by Tracy Borman
CHAPTER 3: The Royal Nursery
1. Wiesener, The Youth of Queen Elizabeth, I, vi.
2. L&P, XI, 130.
3. HMC, Rutland, I, 310.
4. Weir, The Lady in the Tower.
5. CSPF, Elizabeth 1558–59, 528.
6. Jenkins, Elizabeth the Great, 95–96.
7. Taylor-Smither, “Elizabeth I: A Psychological Profile,” 53.
8. Strype, Ecclesiastical Memorials, I, i, 436.
9. L&P, X, 403.
10. Ibid., X, 467.
11. Ibid., XI, 7.
12. Ibid., X, 494.
13. Ibid., XI, 55.
14. Ibid., XI, 96.
15. Ibid., XI, 132.
16. Ibid., XI, 90.
17. Ibid., XI, 190.
18. Ibid.
19. Strickland, Life of Queen Elizabeth, 10.
20. Plowden, The Young Elizabeth, 55.
21. L&P, X, 374.
22. Ibid., X, 377.
23. Ibid., X, 452.
24. Ibid., X, 504.
25. Ibid., XI, 24.
26. Ibid., X, 374.
27. Ibid., XI, 346.
28. Ibid., XII, ii, 339.
29. Wood, Letters of Royal and Illustrious Ladies of Great Britain, iii, 112.
30. Ibid.
31. Collins, Letters and Memorials of State, II, 200–3.
32. Madden, Privy Purse Expenses of the Princess Mary, 85, 88.
33. Lady Anne Shelton was replaced by Lady Mary Kingston, wife of Sir William, later lieutenant of the Tower. When he was promoted to the king’s household in 1539, he and his wife were replaced by Sir Edward and Lady Baynton.
34. Graves, A Brief Memoir of the Lady Elizabeth Fitzgerald, 6.
35. Adams and Rodríguez-Salgado, “The Count of Feria’s Dispatch to Philip II of 14 November 1558,” 330.
36. Erickson, The First Elizabeth, 41.
37. The hitherto unknown influence of Lady Troy in Elizabeth’s household has recently been brought to light by Ruth Richardson’s excellent biography of Blanche Parry. This biography has also made an invaluable contribution to our knowledge of Blanche’s life and career.
38. Powel, Historie of Cambria (1584), preface.
CHAPTER 4: Stepmothers
1. L&P, XI, 253.
2. The household accounts for Princess Elizabeth in 1551–52 indicate that Kat was then being paid £7.15s. per year. This was rather less than Blanche Parry, who earned £10 a year from a more junior post.
3. Camden, The Elizabethan Woman, 41.
4. CSPD, Edward VI, 82.
5. Weir, Six Wives of Henry VIII, 406–7.
6. Warnicke, The Marrying of Anne of Cleves, 427.
7. Ibid., 408.
8. Strickland, Lives of the Queens of England, III, 59.
9. Wood, Letters, iii, 161.
10. Weir, Six Wives of Henry VIII, 427.
11. Plowden, Tudor Women, 95.
12. Weir, Six Wives of Henry VIII, 413.
13. L&P, XVI, i, 5.
14. Strickland, Life of Queen Elizabeth, 13.
15. L&P, XVI, i, 391.
16. Ibid., XVI, ii, 636.
17. Plowden, Tudor Women, 101.
18. Denny, Katherine Howard, 237.
19. Weir, Children of England, 9; Denny, Katherine Howard, 253.
20. In so doing, she would have used parchment and a “hornbook.” The hornbook originated in the mid-fifteenth century and consisted of a sheet containing the letters of the alphabet (in both small and capital letters), as well as the Lord’s Prayer and a cross. It was mounted on wood, bone, or leather and protected by a thin sheet of transparent horn or mica. The wooden frame often had a handle, and it was usually hung at the child’s girdle so that he or she could refer to it at any time. Not all daughters of royal blood received even this rudimentary education. Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox, had such poor handwriting that it was barely legible. The same was true of her mother, Margaret Tudor, sister of Henry VIII.
