at Tilbury camp, and in '89, going into
Portugal with my noble master, the Earl of Essex, I learned somewhat fit to be imparted to your
grace.
The queen lying in the camp one night…The queen the next morning rode through all the
squadrons of her army, as armed Pallas, attended by noble footmen, Leicester, Essex, and Norris,
then lord marshall, and divers other great lords. Where she made an excellent oration to her
army, which the next day after her departure, I was commanded to re-deliver to all the army
together, to keep a public fast.
Her words were these.
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. Let tyrants fear. I have always so behaved
myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safe guard in the loyal hearts and
good will of my subjects, and therefore I am come amongst you, as you see, at this time, not for
my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live or die
amongst you all, to lay down my life for my God and for my kingdom and for my people, my
honour, and my blood, even in the dust. I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but
I have the heart and stomach of a king, and a king of England too, and think foul scorn that
Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe should dare to invade the borders of my realm; the
which, rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be
your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field. I know, already for
your forwardness, you have deserved rewards and crowns; and we do assure you, in the word of
a prince, they shall be duly paid you. In the meantime my lieutenant-general shall be in my stead,
than whom never prince commanded a more noble or worthy subject, not doubting but by your
obedience to my general, by your concord in the camp, and your valour in the field, we shall
shortly have a famous victory over those enemies of my God, of my kingdom, and of my
people.”
H. E. Marhsall – Francis Drake Keeps Bowling
From Our Island Story
So eagerly did the people work that England was ready before Spain, and Lord
Howard, the chief admiral, sailed out to meet the enemy. But week after week passed,
and as still the Spaniards did not come, he returned to Plymouth with his ships.
Elizabeth was not fond of spending money. She thought that it was dreadful waste
to keep all these soldiers and sailors and ships waiting for an enemy who never came, and
she told Lord Howard to pay off his men, and send them to their homes. But Lord
Howard refused to obey, and he with his captains and his men held their ships in
readiness at Plymouth. Day by day they kept watch, looking always anxiously out to sea,
and spending the long, weary hours as best they could.
At last, one sunny day in July, when Drake and some of the other sea captains
were playing at bowls [lawn bowling], they were interrupted by a cry, "The Spaniards!
the Spaniards!" The game was stopped, all eyes were turned towards the Channel. Yes,
there at last, far out to sea, the proud Spanish vessels were to be seen. They were distant
yet, but a sailor's eye could see that they were mighty and great ships, and the number of
them was very large. But the brave English captains were not afraid.
"Come," said Drake, after a few minutes, "there is time to finish the game and to
beat the Spaniards too."
So they went back to their play, and when the game was finished they went down
to the harbour, got the ships ready, and sailed out to meet and fight the Spaniards.
For more than a week the battle lasted, the English always having the best of it.
Their ships were smaller, but for that very reason they could be moved and turned about
more easily than the great painted and gilded Spanish vessels.
The wind, too, was in favour of the English and against the Spaniards. In those
days, before steam-engines and steamers had been invented, when ships were still moved
by sails, the wind was of great importance.
Day by day the wind grew fiercer, the waves became white and wild, till the
Spanish ships were driven northward by a terrible storm. Without pilots, through
unknown seas, past strange islands they were driven. Shattered on unfriendly rocks,
refused the shelter of every port, up to the north of Scotland and back round the west
coast of Ireland they sped. At last, ruined by shot and shell, torn and battered by wind and
waves, about fifty maimed and broken wrecks, all that were left of the Invincible
Armada, reached Spain. Once again England was saved.
How the people rejoiced! Bells rang, bonfires blazed, and every heart was filled
with thankfulness. In memory of the victory, the Queen ordered a medal to be made, and
on it, in Latin, were the words, "God blew with his breath, and they were scattered."
Although Philip had lost nearly all his ships, he did not consider that he was
beaten, and the war went on until the death of Elizabeth. But the English people no longer
feared the Spaniards.
Fr. Edmund Campion: A Challenge to the Queen
The Challenge to the Privy Council
Father Edmund Campion was a Roman Catholic priest of the Society of Jesus, which, in an effort
to convert England’s protestants, had been sending many missionaries. Parliament was
infuriated, and outlawed any Catholic priests at all within the borders of Britain, and employed
priest-hunters to drag them from their hiding places to be thrown into prison and executed. Fr.
