Queen Elizabeth I of England

‘A certain degree of success, real or supposed, in the delineation of

Queen Mary, naturally induced the author to attempt something similar

respecting "her sister and her foe," the celebrated Elizabeth. He

will not, however, pretend to have approached the task with the same

feelings; for the candid Robertson himself confesses having felt the

prejudices with which a Scottishman is tempted to regard the subject;

and what so liberal a historian avows, a poor romance-writer dares not

disown. But he hopes the influence of a prejudice, almost as natural to

him as his native air, will not be found to have greatly affected the

sketch he has attempted of England's Elizabeth. I have endeavoured

to describe her as at once a high-minded sovereign, and a female of

passionate feelings, hesitating betwixt the sense of her rank and

the duty she owed her subjects on the one hand, and on the other her

attachment to a nobleman, who, in external qualifications at least,

amply merited her favour. The interest of the story is thrown upon that

period when the sudden death of the first Countess of Leicester seemed

to open to the ambition of her husband the opportunity of sharing the

crown of his sovereign.’

The text above is from the introduction to Sir Walter Scott’s “Kenilworth”.  The great queen of England lived to nearly 70 (born 1533), but it was a life of heavy responsibility, and she seems to have passed weary of life.  The end came on March 24^th, 1603.

Treaty of Edinburgh

On July 6, 1560, the Treaty of Edinburgh was signed, between Elizabeth I of England and France.  This treaty ended the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France, and of more direct import, the Siege of Leith, which had begun the previous year.  French troops, which had been encamped at Leith for twelve years, removed from Scotland permanently at this point.

Sir Walter Scott makes a comment in the introduction to his "Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border" regarding Leith:

'The flame of reformation, long stifled in Scotland, now burst forth, with the violence of a volcanic eruption. The siege of Leith was commenced, by the combined forces of the Congregation and of England. The borderers cared little about speculative points of religion; but they shewed themselves much interested in the treasures which passed through their country, for payment of the English forces at Edinburgh. Much alarm was excited, lest the marchers should intercept these weighty protestant arguments; and it was, probably, by voluntarily imparting a share in them to Lord Home, that he became a sudden convert to the new faith.'

Throgmorton

'...He glanced over the parchment, and instantly replied,--"Oh! my dear and royal mistress, only treason itself could give you other advice than Lord Seyton has here expressed. He, Herries, Huntly, the English ambassador Throgmorton, and others, your friends, are all alike of opinion, that whatever deeds or instruments you execute within these walls, must lose all force and effect, as extorted from your Grace by duresse, by sufferance of present evil, and fear of men, and harm to ensue on your refusal. Yield, therefore, to the tide, and be assured, that in subscribing what parchments they present to you, you bind yourself to nothing, since your act of signature wants that which alone can make it valid, the free will of the granter."...'

Ambassador Throgmorton in Walter Scott "The Abbot" or Sir Nicholas Throckmorton as he is better known, first served Henry VIII of England.  Throckmorton accompanied Henry in battle against France.  After Henry's death, he served Katherine Parr and Princess Elizabeth.  Throckmorton supported Mary Tudor's claim to the throne, and later worked for Elizabeth when she became Queen.  Elizabeth commissioned Throckmorton to negotiate with Mary Queen of Scots not to marry Lord Darnley.  He also worked in an official capacity to restore Mary to power when Scottish Barons imprisoned her at Lochleven.  Nicholas Throckmorton died on February 12 1571.

Raleigh's Muddy Cloak

'...From thence home, and after a little dinner my wife and I by coach into London, and bought some glasses, and then to Whitehall to see Mrs. Fox, but she not within, my wife to my mother Bowyer, and I met with Dr. Thomas Fuller, and took him to the Dog, where he tells me of his last and great book that is coming out: that is, his History of all the Families in England; and could tell me more of my own, than I knew myself. And also to what perfection he hath now brought the art of memory; that he did lately to four eminently great scholars dictate together in Latin, upon different subjects of their proposing, faster than they were able to write, till they were tired; and by the way in discourse tells me that the best way of beginning a sentence, if a man should be out and forget his last sentence (which he never was), that then his last refuge is to begin with an Utcunque...'

