23. Elizabeth I

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