Suitors of Queen Elizabeth I - Essay Example

Suitors of Queen Elizabeth I Introduction Occasionally, unique personalities would grace history and from their stories insights into the temper andmood of the times before could be had. Queen Elizabeth I of England was one such personality. The subject of marriage was one thing closely attached to her as a topic, firstly because it was politically expedient for the Queen to get married, but she had avoided it and claimed it was personal choice. Queen Elizabeth goes down in history as one of the most sought after woman with courting going for her for most of her life, yet she never married. Her refusal to get married was one such headache that the loquacious Parliament pressured her to settle the matter by refusing to give more funds. Eventually, it was still Elizabeth's word against them when she said that the people's interests were more important. Centuries after the Queen's death, investigations were being done to claim that indeed, there was a secret marriage with two secret sons to boot. One of the sons accordingly was Francis Bacon, a writer turned critic of the Queen. Whether this was true or not, the Francis Bacon Society is promoting the truth of this belief now. In fact, some of the sources used in this paper come from sirbacon.org, a website for Francis Bacon. Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth was born on September 7, 1533 to Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII, King of Great Britain.1 The King then had Catherine of Aragon for a wife who could not bear him a son that he changed the course of his country's history to marry Boleyn. Instead, she bore Elizabeth. Eventually, Anne was charged of incest and beheaded on May 19, 1536, before Elizabeth was even three years old. Meanwhile, Elizabeth grew up but being a reminder to Henry of Anne, Elizabeth was sent away from Court.2 From 1534 to 1585 or for a period of 51 long years, dukes, archdukes, princes, knights, and kings courted Elizabeth. The first suitor on record was Charles, Earl of Angoulme, 3 but the nature of such courtship has not been explained. In 1534, Elizabeth was only a year old, having been born in 1533. 4 Elizabeth became queen on November 17, 1558 at the age of 25. 5 Therefore 21 nobles may have courted her before she was ever crowned, and 13 when she became queen.6 Upon the queen's coronation, Felipe II, the King of Spain, instantly became a suitor, taking after his son, Don Carlos, coming ahead by three years in 1556.7. When she was last being wooed in 1585 she was already 52.8 The Queen died on March 24, 1603 at the age of 70 9 having had 34 principal suitors .10 The list of suitors The following list 11 includes only the principal suitors of queen Elizabeth according to period: 1534, Charles, Earl of Angoulme; 1536, Duke of Orlans et de Chtellerault; 1542-1545, Duke of Bourbon, third son of Francois I; - 1538, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria; 1542, a Prince of Portugal; 1543 James Hamilton, Son of James Hamilton, 2 Earl of Arran; 1544, Prince Felipe; 1547, Sir Thomas Seymour, Baron Seymour of Sudeley; 1551, Brother of the Duke of Guise; 1551, Alfonso D'Este; 1533-1597, Son of Hercules D'Este Duke of Ferrara; and 1551, Son of Cosimo de' Medici, Duke of Florence; - 1552, Prince Frederick of Denmark; 1553, Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devonshire; 1554 Henry Fitzalan, BaronMaltravers, Son of the Earl of Arundel; 1554, Duque de Segorbe; 1554, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, Holy Roman Emperor; 1554, Prince Frederick of Denmark; 1555, Christopher II Zahringen, and 1536, then again in1577, Margrave of Baden; - 1555, Philibert Emanuel, Duke of Savoy; 1556 Prince Eric of Sweden; 1556, Don Carlos (son of Felipe II); 1559, Felipe II; 1559, Prince Eric of Sweden; 1559, Son of Johann Friedrich I, 1556, Duke of Saxony who also tried two years before; 1559, Sir William Pickering; 1559,James Hamilton, 2 Earl of Arran, father of the one who courted the Queen in 1543; - 1559, Henry Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel; 1559, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester; 1560, King Eric XVI of Sweden; 1560, Adolphus of Gottorp, Duke of Holstein and Knight of the Garter; 1560, King Charles IX of France; 1560, Henri De Valois, Duke