Romancing the Renaissance:
the Feminization of Early Modern Culture in Twentieth Century Mass Media

English 339

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Elizabeth Tudor

(Elizabeth I)

First Entry:

Martha Elizabeth Morin

Elizabeth Tudor was born September 7, 1533 to King Henry VIII and wife Anne Boleyn. She was named after the mother of Henry VIII, Elizabeth of York, as well as Anne Boleyn's mother, Lady Elizabeth Howard. However, expecting a son to carry on the throne, Elizabeth was a tremendous disappointment to both her parents. She became known as "the concubine's little bastard." (Smith, 28) After the death of her mother by beheading, she became known simply as Lady Elizabeth, by an Act of Parliament in 1536 at the age of three.

By the time Elizabeth was thirteen, everyone whom she felt close to in her life had died due to the ravenous behavior and temper of her father. She was raised in the countryside of England where she was taken care of by the King's servants and received an extensive education, excelling in several subjects.

In 1554, she was imprisoned by her half sister, Mary, because accusations were made to implicate her on Wyatt's rising. This was the rebellion against the marriage of Mary to Philip of Spain.

When Mary died in 1558, England was in a tizzy about who the rightful successor should be. Parliament came into agreement that it should be Elizabeth. On November 17, 1558, Elizabeth I became Queen of England.

Elizabeth came into power to a county that was in complete disarray. "England's armies had been defeated in the fields and their morale was low…[there were problems in] religious settlement, problems with royal marriage, the succession, and the Church. Society was shaken by experience of bad harvests and epidemics: prices were high, labor was short and the currency still corrupted." (Williams, 229) she had her work cut out for her.

One of her courtiers, Feria, a Spanish ambassador, said, "She seems to me incomparably more feared than her sister and gives her orders and has her way as absolutely as her father did." (Williams, 230) Much like her father, she had a strong temper, which she tended to lose at times. However, her two best qualities included her ability to choose first rate advisors and win the public's devotion.

She accomplished much during her forty six-year reign. Most importantly included her Act of Uniformity, issued by Parliament in 1559, which changed England's religion from Catholicism to Protestantism. More importantly, she renounced herself a virgin Queen.

It was constantly debated during her reign, by her advisors that she should marry to strengthen alliances with other countries. However, she made her promise to herself to remain single and be the only virgin Queen to head England. She married herself to England. By doing this, England became to number one super power in the world as well as richest. She devoted all of her time to the people of England and its well being.

Elizabeth enjoyed royalty completely. She had lavish parties, wore extravagant clothes, and costumed herself in the finest of accessories. When she appeared before the people of England, all came out to worship the best ruler England had seen to date.

Elizabeth fell ill at the age of seventy. She died on March 24, 1603 at age seventy and in her forty-sixth year of reign.

 Television:

Elizabeth R.

Black Adder.

Films:

Fire Over England

the Seahawk

The Virgin Queen

Mary of Scotalnd

Mary, Queen of Scots

Ø Elizabeth

Ø The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex

Ø Orlando

Ø Shakespeare in Love

Bibliography

 Anthony, Katherine. Queen Elizabeth. The Literary Guild, New York. 1929; pp.14

Bush, Catherine. Elizabeth I. Chelsea House Publishers, New York. 1985; pp.109

 Creighton, Rev. M., M.A. The Age of Elizabeth. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. 1898; pp.35, 45, 48, 109, 115, 144, 236

Smith, Lacey Baldwin. Elizabeth Tudor: Portrait of a Queen. Little, Brown and Company, Boston. 1975; pp.27-30, 38-39

Thane, Elswyth. The Tudor Wench. Duell, Sloan and Pearce, New York. 1932

Williams, Penry. The Later Tudors England 1547-1603. Clarendon Press, Oxford. 1995; pp. 111, 229-230, 405,386-7, 454

 Second Entry:

Megan Hamilton

Elizabeth Tudor

"I am no lover of pompous title, but only desire that my name may be recorded in a line or two, which shall briefly express my name, my virginity, the years of my reign, the reformation of religion under it, and preservation of peace."(Epitaph of Elizabeth).

*Born on: September 7, 1533

*Born to Henry VIII and his second wife Ann Boleyn (whom he had executed when Elizabeth was young)

*In November of 1558 Elizabeth acceded to the throne at the age of 25

*From 1558-1603- Reigned over England without marrying and expressed hope to remain single throughout her reign.

*Many people speculate as to why she wanted to keep her status as such:

1. She suffered from some sort of physical impediment, such as syphilis

2. She had a pathological aversion to sexuality because of her fathers marital adventures and her very troubling childhood

3. She valued her freedom as a single woman

*Her critics have many explanations as to why she wanted to be a virgin Queen*

The major aspects surrounding her reign were: Virginity, Religion, and Power*

There were two major threats to her reign: The invasion of Spain who wanted to force Roman Catholicism on England. Then the battle with Ireland, where she sent Earl of Essex to lead English troops. When he had no success he was sent back to England and tried to lead a rebellion against Elizabeth and was later executed.

*Elizabeth died peacefully on March 24, 1603 and nominated James as her sucessor.

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