21. Starkey, Elizabeth, 26.
22. Strickland, Life of Queen Elizabeth, 21; L&P, XI, 55.
23. Haynes, Collection of State Papers Relating to Affairs in the Reigns of King Henry VIII, King Edward VI, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, 95.
24. Mary was then twenty-six and Katherine, thirty.
25. James, Kateryn Parr, 127.
26. Weir, Six Wives of Henry VIII, 493.
27. L&P, XI, 55.
28. Cerovski, Sir Robert Naunton, Fragmented Regalia, 40.
29. Perry, The Word of a Prince, 30–31. The original letter is held at the British Library: BM Cotton MS C X, f.235.
30. James, Kateryn Parr, 172.
31. Strickland, Life of Queen Elizabeth, 23.
32. Perry, Word of a Prince, 23.
33. Strickland, Lives of the Queens of England, III, 328.
34. CSPV, VI, ii, 1059.
35. Ibid., VI, iii, 1538; ibid., Elizabeth 1558–80, VII, 601; ibid., VI, ii, 1058.
36. The impact of Elizabeth’s stay at court during Katherine Parr’s regency is set out in Starkey, Elizabeth, 38–41.
37. BM Add. MS 39288, f.5.
38. Levin and Watson, Ambiguous Realities, 145.
39. Perry, Word of a Prince, 32–34 (BM Cotton MS Nero C X, f.13).
40. Astley is often spelled “Ashley” or “Ashlay.” Kat herself tended to spell her married name “Aschely.”
41. Starkey, Elizabeth, 81.
42. L&P, XVIII, ii, 283.
43. Loades, The Tudor Court, 73.
44. Marcus, Mueller, and Rose, Elizabeth I, 10.
45. Ballard, Memoirs of Several Ladies of Great Britain, 115–16.
46. Strickland, Life of Queen Elizabeth, 14.
CHAPTER 5: Governess
1. CSPD, Edward VI, 92.
2. Perry, Word of a Prince, 45.
3. Haynes, Collection of State Papers, 61.
4. BM Lansdowne MS 1236, f.26.
5. Weir, Six Wives of Henry VIII, 544.
6. Martienssen, Queen Katherine Parr, 233.
7. CSPS, Edward VI 1547–49, IX, 48–49, 52.
8. A ward was someone who was placed under the protection of a legal guardian. Often, he was the heir to an estate whose father (the natural legal guardian) had died. In persuading the Duke of Suffolk to sell his rights over his daughter Jane, Seymour was speculating on the prospect that he would be able to secure a prestigious marriage for her and thus make a substantial profit for himself because guardians always received a fee as part of the marriage settlement.
9. Wiesener, Youth of Queen Elizabeth, 94–95.
10. BM Lansdowne MS 1236, f.39.
11. Haynes, Collection of State Papers, 99.
12. Ibid.
13. Marcus, Mueller, and Rose, Elizabeth I, 30.
14. CSPD, Edward VI, 92.
15. Haynes, Collection of State Papers, 96.
16. Ibid., 99.
17. Ibid., 96.
18. TNA, SP 10/2, no. 25.
19. BM Cotton MS Otho C X f.236v.
20. Ibid.
21. CSPD, Edward VI, 49.
22. Haynes, Collection of State Papers, 103–4.
23. CSPD, Edward VI, 91.
24. Perry, Word of a Prince, 58.
25. CSPD, Edward VI, 91.
26. Haynes, Collection of State Papers, 100.
27. Ibid., 98.
28. Ibid., 70; Marcus, Mueller, and Rose, Elizabeth I, 23–24.
29. Haynes, Collection of State Papers, 96–97.
30. Ibid., 96, 100.
31. CSPD, Edward VI, 92.
32. Ibid., 82.
33. Haynes, Collection of State Papers, 70.
34. Ibid., 102.
35. CSPD, Edward VI, 92.
36. Haynes, Collection of State Papers, 99–101.
37. Ibid., 102.
38. Ibid., 107.
39. Ibid., 108–9.
40. Ibid.
41. BM Lansdowne MS 1236, f.35.
42. The surviving evidence does not tell us where they had been d
uring that time. They may have lived with John’s relatives in Norfolk, or with Kat’s in Devon, or perhaps they stayed close to Hatfield in anticipation of their return to favor.
