For Elizabeth I, the insult that she might not be chaste lasted until the very latest years of her reign. The defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 put paid to the idea that her queenship was in any way diminished by the lack of a husband, and marriage negotiations had not been seriously considered… Read More Was the Virgin Queen a Virgin? Pt III: Raleigh, Essex, et al
When considering the question of Elizabeth I’s virginity, one name comes to mind immediately and before all others: Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. If Elizabeth had sex with anyone it would surely have been him. He was, after all, the great love of her life and those feelings were certainly requited. He was at her… Read More Was the Virgin Queen a Virgin? Part II: Robert Dudley
And albeit it might please almighty God to continue me still in this mind to live out of the state of marriage, yet it is not to be feared but He will so work in my heart and in your wisdom as good provision by his help may be made in convenient time, whereby the… Read More Was The Virgin Queen a Virgin? Part I: Thomas Seymour
Did someone try to assassinate Elizabeth I with a poisoned dress? This question (the number one question posed to this blog in 2020) derives from the film Elizabeth (1998). In said film, one of her ladies, Isabelle Knollys, dies mid-coitus with Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, while wearing a dress intended for the queen. The… Read More Elizabethan Assassination Attempts (not feat. a poisoned dress)
Season 3 of ‘The Tudors‘ shows the death of Jane Seymour and the subsequent madness of Henry VIII. Beside himself with grief, Henry retreats to his private chambers with no one but his fool, Will Somers, to attend him. The very first thing he does in this aggrieved and almost unhinged state is design a… Read More Nonsuch Palace: “a fantasy work”
Well, I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone asked for this, given the “accuracy” of Shekhar Kapur’s Elizabeth. In fact, I was asked the very same day I published Everything wrong with Elizabeth, so if anything I’m just sorry it took so long to write. While Elizabeth took historical revisionism and… Read More Everything wrong with Elizabeth: The Golden Age
A long, long time ago, I wrote that it would take too long to detail the very many historical inaccuracies present in Elizabeth (1998) and as I recently found my copy of it and have a mighty need to throw it away, that particular article just begged to be written. Described by reviewers as an… Read More Everything wrong with Elizabeth (1998)
Elizabeth I’s sharp tongue was legendary. Her ladies and courtiers alike were keen to avoid her displeasure for she was well known for her verbal dressing downs, and among her household was feared as much for the lingual blows she would deal on those who displeased her as the physical ones. This is a selection… Read More Quotes in Context: Elizabeth I
Anne Vavasour came to the court of Elizabeth I in the new year of 1580, probably with her sister Frances as a lady of the bedchamber. Anne quickly became a maid of honour but would be dismissed from the position in 1581 marking the permanent end of her court career. ‘Maid of Honour’ she was… Read More ‘The subject of much mirth and merriment’: The loves and life of Anne Vavasour
Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester is famously known as the favourite of Elizabeth I. His reputation in history is that of an ambitious womaniser and though he hardly had a slew of lovers, what relationships he did have were certainly dramatic This was mostly because they were conducted in the court of a Queen who considered… Read More Leicester’s Love Triangle
History in the (Re)Making 