THE HISTORY ESSAYEmphasising the political and public nature of Elizabeth’s rela-
tionships makes them no less fascinating. On the contrary, setting
them within their cultural and political contexts adds a richness
and complexity to our readings of the reign. The stories surround-
ing the queen’s relationships remain enthralling, and also provide
important insights into the workings of the court and political
life, especially when approached from multiple perspectives: how
the queen related to her circle; how her kin, courtiers and council-
lors viewed and dealt with her; and how these stories were con-
structed by contemporaries and later historians.Susan Doran is professor of early modern British history at the
University of OxfordThe queen’s anger at the men and women who married
without her permission soon abated, if she was especially
fond of them and their fault was not judged too great
generation of Elizabethan privy councillors. Instead he came to
alienate the most influential – Sir Robert Cecil and Charles
Howard, Earl of Nottingham – by treating them as political ene-
mies. By the late 1590s, Essex was convinced that they and their
friends comprised a narrow cabal of evil councillors and corrupt
politicians who were poisoning the queen against him. It was fear
that they would present his failure in Ireland in the worst possible
light – even as treason – that led the earl to dash to court in 1599
to explain his actions face to face with the queen, even though she
had ordered him to stay put in Ireland. When Elizabeth consult-
ed her councillors after her unexpected interview with the earl,
unsurprisingly no one close to her spoke up for him.
Essex’s political isolation at the heart of government continued
until his death. He had many supporters in the army and
London, but at court he had to rely on female relatives to plead for
his reinstatement with the queen, and inevitably their voices were
not enough. Essex fell from power not because Elizabeth saw
sense and was shaken out of her infatuation with her unreliable
‘toyboy’, but because he badly overplayed his hand in a political
power struggle that should never have happened.BOOK
Elizabeth I and her Circle by Susan Doran (OUP, 2015)DISCOVER MORESU
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TO
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This sculpture in the grounds of Hatfield House shows Elizabeth with her courtiers. The queen’s “semi-erotic” relationship with
her male councillors was designed to “strengthen the bonds of loyalty and service of elite men to a female monarch” Listen to historian Lisa Hilton explore the life of Elizabeth I
on our podcast. Go to historyextra.com/podcastsON THE PODCAST