Let’s celebrate their union by giving some facts about the happy couple:-

The Bride – Mary Queen of Scots

Birth: Mary, Queen of Scots, also known as Mary Stuart, Mary Stewart and Marie Stuart, was born on the 8th December 1542 at Linlithgow Palace, Scotland.

Parents: Mary’s parents were James V of Scotland (son of James IV and Margaret Tudor) and Mary of Guise. She was James’s only child to survive and he actually died six days after her birth.

Queen of Scotland After her father’s death on the 14th December, Mary became Queen of Scotland and was crowned at Stirling in September 1543. As Mary was just an infant, the country was ruled by regents on her behalf.

Betrothals: On the 1st July 1543, at the age of 7 months, the Treaty of Greenwich, between England and Scotland, promised Mary in marriage to Henry VIII’s son, Prince Edward. When the pro-Catholic and pro-French Cardinal Beaton became powerful in Scotland and joined forces with the Earl of Arran, the treaty was rejected by the Scottish Parliament and trouble began between England and Scotland. The French came to the aid of Scotland and on the 7th July 1548 a marriage treaty between France and Scotland promised the 5 year old Mary in marriage to Henry II’s son, François, the Dauphin.

Upbringing: From the age of 5 until the age of 19 Mary lived in France. There she received an excellent education, learning French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Latin and Scots, as well as music, needlework and poetry.

Return to Scotland: Francois (Francis II of France) died in 1560 and his mother, Catherine de’ Medici, took control of the country, as regent for her other son, Charles IX. Mary returned to Scotland on the 19th August 1561.

Marriages: 24th April 1558 to the Dauphin François at Notre Dame. he died in 1560. 29th July 1565 to Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, he was assassinated in 1567. 15th May 1567 to James Hepburn, Lord Bothwell, he died in 1578.

Mary Stuart and her son, James VI

Issue: James VI of Scotland (James I of England) by Lord Darnley, born on 19th June 1566. Mary miscarried twins (fathered by Bothwell) in July 1567.

Titles: Queen of Scotland from 14th December 1542 until 24th July 1567 when she was forced to abdicate.
At the death of Mary I of England in 1558, Henry II of France declared that François and Mary were King and Queen of England and Mary started bearing the royal arms of England.
On the death of her father-in-law, Henry II of France, on the 10th July 1559 Mary became Queen Consort of France, a position she held until 5th December 1560.

Appearance: Mary, Queen of Scots, was considered a beauty. She was tall (around 5′ 11) with auburn hair, hazel eyes and a heart-shaped face.

Scandal: In March 1566, Mary’s husband, Lord Darnley, and some friends murdered Mary’s private secretary, David Rizzio, in front of his pregnant wife. He was jealous of Mary’s friendship with Rizzio. Darnley became a real problem for Mary and the Scottish Lords and in February 1567 Darnley was killed in an explosion at Kirk O’Field. It is thought that James Hepburn, Lord Bothwell, supplied the gunpowder but he was acquitted of murder in April 1567. The famous “Casket Letters” implicated Mary in the murder of her husband, but these are generally believed to have been forgeries.

On the 24th April 1567, Mary was kidnapped by Bothwell (it is unclear whether this was planned by Mary and Bothwell) and allegedly raped. They were married on the 15th May.

Abdication: Mary was forced to abdicate from the Scottish throne in July 1567 after the Scottish Lords turned against her and Bothwell.

Claim to the English Throne: – Mary’s father, James V, was the son of Margaret Tudor, Henry VIII’s sister, and so was cousin of Elizabeth I, this gave her a claim to the throne. English Catholics viewed Elizabeth I as a usurper, due to her being illegitimate, and so saw Mary as the true heir after Mary I.

Involvement in Plots: As well as being implicated in her husband, Lord Darnley’s murder, Mary’s belief that she was the true Queen of England led to her being involved in plots to overthrow Elizabeth I. These included the Ridolfi Plot and the Babington Plot.

Downfall: Mary’s downfall was her involvement in the Babington Plot of 1586. See “Mary Queen of Scots- Part One” for details.

Execution: Mary was tried in October 1586 at Fotheringhay Castle and was found guilty of being an accessory in the Babington Plot and of imagining and compassing the Queen’s death. On the 29th October, Parliament ratified the commissioners’ verdict and demanded that Mary be executed. Elizabeth just could not bring herself to sign the death warrant and kept putting it off, but on the 1st February she finally signed it (although she claimed that she did not intend it to be followed through). On the 8th February 1587, Mary Queen of Scots was executed at Fotheringhay Castle – see “Mary Queen of Scots – Part Two”.

