The Tudors for Dummies (AvaxHome Download) (28 page)

I will have here but one mistress and no master.' The earl of Leicester kept a

slightly lower profile after that!

The man most alarmed by the Leicester fling was William Cecil. Leicester was

married and the scandal, if the affair was exposed, might well lose Elizabeth

the throne (her first years were pretty insecure, with two serious illnesses

and a Church to sort out; see Chapter 13.) Cecil knew that Leicester wasn't

very bright and was a poor judge of character. At the very least, any marriage

would upset the Council's apple cart and Cecil had set his sights on Archduke

Charles of Spain.

Clearing the path for marriage: by foul means?

By 1560 the queen seemed to be in love. De Quadra, who'd taken over from

de Feria as Philip's watchdog, spread the rumour that Elizabeth and Leicester

were planning to poison Amy Dudley so they could marry. He called Leicester

`the king that is to be'.

On Sunday 8 September Amy told all her servants at the family home at

Cumnor, Oxfordshire to go to a local fair at Abingdon. Only three ladies

stayed with her and they `played at tables' (probably chess or backgammon).

At some point, Amy got up, left the room, tripped on her way out and fell

downstairs. Her neck was broken. What are the options?

Accident: You try walking in a heavy Elizabethan farthingale dress (on

the other hand, Amy was used to it).

Suicide: Had she heard the rumours about hubby and the queen and

decided to end it all? On the other hand, throwing yourself down the

stairs isn't a certain way to kill yourself.

Murder: If so, who? Leicester, obviously, but he wasn't there at the time.

Somebody suggested one of his cronies, Anthony Forster.

Whatever actually happened to Lady Dudley, the inquest jury returned

an accidental death verdict. But the murder rumours wouldn't go away.

Leicester didn't help himself by not going either to the inquest or the funeral,

but nevertheless, as was customary, he had to stay away from Court. There

were rumours of jury tampering and counter-claims that Amy Dudley had

breast cancer that had caused depression.

Faking it as a pale redhead

Remember that scene at the end of Elizabeth later period in her life and were supposed to

when Cate Blanchett decides to dump her make her look more attractive, not less, and

live-in lover Robert Dudley and become a pro- Dudley hung around until his death in 1588.

fessional virgin, complete with ghastly white Elizabeth only pushed the virgin queen bit when

make-up and curly red wig? Well, it never hap- it was obvious she was past child-bearing age.

pened. The make-up and wig belong to a much

If it was murder and Leicester was behind it, the whole thing backfired

because the scandal made Elizabeth see sense and the idea of marrying went

out of the window.

Even so, on paper Leicester prospered. He got his earldom in the September

of 1564 and was made a member of the Privy Council. This meant that Cecil

could keep an eye on him but it didn't stop the reckless Leicester from get-

ting involved in a coup against Cecil in 1569. It failed; he apologised to the

queen; they kissed (maybe!) and made up.

Blowing hot and cold

After 1569 the relationship between Elizabeth and Leicester changed with the

seasons. In 1578 he secretly married the countess of Essex, Lettice Knollys �

so she became Lettice Leicester! Elizabeth was very touchy about her ladies,

expecting to be told their every move and whim. After the hush-hush wed-

ding, the Leicesters were barred from Court for a while.

Later, in 1585, Elizabeth cooled down and made Leicester her agent in the

Low Countries (today's Netherlands). He was soon feathering his nest with

the local Government, the Estates General. Elizabeth recalled him in disgrace.

When Leicester died in 1588, the queen was genuinely heartbroken. She

always kept his last letter, a reminder of the nearest thing to a love affair

she'd ever known.

Riding a Cock Horse

One way in which Elizabeth kept in touch with her country in the days before

television and the queen's speech at Christmas was to go on progresses, 208 Part IV: Ending with Elizabeth

riding with half her Court through the south of England. She never went too

far from London, probably because of the risk of a coup if she did.

The old nursery rhyme goes:

Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross,

To see a fine lady upon a white horse.

Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,

She shall have music wherever she goes.

And if the fine lady isn't Elizabeth, who is it?

The company travelled less than 10 miles a day and put up at other people's

country houses, where they expected to be fed, wined and entertained � at

ridiculous expense.

On 4 September 1566 the queen went to Oxford. What for?

She listened to sermons and disputations by the university's scholars.