of Anjou; and 1566, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester; - 1568,Archduke Charles of Austria; 1570,Henri De Valois and Duke of Anjou who earlier tried in 1560; 1572- 1585, Francois De Valois, Duke of Alencon; and later, the Duke of Anjou who earlier tried in 1560 and 1570. In other words, as declared by Tudorplace.com (n.d.),12 some individuals appear more than once in the list as their suit was considered and reconsidered. Latest relationship: Duke of Alencon Francois De Valois, Duke of Alencon, was one of the latest suitors of the Queen sometime in 1572- 1585 and is graphically remembered not only because of his tender age (20 years gap with the Queen's), poor physique, and guts, but also because of the encouragement of his mother. 13 Special relationship: Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester While people thought the Queen was not capable of falling in love, there was one assumed as the favorite.14 This was Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester whom she had known for a number of years. The Earl was said to be one of the first to be appointed to her Council and his intimacy with the Queen alarmed the ministers. Being an unknown, the ministers felt that he might turn the Queen against them. Records have it that the Queen's favorite, Robert Dudley,15 started courting the Queen in 1559, and came in again in 1566. 16 The Queen was only 26 then in 1566 when Dudley first courted her and 33 in 1566. Elizabeth accordingly used this relationship to test her mettle and an opportunity to assert her independence. Such relationship remained open to speculation, according to Briscoe. 17 The dashing Earl of Leicester was somewhat a show-off, he went to great lengths to impress the Queen, no matter that the entertainment practically got him bankrupt. A story is told that he threw a great party at Kenilworth Castle to show the Queen he adored her. He had altered the layout of his castle largely to accommodate the huge entourage of the Queen.18 He was having his finest moments. An intriguing piece of work written by Alfred Dodd in 1940 claims that Queen Elizabeth was secretly married to the Earl of Leicester. In fact, Dodd 19 said, the alleged marriage bore two sons: Francis Bacon and the Earl of Essex. Dodd said his historical research is based on one of the themes in "Shakespeare's Sonnets." Whether this was true or not, it was not discussed in the literature of that time. The Elizabethan age or the Golden Age as it was called was a great time of the arts and culture expressed through writers such as Shakespeare.20 Married to her people Elizabeth was said to know she had "the body of a weak and feeble woman, but that she had the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too." 21 Although she had many suitors, she married none of them. In 1559 when she passed the Act of Supremacy that declared her as the head of the Protestant church, she also had begun to portray herself as the "Virgin Queen." 22 Earlier than that, in 1956, Parliament refused to grant Elizabeth any further funds until the marriage matter was settled. However, the headstrong Elizabeth made a speech to the effect that no one tells what a queen is to do. The welfare of the country was her priority, not marriage; and she would marry at the proper time. She would also be thankful if Parliament kept out of what was a personal matter, the queen said. Henceforth, after this speech, the ministers for the time being were silenced.23 There were two instances that made her subjects hope the Queen would consider marriage, and one of which they saw marriage was truly a duty for her. The first one was when in September 1560 Leicester's wife, Amy Robsart, died in a suspicious fall. The second one was when in October 1562 the Queen nearly died of smallpox, and, fears were real that succession issues and a civil war would erupt.24 The Queen was quick witted and wise. She also did enjoy the company of men and encouraged the attentions of Henry, Duke of Anjou, and later his brother Francis, Duke of Alenon, which relationships could create alliance with France against Spain.25 But none of these proposals led to marriage. In response to all the pressure for marriage particularly from Parliament, the Queen said she was giving more importance to her people than marrying for herself. She was said to once remark, "I am already bound unto a husband which is the Kingdom of England." 