Resting Place: Mary was buried at Peterborough Cathedral but then moved to the Henry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey during the reign of her son, James I of England, where there is a beautiful white marble monument marking her tomb.

Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley

The Groom – Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley

Birth: 7th December 1545 at Temple Newsam, Leeds

Parents: Matthew Stuart, the 4th Earl of Lennox and Margaret Douglas, daughter of Margaret Tudor, Henry VIII’s sister.

Relationship to Mary Queen of Scots: Darnley and Mary were related not only by their marriage but by the fact that they shared a grandmother (Margaret Tudor) and were also both descended from Joan Beaufort, Queen of Scotland.

Titles: Master of Lennox (1545 – 1565), Lord Darnley (1545 – 1565), Earl of Ross and  Lord of Ardmanach (May – July 1565), 1st Duke of Albany (July 1565) and on the 30th July 1565 he was proclaimed King of Scots at the Cross of Edinburgh. In February 1565 he was given the Order of Saint Michael by the King of France.

Marriages: He was married just the once, to Mary Queen of Scots on the 29th July 1565.

Character: Darnley was said to have had a drinking problem which exacerbated his mean and violent streak. He was jealous of Mary’s friendship with her secretary, David Rizzio, even believing that Rizzio was the father of the child she was carrying. His increasingly erratic behaviour, along with his desire to be awarded the Crown Matrimonial (the right to co-reign with Mary) led to him becoming unpopular.

Scandal: Darnley and a group of his supporters murdered Rizzio, by stabbing him to death (allegedly 56 times!), but were later pardoned of the crime.

Death: 10th February 1567 at Kirk O’Field, Edinburgh. Darnley was staying at Kirk O’Field while he recovered from smallpox (or possibly syphilis). On the night of the 10th February, the house was reduced to rubble and Darnley killed by an explosion caused by someone setting light to gunpowder in the cellars. His body was found in a neighbouring garden, beside that of his groom, with a dagger lying on the ground between them.

Historian Magnus Magnusson believed that Darnley had been strangled to death before the explosion because the body showed signs of strangulation. The Earl of Bothwell, his supporters and Mary herself were all suspected of being involved in Darnley’s death

Notes and Sources

• Mary Queen of Scots Wikipedia page
• Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley Wikipedia page
• Scottish Monarchs – The House of Stewart
• The Murder of Lord Darnley
• Mary Queen of Scots – Part One
• Mary Queen of Scots – Part Two

Defeat of the Spanish Armada at Gravelines, Philipp Jakob Loutherbourg the Younger

The day after the English had wrecked the crescent formation of the Spanish Armada and caused havoc, they attacked the Spanish fleet. This battle is known as the Battle of Gravelines because it took place just off the port of Gravelines, a Spanish stronghold in Flanders, part of the Spanish Netherlands, but near the border with France. The Duke of Medina Sedonia had been unable to reform the Spanish fleet at Calais, due to a south-easterly wind, and was forced to regroup at Gravelines.

The English had learned from previous encounters with the Spanish fleet and so used new and more successful tactics. They had learned from capturing the Rosario in the Channel that the Spaniards could not easily reload their guns, so with their smaller and lighter ships, the English were able to provoke the Spaniards into firing, but keep out of range, and then close in for the kill. As the Spaniards tried frantically to reload, the English ships took advantage of the situation by getting close to their enemy and firing repeatedly. The Spanish fleet were also adversely affected by the wind, which kept driving them into shallow water.

By around 4pm, both sides had run out of ammunition, although the English had been loading objects like chains into their cannons so that they could continue inflicting damage on the Spanish Armada. Spain was defeated, losing at least five ships and having several others severely damaged. Alison Weir writes that Spain lost 2,000 men compared to England’s 50, a huge difference.

Notes and Sources

1. Elizabeth the Queen, Alison Weir, p391
2. Article on the Battle of Gravelines
3. The Battle of Gravelines – Section on the Spanish Armada Wikipedia page

The crescent shaped Spanish Armada

The English move had been a success and, as Alison Weir says:-

“This meant that the little English ships would now be able to fight on more equal terms. As a result of this action, morale amongst Spanish forces was fatally weakened.”¹

Notes

1. Elizabeth the Queen, Alison Weir, p391

Robert Dudley

On this day in history, the 27th July 1588, Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester and the Lieutenant and Captain General of the Queen’s Armies and Companies, invited Elizabeth I to visit Tilbury, where he was busy assembling troops.