She understood their Latin perfectly and this impressed the scholars �

their queen was intellectual, just like them.

She watched a play, Palomon and Arcite, performed in Christ Church

College, proving how much she loved the theatre and could identify with

classical drama.

She honoured Robert Dudley whom she'd appointed as chancellor of the

University in September of 1564.

Most importantly of all, she made sure that the town and the university

accepted her as supreme governor of the English Church and let them

know what she thought of heretics.

Just like her father, Elizabeth enjoyed glittering social occasions. In Coventry

in 1565 she `won the hearts of all her loving subjects', according to the town's

mayor, but the high points of her progresses came in the mid-1570s.

The queen was in Warwick in 1572 and Bristol in 1574, and in 1575 she

pulled out all the travelling stops by visiting Worcester, Lichfield, Reading,

Woodstock and Windsor. In Warwick the entire town turned out to see their

monarch and the recorder of the town read out a five-page (count them!)

history of the place. At the end Elizabeth sent for the man: `Come hither,

little recorder.' He knelt and kissed her hand. She said, `It was told me that

you would be afraid to look upon me or to speak boldly, but you were not so

afraid of me as I was of you.'

Next time you're in Warwickshire, check out Kenilworth Castle. It's a ruin today

and if you stand in the low ground to the south of the curtain wall and shout,

you'll hear your voice come back to you � that's because you're in Echo Fields.

The area was deliberately flooded in 1575 by Lord Leicester who lived there,

and when the queen arrived there was boating on the lake and the whole place

was lit up by fireworks. The knot garden where they walked is still there. Okay,

so Leicester had the hots for the queen and wanted to marry her, but the three-

week stay must have seriously damaged his bank balance. Leicester put on

poetry by George Gascoigne, top poet of the day, bear baiting, hunting, music,

dancing and incredible banquets. Somebody painted Elizabeth and Leicester

dancing the Volta; the cheeky nobleman is throwing the queen in the air to wild

clapping and music � and she's loving every minute of it!

But the progresses weren't just remembered for their lively parties. It was

very unfortunate that the queen's progress to Norwich in 1579 went horribly

wrong. Norwich was delighted with the usual speeches, music, hunting and

frivolities. But it was a bit like hosting the Olympic Games today � huge pres-

tige but at a price. Thousands of townsfolk caught bubonic plague � the Black

Death � from somebody in the entourage and thousands died before the dis-

ease burnt itself out.

For about six years before the Armada (1588; see Chapter 15) the progresses

stopped. But they started again in the 1590s when the queen was old and

perhaps wanted to recapture her youth � because she was worth it. She often

ordered her coachman to drive her into the thickest of the crowds to talk to

the ordinary people and she stood up on the carriage steps and thanked them.

On one of her later progresses Elizabeth took the opportunity to kiss and

make up with an old acquaintance. She'd once put Edward Seymour, earl

of Hertford, in prison for daring to marry Catherine, the sister of Jane Grey.

When she arrived at his home in Odiham in Hampshire in September 1591, all

seemed forgiven. After three days of fireworks, feasts and fun, a choir sang

`Come Again, Fair Nature's Treasure' as the queen left.

Elizabeth made her last progress, through Middlesex and Buckinghamshire,

in the last year of her life.

Sailing in New Directions

Ever since Christopher Columbus had gone West in 1492, Europe had been

poised on the brink of a brave new world. Henry VII had famously backed the

wrong ship (Cabot rather than Columbus � see Chapter 2), and government 210 Part IV: Ending with Elizabeth

investment in overseas trade and exploration was slow to take off under

Edward VI. Under Mary, the investment had ground to a halt because she

had no interest in the trade and exploration and had clashed with the largely

Protestant merchants of the City of London on religious grounds.

The livery companies of the City were like stockbrokers today. They made

huge profits buying and selling and often lent money to the Crown. Leaders

of the mercers', goldsmiths' and fishmongers' companies were also courtiers,

so close government links existed. Thomas Gresham continued as the crown

agent in the Low Countries so business picked up again under Elizabeth (see

Chapter 9).

Slaving with Hawkins

John Hawkins was the son of a Plymouth merchant who moved to London

in 1554 to work closely with the Navy Board and the City, both of which

invested in overseas voyages. He was determined to cash in on one of the

biggest money spinners in history � the slave trade (see the nearby sidebar).

