Movie Plot
This movie revolves around the young Queen Elizabeth, from the last days of her sister Mary on the throne to a couple of years into Elizabeth's own rule.
It's the tale of the transformation of the young girl into a woman who now rules England, a country then in serious debt and suffering from great inflation. There's also the Catholics threatening to overthrown her, while the exiled protestants return to the land, and the queen Mary of Guise who begins actively seeking Elizabeth's throne.
The plot is great, if not a bit complicated. It's truly one of the best films ever made! For more information you can visit the Official Website
History
I've made a bit of research on Elizabeth. Her story truly is fascinating! By knowing more about it, it allowed me to better understand the movie.
Elizabeth was born on september 7 1533 from the king of england Henry VIII and Henry's mistress of seven years, Anne Boleyn. He wished to divorce his current wife Catherine of Aragon so that he could mary Anne and legitamize their child, but the Pope denied Henry's petition for divorce, so he broke with the Catholic church and refused to accept their authority over him and his people. This action led to the formation of the Episcopalian faith and numerous other Protestant offshoots. Henry did not care about what he did, he simply wanted to have a male heir to his throne, although he was disapointed by the birth of a female child. Despite his disapointment, he named the child Elizabeth after his mother. The babe was healthy and the couple were hoping to have sons soon.
Anne was never able to give Henry a male heir and he grew tired of her and decided to accuse her of adultery and witchcraft. The court, handpicked by Henry and his ministers, found Anne guilty and sentenced her to death. She was beheaded by a sword when Elizabeth was three or four years old. She was impacted enough by the death of her mother to have difficulties sending anyone she knew or was related to to the block. She would make an exception only if her throne and life were in jeporady. Even then, she would agonize over the decision for dyas before signing the execution warrants.
After the death of her mother, Elizabeth fell from her father's favor. He still sent money for the upkeep of her household but very little for her comforts. At the time Henry had moved on to his third wife, Jane Seymour, who forced Henry to take Elizabeth back into favor. Because Jane was pregnant, Henry did as she asked. He refused to have Elizabeth at court, however. The birth of his son Edward was marred only by the death of the boy's mother from childbed fever.
While Henry married twice again, Elizabeth and Edward were raised together in the royal nursery. Henry's wife was now Anne of Cleves. He found her so repulsive that after not long he divorced her. She stayed in England because even though she was a German princess, she was much happier in the less repressive atmosphere of England. Elizabeth was rather fond of the woman and grieved the woman's death a few years later. Katherine Howard was Henry's fifth wife and a cousin of Elizabeth on her mother's side. Unfortunately, Katherine had not been a virgin when she married and continued her numerous love affairs after becoming Queen. The truth was eventually discovered and she was executed like her Boleyn cousin. On the block, Katherine stated that she would have preferred to have been the wife of one of her lovers than the Queen of England. Henry was deply affected by the betrayal and death of his 'rose without a thorn'. Elizabeth was once more sent from court because of the reminder she presented of her family. It was only under the influence of Catherine Parr that she was returned to court in the brief period before her father's death.
Catherine Parr was Henry's fifth and final wife. She was the only one of his wives that became his widow and was the best educated of the bunch. It was her influence that allowed Elizabeth to be educated in the same manner as her younger brother. Elizabeth became fluent in French, Italian, Greek and Latin. This knowledge of language allowed her to converse with envoys and ambassadors without an interpreter when she became Queen. Elizabeth became one of the most educated women of her time thanks to her stepmother.
Henry finally died in 1547 from complications from gout and other illnesses. There is speculation that he died form syphillis but this has not been proven by any actual physical evidence. His son Edward became King of England while still a child. It was during Edward's reign that Elizabeth first became the center of plots to put her on the throne during a another ruler's reign.
Edward died in 1553 from an unklnown illness and named Lady Jane Grey as his successor. He had been tricked into this by Lord Dudley who planned to rule the throne through his son's wife, Jane. The poor girl ruled for only nine days before being overthrown by the rightful heir, Mary Tudor.