On January 22, 1661, Samuel Pepys records meeting with Thomas Fuller, the churchman known for his "The Worthies of England".  Fuller is credited also with a fictitious story that Sir Walter Scott employed in his "Kenilworth".  The story is the famous incident of Raleigh gallantly throwing his cloak atop a mud puddle so that Queen Elizabeth wouldn't get her feet dirty.  Scott repeats this incident in Kenilworth:

'Accordingly, she fixed her keen glance on the youth, as she approached the place where he stood, with a look in which surprise at his boldness seemed to be unmingled with resentment, while a trifling accident happened which attracted her attention towards him yet more strongly. The night had been rainy, and just where the young gentleman stood a small quantity of mud interrupted the Queen's passage. As she hesitated to pass on, the gallant, throwing his cloak from his shoulders, laid it on the miry spot, so as to ensure her stepping over it dry-shod. Elizabeth looked at the young man, who accompanied this act of devoted courtesy with a profound reverence, and a blush that overspread his whole countenance. The Queen was confused, and blushed in her turn, nodded her head, hastily passed on, and embarked in her barge without saying a word.

"Come along, Sir Coxcomb," said Blount; "your gay cloak will need the brush to-day, I wot. Nay, if you had meant to make a footcloth of your mantle, better have kept Tracy's old drab-debure, which despises all colours."


"This cloak," said the youth, taking it up and folding it, "shall never be brushed while in my possession."...'

Ridolfi Plot

"What, Hal Hempseed?" replied the mercer. "Why, you may remember he was a sort of a gentleman, and would meddle in state matters, and so he got into the mire about the Duke of Norfolk's affair these two or three years since, fled the country with a pursuivant's warrant at his heels, and has never since been heard of."

The Duke of Norfolk's affair spoken of in Walter Scott's "Kenilworth" is the Ridolfi Plot, which sought to eliminate Elizabeth I from the throne in favor of Catholic Mary Queen of Scots.  Roberto di Ridolfi, who is credited with hatching the plot, was a Florentine banker with ties to William Cecil, among others.  Mary was to marry cousin Thomas Howard, the 4th Duke of Norfolk, as part of the plan.

The conspiracy fell apart due primarily to the work of Admiral John Hawkins, who worked as a counter-espionage agent, and learned of Ridolfi's plan from Spain's Ambassador to England.  On January 16, 1572, Thomas Howard was tried for treason for his role in the conspiracy.  He was found guilty, and executed.

Dudley Marries Amy Robsart

The heroine of Walter Scott's "Kenilworth" was Amy Robsart.  Amy was the daughter of Sir John Robsart and Elizabeth Scott.  Amy Robsart and Robert Dudley, son of Earl John Dudley of Warwick, married on June 4, 1550.

Amy Robsart is most famous for her mysterious death.  She died of a broken neck (1560), and was found at the bottom of a set of stairs at Cumnor Place.  Supposition has it that she was either murdered, to make way for a marriage between Dudley and Queen Elizabeth I.  Another possibility is suicide.

In "Kenilworth", Scott portrays the marriage between Dudley and Robsart as secret; necessarily so due to Dudley's position at Elizabeth's court:

"...Varney kneeled down, and replied, with a look of the most profound contrition, "There had been some love passages betwixt him and Mistress Amy Robsart."


Leicester's flesh quivered with indignation as he heard his dependant make this avowal, and for one moment he manned himself to step forward, and, bidding farewell to the court and the royal favour, confess the whole mystery of the secret marriage. But he looked at Sussex, and the idea of the triumphant smile which would clothe his cheek upon hearing the avowal sealed his lips. "Not now, at least," he thought, "or in this presence, will I afford him so rich a triumph." And pressing his lips close together, he stood firm and collected, attentive to each word which Varney uttered, and determined to hide to the last the secret on which his court-favour seemed to depend. Meanwhile, the Queen proceeded in her examination of Varney.


