It’s Not Easy Being Queen

Royal women played critical roles in the cultural and political history of the world in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Here you can explore some of their experiences through the Emmerson Collection.

For fifty years from July 1553 to March 1603, two women ruled Britain: Mary I and Elizabeth I, the daughters of Tudor king Henry VIII and his first and second wives, Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. The complexity of this family dynamic brought political and religious turmoil to the land, followed by a long period of relative peace and stability under the reign of Elizabeth I, though the troublesome figure of her first cousin once removed, Mary Queen of Scots, was a thorn in Elizabeth’s side.

When Mary’s son James became King of England and Scotland after Elizabeth’s death, a new generation of royal women took the stage, including Anne of Denmark, Henrietta Maria, Elizabeth of Bohemia and Catherine of Braganza. All would wield significant influence over the actions of their royal husbands, brothers and sons.

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1 – The Elizabethan Age

William Camden, <em>The historie of the most renowned and victorious princesse Elizabeth, late Queene of England...</em> London, printed by Nicholas Okes... for Benjamin Fisher and are to be sold at his shop in Aldersgate streete, at the signe of the Talbot, 1630, State Library Victoria, Melbourne (RAREEMM 126/6)

William Camden, The historie of the most renowned and victorious princesse Elizabeth, late Queene of England... London, printed by Nicholas Okes... for Benjamin Fisher and are to be sold at his shop in Aldersgate streete, at the signe of the Talbot, 1630, State Library Victoria, Melbourne (RAREEMM 126/6)

Elizabeth I of England and Ireland…
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Daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn…
Half-portrait painting of Henry VIII set against a green background. He is wearing a floppy cap, and a jacket with a fur collar. His linen shirt beneath his doublet has been pulled through slashes in the cloth of gold fabric to form elliptical puffs of fabric. In front of him a scroll sits on a red velet pillow.
Joos van Cleve, Henry VIII, c. 1530–1535, Royal Collection Trust (RCIN 403368)
Reigned for forty-four years (1558–1603), inheriting the crown on the death of her half-sister Mary I.
Known as the Virgin Queen, Elizabeth never married and was the last of the five Tudor monarchs.

This book was once owned by Cortlandt F. Bishop (1870–1935), an American pioneer aviator, balloonist and autoist.

The Elizabethan age is one of the most celebrated periods of English history, particularly due to its influential literary and theatrical scene…
Led by Elizabeth herself, as well as William Shakespeare…
An old document with five entries written in an elegant, cursive hand.
Stationers’ Register entry for William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 8 October 1600, Stationer’s Company Archive, London (TSC/E/06/02 – Liber C)
…and the literary siblings Philip and Mary Sidney, among others.
Elegant handwriting in an old notebook.
Some time after her brother’s death, Mary Sidney completed his paraphrase of the Psalms in English verse.

The Sidney Psalms, Psalm 44, 16th century, Trinity College, Cambridge (O.1.51 (f049r))

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  • Half-portrait painting of Queen Elizabeth. She has red hair and is wearing extravagant bejeweled clothes incorporating bows and pearls. Around her neck is a large, intricate, lace-like collar.

    Elizabeth I was a skilled orator who used her mastery of language to, quite literally, rally her troops. In her famous Tilbury Speech, delivered on 9 August 1588 to English soldiers preparing for an invasion by the Spanish Armada, Elizabeth exclaimed that she has ‘the heart and stomach of a king’ and would herself ‘take up arms’ should ‘any prince of Europe’ dare to invade her borders.

    Image: Anonymous artist, Queen Elizabeth I (also known as the Armada portrait – painted to commemorate England’s victory over the Spanish Armada), 1588, National Portrait Gallery, London (NPG 541)

    Page from an old notebook covered in elegant, neat handwriting.