One problem was that Spain and Portugal had got the jump on the English

and had already grabbed several markets. That would all change in 1562

when Hawkins hijacked a slave ship.

The queen is in her counting house

Elizabeth seems to have inherited her grandfa- Chapter 16) came back from his expedition to

ther Henry VII's careful ways with money (see Cadiz she wanted an account of every penny

Chapter 2). Her prudence was quite handy in the spent. She worked out that in 1599 the king of

Protestant days of Edward because she could France owed her 401,734 pounds 16 shillings

wear the dull clothes that were the fashion of and 5� pence! She told her Parliament in 1566,

the time and these were cheap. Under Mary `I thank God that I am imbued with such quali-

she was genuinely strapped and got used to ties that if I were turned out of my realm in my

checking her figures herself. She saved �1,500 petticoat, I were able to live in any place in

in 1552 largely because she only gave away 7 Christendom.'

pounds 15 shillings and 8 pence to charity.

Elizabeth borrowed more and more from the

In the year of the Armada (1588 � see Chapter City of London and less from Antwerp, but she

15) Elizabeth actually sold bullets to her own always had ongoing cash flow problems.

soldiers, and when the earl of Essex (see Chapter 12: Dancing with Elizabeth 211

The slave trade Slavery was widespread in the ancient world slaves were taken to the Americas, mostly from of Greece and Rome, which Renaissance men West Africa (then called, for obvious reasons, looked back on with a mixture of awe and the Slave Coast). fondness. In Tudor England men like Hawkins

Arabs and Europeans benefited from the slave were muscling in on an institution that was

trade and African development was held up. already making serious money in the Middle

Nobody, even devout Christians, seems to have East, Africa and the Americas � the movement

had a moral problem with buying, selling and of black Africans, in chains, to wherever they

owning somebody else in the Tudor period. were needed for back-breaking manual labour. Between 1450 and 1870 an estimated 11.5 million

Voyage #1 (1561)

Hawkins got hold of slave cargoes on two ships and sailed them to Tenerife

in the Canary Islands (a gorgeous holiday destination now � check the islands

out!). He sold all his slaves to Spanish colonists in exchange for hides, sugar,

ginger and pearls. The sales were illegal because Hawkins wasn't a Spaniard

(see Chapter 11 for Philip II's ruling on this) and his goods were confiscated

in Seville. The Spaniards called him a pirate (which is fair enough), but

Hawkins still made a huge profit.

Voyage #2 (1564)

Nothing succeeds like success and suddenly everybody wanted in on

Hawkins' second trip. Several councillors, like Cecil and the earl of Pembroke,

invested and the queen, ever with an eye to the main chance, gave Hawkins a

fully armed ship stuffed with provisions � `God bless all who sail in her'.

This voyage took royal involvement to a new level. Monarchs had leased ships

to merchants occasionally in the past, always going to European ports, but

Elizabeth now showed a new commitment to sea power.

Once again the Spaniards and the Portuguese objected, and once again

Hawkins bullied people into buying from him. At various places in the

Caribbean, Hawkins claimed to be trading on behalf of the queen (not true)

and his chat placed Elizabeth and England in troubled waters. But because

most people were making loads of money out of the voyages, they thought it

was worth the hassle. 212 Part IV: Ending with Elizabeth

The not-so-common market

Nearer to home Elizabeth faced commercial Margaret of Parma, the regent of the Low

problems. After the slump in the 1550s English Countries, put an embargo on English cloth

cloth exports had picked up a bit but not in 1564, so trade now switched to Emden

enough. Why? in Germany. Cecil thought the move would

widen the market; the merchant adventur-

Dutch Protestants were complaining about

ers disagreed. The embargo ended in 1566

Philip's high-handed government of the

but others had now grabbed the markets,

Spanish Netherlands and England sym-

and when Margaret was replaced by

pathised with them. This in turn niggled

Philip's hardliner, the duke of Alba (see

with the merchants of Antwerp, who put

Chapters 10 and 11), the English had to

petty restrictions on cloth being shipped

leave again.

through the port.

Giving Lovell a go

Anglo�Spanish relations were at a low in 1566 and the Spanish ambassador

demanded that the queen stop Hawkins from his slave-trading raids by not

letting him sail. A voyage by the inexperienced John Lovell was entirely

backed by private enterprise and came back in September 1567 with a small

profit. At least Lovell's trip didn't worsen the diplomatic situation.