"Love passages!" said she, echoing his last words; "what passages, thou knave? and why not ask the wench's hand from her father, if thou hadst any honesty in thy love for her?"..."

Elizabeth I Excommunicated

"...The Popes also, by whom Elizabeth was justly regarded as the great prop of the Reformed religion, endeavoured to excite against her such of her subjects as still owned obedience to the See of Rome. At length, in 1570—71, Pius II., then the reigning Pope, published a bull, or sentence of excommunication, by which he deprived Queen Elizabeth (as far as his sentence could) of her hopes of heaven, and of her kingdom upon earth, excluded her from the privileges of Christians, and delivered her over as a criminal to whomsoever should step forth to vindicate the Church, by putting to death its greatest enemy. The zeal of the English Catholics was kindled by this sentence from the Head of their Church..."

As Walter Scott relates to his grandson, "Hugh Littlejohn" (Tales of a Grandfather), Pope Pius V excommunicated Elizabeth I, believing that Mary, Queen of Scots, a Catholic was the rightful sovereign.  The excommunication occurred on February 25, 1570.

Beheading at Fotherinhay Castle

On February 8, 1587, Mary Queen of Scots was executed for treason; attempting to assassinate Queen Elizabeth of England.  Mary was the daughter of James V, becoming heir to the throne when an infant.  She married Francis II of France at age 16.  Scott covers her imprisonment at Lochleven Castle, and subsequent flight to England in "The Abbot".  A fuller discussion of her life, and her brave comportment during her ultimate execution, is contained in "Tales of a Grandfather".

"...When the Queen was seated in the fatal chair, she heard the death warrant read by Beale...She implored the mercy of Heaven, after the form prescribed by her own church.  She then prepared herself for execution, taking off such parts of her dress as might interfere with the deadly blow...She quietly chid her maids, who were unable to withhold their cries of lamentation, and reminded them she had engaged for their silence.  Last of all, Mary laid her head on the block, which the executioner severed from her body with two strokes of his axe..."

The image of the mound on which Fotheringhay Castle stood is courtesy of the Marie Stuart Society.  The plaque on the fence is a memorial to Mary Stuart.

Sir Thomas Gresham

Sir Thomas Gresham died on November 21, 1579. Gresham was a merchant and financier whose career included stints with King Edward VI, Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth I. His father, Sir Richard Gresham had been knighted by King Henry VIII, for his efforts in securing foreign loans for Henry.

Sir Thomas also made his mark in financial dealings, being called in by Edward VI to restore the value of the Pound, which had fallen due to financial mismanagement. Though initially out of favor, when Mary succeeded Edward, he was soon reinstated. Elizabeth I gained the crown in 1558, continuing to rely on Gresham for financial matters. In 1559, Elizabeth asked Gresham to serve as ambassador at the court of the Duchess of Parma, and he was knighted soon before he departed on his mission.

In 1565, Gresham proposed a plan for an exchange, based on the Antwerp Bourse. This plan was adopted, and became the Royal Exchange.

Sir Walter Scott was familiar with Gresham, and among the inclusions in Scott's work is a reference in the Waverley Novels to Gresham college. The college itself was comprised largely of Gresham's own property in London. Lectures commenced in June 1597, one year after the death of Thomas' widow Anne.

Elizabeth I

Today, in 1533, Elizabeth I was born. Elizabeth was depicted in Scott's "Kenilworth", that being the castle of Elizabeth's favorite, Robert Dudley. The story line covered the death, and possible murder of Amy Robsart, Dudley's first wife. Scott's novel may have been inspired by a ballad he knew from his youth, William Julius Mickle's Cumnor Hall. As Scott's biographer Lockhart asserts, Cumnor Hall was the original name of the novel. Scott's publisher, Constable, insisted the name be Kenilworth, which is how the novel was published.