Was Elizabeth I a virgin?
Rating: +1
This is such a tough question and there are many different schools of thought on it. Some historians point out that there was no evidence that Elizabeth slept with Robert Dudley or any of her favourites and that when spies (from ambassadors) questioned her ladies and investigated the rumours about Elizabeth's behaviour all they found was rumour and scandal, no proof of any sexual misconduct.
Some people also point out that Elizabeth would surely have become pregnant if she had slept with Dudley, but then there was basic contraception around or Elizabeth could have been barren, but would she really have taken this risk? Plus she was never really alone, she was constantly supervised by advisers and her ladies - how could she have got away with it.
Other people believe that there was just too much rumour for nothing to have gone on!
But I for one believe that Elizabeth died a virgin. I believe that she was a passionate woman and that she fell in love a few times but that she always put her country first and saw herself as married to England, she could not risk her country for a man.
Weir points out that Elizabeth "may have made the equation that sexual involvement was inextricably linked with death" - after all, her mother had been executed for adultery, her stepmother Catherine Howard had been executed for adultery, her stepmother Catherine Parr died after giving birth, and her first love Thomas Seymour (or abuser!) was executed. That might put your off sex! The idea of childbirth may also have scared her and put her off the idea of sexual involvement - Her grandmother Elizabeth of York had died of puerperal fever, as had Jane Seymour and Catherine Parr. Sex inevitably could lead to childbirth and, in those days, childbirth was a risky business.
Elizabeth may also have had physical problems that could have stopped her having sex. Weir, in her book "Elizabeth the Queen", writes of how the playwright Ben Jonson had talked of Elizabeth having "a membrane on her which made her incapable of man", meaning either an abnormally thick hymen or perhaps Elizabeth may have suffered from Vaginismus, a condition which affects a woman's ability to have sex because of a tightness of the vaginal muscles. Weir also makes the point that although there were scandals and rumours because of Elizabeth's fondness of men and flirting, "Elizabeth was too much mistress of herself and too great a stateswoman to succumb to the temptations of illicit sex". She just would not have risked her status, reputation or throne in that way.
6 Responses to “Was Elizabeth I a virgin?”
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Interesting! I’m glad you have this site as well. I love Anne Boleyn but only have very recently become interested in her daughter’s life, so I’m not as aware of “the truth” behind Elizabeth. I haven’t learned too much yet, but I will say that I do think she was not a virgin. Where there is smoke, there is generally fire … I think perhaps she had a dalliance with one or two men in her younger years. She was so fun-loving and full of life that it’s hard to imagine her as not being a bit daring and reckless, particularly before she took the throne.
Alison Weir points out that there was never any evidence provided by Elizabeth’s ladies in waiting regarding any sexual activity. This is a very strong piece of evidence for her virginity since it was virtually impossible to hide this activity from them.
I, personally, believe that Elizabeth was no fool. She may have appeared daring, and she was, but she was never reckless. For a ruling monarch (or even when she was the successor to the throne) to become pregnant was too devastating to imagine. I believe she loved certain men (ie: Robert Dudley, maybe even the Earl of Essex) but she kept them at arm’s length physically.
Hi Karen,
I agree with you. Contraception was not exactly brilliant in Elizabethan times and I just can’t see Elizabeth taking the risk of sleeping with Dudley however tempted she was. I think Elizabeth also associated sex with death and childbirth with death. She and Dudley were soulmates, I believe, but circumstances kept them from being together as man and wife.
I think that she was no virgin. Didn’t she tell someone(an ambassador maybe?) about her being “no angel.”? I agree that she might’ve had an affair maybe within her first few years of being queen but then she probably realized that she was being talked about in her own country and stopped.
Maybe she was sexually abused by Thomas Seymour and developed vaginismus? Or avoided sex because of the abuse?
I think Elizabeth was technically a virgin, but that doesn’t exclude extensive love-making. Elizabeth was in fact surrounded by her ladies at court, but on the other hand, she and Dudley often rode out in the countryside alone together for hours, unobserved. There is no doubt that she was in love with Dudley – look at her reaction to his marriage to Lettice Knollys. There had to be a sexual component to her jealousy because she could have easily monopolized his time and companionship even though he was married.
This reminds me of what Priscilla Presley, a virgin on her wedding day, said about her relationship with Elvis before they were married, “He satisfied me completely.”