    Elizabeth applied her command of language to her poetry. In this poem, a more vulnerable Elizabeth laments that:

    The dowt [fear] of future foos [foes], exiles my pr[e]sent Ioye [Joy]

    Image: Elizabeth Tudor, The Doubt of Future Foes, 1569–70, British Library, London (MS 82370 (f.45v))

2 – Elizabeth’s struggle for power

Thomas Heywood, <em>Englands Elizabeth: her life and troubles during her minoritie from the cradle to the crowne...</em> London, printed by Iohn Beale for Philip Waterhouse and are to be sold at his Shop at St. Paul's Head, near London-Stone, 1631, State Library Victoria, Melbourne (RAREEMM 114/10)

Thomas Heywood, Englands Elizabeth: her life and troubles during her minoritie from the cradle to the crowne... London, printed by Iohn Beale for Philip Waterhouse and are to be sold at his Shop at St. Paul's Head, near London-Stone, 1631, State Library Victoria, Melbourne (RAREEMM 114/10)

The frontispiece to this work about Elizabeth refers to her imprisonment by her half-sister Mary I during Mary’s reign.
Dynastic rivalry was rife in Tudor England, in part due to the fraught legacy of Henry VIII’s multiple marriages.
In this painting Henry VIII is seated with his third wife, Jane Seymour, and their son, Prince Edward, later Edward VI. To the left is Princess Mary, later Mary I, Henry’s daughter with his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and on the right Princess Elizabeth, later Elizabeth I, his daughter by his second wife, Anne Boleyn.
Henry VIII is seated with his third wife, Jane Seymour and son, Prince Edward, later Edward VI. To the left is Princess Mary, later Mary I, Henry’s daughter with his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and on the right Princess Elizabeth, later Elizabeth I, his daughter by his second wife, Anne Boleyn.
Anonymous artist, The Family of Henry VIII, c. 1545, Royal Collection Trust (RCIN 405796)
A Catholic, Mary (r. 1553–58) feared an uprising led by her popular Protestant half-sister.
So she held Elizabeth under house arrest for most of 1554 in Woodstock, Oxfordshire.
However, before her death in 1558, the childless Mary recognised Elizabeth as her heir.

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  • Fragment of an old letter written in neat, elegant handwriting. Its edges are torn and perhaps burnt.

    Mary Tudor was the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, Henry’s first wife. After his marriage to Catherine was annulled, Henry married Anne Boleyn, and separated Mary from her mother, fearing his daughter’s mind would be corrupted by his scorned ex-‘wife’. For years, Mary refused to acknowledge the annulment of her parents’ marriage and her own illegitimacy.

    Image: Letter from Lady Mary to King Henry VIII, 1536, British Library, London (Cotton MS Otho C X (f271r))

    Fragment of an old letter written in neat, elegant handwriting. Its edges are torn and perhaps burnt.

    In this letter from Mary to Henry written 22 June 1536, she finally submits to him. Seventeen years later Mary would become Queen.

    Moste humbly prostrete before the feete of Your most excellent Majestie, your most homble, faythefull, and obediente subjecte, which hath so extremely offended Your most gratyous Highnes, that my heavie and fearfull hert dare not presume to calle you Father

    Image: Letter from Lady Mary to King Henry VIII 1536, British Library, London (Cotton MS Otho C X (f271r))

3 – Mary, Queen of Scots

William Camden, <em>The historie of the life and death of Mary Stuart, Queene of Scotland</em>, London, printed by Iohn Haviland for Richard Whitaker, and are to be sold at the signe of the Kings Head in Pauls Church-yard, 1624, State Library Victoria, Melbourne (RAREEMM 126/9)

William Camden, The historie of the life and death of Mary Stuart, Queene of Scotland, London, printed by Iohn Haviland for Richard Whitaker, and are to be sold at the signe of the Kings Head in Pauls Church-yard, 1624, State Library Victoria, Melbourne (RAREEMM 126/9)

Mary Stuart (Mary, Queen of Scots) was Elizabeth I’s first cousin once removed.
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Mary Stuart was a claimant to the English and Irish crown through her grandmother, Margaret Tudor, Henry VIII’s sister.
Full-length portrait of a woman in front of a green velvet curtain. To her right is a column and a balcony from which there is a view of a green landscape on an overcast day. The woman is wearing a long gold and brown dress with a necklace and headpiece.
Daniel Mytens, Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scotland, c. 1620–38, Royal Collection Trust (RCIN 401181)
After the death of Mary Tudor in 1558, many English Catholics saw Mary Stuart as the rightful queen…
Half-portrait painting of a seated older woman. She is wearing grey and brown robes with a high collar and headpiece. She is holding a red rose in her right hand.
Anthonis Mor, Mary Tudor, Queen of England, 1554, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid (P002108)
… not the Protestant Elizabeth, whom they considered illegitimate.
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William Camden, <em>The historie of the life and death of Mary Stuart, Queene of Scotland</em>, London, printed by Iohn Haviland, and are to be sold by William Sheares in Britaines Burse at the signe of the Harrow, 1636, State Library Victoria, Melbourne (RAREEMM 114/14)