In 1553, Mary became Queen of England and the people rejoiced to see a child of Henry's full-grown and on the throne. Elizabeth had very little to be happy about for her life under Mary put her in the center of treasonous plots and in constant fear of execution.
Mary had plans to assimilate the Protestants. She was of strong Catholic faith, having been brought up by her Spanish mother and in the Catholic Church. Her views of religion and goverment were the complete opposite from her sister and brother. The English people viewed her views with good humor, convinced that a daughter of Henry's would never do anything to harm England. Mary saw that she'd have to recognize her sister Elizabeth as heir in order to move her policies forward with the agreement of the English people. Mary believed that marrying Elizabeth to a Catholic noble would bring her under control and make her threat to the throne less dangerous.
Elizabeth realized the dangerous position she was in. She had learned to hide her true nature with subterfuge and camoflage. She had long since abandoned all manners of courtly dress and adornment in order to appear simplistic and studious. Her manner and behavior became the model of virtue and decorum. She did nothing and said nothing that would put her life in danger. To be accepted and recognized by Mary as heir meant she would have to become Catholic and she could not lose the favor of England's Protestant subjects. When she finally attended a Catholic Mass with Mary, she complained of feeling ill and being stricken with horrible stomach pains. Mary was pleased with her show of piety and did not force her to go to services anymore. Whether she believed her sister was genuinely sick or pretended to believe out of fear of the girl's popularity is open to speculation.
To the horror of all Englishmen, Mary chose King Philip of Spain. The announcement led to riots and revolts. A man named Wyatt led a short rebellion in Elizabeth's name to put her on the throne. It failed and landed Elizabeth in the Tower. Even though she had no knowledge of the plot, she was imprisoned because she could be watched more closely from a cell.
The people refused to accept Philip as their king. Only the Catholic church was content at having a Catholic ruler, but his being foreign soured the situation for all. Some saw Elizabeth as their only hope. Her refusal to publicly convert to Catholicism won her many supporters as did her resembelance to her father. Mary realized the dangers her sister posed to her reign and planned to keep her imprisoned forever. It was through Philip's intervention that Elizabeth was removed from the Tower and placed under house arrest in the countryside. The sisters supposedly reconciled at a private meeting that was supposedly listened to by a hidden Philip. This concern for his sister-in-law can be seen in a different light when it is realized that Philip offered to marry Elizabeth when she became Queen. At the time of the reconciliation, Mary was believed to be pregnant. She had the classic symptoms of pregnancy, but did not deliver after nine, ten, or even twelve months. She was most likely suffering from some sort of uterine or ovarian cancer that caused tumors and swelling. This illness is what eventually killed her in 1558.
Having burnt to the stake over 300 Protestants, Mary had been nicknamed Bloody Mary, and is known as that to this day.
Before the situation escalated to total civil war, Mary entered the final stages of her illnes. Elizabeth was formally recognized as Mary's heir, some feel this was due in part to Philip's influence. She died with only her ladies-in-waiting attending her, all of her courtiers having fled to curry favor with Elizabeth. Her husband did not return from Spain to be by her death bed and no one mourned her passing. On November 17, 1558, Elizabeth finally became Queen of England.
Elizabeth started by appointing her government and ministrels. She appointed Sir William Cecil as her Lord Chamberlain and he would serve her until his death thirty or so years later. He became her Lord Treasurer, Chancellor, and Secretary at various points in his service to Elizabeth. Her appointment of Master of Horse, which basically was being in charge of the royal stables and selecting the beasts ridden by the Queen, raised quite a few eyebrows and set tongues gossiping.
Elizabeth made Robert Dudley, a childhood friend, her appointee. The two were rumored to be more than lovers because they spent a lot of time together and he took liberties with her that for anyone else would have been concidered an insult. Many feared that she would marry Robert, but she surprised everyone by refusing when she proposed, saying she wouldn't marry him or anyone at all, but that she would remain married to her country. Of course, no one believed her and thought she would marry eventually.
