Click2Flicks - Elizabeth I - Chapter 5

<body link="0000ff" alink="ff0000" vlink="000000" bgcolor=000033> <table width="100%" bgcolor=000033> <tr> <td align=center valign=top> <table width=90% bgcolor=ffffff> <tr> <td align=center valign=top> <tr> <td> <div align=center><p><b><font face="arial, helvetica" size=5 color=000000><b>ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE</p> <p><font size="4">CHAPTER 5 - THE TROUBLE WITH MARY</b></font></p> </div>  <center> <table width="90%"> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top"> <div align="justify"> <p><font face="arial, helvetica" color="000000" size="3">Extremely intelligent, Elizabeth knew that her country was going through troubled times even before she became Queen. Differences in faith (Protestant versus Catholic) <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tudors/elizabeth_i_03.shtml"><b>divided</b></a> her subjects from within, while foreign powers threatened from without.</p> <p>Her advisors, of course, were all men. Thinking her weak, they clamored to have their voices heard and their will done. Although inexperienced, Elizabeth would not be bullied. </p> <p>Then there was the question of marriage. Of her <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/sceptred_isle/page/53.shtml?question=53"><b>many suitors</b></a>, the one which matters to this story was her brother-in-law, Philip II of Spain. He liked being King of England, but the only way he could reclaim that title was to marry Elizabeth. </p> <p>She was not interested - in Philip, or anyone else. Had she married an Englishman, other nobles would have been jealous. Had she married a foreigner, whoever it was would have taken charge of Britain. </p> <p> <b> <a target="_blank" href="http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/elizabeth1.html#Response%20to%20a%20Delegation%20on%20her%20Marriage">Telling her people</a></b> that she was married to her country, the Queen <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tudors/elizabeth_i_04.shtml"><b>rejected</b></a> every suitor, even those in whom she had shown considerable interest. As time passed, people realized that Elizabeth would not be succeeded by her own child.</p> <p>Who, then, would succeed the last of the Tudors? Elizabeth’s closest heir was her Catholic cousin: <a target="_blank" href="images/mary_queen_scots_Mary_c.1580.jpg"><b>Mary, Queen of Scots</b></a>,  granddaughter of Henry VIII’s elder sister Margaret. But Mary, an attractive woman, had her own troubles. Not least of these was a series of husbands who had either died or were untrustworthy. </p> <p>Beset with problems, Mary sought help from her cousin. Without first seeking the advice of her closest counselors, the twenty-six-year-old crossed the border between England and Scotland. It was the <a target="_blank" href="images/worst_thing.jpg"><b>worst thing</b></a> she could have done. Her many enemies included some of Elizabeth’s closest advisors.</p> <p>Elizabeth’s <a target="_blank" href="http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/Library/SLT/history/government.html"><b>privy council</b></a> had justifiable <a target="_blank" href="http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/spies/ciphers/mary/ma3.htm"><b>concerns</b></a>.  Although she was the daughter of Henry VIII, many people - including most Catholics - believed Elizabeth was not the rightful heir to the throne. As the daughter of the discredited, beheaded Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth was <a target="_blank" href="http://englishhistory.net/tudor/lovelett.html"><b>thought</b></a> to be illegitimate. </p> <p>To strengthen her own claim to Britain’s throne, Mary had previously married her cousin, Lord Darnley (<a target="_blank" href="images/henry_stuart_%20Lord.Darnley_c.1566_artist.unknown.jpg"><b>Henry Stuart</b></a>),  himself an heir. That strategic alliance, however, carried a high price. <a target="_blank" href="images/their_marriage_Mary.and.Darnley_c.1565.jpg"><b>Their marriage</b></a>  was extremely unhappy, although the couple had a son - James. After the death of his father, and the <a target="_blank" href="images/forced_abdication_Abdication.of.MQOS_by_Charles.Lucy.jpg"><b>forced abdication</b></a> of his mother, the child became King of Scotland soon after his first birthday. While he was still young, Scotland was ruled by regents. </p> <p>When she arrived in England, Mary asked to see her cousin, the queen. For another <a target="_blank" href="http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page46.asp"><b>nineteen years</b></a>  Mary asked for an audience with Elizabeth. She <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tudors/elizabeth_i_07.shtml"><b>never</b></a> got one. Instead, she was confined in one English castle or another, never free to leave. Effectively imprisoned without charges, and without a trial, Mary ceased to live the life of a ruler. </p> <p>And then, one day, she started to <a target="_blank" href="images/exchange_letters_Babington.letter_1586_with.forged.postcript.by.Thomas.%20Phelippes.jpg"><b>exchange letters</b></a> with <a target="_blank" href="images/anthony_babington_woodcut_believed.to.be.Babington.gif"><b>Anthony Babington</b></a>,  a former page and fellow Catholic.</p> </div> <p align="center"><font face="arial, helvetica" size="2"><a href="elizabeth_I_ch4.htm">GO TO LAST CHAPTER</a>   <a href="elizabeth_I_ch1.htm">BACK TO FIRST CHAPTER</a>   <a href="elizabeth_I_ch6.htm">GO TO NEXT CHAPTER</a></p><br> </td> </tr> </table>  </td>  <td align="center" valign="top"> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.awesomestories.com/includes/ad_format.js"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> </td>  </tr> </table>  </td> </tr> </table> </body>