William Camden, The historie of the life and death of Mary Stuart, Queene of Scotland, London, printed by Iohn Haviland, and are to be sold by William Sheares in Britaines Burse at the signe of the Harrow, 1636, State Library Victoria, Melbourne (RAREEMM 114/14)

With her French manners and renowned beauty, Mary Stuart was considered a personal as well as a political rival to Elizabeth.
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In 1565, Mary married her half-cousin Lord Darnley, a fellow Catholic and claimant to the English and Irish thrones, with whom she had a son, James.
Full-length painting of a man in front of a red velvet curtain. He is wearing black leggings under puffy black pants with a long sleeved black top. Around his neck is a white frilly collar and blue shash or medal. To his left there is a table on which sits a crown, and orb and a sceptre.
Paul van Somer, James VI & I, c. 1618, Royal Collection Trust (RCIN 401224)
Though Mary and Elizabeth never met, their lives were entangled until the end…
Mary was executed by Elizabeth in 1587.
Drawing in brown ink or pencil of a crowd surrounding a scaffold on which stands several figures including three female figures.
Drawing of the execution of Mary Queen of Scot, 1587, British Library, London (Add MS 48027/1(f.650r))
Elizabeth, unmarried and childless, would ultimately recognise Mary’s son James as her own heir, despite having executed his mother for treason.

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  • Old, discoloured letter written in an elegant hand.

    Despite at times signing letters to her as ‘Your most assured loving sister and cousin’, Elizabeth increasingly distrusted Mary, Queen of Scots. After Mary fled to England from an uprising against her in Scotland, Elizabeth had her confined – first at a manor in Derbyshire in the custody of the Earl of Shrewsbury, then at a castle further inland under the charge of Sir Ralph Sadler.

    Image: Letter from Queen Elizabeth I to Sir Ralph Sadler December 3, 1584, British Library, London

    Old, discoloured letter written in an elegant hand.

    In letters from Elizabeth to Sadler, the queen instructs him to limit Mary’s movements, at one point reprimanding Sadler for taking Mary hunting with him, stating that Mary had been given “more lybertye now then at any tyme when she was in the E of Shrewsbury chardge.”

    Image: Letter from Queen Elizabeth I to Sir Ralph Sadler December 3, 1584, British Library, London

4 – My onlie deare sister

Letter from Charles I to his sister Elizabeth of Bohemia, manuscript, 13 May 1634, State Library Victoria, Melbourne (RAREEMM 222/20)

Letter from Charles I to his sister Elizabeth of Bohemia, manuscript, 13 May 1634, State Library Victoria, Melbourne (RAREEMM 222/20)

Mary Stuart’s son James became King of England and Ireland in 1603 and ruled until his death in 1625, at which time the crown was transferred to his son Charles.
This letter is from Charles I to his sister Elizabeth.
Half-portrait painting of a seated, middle-aged woman. She is wearing dark robes and a large, frilly, white collar.
Studio of Michiel Jansz. van Miereveldt, Princess Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia and Electress Palatine, 1623, National Portrait Gallery, London (NPG 71)
It is dated ‘Greenewich the 13 of May 1634’ and is addressed to ‘My onlie deare Sister’, and signed ‘Your louing Brother to serue you Charles R.’
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Elizabeth was married to Frederick V of Bohemia, who died after just one winter on the throne, in 1620. For this reason, she is known as the ‘Winter Queen’.
Before Frederick died, Elizabeth and their children had already fled Prague for The Hague, where she remained throughout the English Civil War, only returning to England in 1662, after Charles II’s restoration.
This letter, written by Charles himself (rather than a scribe) in 1634, is evidence of the affectionate relationship between brother and sister.
I hope shortlie to make a full dispatche to you by my Agent Boswell, therefore I shall say littell to you at this tyme, but that I hope ye beliue that it is not my want of affection to your affaires, but Oxensternes want of instructions, that has made hime haue so ill successe, hithertoo, in his negotiations, of which I hope alreddie you have had some accounte; & so I rest.