It is also known that Robert was already married to a girl named Amy Rosbart, who was found dead at the bottom of a flight of stairs when she was alone in the manor and Robert was at court. The investigation found that Any had died from misadventure. Murder or suicide could not be proved and Robert returned to court.
Elizabeth had more important things to do than look for a husband. The country was in serious debt and suffering from great inflation. To save money, Elizabeth would simply use the gifts she received without buying such items herself. She would dress at the height of fashion without doing any damage to her purse.
She also encouraged pirates to raid Spanish ships for their treasures. When told to cease this, she claimed that she had no control over the pirates and that they were acting of their own accord. As long as England was making money she did not care what measures were taken.
To keep control of the reins of goverment, Elizabeth used every resource at her disposal. She would bully, scream, rant, cry and threaten her councilors until they agreed with her. If all else failed, she would use her best card, the issue of her marriage.
To keep up the endless marriage negotiations between Elizabeth and other rulers, the councilors needed her cooperation. If she refusd to pursue the suit and keep all parties interested in negotiations, the marriage would be called off. To keep her compliant, the ministers would agree to anything as long as she would agree to allow marriage negotiations.
Elizabeth's unmarried state was unheard of in any ruler of that era, especially a queen. It was a ruler's duty to produce an heir to make sure the country would stay at peace. Not only that, but women were thought of as unable to function without a man by their side, much less govern a country. Elizabeth used this belief to her advantage. No country would attempt to invade England as long as she was free to court royalty from opossing nations. Spain could not invade while Elizabeth was being courted by the French King's brother and France would not attack if the Spanish King's nephew was trying to marry her. The desperation of her courtiers to marry her off to a royal male led to England's first era of peace in years.
During this peace, Elizabeth began to set the groundrules for her court. She became the center of the court and all of its functioning. The court woke when she did, ate, slept, and conducted business when she did. She could go to bed at four in the morning, arise at seven in the norning, and the whole court would have to do the same.
She expected and demanded total devotion from her courtiers. There were no marriages at court without her approval and if any of her favorites married, they did so in the face of her disaproval. Dudley married secretly and was banished from court for doing so. Elizabeth would have thrown him in the Tower but she had no legal option to do so. She did allow him back into favor but refused to let his wife, Lettice Devereux, join him there. Raliegh she did send to the Tower for marrying one of her Maids of Honor. The girls were at court to make good marriages and could only marry with her permission. She was justified in sending Raliegh to the Tower and probably enjoyed sending him there. Her unique methods of ruling did not lose her any popularity among her courtiers, instead it made them more dependent on her and less likely to rebel.
She united the people behind her by refusing to make religion an issue and trying to keep them happy. The availability of her hand in marriage prevented costly wars and allowed her to save money. Her emotional outbursts kept her Parliament in check and caused them to do anything to keep her in a good humor. Her reign would have continued in peace and profit if King Francis II of France had not died without a child. His young, grieving widow returned to her homeland and began to actively seek Elizabeth's throne. The country was thrown into turmoil by the arrival in Scotland of Mary, Dowager Queen of France, Queen of Scotland, and in her own eyes, the rightful Queen of England.
When Bloody Mary died, Mary Queen of Scots began to call herself the Queen of England, using the heraldry that went along with the title. She felt she had a better claim to the throne because of her Catholic faith and her legitimate claim ot the throne. Elizabeth had been considered a bastard after her mother's death and Mary believed she was not Henry's daughter.
Elizabeth invaded Scotland because of Mary's usurpation, but in reality it was because the Protestant nobles wanted her aid in overthrowing the Regent. Mary refused to sign the Treaty of Edinburough unless Eliabeth named her heir. Eliabeth refused and Mary refused to acknowledge the treaty. The French might have thought of going to war over this when the Dauphin became king, but he died seventeen months later. His widow had borne him no sons, so she was sent home to Scotland. Her usefullness to her Guise relations had ended.
