Moonlit landscape with crescent moon, and old Gothic ruin

Blogging by moonlight
on history, music, arts,
writing and gardening.

The Accession of Elizabeth I - a Tudor Transition

17th November 2019

Today in 1558 (according to the old-style calendar in use at the time), the Elizabethan Age began with the accession of Elizabeth Tudor to the throne of England. Getting just a bit carried away with it all, I couldn't resist making a short video in celebration. Here it is.

Music - 'Mistress Nichols Almand' by John Dowland.

Yes, there really is lots to celebrate on a day like this. Like all periods of history, not least our own, the Elizabethan period (1558-1603) had its faults. But it also gave the English people a period of peace and prosperity and in many respects saw the dawning of the modern era.

It gave us the great swashbuckling explorers like Drake and Raleigh, the fabulous fashions, buildings and gardens of the royal court, and some of the most beautiful and complex of sacred music in the works of Tallis and Byrd.

engraving, coloured, of old Nonsuch palace with people, horses, carriages etc.

Nonsuch Palace - a coloured engraving based on a 1582 drawing by Hoefnagel.

The Elizabethan age also gave us intrigue and mystery aplenty - not least in the form of the Virgin Queen herself and all her various amours. That is something that will keep the historians guessing for many a year to come. It gave us, too, the magic and invention of John Dee (a person perhaps equally as inscrutable). And, of course, it gave us the glorious plays and sonnets of William Shakespeare. What a period of history!

collage of various characters fromt he Elizabethan era, with queen centre

Elizabeth and friends.

Mary I

When anything begins, it usually means that something has ended. And in this case the starting of the Elizabethan age only came about due to the passing of Queen Mary (1516 – 1558).

Poor Mary - she really has had a bad press at times. Known as Bloody Mary in some circles due to the cruelty that marked the closing years of her reign, she should also be remembered for her courage during her early years and of being the first female English monarch of any importance, managing to stay on the throne for over five years and attempting, unsuccessfully, as it transpired, to overturn the Protestant Reformation of her father Henry VIII.

portrait of Tudor royal lady, Mary I, seated in dark setting

Mary I of England, by Antonis Mor, 1554, alongside Elizabeth's Sieve Portrait by Quentin Metsys the Younger, 1583.

Tudor monarch with crown - henry viii

Elizabeth and Mary's father, Henry VIII - (Reformation, Counter-Reformation then then back again - he started it all!

The Waiting Game

Following her marriage to a foreign prince (Philip of Spain) Mary's reign was one of sad and inevitable decline as her popularity and health deteriorated and the political landscape around her steadily unravelled. Much of the nation waited eagerly then for her natural successor, her half-sister Elizabeth, to inherit the crown. And this, as we know came soon enough.

young tudor queen in coronation regalia

Elizabeth's Coronation Portrait 1559

Something to celebrate!

Elizabeth, did not find everything plain sailing in her long and spectacular tenure. But in terms of sheer staying-power, invention, diplomacy and intelligence it would be hard to find her equal at any time. And that is why I shall definitely be raising a glass today in celebration of that amazing day so long ago, when the emissary from Westminster rode to Hatfield House - and where, beneath the branches of a great oak tree, as tradition has it, he informed her of Mary’s passing and that she, Elizabeth, had become Queen.

head and shoulders of elizabethan queen elizabeth

Authored by Robert Stephen Parry

You might also like

Elizabethan Era

Elizabeth Sieve Portrait - allegory and meaning

thumbnail image shows face of Elizabeth Tudor as queen

Find it Here

History

John Dee and the Invention of the Telescope

thumbnail image of Tudor scholar, pensive

Historical Novel

'Virgin and the Crab.' A story about Elizabeth Tudor.

book cover text, red against black background

Tudor

A Tudor Tour. Your handy guide to old England.

small image of map, black and white