Who was Elizabeth I ? Tudor trailer

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1 Who was Elizabeth I ? Tudor trailer
Listening to the Biography and the Tudor Trailer, take 15 minutes to realize a little summary of Elizabeth I’s life.

2 Elizabeth I (also known as Elizabeth the Great, or the "Virgin Queen") was born in 1533 into a dangerous world of political intrigue. When she was only two years old, her father, King Henry VIII killed her mother, Ann Boleyn, because she had not yet produced a male heir. Henry's routine killing of her successive stepmothers every few years traumatized Elizabeth, who loved her father. Although Henry finally did father a son, Edward VI, the boy did not live long, dying at the age of sixteen after a six-year reign, and thus Elizabeth's older sister Mary I came to the throne in Meanwhile, the young Elizabeth showed exceptional intelligence, excelling at her studies well beyond any of the other royal children. A Catholic, Mary married the Hapsburg prince of Spain, the soon-to-be Philip II. Mary would come to be known as "Bloody Mary" for her harsh treatment of English Protestants in her attempt to restore Catholicism to England. When Sir Thomas Wyat the Younger's Rebellion threatened Mary's rule, she believed Elizabeth to have been involved in the plot and imprisoned her in the Tower of London. By a combination of luck and skillful persuasion on the part of her political allies, Elizabeth survived this ordeal and became queen when Mary died in Elizabeth quickly consolidated power and returned the country to Protestantism, passing the Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity, although by Reformation standards Catholics fared well under these acts. With the help of able advisors like Sir William Cecil (later Lord Burleigh) and the spy-networks of Francis Walsingham, she ruled the country ably and initiated an era of economic prosperity. In international affairs, Elizabeth manipulated the princes of Europe, using the prospect of marriage to her (and thus joint control over England) as a bargaining tool; indeed, preferring the power that came with perpetual eligibility, she ultimately never married at all. She was, however, involved in a scandalous romance with Robert Dudley (later called the Earl of Leicester), her Master of the Horse. Because Elizabeth was both husbandless and childless, to overthrow her would be to gain immediate control of the throne; plots against her proliferated. Most involved replacing her with Mary Queen of Scots, a Catholic member of the Stuart line. After Walsingham foiled the Babington Plot in 1586, Mary Queen of Scots was executed. Following Mary's beheading, Philip II of Spain, Catholic and enraged by Sir Francis Drake's constant plundering of his Spanish galleons, decided it was time for an attack. In 1588 he launched his supposedly invincible Spanish Armada to fetch his armies fighting in the Netherlands and transport them to England. The Armada was defeated by the skillful maneuvers of the English fleet, and was further debilitated by stormy weather (known as the "Protestant Wind"). England was saved from the Spanish threat, establishing the roots of a long tradition of English naval dominance

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4 Introduction The Speech to the Troops at Tilbury was delivered on 9 August Old Style, 19 August New Style 1588 by Queen Elizabeth I of England to the land forces earlier assembled at Tilbury in Essex in preparation for repelling the expected invasion by the Spanish Armada. Prior to the speech the Armada had been driven from the Strait of Dover in the Battle of Gravelines eleven days earlier, and had by then rounded Scotland on its way home, but troops were still held at ready in case the Spanish army of Alexander Farnese, the Duke of Parma, might yet attempt to invade from Dunkirk; two days later they were discharged. On the day of the speech, the Queen left her bodyguard before the fort at Tilbury and went among her subjects with an escort of six men. Lord Ormonde walked ahead with the Sword of State; he was followed by a page leading the Queen’s charger and another bearing her silver helmet on a cushion; then came the Queen herself, in white with a silver cuirass and mounted on a grey gelding. She was flanked on horseback by her Lieutenant General the Earl of Leicester on the right, and on the left by the Earl of Essex, her Master of the Horse. Sir John Norreys brought up the rear.

5 Speech to the troops

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7 ANALYSIS Occasion: Date: Length of speech in time & words: Audience:
Central Message: Type: Objectif: Tone:

8 ANALYSIS Occasion: Queen Elizabeth I addresses her assembled English Troops at Tilbury near London, gathered in anticipation of the Spanish Armada invasion Date: 19th August 1588 Length of speech in time & words: 312 words (no time recorded approximately 2 minutes)  Audience: The English Army Central Message: That as a woman she was ‘weaker’ than men, but she also had an internal strength that made her worthy to be a sovereign Type: Motivational Speech Objectif: Victory will be ours Tone: I am one of you. I will live and die with you

