23. Elizabeth I

The Kings and Queens podcast

According to contemporary John Hayward, ‘no one knew better than Elizabeth I (1558-1603) the art of commanding men.’

Even at 17 her tutor said the constitution of her mind is exempt from female weakness and she is endued with a masculine power of application. No apprehension quicker, no memory more retentive.

With the nation perhaps more divided by religion than at any point in English history, the young Queen would require every ounce of skill, of nous, of guile afforded to her.

CHARACTERS

Elizabeth I – Queen of England
Henry VIII – King of England (1509-47), father of Elizabeth, Mary I and Edward VI
Edward VI – King of England (1547-53)
Mary I – Queen of England (1553-58)
Catherine of Aragon – 1st wife of Henry VIII, mother of Mary I
Jane Seymour – 3rd wife of Henry VIII, mother of Edward VI
Catherine Parr – 6th wife of Henry VIII
Margaret Tudor – sister of Henry VIII, Queen consort of Scotland, wife of James IV, grandmother of Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary Tudor – sister of Henry VIII, Queen consort of France, grandmother of Lady Jane Grey
Mary, Queen of Scots – cousin of Elizabeth, Mary and Edward, Queen of Scotland, France and claimant to the English throne
James VI – King of Scotland, son of Mary, Queen of Scots
Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley – 2nd husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, father of James VI
David Rizzio – confidant of Mary, Queen of Scots
Lord Bothwell – 3rd husband of Mary, Queen of Scots
Henry II – King of France (1547-59)
Francois II – King of France (1559-60), husband of Mary, Queen of Scots

Thomas Seymour – 2nd husband of Catherine Parr
Edward Seymour – Lord Protector under Edward VI, brother of Thomas Seymour
John Dudley – Lord President of the Council under Edward VI
Lady Jane Grey – pronounced Queen of England (1554), cousin of Elizabeth, Mary and Edward
Guildford Dudley – husband of Lady Jane Grey, son of John Dudley
Thomas Wyatt – leader of the Wyatt rebellion
Robert Dudley – Privy councillor, suitor of Elizabeth I, son of John Dudley
William Cecil – Secretary of State, Lord High Treasurer
Francis Walsingham – Secretary of State, Elizabeth’s ‘spymaster’
Christopher Hatton – Lord Chancellor of England
Robert Cecil – Lord Privy seal, son of William Cecil
Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex – nobleman, stepson of Robert Dudley
Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk – politician implicated in the Ridolfi plot
Francis Drake – Explorer, captain and privateer
Walter Raleigh – statesman and explorer
Roberto Ridolfi – banker and agent who planned the Ridolfi plot
Amy Robsart – 1st wife of Robert Dudley
Philip II – King of Spain, former husband of Mary I
Duke of Medina Sedonia – commander of the Spanish Armada
Ivan the Terrible – 1st Tsar of Russia
Francois, duke of Anjou and Alencon – suitor to Elizabeth I, son of Henry II, King of France
Pius V – Pope (1566-72)
Sixtus V – Pope (1585-90)
William of Orange – leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish
Juan Bentivollo – Italian who witnessed the Spanish Armada set sail
Hugh O’Neil – Earl of Tyrone and Irish rebel
John White – governor of Roanoke colony
Virginia Dare – the first English child born in the New World
William Adams – English explorer and western samurai

William Shakespeare – playwright
Christopher Marlowe - playwright

Thomas Cranmer – Archbishop of Canterbury under Henry VIII and Edward VI
Edmund Dudley – financial agent of Henry VII, father of John Dudley
William Camden – contemporary historian
Rosalind Marshall - Historian
John Hayward - contemporary