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Summary Elizabeth I: Marriage and Succession Dilemma
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Document discusses Elizabeth I's marriage and succession dilemma.
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1Marriage and Succession Dilemma
- The question of marriage was deemed urgent as she was 25 years old and under
normal circumstances would have been married off by now to a European prince
- Main trouble was deciding who would be a suitable husband
- Keeping foreign suitors waiting made for good diplomacy as England faced several
threats abroad
- If the husband was foreign it would reinforce alliances
- However, if the husband was English it might disrupt the balance of power amongst the
nobility
- Issue of religious beliefs- Catholic or Protestant?
- Possible suitors 1559-62:
• First to volunteer was Philip II of Spain- he assumed that Elizabeth would be pleased
to gain political continuity and stability. He wanted England to work with Spain against
the struggle against France. He also wanted to ensure that France, through Mary
Queen of Scots did not gain influence in England
• Elizabeth was evasive and Philip recognised that this match was unlikely to happen
instead he made another proposal involving his two cousins
• Cousins: Austrian archdukes Ferdinand and Charles- Ferdinand was not suitable
because he was a staunch Catholic who was unable to compromise. Charles was a
possibility; it is accepted that Elizabeth had no intention of marrying him but diplomatic
channels were kept open for nearly a decade
• Aim was to make sure the Habsburgs remained friendly towards England
• Prince Eric of Sweden was a contender- he was Protestant and heir to the Swedish
throne
• Elizabeth returned his friendship and she and her people at court benefited from many
lavish gifts he bestowed her, though she had no intention of marrying him- there would
be little benefit from the marriage in terms of European diplomacy
- Possible suitors from England:
• Earl of Arundel, but he was Catholic
• One of the leading members of the gentry class was Sir William Peckering who had
spent many hours with Elizabeth in 1559- however the friendship was nothing more
and there was nothing to be gained politically
• Robert Dudley in spite of both his father and grandfather being executed- grandfather
at the beginning of Henry VIII’s reign and father at the beginning of Mary’s.
• Dudley was 27 years old and began to monopolise Elizabeth’s attention in 1559-
unfavourable comment in court that if his wife Amy Robsart died Elizabeth would
marry him
• By 1560 it was clear that there was a serious romance between her and Dudley
• September 1560 Amy Robsart was found dead with a broken neck at the bottom of
the stairs- circumstances were suspicious as servants had been sent away before the
accident
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