The Shortest History of the Crown by Stephen Bates

Author:Stephen Bates
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Old Street Publishing
Published: 2022-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

Her speeches mention her anointment by God, but also the consent of her subjects, and her grateful affection for them in return. Her ‘Golden Speech’ to the 141 Members of her final Parliament in November 1601 (see p.137) concluded thus:

And though you have had, and may have, many mightier and wiser princes sitting in this seat, yet you never had nor shall have any that will love you better.

It is doubtful whether any previous monarchs (or most subsequent ones) ever spoke so winningly to their parliaments, or felt the need to do so.

But the succession was never fixed. Elizabeth spent the first two decades of her reign turning down various suitors, English and foreign, until she was past child-bearing age. Thereafter, she refused to name an heir, despite there being a good dozen potential contenders, insisting only that she was not to be followed ‘by some vile person.’

Her reign came under repeated threats, including invasion and, as her Protestant advisers saw it, subversion from Catholic plotters. She also faced a long-standing potential rival claim to the throne from her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, who had fled to England in May 1568 following a coup in Scotland. For the next 19 years, whilst being held under house arrest in various castles, Mary was the focus of numerous conspiracies, real and concocted.

Mary took up tapestry to while away the hours of her imprisonment, encoding messages to her supporters within the embroidery. The symbolism of this image, a mouse cornered by a ginger cat, is hard to miss.

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