Elizabeth I

Elizabeth’s reign was, indeed, glorious and prosperous, as Dr. John Dee had prophesied; it was so glorious, in fact, that those years are known as the Elizabethan Age.

By far, Elizabeth's contribution to history is more about her reign as Queen rather than her literature. But her classical education and her insatiable intellect gave her the background to write stirring and meaningful speeches, poetry, and diplomatic letters. I introduced some of those in the first seven pages of this site: I hope that is helpful and sufficient.

What follows is a note about a topic that, for me, is a particular bugaboo. Although there have been movies and novels about Elizabeth and her time that depict her as having had affairs or even a child, there is absolutely no evidence that Elizabeth was anything other than a virgin. I share the opinion of the majority of Elizabeth’s biographers that she truly remained a virgin through her life. Some biographers offer forth their opinion that during her time living with Katherine Parr and her husband, Thomas Seymour, just after her father’s death, Elizabeth did succumb to Seymour’s seduction. From all that I have read, I believe that Elizabeth understood the value of her physical innocence and would not have surrendered it to anyone, least of all someone who would not enhance her position as second in line to the throne. When she heard of Seymour’s execution for treason, she is credited with saying, “This day died a man with much wit and very little judgment”; this statement implies that she certainly knew his character. She was an incredibly politically astute woman and she’d been brought up since her early teens knowing that she was in the shadow of the throne. Then, once she was Queen, there was virtually no way for her to entertain a gentleman in private as Elizabeth was at nearly all times surrounded by ladies of the bedchamber, courtiers, or members of her Council. Unlike the depiction in the movie Elizabeth, where she tells Robin Dudley "I am Queen, now" when he asks when he can see her in private, in reality, the queen's body belonged to the State and for her to indulge in adultery (where Robin was married) or fornication (if he hadn't been) would have been scandalous and could have led to major diplomatic repercussions.

There were so many interesting events, people and themes in her life - Robin Dudley; the Duc d’Alencon (aka, Duc d'Anjou); her many marriage proposals and how she used them to her country’s advantage; her (and most everyone else’s at the time!) belief in astrology (sanctioned by the church, no less); Mary, Queen of Scots; the Catholic plots against her life. Goodness the list goes on forever. I suspect this website may well become a project of many years. And I started it all for a ten point assignment in my first college British Literature class! So, please book mark this website and come back and visit! Once I have figured out how to do so, I will add a guest book so that you can tell me what you think.

I have read all the books on the Works Cited page of this website as well as at least another twenty about Elizabeth herself. I’ve also read some fascinating books about the others surrounding Elizabeth, people like Mary, Queen of Scots; Henry VIII; Anne Boleyn and her family; Dr. John Dee; Katherine of Aragon; Martin Frobisher; Catherine de’ Medici; Mary of Guise; William and Robert Cecil. I have four 40” shelves of books on Tudor biography and history. One of these days, you’ll see a “Bibliography” tab on this website if you come back and look.

I really got turned on to Tudor history by reading a novel by Margaret George called The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers. The history in it is pretty accurate; what makes it interesting is George’s interpretation of Henry’s motivations. After reading that book in the early 1990’s, I determined that I needed to understand the “real history” and that started me on my way. This past spring George published Elizabeth I: A Novel; it was good, but not as good as her novels on Henry or Mary, Queen of Scotland and the Isles. There are a few more novelists that I would recommend wholeheartedly to become familiar with British history. The three I most recommend for the Tudors are Philippa Gregory (The Other Boleyn Girl and MANY more books), Margaret George, and Alison Weir. Alison Weir is a top notch historian and biographer, so her novels are also top-notch. Another wonderful novelist about British history is Sharon Kay Penman; her era is not the Tudors, but earlier. Her books include, among others, a trilogy on Llewelyn of Wales, one on Richard the Lionheart (it just came out this autumn and was FABULOUS), and one on Henry II of England - the king married to Eleanor of Aquitaine, another fascinating woman!

Older movies, such as Mary, Queen of Scots (with Glenda Jackson and Vanessa Redgrave), Anne of the Thousand Days (with Richard Burton and Genevieve Bujold), and the BBC Series Elizabeth R (with Glenda Jackson) are all excellent movies about this fascinating time period. The newer ones, like Elizabeth (with Cate Blanchett) and Anonymous (which I haven't seen yet) take a lot more liberties with history and so are more marketable!

Please email me at ksp@graftonwebs.com if you'd like to chat.