The reason for his invitation was to stop his beloved Queen and childhood friend from doing what she was threatening, that is riding to the south coast to be with her troops meeting Parma’s forces as they landed. Leicester wrote to Elizabeth inviting her to come and “comfort” the forces gathered at Tilbury, saying “you shall, dear lady, behold as goodly, as loyal and as able men as any prince Christian can show you” and assuring her that he personally would be in charge of her safety because she was “the most dainty and sacred thing we have in this world to care for, a man must tremble when he thinks of it.”

Also on this day, the Spanish Armada dropped anchor just off Calais, near where Parma had gathered 16,000 men at Dunkirk. The Spaniards were getting ready to invade!

Source

• Elizabeth the Queen, Alison Weir

Tilbury Fort, photo from English Heritage

On this day in history, the 26th July 1588, 4,000 men assembled at Tilbury Fort, the fort built on the Thames estuary in Essex by Elizabeth’s father, Henry VIII, to guard the eastern approach to London from the expected invasion by the Spanish Armada.

The Armada had first been spotted off English shores on the 19th July, off The Lizard, the time when, according to legend, Sir Francis Drake insisted on finishing his game of bowls on Plymouth Hoe before leaving to vanquish the Spanish threat. On the 19th July, Lord Howard of Effingham and Sir Francis Drake set sail from Plymouth with 55 ships in pursuit of the Spanish Armada. Two days later, on the 21st July, there was a skirmish off Eddystone, followed by a more serious engagement two days later off the Isle of Portland, where two Spanish ships, the Rosario and the San Salvador, were abandoned after being damaged. On the 25th July, two more Spanish ships were wrecked off the Isle of Wight.

By the 22nd July, news of the Spanish threat had reached Elizabeth I at Richmond, by a system of beacons, but the Queen did not panic and impressed her council with her calm reaction, a reaction which Alison Weir believes was down to her “knowing that everything possible had been done to make England ready to repel the invader, and that her navy, with its smaller, lighter and faster ships which sailed “low and snug in the water”, was, in the words of Effingham, “the strongest that any prince in Christendom hath.”"¹ Elizabeth composed a prayer of intercession which was read out in England’s churches and then Queen, Council and country waited for Spain’s next move.

Meanwhile, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, who had been appointed Lieutenant and Captain General of the Queen’s Armies and Companies, was gathering troops at Tilbury Fort in anticipation of a Spanish attack. He had also created a blockade of boats across the Thames. England was prepared.

More on the events of the Spanish Armada over the next few weeks.

Tilbury Fort

Tilbury Fort was built in 1539 by Henry VIII on the site of a dissolved hermitage, hence it’s original name “The Hermitage Bulwark” or “Thermitage Bulwark”. It had been built as a D-shaped blockhouse and was designed to cross-fire with the Gravesend Blockhouse built in the same year. In Elizabeth I’s reign, with the threat of Spanish invasion in 1588, the fort was reinforced with a star-shaped line of earthworks, built on its landward side.

Tilbury Fort is still standing and is an English Heritage site. Visitor information can be found at theEnglish Heritage Tilbury Fort webpage and attractions include the magazine houses, the bastion magazine passages and an exhibition on the role that the fort played in defending London.

Notes

1. Elizabeth the Queen, Alison Weir

Further Reading

• Article on Tilbury Fort
• Tilbury Fort wikipedia page

The Wedding

The couple married on a rainy day in Winchester Cathedral, the bishopric of Stephen Gardiner, Mary’s chancellor. Gardiner performed the ceremony, which was a public spectacle and state occasion. Drawing on Spanish, English and Italian sources, Linda Porter gives an excellent rundown of the wedding in Chapter 10 of her book, “Mary Tudor: The First Queen”. She writes of how the 27 year old Philip was first to arrive at the cathedral, arriving at 10am and quotes “The Chronicle of Queen Jane and of the first two years of Queen Mary” regarding his appearance:-

“His breeches and doublet were white, the collar of the doublet exceeding rich, and over all a mantle or rich cloth of gold, a present from the queen… this robe was ornamented with pearls and precious stones; and wearing the collar of the Garter.”¹

Interestingly, he and Mary were dressed in the French style (Philip must have loved that) because it was the French style that was fashionable in England at the time.

