Good Queen Bess

A spirit full on incantation... A blog about Elizabeth Tudor. Questions are always welcome. Enjoy!

[theladyelizabeth]

A melancholy BSS today (I guess you could say I’m in a bit of a mood given recent events). This is an excerpt of a letter that Elizabeth wrote to the Earl of Shrewsbury sometime in September 1588 after he wrote to her first to congratulate her on the victory over the Spanish Armada in August but also to offer his condolences for her recent bereavement – Robert Dudley died on the 4th September, barely a few weeks after the Armada had been scattered. Normally the death of a courtier would not necessarily beget letters of condolences to the monarch, but Robert was a special case and everyone knew it. Even his own nephew, Robert Sidney, was wary of attending court too soon after his uncle’s death, knowing the shockwave it would have caused.

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[maximumphilosopheranchor]

The Elizabethan Privy Council was not the hot-bed of faction which some have assumed it to be, and nor did Elizabeth’s gender make business unworkable, as some have claimed. Under duress, her counsellors were capable of making occasional disparaging comments about the unreliability of women, but mostly they spoke of their monarch with respect, and often affectionate admiration. The earl of Sussex was of noble descent, and might therefore have had reason to think well of his own authority, but he said of Elizabeth in 1579 that ‘her heart is to be guided by God’s direction and her own because no man can know the inward direction of her heart,’ nor ‘can any man give counsel therein.’ Robert Beale, as clerk of the Privy Council, knew one or two things about Elizabeth’s vagaries, but could write simply to his son, ‘I have no dealing with the queen but as with the image of God.’

Lucy Wooding, Tudor England: A History

[maximumphilosopheranchor]

The resplendent figures of the Tudor monarchs loom so large in the popular imagination that it is easy to assume that Tudor England laboured under despotic rule. Royal authority was at points brutally imposed, but in general the exercise of power was much more diffuse, negotiated and reciprocal than is often perceived. This dynamic at the heart of Tudor rule is frequently overlooked, or misinterpreted, but it remains essential to any real understanding of the age. It is the reason why Tudor monarchs behaved as they did. It lay beneath their magnificence, hovered behind their spoken and unspoken words, and governed their interactions with courtiers and subjects with home, and with friends or enemies abroad. They knew that their authority relied on the cooperation of those they ruled, and that political stability and social order required mutual effort. When Elizabeth I in 1601 told a parliamentary delegation that the ‘glittering glory of a king’s title’ had not misled her into thinking ‘all is lawful what we list’, she was speaking the truth, just as when she went on to explain how her authority was distributed ‘in sundry sorts to divers kinds’.

Lucy Wooding, Tudor England: A History

[royal-darling]

QUEEN ELIZABETH I OF ENGLAND & IRELAND IN RED

[glorianas]

CATE BLANCHETT as ELIZABETH I

ELIZABETH 

(1998)

[theladyelizabeth]

hope you don't mind the ask, but re: Cecil wanting Dudley appointed as ambassador to France- do we know if/do you think that Cecil genuinley thought Dudley was a good fit for the role, just wanted to get the English Channel between Dudley and the Queen, or a combination of the two...?

Full disclosure, this tidbit of information comes purely from a podcast that Joanne Paul did in 2025 on Not Just the Tudors, so I haven't looked deeply into it myself, but my understanding is that this occurred literally in the very first few days of Elizabeth's reign, possibly even just before Mary died. According to Paul in her book, Cecil drew up a list of men who he thought would be good servants and what positions he thought they'd be most useful in - for Robert, he thought he would make a useful ambassador in France and that isn't for no reason. Robert had been to France before (albeit for war), was well educated, an expert in court manners, and could speak the language so it made sense. At this point in time, Cecil would have only had limited interaction with Robert himself, although he had been in the service of Robert's father. As there's no evidence of any scandalous relationship between Elizabeth and Robert before 1559, Cecil would have had no real reason for wanting them apart. He just figured this would be a sensible position for him.