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  • Engraving of the busts of a man and woman, each in an oval. They are both wearing elegant clothes and frilly collars.

    On Valentine’s Day 1613, fireworks were lit and sea battles staged as part of a lavish ceremony to celebrate the marriage of Elizabeth Stuart and the German Elector Prince Frederick V. Frederick had been chosen as husband for Elizabeth by the monarch for his lineage and defence of the Protestant faith.

    Image: Anonymous artist, Frederick V, King of Bohemia and Elector Palatine and Princess Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia and Electress Palatine, early 17th century, National Portrait Gallery, London (NPG D26454)

    Engraving of the busts of a man and woman, each in an oval. They are both wearing elegant clothes and frilly collars.

    On 26 August 1619, Frederick was elected King of Bohemia after protestant estates of Bohemia revolted against their Catholic king, the Holy Roman Emperor Matthias. However, Frederick received little support from England or German Protestants and he was defeated by the troops of the Catholic League at the Battle of White Mountain. Frederick and Elizabeth fled, finding refuge in The Hague.

    Image: Anonymous artist, Frederick V, King of Bohemia and Elector Palatine and Princess Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia and Electress Palatine, early 17th century, National Portrait Gallery, London (NPG D26454)

5 – The Queen’s book

Richard Hooker, Of the lawes of ecclesiastical politie..., London,printed by William Stansbye - and are to be sold by George Lathum, 1636, State Library Victoria, Melbourne (RAREEMM 815/7)

This book with its elaborately embroidered binding was likely presented as a gift to Henrietta Maria, Charles’s queen.
Half-portrait painting of a woman in a large yellow-gold dress with a frilly collar and sleeves. She has curly dark hair and there is a black sash tied around her waist.
Anthony van Dyck, Queen Henrietta Maria, 1636, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Born at the Palais du Louvre in 1609 to Henry IV of France and Marie de’ Medici, Henrietta was fifteen at the time of her proxy wedding to Charles. Duke Claude of Chevreuse stood in lieu of the king.
As she was a devout Roman Catholic, Henrietta was unable to participate in Charles’s Church of England coronation ceremony.

This copy of Richard Hooker’s Of the lawes of ecclesiastical politie – an Anglican text – was perhaps a pointed gift to a Catholic queen married to the head of the Church of England.

The book’s binding depicts military figures within raised silver wirework cartouches featuring lions’ heads and gryphons, which are applied to a white silk ground with coloured silk and silver thread and spangles.

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  • Painting of the bust of a woman against a dark background. She has red hair and is wearing mustard coloured clothes and a large grey, frilly collar.

    Before his marriage to Henrietta Maria, the then Prince Charles was part of a proposed match between himself and Infanta Maria Anna of Spain, the daughter of Philip III of Spain. By 1623 the marriage negotiations had been going on for more than a decade. Frustrated with the process, Charles secretly travelled to Spain with George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. The two men used wigs and false beards and called themselves Thomas and John Smith. They arrived in Madrid to the surprise of the court but were ultimately welcomed – the Spanish believing incorrectly that Charles’s travels were a sign of his willingness to convert to Catholicism.

    Image: Diego Velázquez, Infanta Maria Anna, 1630, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid (P001187)

    Painting of a man and a woman underneath a red, velvet curtain. The man in on the left and is wearing a frilly, white collar with an elaborate grey top. The woman is wearing a puffy grey dress. They both have dark hair. The man is handing the woman a wreath.

    Despite Charles’s gesture, the marriage never eventuated – Maria Anna was strongly averse to marrying a non-Catholic, and the Spanish would not agree to the marriage until the English monarchy revoked the anti-Catholic Penal Laws. Instead, Charles married Henrietta Maria, strengthening England’s relationship with France.