26 The Queen also did not allow discussion of her supposed marriage such as unsolicited advice go its way. She considered it only hers to consider that when in 1579 a pamphlet was published strongly denouncing the Queen's proposed marriage to the Catholic Duke d'Alenon. The writer John Stubbs and publisher William Page were said to be arrested and their right hands chopped off .27 In one of the Queen's speeches to Parliament 1559, she was said to declare - "And to me it shall be a full satisfaction, both for the memorial of my Name, and for my Glory also, if when I shall let my last breath, it be ingraven upon my Marble Tomb, Here lieth Elizabeth, which Reigned a Virgin, and died a Virgin.'28 Queen's image The Queen cared much about how she appeared and she dressed lavishly in gold and silver as she went about her duties throughout her kingdom Her artists at the height of the Golden Age spoke about her in many diverse mythological guises - "as Diana, the chaste goddess of the moon; as Astraea, the goddess of justice; and as Gloriana, the queen of the fairies." Elizabeth was also said to "appropriate to herself some of the veneration that pious Englishmen had directed to the Virgin Mary." 29 After the Queen's death, one writer whom later Dodd (1940) would write as the Queens' secret child disparaged her, a reflection of the darkening age of the last decade of the Elizabethan era. "She imagined," wrote Francis Bacon a few years after the Queen's death, "that the people, who are much influenced by externals, would be diverted by the glitter of her jewels, from noticing the decay of her personal attractions." 30 Secret child Pages 38-42 of Dodd's (.Sirbacon.org) "Sublime Prince" 31 recorded about the chief Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Elizabeth named Lady Anne Bacon, wife to Sir Nicholas Bacon, the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. It hinted that she had acted as "mother" to Francis Bacon, the supposed secret child of the Queen, and Nicholas Bacon as the "father". At one time, however, they denied having been the parents of Francis but were only foster parents. When they died, they left nothing for the child.32 Of leaving Francis Bacon out of the will, Dodd asked - "Is not this act very direct proof that he did not regard the boy as his physical child Why should Sir Nicholas have left his "SON" () penniless There is no clear answer save one: Sir Nicholas believed that the young aristocrat would naturally succeed to riches from another source, and that his expectations lay elsewhere. "Right throughout, the facts shape themselves exactly as we should expect them to do, if Francis Bacon were, in reality, a Tudor Prince placed with foster parents as a concealed love-child." Dodd finished the pages with the statement that two years after Francis was born, Sir Nicholas Bacon was commanded by the Queen to build a mansion in Gorhambury, somewhere.33 Arguments Dodd 34 argued that Lady Bacon was the Queen's closest, intimate and greatest friend. To save the Queen's honor, it would have been most proper and the only way of escape for Lady Bacon to mother the child. In connivance with Sir Nicholas, they would save the Queen from dishonor Dodd 35 argued that the full dresses of the period made things safe for Lady Anne as well as for the Queen. "In any case, some time in January, about four months after the alleged marriage to Dudley, Lady Bacon is supposed to have given birth to a child, afterwards known to history as Francis Bacon," Dodd surmised. Dodd had his sources to include statements made by Dr.Rawley, in "Resuscitation, or Bringing into Public Light Several Pieces Hitherto Sleeping", published 1657, 1670-1. Dr. Rawley was declared to say, "Francis Bacon, the Glory of his Age and Nation, the Adorner and Ornament of Learning, was born in York-House or York-Place in the Strand." Another source of Dodd 36 was a testimony of P. Woodward who wrote on the biography of Francis Bacon insisting Sir Nicholas was foster faster to Francis Bacon and clearly another's child. Dodd said - "The last act of Sir Nicholas is equally significant in witnessing the truth of the secret birth as his first act when he registered the baby "Mr. Francis". Despite