But Elizabeth had the last word when it came to who she wanted closely serving her and her decision to have Robert be Master of the Horse overruled Cecil's recommendation. This position also made sense for him as his older brother (now dead) held the same position during Edward's reign and Robert had a natural flair for drama, which helped with the work associated with that position. At that point, Robert and Elizabeth had a positive relationship, so its no wonder she wanted him close by.

If anything, the only reason might have felt cautious around Robert is more because he might have been nervous that Robert would want to take revenge for Cecil effectively abandoning Northumberland when the going got tough. He would have had no way of knowing that that would end up being the least of his worries when it came to Robert.

And that's what makes me laugh lol - I do love dramatic irony. And more poignantly, its such a small change, such a seemingly insignificant decision on Elizabeth's part that has such a massive impact on all three of their lives.

[didanagy]

BETTE DAVIS as QUEEN ELIZABETH

THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX (1939)

dir. michael curtiz

[liviasdrusillas]

PERIOD DRAMAS I'VE WATCHED - MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS (2018)

[theladyelizabeth]

I have nothing to pray to you now Nothing to pray to you now

[theladyelizabeth]

I’m a million years late to this trend, but after seeing Robert’s last letter to Elizabeth in The National Archives’ exhibition, Love Letters, I couldn’t help myself.

Robert’s last letter never fails to make me a bit emotional. Not because there’s any grand declaration of love in there - in fact, its simplicity and mundane nature is what makes it so touching with me. Robert was on his way to take the waters at Buxton for his health. He stopped at Rycote along the way to rest and to pen this letter to Elizabeth. It’s just a “checking in” letter, updating her on his progress and asking after her health. It reminds me of the update texts we might send our loved ones during our own travels. The letter is filled with small references to their lifelong bond - Robert uses “eyes” symbol as an affectionate nudge towards her nickname for him, Rycote is a place he and Elizabeth spent many happy moments together with their friends, the Norrises. And at the end of the letter, Robert mentions that he receives a token Elizabeth sent after him as he was writing. She clearly was thinking about him.

And heartbreakingly, this was the last letter he would send her as he died of illness mere days later. The fact that the letter is written on such a slant hints that he might have written this in bed, too poorly to sit upright at a desk. Even in this stage, he made sure to keep Elizabeth in his thoughts. Famously, Elizabeth would keep the letter until her own death, inscribing it with her own hand - “his last letter.”

[glorianas]

CATE BLANCHETT as ELIZABETH I

ELIZABETH 

(1998)

[maximumphilosopheranchor]

The fashionable number of maiden attendants for ‘great ladies’ was between four and eight and Elizabeth’s preference was for six. These maids, some of them already in attendance, acted as the princess’s companions and escorts and some of the first were Elizabeth Norwich, Elizabeth Neville, Elizabeth Clyffe, Bridget Skipwith, Elyzabeth St Loe, Isabella Markham, and Anne Poyntz. (..) Like all the young ladies attending upon Elizabeth, Anne [Poyntz] was of the new religion, and an interesting and touching exchange between mistress and maid has been captured for posterity in a copy of Myles Coverdale’s New Testament that Elizabeth is thought to have given Anne. On a blank page at the beginning of the book Elizabeth has quoted four lines from a poem believed to have been written by John Harington: Among good things I prove and find The quiet life doth much abound And sure to the contented mind There is no riches may be found. And underneath this verse the princess instinctively wrote ‘Your loving friend, Elizabeth’ only to quickly change it to ‘Your loving mistress, Elizabeth’ when she remembered her position. Yet there is something very poignant about this ‘mistake’, for it reminds us that beneath all the royal pomp Elizabeth was still only a teenage girl, and like every other teenage girl she longed for friends. On the page opposite Anne replied to her mistress with a verse that may be of her own composition: More swift than swallows flight Our young days fly away, Then age calls for his right And death will have no stay. Both day by night and night by day Our course changes to and fro, So life by death and death by life Shall bring us all to well or woe. And confidently, without ceremony, she signed it ‘Your friend, Anne Poyntz’.

