BR
ID
GE
MA
N/
GE
TT
Y^ I
MA
GE
S/
DR
EA
MS
TIM
E/J
EN
I^ N
OT
T
WELCOME
EDITORIAL
Editor Rob Attar
[email protected]
Managing editor Charlotte Hodgman
Production editor Spencer Mizen
Sub-editor Paul Bloomfield
Picture editor Samantha Nott
[email protected]
Art editor Sarah Lambert
Additional work by Ellie Cawthorne,
Rachel Dickens, Rachel Dinning, Matt Elton,
Elinor Evans, Susanne Frank, Katherine Hallett,
Emma Mason, Rosemary SmithBBC History Magazine is published by Immediate Media Company
Bristol Limited under licence from BBC Studios who help fund
new BBC programmes.
BBC History Magazine was established to publish authoritative
history, written by leading experts, in an accessible and
attractive format. We seek to maintain the high journalistic
standards traditionally associated with the BBC.
PRESS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
PR manager Emma C ooney 0117 30 0 8 507
[email protected]
SYNDICATION
Director of licensing & syndication Tim Hudson
International partners’ manager Anna Brown
PRODUCTION
Production director Sarah Powell
Acting production co-ordinator Lily Owens-Crossman
IMMEDIATE MEDIA COMPANY
Content director David Musgrove
Commercial director Jemima Dixon
Publishing director Andy Healy
Managing director Andy Marshall
CEO Tom Bureau
BBC STUDIOS
President of UK and ANZ Marcus Arthur
Director for Consumer Products and Publishing Andrew Moultrie
Director of Editorial Governance Nicholas Brett
Publishing Director Chris Kerwin
Publisher Magazines and NPD Mandy Thwaites
Publishing Co-ordinator Eva Abramik ([email protected])© Immediate Media Company Bristol Limited, 2018
ISSN: 1469 8552
Not for resale. All rights reserved. Unauthorised reproduction in
whole or part is prohibited without written permission. Every
effort has been made to secure permission for copyright material.
In the event of any material being used inadvertently, or where it
proved impossible to trace the copyright owner, acknowledgement
will be made in a future issue.
MSS, photographs and artwork are accepted on the basis that
BBC History Magazine and its agents do not accept liability for
loss or damage to same. Views expressed are not necessarily
those of the publisher.
We abide by IP SO’s rules and regulations. To give feedback
about our magazines, please visit immediate.co.uk, email
[email protected] or write to Katherine
Conlon, Immediate Media Co., Vineyard House, 44 Brook Green,
London W6 7BT
Immediate Media Company is working to ensure that all of its
paper is sourced from well-managed forests. This magazine can
be recycled, for use in newspapers and packaging. Please remove
any gifts, samples or wrapping and dispose of it at your local
collection point.“Elizabeth was
a different kind of
queen – one who
was not afraid to
stand out, and who
chose to walk her
own path in the
face of resistance”
Historian and writer NICOLA TALLIS
discusses why the appeal of the
Elizabethan era – and its ‘Virgin
Queen’ – has endured, on page 114If ever an English monarch merited the byname ‘the Great’,
surely it was the last of the Tudor line: Elizabeth I.
During her reign, England successfully repelled a mighty
Spanish Armada. Extravagant ‘accession day’ celebrations
and new theatres, in which William Shakespeare first performed his
peerless plays, revolutionised public entertainment. Extraordinary
palaces and ‘prodigy houses’ were built – expressions of wealth and
artistic exuberance. Groundbreaking trading and diplomatic ties were
established with Islamic states across north Africa and the Middle East.
English explorers ventured far into Asia and the Arctic, sowing the
seeds of a vast British empire. And Elizabeth herself overcame the odds:
as a child declared illegitimate and cut from the succession after the
execution of her mother, Anne Boleyn, she faced a series of plots against
her life and throne, yet forged her image as a strong, single-minded
‘Virgin Queen’ whose memory is widely revered to this day.
Yet many often-overlooked, darker aspects took the shine off her reign.
In this special edition of BBC History Magazine, a cadre of experts explore
both the triumphs and the more lamentable facets of the Elizabethan era.
We discover the queen’s jealous control of the love lives of her courtiers,
the hunger, poverty, violence and fear faced by ordinary
folk, the persecution of Catholics – including the torture
and execution of dozens of priests – and the bloody
suppression of rebellion in Ireland.
The Story of the Elizabethans compiles and updates
articles that have appeared previously in BBC History
Magazine, along with several new articles written
specially for this edition. I hope you enjoy it.Charlotte Hodgman
Managing editor