Edmund Campion refused to back down in spite of the laws and punishments, and ssent the
following letter to the government. Enemies of Fr. Edmund Campion (1540-1581) disparagingly
referred to his apologia as "Campion's Brag," the title by which his "Challenge to the Privy
Council" is most commonly known today. It is perhaps the earliest defense of the Catholic faith
to appear in English during the Reformation.
To the Right Honourable, the Lords of Her Majesty's Privy Council:
Whereas I have come out of Germany and Bohemia, being sent by my superiors, and adventured
myself into this noble realm, my dear country, for the glory of God and benefit of souls, I
thought it like enough that, in this busy, watchful, and suspicious world, I should either sooner or
later be intercepted and stopped of my course.
Wherefore, providing for all events, and uncertain what may become of me, when God shall
haply deliver my body into durance, I supposed it needful to put this in writing in a readiness,
desiring your good lordships to give it your reading, for to know my cause. This doing, I trust I
shall ease you of some labour. For that which otherwise you must have sought for by practice of
wit, I do now lay into your hands by plain confession. And to the intent that the whole matter
may be conceived in order, and so the better both understood and remembered, I make thereof
these nine points or articles, directly, truly and resolutely opening my full enterprise and purpose.
i. I confess that I am (albeit unworthy) a priest of the Catholic Church, and through the great
mercy of God vowed now these eight years into the religion [religious order] of the Society of
Jesus. Hereby I have taken upon me a special kind of warfare under the banner of obedience, and
also resigned all my interest or possibility of wealth, honour, pleasure, and other worldly felicity.
ii. At the voice of our General, which is to me a warrant from heaven and oracle of Christ, I took
my voyage from Prague to Rome (where our General Father is always resident) and from Rome
to England, as I might and would have done joyously into any part of Christendom or
Heatheness, had I been thereto assigned.
iii. My charge is, of free cost to preach the Gospel, to minister the Sacraments, to instruct the
simple, to reform sinners, to confute errors—in brief, to cry alarm spiritual against foul vice and
proud ignorance, wherewith many of my dear countrymen are abused.
iv. I never had mind, and am strictly forbidden by our Father that sent me, to deal in any respect
with matter of state or policy of this realm, as things which appertain not to my vocation, and
from which I gladly restrain and sequester my thoughts.
v. I do ask, to the glory of God, with all humility, and under your correction, three sorts of
indifferent and quiet audiences: the first, before your Honours, wherein I will discourse of
religion, so far as it toucheth the common weal and your nobilities: the second, whereof I make
more account, before the Doctors and Masters and chosen men of both universities, wherein I
undertake to avow the faith of our Catholic Church by proofs innumerable—Scriptures, councils,
Fathers, history, natural and moral reasons: the third, before the lawyers, spiritual and temporal,
wherein I will justify the said faith by the common wisdom of the laws standing yet in force and
practice.
vi. I would be loath to speak anything that might sound of any insolent brag or challenge,
especially being now as a dead man to this world and willing to put my head under every man's
foot, and to kiss the ground they tread upon. Yet I have such courage in avouching the majesty of
Jesus my King, and such affiance in his gracious favour, and such assurance in my quarrel, and
my evidence so impregnable, and because I know perfectly that no one Protestant, nor all the
Protestants living, nor any sect of our adversaries (howsoever they face men down in pulpits, and
overrule us in their kingdom of grammarians and unlearned ears) can maintain their doctrine in
disputation. I am to sue most humbly and instantly for combat with all and every of them, and
the most principal that may be found: protesting that in this trial the better furnished they come,
the better welcome they shall be.
vii. And because it hath pleased God to enrich the Queen my Sovereign Lady with notable gifts
of nature, learning, and princely education, I do verily trust that if her Highness would vouchsafe
her royal person and good attention to such a conference as, in the second part of my fifth article
I have motioned, or to a few sermons, which in her or your hearing I am to utter such manifest
and fair light by good method and plain dealing may be cast upon these controversies, that
possibly her zeal of truth and love of her people shall incline her noble Grace to disfavour some
proceedings hurtful to the realm, and procure towards us oppressed more equity.