Who knows what Philip was thinking as he waited for his bride to arrive. Porter quotes Ruy Gomez, one of Philip’s main advisers, describing Philip’s distaste at the idea of marrying the English queen to a colleague in Brussels a few days after the marriage:-

“to speak frankly with you, it will take a great God to drink this cup [but]… the king realises that the marriage was concluded for no fleshly consideration, but in order to remedy the disorder of this kingdom and to preserve the Low Countries.”²

Philip obviously saw himself as a martyr to politics! Mary, however, was smitten by her beau and was full of hope for the future, how sad.

38 year old Mary arrived at the cathedral at 10.30, preceded by the Earl of Derby who carried the sword of state. The wardrobe records show that Mary’s French style dress was made of “rich tissue with a border and wide sleeves, embroidered upon purple satin, set with pearls of our store, lined with purple taffeta”³ and Linda Porter adds that it had a partlet and a high collar, a kirtle of white satin embroidered with silver, and a train. A photo of a replica from Winchester Cathedral can be found at http://home.earthlink.net/~elisale/weddingdress.html, it really is beautiful.

Gardiner began the ceremony by making a speech regarding the marriage treaty and then announced that Charles V had settled the kingdom of Naples on his son, the groom. He then went on to the marriage ceremony itself, pronouncing it in both English and Latin. The Marquess of Winchester and the Earls of Derby, Bedford and Pembroke gave Mary away, on behalf of England and then Mary’s ring, “a plain hoop of gold without any stone in it”⁴ chosen by the bride because it was traditional, was laid upon the Bible along with the customary three handfuls of gold from both bride and groom, “and when they had enclosed their hands, immediately the sword was advanced before the king, by the earl of Pembroke.” As trumpets sounded, the newly married couple returned to their places to hear mass.

After the marriage ceremony and mass were completed, heralds announced the titles of the Mary and her new husband:-

“Philip and Mary, by the grace of God king and queen of England, France, Naples, Jerusalem and Ireland, defenders of the faith, princes of Spain and Sicily, archdukes of Austria, dukes of Milan, Burgundy and Brabant, counts of Habsburg, Flanders and Tyrol.”⁵

England now had a king but it was yet to be seen whether this king would also be a ruler of England.

After the wedding, Mary and Philip had a wedding reception at Gardiner’s palace, a sumptuous meal followed by dancing, something that the English members of the wedding party excelled in. The night was still young when the newly married couple departed, ate supper separately and then met for the blessing of their bed, by Gardiner, and the act of consummation.

Wedded Bliss

Although Philip’s adviser, Gomez, had spoken of Philip’s distaste for the idea of marrying Mary, Linda Porter writes of how, in the early days, “Philip could not be faulted”⁶, and that the Spanish gentlemen at court wrote that “their majesties are the happiest couple in the world, and more in love than words can say. His highness never leaves her, and when they are on the road he is ever by her side, helping her to mount and dismount”⁷. Mary wrote to Charles V of her happiness and thanking him, saying:-

“I will only offer to your majesty all that my small powers enable me to give, always praying God so as to inspire my subjects that they may realise the affection you bear this kingdom and the honour and advantages you have conferred upon it by this marriage and alliance, which renders me happier than I can say, as I daily discover in the king, my husband and your son, so many virtues and perfections that I constantly pray God to grant me grace to please him and behave in all things as befits one who is so deeply embounden to him…”⁸

Gomez wrote too of the happy couple:-

“He treats the queen very kindly and well knows how to pass over the fact that she is no good from the point of view of fleshly sensuality. He makes her so happy that the other day when they were alone she almost talked love-talk to him, and he replied in the same vein.”⁹

Mary was clearly in love and Philip knew that he had to do his job. It was a hopeful start to the royal marriage.

Good News and Bad News

On the 18th September, just under 2 months after the wedding, Simon Renard, the Imperial ambassador, announced that Mary believed that she was pregnant and on the 2nd October Ruy Gomez reported that Mary was definitely with child. At the end of November, Mary felt her baby move and there was public rejoicing over this good news. In mid April Mary withdrew from court for her lying-in at Hampton Court Palace but by the end of May there was still no sign of the expected prince or princess. On the 4th August, Mary finally left Hampton Court Palace, facing up to the truth that her baby did not exist.. It is likely that she had suffered from a phantom pregnancy.