repeated tokens of warm affection for Francis, Sir Nicholas made a detailed and elaborate Will, in which he provided freely and handsomely for all his dependants EXCEPTYOUNGFRANCIS. He is not left a single half-penny. "He left nothing to Francis," says P. Woodward, a solicitor. "I obtained a copy of the WILL from Somerset House." (The Early Life of F.B., p. 19) Conclusion Queen Elizabeth was distinctly a different queen. She had accomplished much during her reign. She was shrewd and knew how to make use of her charms to the extent of exploiting the love interest of her suitors to get things done for her country. In assessing her about her suitors, her story is a classic example of how long a woman could hold men in her power by encouraging their interests but never conceding to any proposal. First, Elizabeth was a child born not exactly in a normal marriage. Her father, King Henry VIII married her mother, Anne Bolyn, primarily in the hope of having a son because his first wife could not. Elizabeth could not have appreciated "husbandhood" then to readily have one without much thinking. Second, Elizabeth then lived a troubled life after being banished from the court. She knew life was hard having to maintain one's crown. Third, after her coronation, there was the interest of the country to attend to. Fourth, she must have been already married but secretly, as alleged by Dodd. Whatever is the truth, it is the Queen's concern. However, she had failed tp appreciate the fact that when one enters a public life, one now assumes a corporate life where one is bound to have a bigger perspective over and above a personal life. Therefore, in her case, Parliament 1599 was correct if ever they had wanted to withhold support for the Queen financially until she had settled the matter of marriage. End Notes 1 "Elizabeth 1. Semper eadem. Always the same." Tudorhistory.org. (http://tudorhistory.org/elizabeth/ (accessed December 13, 2005). 2 Ibid. 3 "A list of Queen Elizabeth's principal suitors." Tudorplace.com. http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/Documents/suitors_of_queen_elizabeth.htm (accessed December 13, 2005). [This list gives the names of the principal suitors to the Queen over the course of her life. Some individuals appear more than once as their suit was considered and reconsidered]. 4 Tudorhistory.org, (n.d.) 5 Ibid. 6 Tudorplace.com, (n.d). 7 Ibid. 8 Ibid. 9 Tudorhistory.org, (n.d.) 10 Tudorplace.com, (n.d.) 11 Ibid. 12 Ibid. 13 Tudorplace.com, (n.d.) 14 Briscoe, Alexandra (2001b). Elizabeth I: An Overview. Bbc.co. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/monarchs_leaders/elizabeth_i_05.shtml (accessed December 13, 2005). 15 Ibid. 16 Tudorplace.com, (n.d.) 17 Briscoe (2001b) 18 Ibid. 19 Dodd, Alfred. (1940). "The marriage of Elizabeth Tudor." Rider & Company. Paternoster House, Paternoster Row, London, E.C.4. http://www.sirbacon.org/links/marriageofet.htm. (accessed December 13, 2005).[Being an exhaustive inquiry into her alleged Marriage with the Earl of Leicester and the alleged Births of her Two Sons, Francis Bacon and the Earl of Essex: an historical research based on one of the themes in "Shakespeare's Sonnets"]. 20 Briscoe (2001b) 21 "Queen Elizabeth I ." angelfire.com. (accessed http://www.angelfire.com/anime2/100import/queenelizabeth1.html (accessed December 13, 2005). 22 Briscoe, Alexandra (2001a). "The question of marriage." Monarchs and leaders. Bbc.co.uk./history. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/monarchs_leaders/elizabeth_i_04.shtml (accessed December 13, 2005). 23 Ibid. 24 "Elizabeth I of England." Pipex.com http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/parade/hq69/Pages/elizabet.html (accessed December 14, 2005). [First published in Britannica Online. http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/gDocF=macro/5002/9.html (accessed August 13, 1998).]. 25 Briscoe (2001a) 26 Ibid. 27 Pipex.com, (n.d) 28 See http://englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/eliz3.html 29 Pipex.com, (n.d) 30 Ibid. 31 Dodd, Alfred. "The Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret from The Marriage of Elizabeth Tudor." Sirbacon.org. http://www.sirbacon.org/doddsublimeprince.htm. (accessed December 13, 2005). 32 Ibid. 33 Ibid. 34 Sirbacon.org (b) 35 Ibid. 36 Dodd (1940) Read More