viii. Moreover I doubt not but you, her Highness' Council, being of such wisdom and discreet in
cases most important, when you shall have heard these questions of religion opened faithfully,
which many times by our adversaries are huddled up and confounded, will see upon what
substantial grounds our Catholic Faith is builded, how feeble that side is which by sway of the
time prevaileth against us, and so at last for your own souls, and for many thousand souls that
depend upon your government, will discountenance error when it is bewrayed [revealed], and
hearken to those who would spend the best blood in their bodies for your salvation. Many
innocent hands are lifted up to heaven for you daily by those English students, whose posterity
shall never die, which beyond seas, gathering virtue and sufficient knowledge for the purpose,
are determined never to give you over, but either to win you heaven, or to die upon your pikes.
And touching our Society, be it known to you that we have made a league—all the Jesuits in the
world, whose succession and multitude must overreach all the practice of England—cheerfully to
carry the cross you shall lay upon us, and never to despair your recovery, while we have a man
left to enjoy your Tyburn, or to be racked with your torments, or consumed with your prisons.
The expense is reckoned, the enterprise is begun; it is of God; it cannot be withstood. So the faith
was planted: So it must be restored.
ix. If these my offers be refused, and my endeavours can take no place, and I, having run
thousands of miles to do you good, shall be rewarded with rigour. I have no more to say but to
recommend your case and mine to Almighty God, the Searcher of Hearts, who send us his grace,
and see us at accord before the day of payment, to the end we may at last be friends in heaven,
when all injuries shall be forgotten.
Andre Hurault-Sieur de Maisse: An Audience with the Queen
From a Report
Queen Elizabeth I was sixty-five years old in 1597 and had reigned for 39 years. In December of
that year Andre Hurault-Sieur de Maisse, the French ambassador to Elizabeth's court, was
granted an audience that he had been seeking for some time. The French emissary was
pleasantly surprised when his request was suddenly granted. Transported by boat up the Thames
River to the Queen's palace, de Maisse was ushered into an antechamber and, along with a
number of other expectant visitors, told to wait until summoned. After some time the ambassador
is approached by the Lord Chamberlain and led to the Queen. We join his account as he enters
the Queen's presence:
"...He led me along a passage somewhat dark, into a chamber that they call the Privy Chamber,
at the head of which was the Queen seated in a low chair, by herself, and withdrawn from all the
Lords and Ladies that were present, they being in one place and she in another. After I had made
her my reverence at the entry of the chamber, she rose and came five or six paces towards me,
almost into the middle of the chamber. I kissed the fringe of her robe and she embraced me with
both hands. She looked at me kindly, and began to excuse herself that she had not sooner given
me audience, saying that the day before she had been very ill with a gathering on the right side of
her face, which I should never have thought seeing her eyes and face: but she did not remember
ever to have been so ill before.
She was strangely attired in a dress of silver cloth, white and crimson, or silver 'gauze', as they
call it. This dress had slashed sleeves lined with red taffeta, and was girt about with other little
sleeves that hung down to the ground, which she was for ever twisting and untwisting… The
collar of the robe was very high, and the lining of the inner part all adorned with little pendants
of rubies and pearls, very many, but quite small. She had also a chain of rubies and pearls about
her neck. On her head she wore a garland of the same material and beneath it a great reddishcolored wig, with a great number of spangles of gold and silver, and hanging down over her
forehead some pearls, but of no great worth. On either side of her ears hung two great curls of
hair, almost down to her shoulders and within the collar of her robe, spangled as the top of her
head….
As for her face, it is and appears to be very aged. It is long and thin, and her teeth are very
yellow and unequal, compared with what they were formerly, so they say, and on the left side
less than on the right. Many of them are missing so that one cannot understand her easily when
she speaks quickly. Her figure is fair and tall and graceful in whatever she does; so far as may be
she keeps her dignity, yet humbly and graciously withal."
"An Audience with Queen Elizabeth I, 1597," EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2004).