A Queen Abandoned

Contrary to popular belief, Philip did not leave his bride straight after the wedding, he remained in England until the following August. On the 29th August 1555, after it was clear that Mary was not going to give birth to his child, Philip left England for the Low Countries but only because he was desperately needed there and had to do his duty. Mary was left childless and husbandless and had to deal with trouble and plots against her by herself.

On the 20th March 1557, 19 months after his departure, Philip was reunited with Mary at Greenwich. The reason for his return was to raise English troops to help him go to war against France and when he had completed this mission in July 1557 he abandoned his wife again. Again, Mary believed that she was pregnant, but when no baby had arrived by Spring 1558 Mary had to drop the pretence – poor Mary. Mary was made even more unhappy by a quarrel with her husband over Philip’s idea of marrying her half-sister, Elizabeth, off to the Duke of Savoy. Mary resisted the idea and Philip was not happy.

The End

On the 17th November 1558 the 42 year old Mary I died after a few months of illness. Her husband, Philip, had been to busy abroad, dealing with he aftermath of his father’s death, to return to England. Upon Mary’s death, Philip lost his title of King of England and Ireland and had no claim to the English throne. On hearing of the death of his wife, Philip told his sister Juana: “I felt a reasonable regret for her death. I shall miss her.”^1o Always the politician, Philip went on to send a proposal of marriage to the new queen, Elizabeth I, Mary’s half-sister but this was not meant to be.

Notes and Sources

1. Mary Tudor: The First Queen, Linda Porter, p322
2. Ibid., p320
3. Ibid., p323
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid., p324
6. Ibid., p326
7. Ibid., p327
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid., p407

On this day, 457 years after Mary was informed that the Privy Council had proclaimed her Queen Mary I, I’d like to challenge that nickname.

The Myth of Bloody Mary

This title really does get on my nerves. By nicknaming Mary I “Bloody Mary”, we are completely misunderstanding her, maligning her, perpetuating the myths about her and not giving her the credit she deserves for her reign and for paving the way for Elizabeth I’s Golden Age. When I went to the London Dungeon Bloody Mary exhibition webpage, my blood really began to boil as I read the following on Mary I:-

“History:-

Bloody Mary, the deadliest daughter of Henry VIII is ruthlessly ridding the country of heretics.

In her eyes there is only one faith and all those who believe otherwise must be punished. No one is safe from persecution – men, women and children are all suspect in the eyes of Bloody Mary.

Feel the force of her wrath, the heat of the flames and the intensity of Mary’s obsession!”

It goes on to describe what you’ll experience if you visit the exhibition:-

“What you’ll experience

• Watch as Bloody Mary punishes non believers
• Frightening fire
• Punishment and persecution
• Horrid smells
• Hair raising silence”

Hmm…

Now, I do have a sense of humour (really I do!) and I’m all up for a bit of fun and for making history accessible and interesting, but I do feel that this gives a very misleading picture of Mary. I am not justifying what she did, she did order the executions of many heretics and it is clear that she was a very damaged woman, BUT compare her reign to her father’s and it is clear to see who really deserves the nickname “Bloody”.

Was Mary “Bloody”?

In an article on The Daily Telegraph website last week entitled Anti-Catholic junk history II: Mary I killed 284, Henry VIII up to 72,000 – but it’s ‘Bloody Mary’ and ‘Bluff King Hal’, Gerald Warner argued that Protestant propaganda has misrepresented history and that the London Dungeon’s promotion of “junk history” regarding Mary I stems from the blackening of Mary’s name in Protestant Elizabethan England. Very true. He goes on to say that according to John Foxe’s “Book of Martyrs”, a Protestant book, Mary I was responsible for the burning of 284 heretics during her reign whereas, according to Holinshed’s Chronicle, Henry VIII was responsible for 72,000 executions, two of them being his wives! Warner also points out that during Edward VI’s reign 5,500 Cornish Catholic rebels were massacred in the Prayer Book Rebellion. So, let’s do some calculations and divide those numbers of deaths by the number of years of their reigns:-

• Henry VIII – 72,000 divided by 37 years (I’m being kind) = 1945.94
• Edward VI – 5,500 divided by 6 years = 916.66
• Mary I – 284 divided by 5 years = 56.8

Now, I know that this doesn’t give us a full picture because Mary’s and Edward’s figures don’t take into account other executions, but I think it is clear that Mary wasn’t quite as bloody as people make out.