Mary returned to Scotland and continued to plot for the English throne. To disrupt Mary's plans, Elizabeth offered her the hand of Robert Dudley in marriage, much to the woman's fury. Mary refused to marry any cast off lover of her cousin's and made her feelings quite public. Elizabeth knew that the Scottish ambassador was trying to get Lord Henry Darnley to marry the Scottish queen and was perhaps trying to force Mary's hand. Darnley was a coousin of Elizabeth's and also a claimant to the throne. A marriage to him would give Mary a stronger claim and be accepted easier by the English people. Darnley left for Scotland supposedly to pursue Dudley's suit of the Scottish queen, but instead ended up marrying Mary himself. It was one of the several costly mistakes Mary made.
Darnley was a drunkard and a bully who quickly lost the support of the Scottish people and his wife. When Mary was pregnant with their child, Darnley had her secretary, Rizzio, murdered before her eyes. It was siad that Rizzio clung to Mary's skirts as she was being held by Darnley. He was stabbed to death as he begged her to help him. All of Europe was shocked, but Elizabeth was the most vocal. She found the action disgusting and terrible beyond words. In 1567, only three years after his marriage, Darnley was killed following an explosion at his home.
The events leading up to the explosion indicate that Mary had some hand in it. She was at the house with Darnley, but left well before the explosion. Her lover was believed to have set it and then had Darnley killed when he survived the blast. Mary ran off with Boswell, her lover, and lost the support of her nobles in the process. Her people would accept her as Queen if she gave Boswell up for justice, but she refused. She was imprisoned and stripped fo her crown. She eventually escaped to England where Elizabeth placed her under protection in the country, a more polite term for house arrest.
Things may have gone on peacefully if Mary still did not want and plot for Elizabeth's throne. After twenty years of imprisonment and numerous plots against Elizabeth, Mary finally made a tragic mistake. She agreed to the murder of her cousin in order to gain the throne. If she had not put this into writing, she may have escaped with her life. Since the written letter was evidence of her guilt, she had no hope for freedom. Elizabeth agonized over signing the death warrant, but finally did so when she realized Mary would always be a constant threat. In 1587, Mary was beheaded for treason, ending her twenty years of captivity and her relentless quest for the throne.
The death of Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1587 presented Elizabeth with a new problem. Mary had named Philip of Spain her heir and he was going to come for his inhieritance. Philip had little reason to be happy with Elizabeth. She was aiding the Netherlands with troops and funds in their uprising against Spanish rule, her pirates were a constant thorn in his side, and, worst of all, she had insulted him by refusing to marry him when she became Queen. He was also convinced that the English Catholics would welcome his troops with open arms. He forgot that the English hated foreign rule and would refuse to accept him as king.
The English prepared for war by creating a militia and conducting raids against the Spanish fleet. In 1587, Sir Francis Drake raided the Spanish port of Cadiz. He destroyed supplies and took a huge amount of treasure form the galleons. Drake's raid on the Spanish fleet in Cadiz caused Philip to speed up his invasions plans. In 1588, the Armada left to invade England under the command of Medina Sidonia.
Elizabeth and her troops were ready for the Armada. she had been preparing for this since before Mary's death. Philip would never have invaded England if Mary had been alive. To do so would have put Mary on the throne and she would have supported the French in their feuds against Spain. Elizabeth had forced her wealthy nobles to provide boats and funds for the defense of England. She did not have time to convene Parliament and acted as quickly as she could.
