A Brief History of British Kings & Queens by Mike Ashley

Author:Mike Ashley
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781472117311
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

From a portrait by Nicholas Hilliard, c1575

From July 1567 Mary was a captive, and in May 1568 she was driven out of Scotland and threw herself upon Elizabeth’s mercy. Elizabeth was outwardly supportive but maintained she could not harbour Mary while the stigma of her involvement in the death of Darnley was unresolved. Mary remained in prison, first at Carlisle, and then in a series of castles in northern England. This continued for nineteen years with the inevitable consequence that Catholic factions used Mary as the figurehead for their cause. There were several conspiracies during this period culminating in the Babington Plot in the summer of 1586. Plans were well advanced for the murder of Elizabeth and there were hopes of a Spanish invasion, when Babington was betrayed. Mary was aware of Babington’s schemes and as a consequence was herself tried for treason, found guilty and, with much reluctance on Elizabeth’s part, executed. At this same time Elizabeth had bestowed a pension upon Mary’s son, James VI, in effect recognizing him as her heir.

Just why Elizabeth did not marry is the matter of some conjecture. Her dedication to the throne and her people led her to say that she was married to the nation in much the same way as she believed her bishops were married to the church. She expressed a low opinion of any bishop who chose to marry. Her own haughtiness and belief in her absolute authority almost certainly meant she would have found it difficult to share government with anyone, for although she might remain queen, any husband, especially one of the proper status, could not have been denied his views. It was more a problem over whom to marry rather than whether to marry, and that problem was never resolved. It was not helped by the fact that Elizabeth’s first love was almost certainly her favourite – Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester, the brother of Guilford Dudley, husband of Lady Jane Grey. Dudley was already married, to Amy Robsart, whose mysterious death in 1560 caused many to believe that Dudley had murdered her. Thus tainted, Dudley was no suitable candidate as Elizabeth’s husband, even though he pursued his suit for the next twenty years. He remained something of a philanderer and adventurer and died in 1588. Elizabeth was much saddened by his death for although she had other court favourites, such as Sir Christopher Hatton, the captain of the bodyguard, and, most notably, Robert Devereux, earl of Essex, the flame burned strongest for Dudley and he never left her heart.

Nevertheless Elizabeth recognized that a political marriage was necessary both for producing an heir and for strengthening England’s position in Europe, but she constantly prevaricated over her choice, using it for political bargaining. For a period she had to be the most eligible spinster in Europe, and various royal families made their approaches. Early in her reign there had been negotiations with Philip II of Spain, the former husband of Elizabeth’s sister Mary, but these were dropped when Elizabeth confirmed her opposition to papal sovereignty in 1559.

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