Some of you may argue that Mary was “Bloody” because she killed for religious reasons instead of killing rebels, people who challenged her throne, but then you could argue that Mary saw Protestants as traitors, both to England and to God. To understand Mary I, we have to take into account the context of Tudor England, the religious divisions that existed, and Mary’s beliefs. Just like Thomas More before her, she believed that Protestants were heretics and that it was her job as a true believer to rid England of this evil. Linda Porter, in “Mary Tudor: The First Queen”, points out also that many members of the public were not executed on Mary’s orders but were rounded up and burned by their local authorities, a valid point. I’m not justifying what she did, I hate what she did in God’s name, I’m simply trying to understand the woman.

Historical Illiteracy

In Warner’s article, he accuses London Dungeon of  “perpetuating anti-Catholic mythology”,which I think is an unfair accusation as I can’t imagine that London Dungeon were aiming to be anti-Catholic in any way, but I do agree with Warner when he says that “the root problem is historical illiteracy”. By perpetuating myths about historical characters we are doing them an injustice and causing people to learn bad history. We have Elizabeth Woodville the witch or Melusina, Richard III the murdering hunchback, Anne Boleyn the six-fingered whore and witch, Catherine Howard the tart… the list goes on and it is time to challenge these labels and stereotypes and teach people proper history, the truth behind the stereotypes and myths.

The Real Mary I

For those of you who want to know more about the real Mary I, I would heartily recommend Linda Porter’s “Mary Tudor: The First Queen” which I reviewed at http://reviews.theanneboleynfiles.com/mary-tudor-the-first-queen-by-linda-porter/74. Porter’s Mary I is not “Bloody Mary”, but, as the blurb on the back of the book says, “a cultured Renaissance princess, strong-willed and courageous”. Remember, this woman was able to become monarch in a time when females were not meant to rule, she was able to rally troops, challenge Lady Jane Grey and win the crown, and she squashed rebellions successfully during her five year reign. Let’s stop calling her “Bloody Mary” and let’s not make the mistake of seeing her as a pathetic puppet of her husband, Philip of Spain, but instead we should give her credit for her achievements:-

“Her bravery put her on the throne and kept her there, so that when she died she was able to bequeath to Elizabeth a precious legacy that is often overlooked: she had demonstrated that a woman could rule in her own right.” Linda Porter, Mary Tudor: The First Queen.

In a BBC History Magazine article, David Loades lists Mary I’s achievements as:-

• Mary I preserved the Tudor succession
• She strengthened the position of Parliament by using it for her religious settlement
• She established the “gender free” authority of the crown
• She restored and strengthened the administrative structure of the church
• She maintained the navy and reformed the militia

He concludes that “Parliament, the revenues, the navy, even the church benefited from her policies. But the big beneficiary was also the least grateful – Elizabeth. Without her sister’s enlightened legislation and sound administration she would have had a much harder time.”

Mary I’s Struggle for the Throne

You can find out more about Mary I’s struggle for the throne in July 1553 in a wonderful series of posts at littlemisssunnydale’s blog “Mary Tudor: Renaissance Queen”, starting with Monday 3 July 1553: Mary Must Act

Notes and Sources

• Mary Tudor: The First Queen byLinda Porter
• “Anti-Catholic junk history II: Mary I killed 284, Henry VIII up to 72,000 – but it’s ‘Bloody Mary’ and ‘Bluff King Hal’” by Gerald Warner
• The Bloody Queen by David Loades – BBC History Magazine, March 2006
• London Dungeon website

Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley

Elizabeth I had a very special relationship with Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester. They had been good friends since childhood and their close relationship caused much scandal and gossip at court and throughout Europe. Elizabeth I may have styled herself as the Virgin Queen but Robert Dudley was constantly by her side and acted as an unofficial consort at times. Although I do not believe that their relationship was consummated, I do believe that Dudley was Elizabeth’s true love, shown by the fact that she kept the last letter he wrote to her in a special box at her bedside.

Unfortunately for Elizabeth and Dudley, the suspicious death of Dudley’s wife, Amy Dudley (Amy Robsart), in 1560, and the scandal surrounding it, put an end to any plans of marriage, if there were any. Elizabeth was forced to distance herself from Dudley and consider other suitors.