43. Although it was rumored that he, like his sister, was the illegitimate offspring of Henry VIII, he was born too long after the end of Mary’s affair with the king for this to be likely.
44. CSPS, Mary I 1554–58, XIII, 387.
45. Somerset, Elizabeth I, 32–33.
46. L&P, XXI, i, 400.
47. CSPS, Edward VI 1550–52, X, 210–12.
48. Ibid., X, 101.
49. Ibid., X, 212.
50. Ibid.; CSPS, Edward VI 1547–49, IX, 489.
CHAPTER 6: Sister
1. CSPS, Mary I 1553–54, XI, 115.
2. Somerset, Elizabeth I, 71.
3. Ibid.
4. CSPV, 1556–57, VI, ii, 1058.
5. Ibid., VI, ii, 1054.
6. CSPS, Mary I 1554–58, XIII, 6.
7. Ibid., Mary I 1553–54, XI, 50.
8. Arber, John Knoxe, First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women, 9–10.
9. CSPS, Mary I 1554–58, XIII, 61.
10. CSPD, Mary I, 10; CSPS, Mary I 1553–54, XI, 259; Nichols, The Chronicle of Queen Jane and of Two Years of Queen Mary, 28; Richards, “Mary Tudor as ‘Sole Quene’? Gendering Tudor Monarchy,” 902.
11. The Empress Matilda had not been crowned during her brief reign in 1141.
12. Richards, “Mary Tudor as ‘Sole Quene’?” 908–9.
13. CSPV, VII, 329.
14. Ibid., VI, ii, 1056.
15. CSPS, Mary I 1553–54, XI, 252.
16. Plowden, Tudor Women, 138.
17. CSPV, VII, 601.
18. Redworth, “Matters Impertinent to Women,” 598.
19. Richards, “Mary Tudor as ‘Sole Quene’?” 908–9.
20. BM Cotton MS Vespasian F iii, f.23.
21. CSPS, Mary I 1554–58, XIII, 3–4, 61.
22. Perry, Word of a Prince, 88–89; CSPS, Mary I Jan.–Jun. 1554, XII, 50.
23. CSPS, Mary I 1553–54, XI, 169.
24. Ibid., XI, 410.
25. Plowden, Tudor Women, 137.
26. Perry, Word of a Prince, 85.
27. CSPS, Mary I 1553–54, XI, 274.
28. CSPF, Elizabeth 1562, 16.
29. Marshall, Queen Mary’s Women, 108.
30. L&P, VII, 7.
31. Perry, Word of a Prince, 23.
32. H. Boethius, The Historie and Cronicles of Scotland, II, 16–18.
33. Marshall, Queen Mary’s Women, 110.
34. CSPV, VI, ii, 1058.
35. Ibid., VI, ii, 1059.
36. Plowden, Tudor Women, 149.
37. CSPS, Mary I 1553–54, XI, 196.
38. Ibid., XI, 220.
39. Ibid., XI, 220–21.
40. Ibid., XI, 221.
41. Ibid., XI, 252–53.
42. Ibid., XI, 188.
43. Ibid., XI, 393.
44. Ibid., XI, 411.
45. CSPS, Mary I 1553–54, XI, 418; Perry, Word of a Prince, 87.
46. CSPS, Mary I 1553–54, XI, 436, 446.
47. Loades, Mary Tudor, 204.
48. Although Wyatt always maintained that he was loyal to Queen Mary and that the rebellion was against her councillors, there is also evidence to suggest that many of the rebels wished to place Elizabeth on the throne.