Lord Howard of Effingham was appointed commander of the English fleet and did the unthinkable. With a fleet less than half the size of the Spanish forces that consisted of older ships, he defeated the great Armada. the galleons of the Armada were large and difficult to manuever in comparison to the smaller and faster English ships. The Armada was unable to land on the English shore because of the size of their ships and were unable to deploy thier troops. The use of land troops was an important part of Philip's invasion plans. The English also used fireboats to destroy the Spanish fleet. The English forces could not get into range to use their cannons. It was decided to send in the fastest ships in the fleet as fireboats to destroy the Armada. A fireboat was an unmanned vessel that was covered in tar, set abalze and rigged to sail into the oppossing fleet. The fireboats used against the Armada were also loaded with explosives and gunpowder. The fireboats were so effective that the Armada beat a hasty retreat. Only 67 ships returned to Spain and England emerged as one of the most powerful countries in Europe on land or water. Overnight, England became a major player in Europens politics.
The only low point of the event was the death of Robert Dudley, probably from heart failure. Elizabeth was devastated by his loss and locked herself in her chambers for days. When she finally returned to court, she was a changed woman. She began to view the happiness of others as being an insult to her. She would take out her anger on any of her ladies that were engaged in love affairs or married against her will. If Dudley had not died so suddenly, her grief may not have been so consuming. After her death, a small chest was discoverd by her bed. In the casket, was a letter from Dudley on which she had written, "His Last Letter".
Elizabeth's life after the Armada and the death of Dudley was made easier by her friendship with the Earl of Essex, Dudley's stepson. His mother, Lettice Devereux, was still not welcome at courtbecause of her marriage to Dudley but Essex quickly became Elizabeth's new favorite. His rise began before the arrival of the Armada. Dudley presented him to Elizabeth and offered him as a companion for her. Essex became her constant companion, playing cards with her, riding, hunting, dancing, doing everything with her that a courtier should.
The only problem was that Essex was greedy, ambitious, and spoiled. He pushed his position with the Queen and tried to force her to make decisions favoring his friends or himself. He tried to get one of his enemies appointed to the post of Lord Protector of Ireland, an office that was one of failure and destruction for its appointees. When Essex attempted to get an enemy of his posted there instead, Elizabeth refused. In the ensuing argument between the two, in the presence of the council members, she slapped him across the face. Shouting that he would not suffer Henry VIII or his own mother to strike him, he was not going to let a woman do it. Reaching for his sword, he was subdued by the council. If he had drawn his sword, he wold have been killed on the spot because it would have been a treasonous act. To draw arms in the presence of or on the person of the king or queen was considered treason and punishable by death.
Elizabeth was finally tired of him and sent him from court by giving him the post of Lord Protector to Ireland. Considering that he was in disfavor, it is difficult to explain the motives behind the rest of Essex's actions. Instead of subduing the Irish, he negotiated with them. His actions and decisions went against allof Elizabeth's verbal and written commands. He finally began to write to her for permission to return to England. She refused, but he left Ireland anyway. Upon his return, he entered her chambers without invitation but she recieved him anyway. She had him placed under house arrest but he escaped.
Convinced that he was being plotted against, he led a brief rebellion against Elizabeth, supposedly to protect her from her enemies but actually he was trying to gain control of her. The uprising failed because of his lack of supporters and he was captured. He was tried and executed for treason in 1601.
Elizabeth was now nearing the end of her life. She had outlived all of her enemies, Philip of Spain had died a few years previously, all of her suitors, the last had died in the Netherlands fighting for her, and all of her friends, Cecil had finally died after years of service and Dudley had been dead for years. She had yet to name an heir but James of Scotland was her only option. She did not formally designate him, but hinted at it in her letters to him. She refused to create a rival court around her heir. She had learned her lesson form Mary and refused to die alone, without her court.
Her final days were spent in a stupor on a bed of poillows on the floor of her chamber. She refused all food or drink, merely lay there with her finger in her mouth like a child. At one point, she demanded to be raised and stood in front of a window for eight hours. Elizabeth finally allowed her ladies to put her into bed and she remained there until her death, refusing to name James as her heir. She finally died on March 23, 1603, after ruling England for 45 years.
For the history part I took my information from here. It's Elizabeth history is excellent! (that's why I used it, duh) Although I made some adjustments, it was all written by Alicia Marie Minnich. Alicia, U ROCK!