9 Speech to the Troops at Tilbury August 9th, 1588 TRANSLATION Mon peuple bien aimé, Mes plus proches conseillers m’ont dissuadée pour ma sécurité de m’adresser à mes forces armées, et ce dans la crainte des mouvements de traitrise. Mais je vous prie de croire que je ne crains rien de plus que de perdre la confiance et la reconnaissance de mon peuple. Laissons la peur aux tyrans, j’ai toujours agi ainsi, sous le regard de Dieu, J’ai confié mes forces et ma vie aux bonnes volontés de mon peuple fidèle. Ainsi je viens parmi vous, comme vous le voyez en cet instant, non pour mon plaisir ou mon divertissement mais déterminée, au cœur même de la bataille, à vivre et à mourir parmi vous, à me plier à la volonté de mon Dieu, de mon royaume, de mon peuple. Je vous remets mon honneur, mon sang même si je dois être réduite en poussière. Même si ma chair est faible, pareille à celle d’une femme, J’ai le cœur et la ténacité d’un roi, et d’un roi d’Angleterre en particulier. Je maudis Parme, l’Espagne ou n’importe quel souverain d’Europe d’avoir osé envahir les frontières de mon royaume. Aucun pire déshonneur ne pourrait m’être infligé. Je prendrai moi même les armes, je serai votre général et votre juge, capable de récompenser votre courage sur le champ de bataille. Je sais déjà que vous méritez des récompenses et des couronnes pour votre audace et je vous assure avec les mots d’une reine, que vous serez largement récompensés. Mon lieutenant général se tient déjà en place. Jamais commandant n’a défendu plus noble cause que la nôtre. A aucun instant, je ne doute de votre respect de ses ordres, de votre bon esprit dans le campement, de votre courage sur le champ de bataille. Bientôt nous vaincrons dans la gloire les ennemis de Dieu, de mon peuple, de mon royaume.

10 Would you consider her as a hero ? Why ?
How would you define Elizabeth I personality ? Using the following adjectives. Would you consider her as a hero ? Why ?

11 The Armada Portrait Attributed to George Gower ( ), c1588, courtesy Woburn Abbey London: National Portrait Gallery

12 The Armada Portrait Pearls – Like her mother before her, Elizabeth loved pearls and in her portraits pearls symbolise purity and virginity. Pearls symbolised purity. Marilee Cody, on her excellent site on Tudor portraits – – suggests that the pearls were Dudley’s last gift to Elizabeth and so had special meaning to Elizabeth. Elizabeth – Although Elizabeth was around 55 when this portrait was painted, she is presented as youthful and vibrant with her made-up face, bright red hair and unblemished complexion. She is also dressed in all her finery and rich jewels,  and really is the iconic, ever-youthful Virgin Queen. Elizabeth’s gaze – C J Cairns writes of how the way that she is gazing into the distance could symbolise her looking to the future of her realm. Posture – Just as her father liked his posture to speak of his power and magnificence, Elizabeth too has adopted a posture of power. Ruff – C J Cairns writes of how her ruff frames her face like rays of the sun. Window scenes – I think it was David Dimbleby in his series “The Seven Ages of Britain” who noted that in the window on the left hand side of the painting there is the arrival of the Armada and then on the right there is the defeat of the Armada. This portrait could be seen as a tribute to Elizabeth’s success at protecting the nation from Spanish invasion or you could see a religious meaning: perhaps the ships are being forced onto the rocks by the “Protestant wind”. C J Cairns comments that Elizabeth has “called upon the elements to dispel the Spanish Catholic threat”. Globe – If you look at the placement of Elizabeth’s hand on the globe, you can see that her hand is over the Americas which England was busy colonising. As Marilee Cody points out, this painting was painted one year after the birth of the first English child in the colonist’s settlement of Virginia. Her fingers are extending to other parts of the globe and this symbolises that Elizabeth’s power is fa reaching and that the whole world is at her disposal. Pillars – An article on wikipedia says that “The Queen is flanked by two columns behind, probably a reference to the famous impresa of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, Philip II of Spain’s father, which represented the pillars of Hercules, gateway to the Atlantic Ocean and the New World.” ( Les Colonnes d'Hercule est le nom donné, dans l'Antiquité romaine, aux montagnes qui bordaient le détroit de Gibraltar. Il s'agit du rocher de Gibraltar (Calpe en latin) au nord, sur la rive européenne, et du mont Abyle (Mons Abyla), aujourd'hui Jbel Musa, sur la rive marocaine. Les Colonnes ont reçu leur nom d'un des douze travaux d'Héraclès, et plus particulièrement celui durant lequel il dut récupérer les bœufs de Géryon, monstre au triple-corps habitant dans « l'extrême Occident »1 pour les ramener à Eurysthée qui les offrit à Héra en sacrifice. Elles symbolisaient la frontière entre le monde civilisé et un monde inconnu ou dangereux. )

13 The Armada Portrait The egg shaped object – Of you look at the right hand side of the painting, you can see that there is an egg shaped object above Elizabeth’s shoulder and in front of the window. It appears to be a pomegranate ( grenade ) which symbolised fertility, abundance, generosity, union, prosperity, rebirth, resurrection and eternal life. The Crown – Confirmation of Elizabeth’s powerful position as monarchy and her royalty and majesty. If it is indeed an imperial crown, as some have suggested, it speaks again of Elizabeth’s far reach and Elizabeth as Empress. Carving – The arm of the chair has a carving of a mermaid which, according to C J Cairns was “a symbol of the potential destructive nature of females” and that Elizabeth’s position with her back to the image could signify her rejection of its meaning. I wonder if it actually speaks of Elizabeth’s power over the seas. Bow – One article on this portrait has suggested that the placement of the large bow is a “blatant display of Elizabeth’s virginity” just as Henry VIII’s large codpiece (braguette) spoke of his sexuality and prowess.