49. Foxe, The Acts and Monuments of John Foxe, VI, 414–15.
50. CSPS, Mary I 1554, XII, 42.
51. Strype, Ecclesiastical Memorials, I, i, 126.
52. CSPD, Mary I, 53–54.
53. Nichols, Chronicle, 70–71.
54. CSPS, Mary I 1554, XII, 140.
55. Ibid.
56. Strickland, Lives of the Queens of England, III, 501–2.
57. CSPS, Mary I 1554, XII, 218.
58. Marcus, Mueller, and Rose, Elizabeth I, 66.
59. Dasent, Acts of the Privy Council of England, 1554–56, 129.
60. Perry, Word of a Prince, 99.
61. BM Lansdowne MS 1236, f.37.
62. CSPV, VI, ii, 1060.
63. Ibid., VI, i, 475, 479–80.
64. CSPD, Mary I, 208.
65. CSPV, VI, i, 475.
66. Ibid., VI, i, 480.
67. Ibid., VI, i, 484.
68. Ibid., VI, i, 718–19.
69. It is not clear what Kat Astley did after she had been banished from Elizabeth’s household; she and her husband disappear from the records. Perhaps John, always more sensible than his wife, persuaded her to take comfort from the fact that of the two alternatives—retirement and imprisonment—the former was preferable.
70. Weir, Children of England, 331.
71. Ibid.
72. CSPS, Mary I 1554–58, XIII, 28.
73. Ibid., XIII, 2–3, 6.
74. Ibid., Elizabeth 1554–58, XIII, 2–3, 13.
75. Nichols, The Diary of Henry Machyn, 76; CSPS, Mary I 1554–58, XIII, 124.
76. CSPV, VI, ii, 1055. The treatments for symptoms such as those displayed by Mary could be brutal. They included inserting a tube into the vagina and sending up steam from a boiling liquid in order to “fumigate” the uterus. Worse still, horse leeches could be inserted into the neck of the womb: Erickson, Bloody Mary, 127–28. A number of theories have been put forward by modern-day medical historians about the cause of Mary’s condition. She may have suffered a phantom pregnancy, although the ill health she endured throughout her life suggests that there was something else wrong. Another theory is that she had an ovarian tumor, which would have explained her lack of periods, swollen abdomen, and frequent abdominal pains. Alternatively, she may have had prolactinoma, which is a benign tumor of the pituitary gland. This condition often causes infertility and changes in menstruation, with some women losing their periods altogether. Women who are not pregnant or nursing may begin producing breast milk. An excellent summary of the various theories to explain Mary’s symptoms is provided by Medvei. See also Brewer.
77. CSPS, Mary I 1554–58, XIII, 51, 226.
78. Foxe, Acts and Monuments, III, 619–21.
79. CSPF, Mary I, 165–66.
80. Ibid., 172.
81. CSPS, Mary I 1554–58, XIII, 224.
82. CSPF, Mary I 1554–58, 174.
83. HMC, Rutland, I, 310–11.
84. CSPS, Mary I 1554–58, XIII, 250
85. CSPV, VI, ii, 1059.
86. CSPS, Elizabeth 1558–67, I, 9.
87. CSPV, VI, i, 558.
88. Ibid., VI, i, 887.
89. Ibid.
90. Camden, The Historie of the Most Renowned and Victorious Princess Elizabeth, 9.
91. Perry, Word of a Prince, 86. The original letter is in the British Library, BM Lansdowne MS 94, f.21.
92. CSPV, VI, ii, 1060.
93. Loades, Mary Tudor, 189.
94. CSPV, VI, ii, 1060.
95. Camden, Historie, 8.
96. Loades, Mary Tudor, 143, quoting John Foxe.
97. CSPV, VI, iii, 1549.
98. Marcus, Mueller, and Rose, Elizabeth I, 66.
99. Adams and Rodríguez-Salgado, “Count of Feria’s Dispatch,” 329–30.
100. Merton, “The Women Who Served Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth,” 160. William Paget was Lord Privy Seal and a member of Mary’s Privy Council.