You can read more about Dudley and Elizabeth in the following articles:-

• Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley
• Robert Dudley

Elizabeth’s 1575 Visit to Kenilworth

Leicester's Gatehouse

Many see Elizabeth’s final visit to Kenilworth in 1575 as Dudley’s last chance to impress the Queen and win her hand in marriage. Dudley went to extraordinary lengths to impress his Queen:-

• The building of Leicester’s Building, a tower block of state apartments built specifically to provide private and luxury accommodation for the Queen and her servants. It was built between 1571 and 1572 and was used by Elizabeth in 1572 but then improved for her 1575 visit.
• The building of Leicester’s Gatehouse in 1571-1572 to give the castle a grand entrance from the church and the Coventry road.
• The privy garden – Dudley ordered a beautiful privy garden to be made for the Queen.
• Pleasure grounds – The whole landscape around the castle was improved and Langham writes of how there were “many shady bowers, arbours, seats and walks”. There were also plenty of tall and fragrant trees. A bridge was also built to connect the chase and the gatehouse and there was a viewing platform over the mere.
• A firework display – A magnificent firework display took place one night across the surrounding mere.
• A play – On another evening there was a play featuring Triton riding an 18 foot long mermaid and moving islands carrying the Lady of the Lake and her nymphs.
• Hunting – The park and chase were well stocked with deer and game and the mere was rich in wild fowl, perfect for a Queen who loved to hunt.
• The masque – George Gascoigne had written a masque “Zabeta” (a play on the name “Elizabeth”) which was unfortunately cancelled due to bad weather. The Kenilworth Castle Guidebook describes this masque as having a “story hinged on a debate about whether the chaste nymph, Zabeta, should wed, and concluded with a speech urging the queen to marry.” Although it was never performed, Gascoigne improvised with a special farewell to the Queen which consisted of Elizabeth being intercepted by an actor playing “deep desire” (dressed as a holly bush), representing Dudley, who said to her:
  “Live here, good Queen, live here;
  You are amongst your friends.
  Their comfort comes when you approach,
  And when you part it ends.”

The Elizabethan Garden

The privy garden was designed and made for Elizabeth I’s own personal enjoyment, a paradise to please and impress the Queen. Although the garden was private and for Elizabeth’s eyes only, Robert Langham was able to get into it with the help of a friendly gardener so we have a contemporary description of it which has enabled English Heritage to recreate it in the castle grounds. Features of the garden included:-

• A terrace – This led from the loggia and gave a superb view over the garden. The terrace was and is lined with a balustrade decorated with obelisks, spheres and the bear and ragged staff (Dudley’s emblem).
• Arbours – Langham wrote of how two arbours “perfumed by sweet trees and flowers” were placed at each end of the terrace.
• Plants – Langham did not go into detail on the plants used in the garden so English Heritage have based their choice on other contemporary evidence such as documents and tapestries. The traditional knot pattern has been used along with popular Elizabethan plants and flowers, and English fruit trees.
• The marble fountain – This is the centrepiece of the garden and is made from white Carrara marble from Tuscany, Italy, just like the original. It features two “Athlants” supporting a “boil” and it is topped with Dudley’s bear and ragged staff emblem. The eight panels at the bottom feature scenes from Ovid’s “Metamorposes”.
• The aviary – The aviary housed birds like the African guinea fowl and canaries and was topped with a cornice painted to appear as though it was decorated with precious jewels.
• Huge obelisks – Langham described these as being carved out of porphyry, a rare Egyptian purple marble.

Langham wrote of the garden:-

” a garden so appointed to feel the pleasant whisking wind above, or delectable coolness of the fountain-spring beneath; to taste of delicious strawberries, cherries and other fruits… to smell such fragrancy of sweet odours, breathing from the plants, herbs and flowers; to hear such natural melodious music and tunes of birds.”

My Visit to Kenilworth Castle

I studied at the nearby Warwick University so Kenilworth Castle was one of my weekend haunts but it was still magical to visit it again last week with my family. It is a beautiful castle and it gave me shivers walking around Leicester’s Gatehouse and the ruins of Leicester’s Building and thinking about Elizabeth visiting her “sweet Robyn” there in 1575. The Elizabethan Garden was not there the last time I went and so I was eager to see that. I was not disappointed, it was beautiful and made me understand just how much Elizabeth I meant to Robert Dudley. To lay on such wonderful entertainment, build special buildings and create such a paradise surely shows how much he loved her. What a shame that his plan to marry her backfired, he ended up marrying Lettice Knollys and Elizabeth never returned to Kenilworth, a sad story.

