Constantine, Valentinian, Gratian, Theodosius, Arcadius, Honorius, and
other godly emperors have done’. Further, ‘God hath given charge to her
of both tables. In the first she hath charge of religion, in the other of civil
causes’.^187 Yet Jewel does understate the spiritual prerogatives that
Elizabeth believed she possessed, for:
She doth nothing but which she may lawfully do, nothing but
whereunto the Lord God hath given her especial warrant. Her
majesty is supreme governor over her subjects. The bishops within
her realm are subject to her. She governeth; they yield obedience.
When occasion is offered to dispose of any thing specially
appertained to the service of God, or to judge of a controversy
arising in spiritual causes, she commendeth and giveth to her learned
divines the due consideration thereof.^188Jewel did not live long enough to witness her majesty’s ‘due
consideration’ to archbishop Grindal.
As Jewel’s encomium progresses, Elizabeth’s status expands from her
delineated authority to her status among the hearts of the English, that
Elizabeth is ‘our sovereign and most gracious lady, a virgin full of
wisdom, virtue, grace, and compassion: she is unto us as a comfortable
water in a dry place, as a refuge for the tempest, and as the shadow of a
great rock in a weary land’.^189 That Jewel’s allusions, drawn from
Scripture, had been initially used either of the Virgin Mary or of Christ,
caused him no qualms, for to Jewel, the godly prince stood over the
people even as God did over the creation.
The greatest blessing which God giveth to any people is a godly
prince to rule over them. The greatest misery that can fall upon a
people is to have a godly prince taken from them. For by a godly
prince he doth so rule the people as if God himself were with them
in visible appearance. The prince walketh in the ways of the Lord:
the nobles follow the steps of the prince; and the people fashion
themselves to the example of the nobles. The face of a godly prince
shineth as the sun-beams and bringeth joy and comfort to his
subjects.^190
And,
When it pleased God to send a blessing upon us, he gave us his
servant Elizabeth to be our queen, and to be the instrument of his106 JOHN JEWEL AND THE ENGLISH NATIONAL CHURCH
(^187) Ibid., p. 1145.
(^188) Ibid., p. 1145.
(^189) Ibid., p. 1153. For these allusions Cf. Isaiah 32:2 for the water in a dry place, a
refuge from tempest and a rock in a weary land; the Angelusfor a virgin full of Grace (Ave
Maria); I Corinthians 3:17 and Proverbs 8:12–14 for wisdom; Compassion was a
commonplace in Marian devotion.
(^190) The language Jewel used here is probably drawn from Eusebius of Caesarea’s
Encomiumof Constantine the Great. Ibid., p. 1153.
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