The Threats Facing Elizabeth I on Her Accession
Elizabeth Faced More Threats Than Any Tudor Monarch Since Henry VII
© Kim Rush
Apr 20, 2009
On May 17, 1558, Queen Mary I of England died after a disastrous five-year reign. Waiting in the wings was her twenty-five year old half sister, Elizabeth. When the Privy Councilors rode to Hatfield House to tell the new queen of Mary’s death, they found Elizabeth sitting under an oak tree at the end of an oak lined path. Hearing the news, the young monarch fell to her knees, looked up to the heavens, and declared, “This is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes!”
After the problems of Mary’s reign, the accession of a new queen offered hope to a troubled nation. The English greeted Elizabeth’s accession with enthusiasm, as bonfires were lit and church bells pealed out across the country. These celebrations, however, were somewhat muted as even Elizabeth’s staunchest supporters knew that the inexperienced monarch had inherited formidable problems. In the sixteenth century, the greatest threat to political stability was the attempted ascendancy of the nobility during the rule of a minor or a female, a disputed line of succession, or religious conflict. The new queen faced all three problems at the beginning of her reign.
Female Monarchs
There was a precedent for successful female rulers, although most reigning monarchs were male. The preceding ruler in England had been a woman, and women ruled both Scotland and France at the time of Elizabeth’s ascendancy. There was, however, still a contradiction between the ideal monarch and the ideal woman. Queen Mary I had done little to change attitudes about the legitimacy of female rule.
The English generally regarded a female monarch with ambivalence, but government was still a male-dominated world. Those traits that made a great ruler were not traits women possessed, according to commonly held beliefs. Women were thought to be physically, intellectually, and emotionally inferior to men and, therefore, incapable of handling the rigors of public life. Men expected a female ruler to marry and hand the reins of government over to her husband. An unmarried female ruler was inconceivable to sixteenth-century Europeans.
Religion
Although Elizabeth’s accession was a peaceful one, there were two major threats to the peace of her realm. The years since the English Reformation and the subsequent reigns of Edward VI and Mary I had left England a religiously divided country. Elizabeth’s religious preferences were unknown, but both Catholics and Protestants placed their hopes in her. Protestant exiles returning from Geneva and Zurich saw Elizabeth as their savior. As the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth embodied the English Reformation. According to Catholics, Henry bigamously married Anne Boleyn is 1533 while still married to Catherine of Aragon. Catholics did not recognize this marriage and Elizabeth was illegitimate under Roman Canon Law.
Elizabeth's Legitimacy
Elizabeth’s legitimacy was indeed open to question. Henry’s first Act of Succession in 1534 had declared Mary illegitimate, placing Elizabeth first in the line of succession. Then, after Anne Boleyn’s execution and Henry’s subsequent marriage to Jane Seymour in 1536, Parliament passed a second Act of Succession, which bastardized Elizabeth. A third act in 1544 placed Elizabeth third in line for the throne behind Edward and Mary, but did not legitimize her. As a result, not only was Elizabeth considered illegitimate under Canon Law, she could also be considered illegitimate by English law.
Therefore, Elizabeth would have to stress the validity of her claim to the throne, which was essential if Elizabeth were to overcome the doubts that surrounded her accession. The propaganda used by Elizabeth and her image-makers would set the stage for the worship of Elizabeth in what is known as the Cult of Gloriana.
Sources:
Haigh, Christopher. Elizabeth I, 2nd ed. Profiles in Power. New York: Longman, 1998.
Jones, Norman L. The Birth of the Elizabethan Age: England in the 1560s. Cambridge, B. Blackwell, 1995.
Neale, J.E. Queen Elizabeth I: A Biography. Garden City: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1957.
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