Book Review of Anne Somerset's Elizabeth I
Posted by Vicki A Benge
In my opinion, I think sometimes we, as Americans, with our inherited disdain for royalty, lose sight of what the British monarchy represents, not only to the rich history and tradition of Great Britain, but to our own, quite transparent English heritage. The present-day British monarch, Elizabeth II, is the quintessential modern queen. Her obvious intelligence, grace, and resiliency throughout the period of her reign has been a shining testament to not only Americans, but the world, that a monarch can in fact be "royal". Her personification of what it means to be The Queen, has prompted me to want to know more and more about all those that came before and how they were affected by the popular culture into which they were born; and how they in turn changed that culture through the power of the British crown.
After reading Alison Weir's intriguing The Children of Henry VIII, which concluded with Elizabeth I ready to ascend to the thrown, I wanted to see what happened next and to learn more about this particular English monarch. I also decided to read a varying perspective, before delving into Weir's work, The Lady Elizabeth. Thus I chose Elizabeth I, by Anne Somerset.
Her (Somerset's) writing is not quite as lively and engaging as Weir's. Somerset does however, go into extensive detail surrounding the events that occurred in and near the reigning court of Elizabeth I.
In previous and varied volumes I learned of Queen Elizabeth's relationships with the "favorites" of her court, in particular Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester and Sir Walter Ralegh (Raleigh); and of course, the exploits of her father, King Henry VIII, are the stuff of legends. Yet in all my years as an avid reader of history, I must admit that Somerset's biography was the first I have read of Elizabeth I.
Elizabeth was formally proclaimed Queen of England on November 17, 1558. Within three days she had named William Cecil, (later to become Lord Burghley), as her chief advisor. Somerset writes: "For her chief advisor she preferred to rely on a man whose temperament more exactly accorded her own." 1 This did not indicate, however, that she appointed a "yes man". By "temperament", Somerset was implying what she would later make explicitly clear in the book -- both Elizabeth and Cecil were cautious, thoughtful, and intelligent leaders, always hesitant to undertake drastic measures, regardless of the situation. Thus Somerset goes on to write: "When she had first appointed him, (Cecil), she made it clear that she wished to hear his opinions even when they conflicted with her own, and for the next forty years she rarely took an important decision without consulting him first."2
The queen's measured response to governing served the people of England well through years of conflict with the Catholic monarch, Philip II of Spain and others who worked tirelessly for her abdication.
Elizabeth was a staunch supporter of the Protestant faith which provoked a papal bull relinquishing her subjects from "obedience". She was however, a much beloved queen and many of her Catholic subjects chose to support the conflicting Catholic church and the English monarch simultaneously.
Always one to publicly show affection and appreciation to her "subjects", Elizabeth took time to pause and talk with the common people when in public, oftentimes to the frustration of her entourage. Although she evidently believed monarchs more or less received a mandate from God to rule their subjects, which becomes obvious in her dealings with Mary, Queen of Scots, she, herself, seldom leaned to the side of tyranny.