    Image: Daniel Mytens, Charles I and Henrietta Maria, c. 1630–32, Royal Collection Trust (RCIN 405789)

6 – ‘… upon a Pile of dead men’s Skulls, her Throne’

Jean Puget de La Serre, <em>The mirrour which flatters not: dedicated to their Maiesties of Great Britaine...</em>, translated by Thomas Cary, London, printed by E[lizabeth] P[urslowe] for R. Thrale, and are to be sold at his shop at the signe of the Crosse-Keyes, at Pauls Gate, 1639, State Library Victoria, Melbourne (RAREEMM 423/39)

Jean Puget de La Serre, The mirrour which flatters not: dedicated to their Maiesties of Great Britaine..., translated by Thomas Cary, London, printed by E[lizabeth] P[urslowe] for R. Thrale, and are to be sold at his shop at the signe of the Crosse-Keyes, at Pauls Gate, 1639, State Library Victoria, Melbourne (RAREEMM 423/39)

French historian Jean Puget de La Serre’s Le Miroir qui ne flatte point (The unflattering mirror) was written for Henrietta Maria’s parents – Marie de’ Medici and Henri of France – but this English language edition is re-dedicated to Charles I and his Catholic bride.
Jean Puget de La Serre, <em>The mirrour which flatters not: dedicated to their Maiesties of Great Britaine...</em>, translated by Thomas Cary, London, printed by E[lizabeth] P[urslowe] for R. Thrale, and are to be sold at his shop at the signe of the Crosse-Keyes, at Pauls Gate, 1639, State Library Victoria, Melbourne (RAREEMM 423/39)

Jean Puget de La Serre, The mirrour which flatters not: dedicated to their Maiesties of Great Britaine..., translated by Thomas Cary, London, printed by E[lizabeth] P[urslowe] for R. Thrale, and are to be sold at his shop at the signe of the Crosse-Keyes, at Pauls Gate, 1639, State Library Victoria, Melbourne (RAREEMM 423/39)

The spiritual and artistic culture around the maxim ‘memento mori’ (‘remember that you will die’), of which the Dance of Death was one expression, remained popular in both Catholic and Protestant regions of Europe after the Reformation, despite Protestantism’s denial of Purgatory.
This book is one of many examples of the overlapping of Protestant and Catholic cultures under the reign of Charles I.

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  • Painting of two cherubs holding up a portrait of a woman in regal clothes to a man in armour. The man appears to be physically taken aback by the portrait and is being held from behind by a partially nude female figure drapped in blue silk and wearing a metal helmet.

    Marie de’ Medici and King Henry IV married in 1600. It is said that Henry married Marie to pay off his debts, as she brought with her a large dowry. Needless to say, their marriage was an unhappy one, leading us to speculate that perhaps the artist Rubens, a close friend of Marie, used a little poetic licence in this scene depicting Henry overcome with love at the sight of Marie’s portrait. Nevertheless, upon her death in Cologne in 1642, Marie’s heart was sent to La Flèche to be reunited with Henry’s in accordance with the late king’s wishes.

    Image: Petrus Paulus Rubens, Henri IV receives the portrait of Marie de’ Médici and allows himself to be disarmed by Love (detail), 1600-25, Louvre Museum, Paris (INV 1772; MR 963)

Connections

Royal executions

Sixty-two years after the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, her grandson, Charles I, faced the chopping block. This time, the monarch was executed for crimes against his own people.

Read more about the trial and execution of Charles I.>

Love and death

The marriage of Elizabeth Stuart to Prince Frederick V was commemorated by the poet and scholar John Donne with a song, Epithalamion, Or Marriage Song on the Lady Elizabeth, and Count Palatine being married on St Valentine’s Day.

‘Young phœnixes, and yet the old shall live;
Whose love and courage never shall decline,
But make the whole year through, thy day, O Valentine.’

Decades later, a more sombre Donne delivered the sermon Deaths duell to a congregation including Charles I.

Discover more about Donne and the social and political crises of the seventeenth century.>

The Kineton Medal

The relationship between Charles I and Henrietta Maria was commemorated in many ways, including via the commissioning of the Kineton Medal. The medal, designed by Thomas Rawlins, and struck in Oxford in 1643, depicts the meeting of Charles and Henrietta at Kineton, 13 July 1643 – the day of a Royalist victory at the Battle of Roundway Down. One copy of the medal, which is extremely rare, was found by diarist, scholar, book collector and gardener John Evelyn in his field, roughly twenty years after it was made.

Learn more about Evelyn, his book collecting methods and other significant private libraries.>

Index

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