Heather Shanette, Elizabeth I's Ladies, Gentlewomen and Maids: The Women who Served the Tudor Queen

[theladyelizabeth]

'Neither was [Leicester] much concerned about the plight of his English soldiers'

Meanwhile, Leicester:

But, sir, whatsoever become of me, give me leave to speak for the poor soldiers. If they be not better maintained, being in this strange country, there will neither be good service done, nor be without great dishonour to her Majesty, and the less she shall send at once the more unprofitable for her, and she shall find it so...There was no soldier yet able to buy himself a pair of hose and it is to great shame to see how they go, and it kills their hearts to show themselves among men.

and:

I assure you it will fret me to death ere long to see my soldiers in this case and cannot help them. I cry now, peace! Peace! For never was there such a war and a cause so slenderly countenanced.

And mind you these are two different letters, both addressed to Walsingham, but he also brought the matter up directly to Elizabeth as well. Multiple times he tried to improve the lot of the soldiers because he was stressed about it. At one point, he marvelled at how the soldiers didn't just kill them all and leave because he understood how angry they were. I've got to do a PhD on Leicester's reputation at one point because this is just egregious.

[theladyelizabeth]

Ironically the compiler of the Netherlands correspondence linked above also does the same thing where he condemns Leicester for hanging deserters…as if that wasn’t standard military practice at the time for pretty much every army everywhere.

[wardrobeoftime]

Becoming Elizabeth + Costumes

Elizabeth Tudor's pink, golden & brown dress in Episode 07.

// requested by anonymous

[theladyelizabeth]

Hi Rina,

The talk with Joanne Paul and Nicola Clark was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, Joanne thinks that Robert Devereux wouldn't have lived even if Robert Dudley had lived. Which is too bad. I would like to think that maybe Robert could've kept his stepson in line. She and Nikki also talked quite a bit about Douglas Howard and Robert's relationship. Comparing them to Romeo and Juliet at one point. I'm curious are there any good books that cover Douglas and Robert's relationship? I don't think I've ever seen a good biography on her.

I'm glad it was a good time! Honestly, I could see it going either way, Essex was just such a chaotic and unpredictable person. Robert's presence may have restrained him for a while, but he may not have been able to change Essex's fate all that much, especially if Essex eventually grew tired of living in Leicester's shadow.

As for Douglas, I don't think she's ever really been given proper study I'm afraid, which is a shame, she's only ever just a footnote in other people's stories. Most scholars who study Robert Dudley will also write at least a little bit about her, including the likes of Simon Adams and Sarah Gristwood. Derek Wilson does as well, but I don't agree with his view that Robert and Douglas were, in fact, married and most modern scholars don't believe Douglas' later claims of marriage as she was very likely pressured into it by her son who was trying to claim inheritance he likely wasn't entitled to. I do want to do a deep dive on her on my blog sometime in the future. Not sure I would go as far as to call her and Robert Romeo and Juliet though lol other than the fact that it was something of a forbidden love. I suppose you could consider the Howards and the Dudleys to be rivals, but they were hardly enemies. Romeo sacrificed everything to be with Juliet - Robert clearly wasn't willing to sacrifice much for Douglas. If anything, it was Lettice he sacrificed more to be with.

[weirdvintage]

An early 20th century postcard against the coercion of motherhood and promoting the usage of contraception.

[tr-p-antoninvs-pivs]

She is going to hit that Christian baby for a home run.

[elizabethan-memes]

It bothers me when history books, even feminist history books, call sex workers/prostitutes 'whores'. It feels unprofessional.

Obviously primary source quotations must be preserved unaltered. But even if the historical women are self identifying that way, I just don't think you can reclaim the word. It has too much baggage. And it isn't the historian's word to reclaim, even if the historian is a woman.