You can see the photos I took on my recent visit to Kenilworth Castle at http://www.flickr.com/photos/theanneboleynfiles/sets/72157624536258800/

Notes and Sources

• Kenilworth Castle Guidebook, published by English Heritage

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-1293102/Katherine-Mary-Grey-Loved-locked-Virgin-Queen.html

Although Edward had removed his half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, from the succession, the Privy Council received a letter from Mary on the 10th July in which she demanded the Council’s allegiance because she, and not Jane, was the rightful heir to the throne. Mary’s father, Henry VIII had restored his daughters to the succession before his death and had named them as heirs to the throne after Edward in his will. Edward, influenced by those around him and his fear that England would return to Catholicism under Mary, had gone against his father’s wishes and named his Protestant second cousin, Lady Jane Grey, as heir. Mary’s letter worried the Council, who feared civil war and invasion from Imperial forces, and Jane’s mother and mother-in-law, but Leanda de Lisle writes of how Jane “put on a brave face. Like Joan of Arc, who defended France at the age of seventeen, she would protect her country and her faith against the threat she believed Mary posed.”

Despite the threat and worry, Jane, her husband, Guildford, their families and attendants travelled by royal barge to the Tower of London. There, they processed through the Tower gates and were greeted by a gun salute and the Duke of Northumberland who got down on his knees and gave Jane the keys. Jane and Guildford then entered the building while two heralds proclaimed to the waiting crowd that Jane was now Queen Jane and Mary and Elizabeth were illegitimate and excluded from the succession. The news was then proclaimed at Fleet Street and Cheapside, where a boy ended up having his ears cut off after declaring that Mary was the true queen.

In the meantime, Mary proclaimed herself Queen and began to gather support in East Anglia, but Jane did not ignore this threat and was active in rallying her own support and calling on the Lord Lieutenants of the counties “not only to defend our just title, but also assist us… to disturb, repel, and resist the feigned and untrue claim of the Lady Mary, bastard daughter to our great uncle Henry VIII, of famous memory.” As she signed herself “Jane the Quene” on these notices and letters, she was not seeing herself as a usurper, but as God’s chosen monarch and she was willing to fight for her throne and everything that she believed in.

Unfortunately for Jane, Mary’s support grew, Jane’s forces mutinied and members of Jane’s own council began to wonder if they’d be better off switching their allegiance to Mary. Jane, however, did not admit defeat, she carried on raising new troops and demanding allegiance from sheriffs and justices of the peace. Whether she had wanted the crown or not, she was now determined to fight for it. However, Jane’s reign was not meant to be. The Earls of Pembroke and Arundel switched sides to Mary’s side and Pembroke announced on the 19th July to the Lord Mayor and a number of Jane’s former councillors that he would be processing to Cheapside, to the huge cross that stood there, to proclaim Mary as Queen of England. This he did, in front of a large crowd and this proclamation was greeted by celebration. Leanda de Lisle describes how bonfires were lit, church bells pealed and people ran through the streets yelling “the Lady Mary is proclaimed Queen”. Jane’s father, the Duke of Suffolk, was forced to surrender and sign the proclamation declaring that Mary was queen and then he set off to tell his daughter the news, she was Queen no more. Jane’s canopy of state was taken down and Jane became a prisoner in the Tower, a prisoner of the new Catholic Queen and her second cousin, Mary I.

Jane is often referred to as “The Nine Day Queen”, because she was proclaimed Queen on the 10th of July and ceased to reign on the 19th, but she actually reigned from Edward VI’s death on the 6th, making her reign 13 days in all. Whatever you think of the legitimacy of Jane’s claim to the throne, she was Queen and it is a shame that this fact is often forgotten. My son has a wooden ruler with all of the monarchs of England listed on it, along with the dates of their reign, and there is no Queen Jane, or even Lady Jane Grey. How sad!

You can read about Lady Jane Grey’s fall and execution over at The Anne Boleyn Files:-

• The Execution of Lady Jane Grey – Part One
• The Execution of Lady Jane Grey – Part Two

and more about her and her reign at:-

• Lady Jane Grey Facts

There are two brilliant Lady Jane Grey biographies, one by Leanda de Lisle, which is about the Grey sisters, and another by Eric Ives. Click on the following links to read my reviews of these books:-

• The Sisters Who Would Be Queen by Leanda de Lisle
• Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery by Eric Ives