101. Adams and Rodríguez-Salgado, “Count of Feria’s Dispatch,” 331, 334.
102. Ibid., 335.
103. Camden, Historie, 10; CSPV, VI, iii, 1538; Tytler, England Under the Reigns of Edward VI and Mary, II, 497.
104. CSPV, VI, ii, 1058.
105. Ibid., VI, i, 201.
106. CSPS, Mary I 1554–58, XIII, 416.
107. CSPS, Elizabeth 1558–67, I, 34.
108. Erickson, Bloody Mary, 481.
109. CSPV, VI, iii, 1538.
110. CSPS, Mary I 1554–58, XIII, 438.
111. Adams and Rodríguez-Salgado, “Count of Feria’s Dispatch,” 328.
112. Harington, Nugae Antiquae,
II, 312.
113. Strickland, Life of Queen Elizabeth, 122.
114. Starkey, Elizabeth, 311.
115. BM Cotton MS Vespasian D XVIII, f.104.
116. Redworth, “Matters Impertinent to Women,” 599.
CHAPTER 7: The Queen’s Hive
1. Only when James I came to the throne was this rectified. Elizabeth’s own coffin was placed in the same vault as her half sister’s, and James ordered a magnificent monument to be erected above them both. This bore the inscription: “Partners both in throne and grave, here rest we, two sisters, Elizabeth and Mary, in the hope of resurrection.”
2. CSPV, VI, iii, 1559.
3. CSPS, Elizabeth 1558–67, I, 7.
4. Somerset, Elizabeth I, 7.
5. See for example Harrison, The Letters of Queen Elizabeth, 83.
6. Adams and Rodríguez-Salgado, “Count of Feria’s Dispatch,” 331.
7. CSPS, Elizabeth 1558–67, I, 7.
8. CSPV, VII, 659.
9. Holinshead’s Chronicle, quoted in Plowden, Young Elizabeth, 209.
10. Strype, Ecclesiastical Memorials, III, ii, 166.
11. CSPS, Mary I 1553–54, XI, 393.
12. Cerovski, Sir Robert Naunton, 38.
13. Levin, The Heart and Stomach of a King, 10.
14. Hibbert, Elizabeth I, 67.
15. Warnicke, Women of the English Renaissance and Reformation, 62–63.
16. An excellent analysis of the link between Anne Boleyn’s coronation and the symbolism adopted by Elizabeth is provided by Ives, Life and Death of Anne Boleyn, 222–30.
17. CSPV, VII, 659.
18. Somerset, Elizabeth I, 65; Nichols, Diary of Henry Machyn, 263.
19. Watkins, In Public and Private, 182.
20. Boyle, Memoirs of the Life of Robert Carey, 73n.
21. Watkins, In Public and Private, 58–59.
22. Rye, England as Seen by Foreigners in the Days of Elizabeth and James the First, II, 18.
23. Ibid.
24. Ibid., II, 17.
25. The palace was incomplete when Henry VIII died in 1547. In 1556 his daughter Mary had leased it to the 19th Earl of Arundel, who completed it. It returned to royal hands in 1592, when Elizabeth acquired it.
26. Loades, Tudor Court, 119.
27. Cerovski, Sir Robert Naunton, 41–42.
28. Perry, Word of a Prince, 113.
29. The whole incident is chronicled in CSPF, Elizabeth 1561–62, 244, 303–4, 309, 311, 329, 344, 356, 361.
30. Adams, “Eliza Enthroned?” 64.
31. Kat’s husband was also appointed to a position of great prestige as master of the Jewel House.
32. TNA, LC2/4/3, f.53.
33. Equivalent to around £5,600 ($8,945) today.