Voyage #3(1567)

Elizabeth changed her mind (she was good at that) and backed another

Hawkins trip in October 1567. He sailed from Plymouth (one of the major

ports in the West Country � check out the town's links with Francis Drake

and see his statue on the Hoe) with four of his own ships and two provided

by the Crown. Again, he claimed to be sailing under the queen's commission

and again, it wasn't true.

Things got tough for Hawkins in Guinea late in 1567. The Portuguese authori-

ties there had had a tip-off and he lost men in a fire fight before getting

involved in black tribal warfare in today's Sierra Leone. He still got his slaves,

though, and sold them at Cartagena in Columbia before heading home.

Harassing Hawkins

On the way back to England from his third voyage, Hawkins' luck ran out.

One of the ships in his fleet, the Jesus of Lubeck, belonged to the queen. It was

leaking badly and Hawkins put in to San Juan d'Ulloa, the port of Mexico City.

Unfortunately, a Spanish fleet arrived at the same time, bringing the new vice-

roy of the Indies, Don Martin Enriquez.

All hell broke loose and Hawkins had to cut and run, leaving the Jesus and

her crewmen behind. At sea, Hawkins' remaining ships became separated, Chapter 12: Dancing with Elizabeth 213

Francis Drake's Judith making so much headway that Hawkins accused him of

desertion (hot tempered lot, these sea dogs!). Hawkins limped into Vigo and

got back to England in January 1569 with only a handful of his original crew.

Hawkins had a go at Drake and the Spanish authorities in Mexico, demand-

ing huge compensation via the Admiralty Court. He hadn't got a leg to stand

on of course, because he shouldn't have been in San Juan d'Ulloa in the first

place.

Elizabeth had shot herself in the foot and relations with Philip went further

down the tubes.

Menacing from Spain

Hawkins and Drake's `Boys' Own Adventures' (see the nearby sidebar `El

Draco') didn't impress the Spaniards. Philip demanded compensation for the

looting of the Spanish colonies and this renewed aggression may have been

why Elizabeth started smarming around France and the duke of Anjou again

(see the earlier section `Toying with the talent').

Elizabeth continued the complicated dance of diplomacy and marriage nego-

tiations. She knew that her navy was fast becoming (thanks to John Hawkins �

see Chapter 15) the best in the world and that Philip was probably behind

various plots on her life (see Chapter14).

Turning a blind eye to the privateers Since the 14th century ships had sometimes acted famous names (mostly from the stroppy on behalf of the crown with letters of marque, the West Country) who attacked Spanish and official green light to attack foreign ships and Flemish ships in the Channel and the Western steal their goodies. A slice of the action went to Approaches. (See the map in Chapter 15). these pirates, who called themselves privateers,

Nearer to home, the captain of the Isle of Wight, and to the rest to the Crown. If challenged, as

Edward Horsey, was taking a cut from French Elizabeth frequently was by Spain, she'd deny all

smugglers and pirates operating out of Mead knowledge and tut tut about her unruly subjects.

Hole on the island (it's now a tourist spot in the The Hawkinses of Plymouth were at the cutting

grounds of Queen Victoria's Osborne House � edge of this privateering and Elizabeth's attitude

check it out). Elizabeth turned a blind eye to all was typical of her fence-sitting for England.

of this, knowing that much of it would annoy Philip II had said that England couldn't take part Philip and that later, when the Dutch revolt in in the American trade, which was exactly what the Spanish Netherlands broke out, he'd keep Hawkins did. Francis Drake, Walter Ralegh, John his warships elsewhere. Hawkins and Martin Frobisher were among the 214 Part IV: Ending with Elizabeth

El Draco

Francis Drake was making a name for himself insubordination and hit the Spanish colonies'

by the 1570s. He hit a Spanish silver convoy towns on the West Coast of South America. He

near Nombre de Dios on the coast of Panama got to Southern California, looking for the mythi-

in 1573 with French Huguenots (Protestants), cal Straits of Anian, which were said to link the

neatly offending Spain, Catholics and the Atlantic with the Pacific. Good seamanship

French Government in one swift movement. and luck brought him across the Indian Ocean,

Both his brothers were killed, but he was now round the Cape of Good Hope to Sierra Leone

feared by the Spaniards. El Draco was a clever by July 1580.

pun on his name � in Spanish it means The