Elizabeth I & sucession

The succession crisis dominated politics for decades. Elizabeth I remained unmarried and did not produce her heir.

• Over the decades, it became apparent that Elizabeth I would not marry.
• She began to develop a reputation for being the 'Virgin Queen'.
• It was commonly said that her impregnable body represented an impregnable country.

• In 1583, Cecil established the Bond of Association.
• This was in response to the Throckmorton Plot (a plot to assassinate the Queen).
• The Bond of Association was written in case the Queen was murdered and had not chosen a successor.
  • It gave its signatories the power to execute the Queen's killer.
  • It gave the signatories power to choose the new monarch.
• This had huge consequences because it meant the succession could be the prerogative of Parliament.

• Eventually, Elizabeth I named the King of Scotland, James, as her successor.
• James VI of Scotland was the son of Mary Queen of Scots.
• Unlike his mother, James VI was a Protestant

• Elizabeth's last suitor was the Duke of Anjou, who courted the Queen in 1579.
• The Duke of Anjou was a French Catholic.
  • It is unknown if Elizabeth I wanted to marry the Duke.
  • She did appear to like him.
  • He gave her extravagant presents.
  • She endearingly called him her 'little frog'.

• The Protestant faction in Elizabeth's Court did not want her to marry the Duke because he was a Catholic.
• Cecil spread rumours about the Duke to make him fall out of favour with the Queen.
• The Protestant faction applied considerable pressure on Elizabeth I, emphasising her as the Virgin Queen.
  • An example of this pressure is seen in the 'Sieve Portraits'. The sieve symbolises virginity.

Elizabeth's decision to not name a successor was deliberate. It was a tool to keep her in power.

• Over the years, Parliament repeatedly pressured Elizabeth I to name a successor.
• But Elizabeth believed that they did not have the right to tell her what to do.
• She used her royal prerogative (privilege) and forbade them from discussing the matter

• Elizabeth I's decision not to name a successor was strategic.
• With no clear successor, England could fall into civil war.
  • This quote from Cecil shows the paranoia that the succession crisis caused:
  • 'If God should take her Majestie, the succession being not established, I know not what shall become of my self, my wife, my children, landes, goodes, friendes, or cuntrie, for in truth noe man doth know what'.

• Elizabeth I faced many plots to assassinate her.
• If Elizabeth I did name a successor, people could be encouraged to overthrow her in favour of her named successor.
• So the lack of a named successor ensured Elizabeth I's survival as the monarch.

Cecil set up a plan just in case Elizabeth I was assassinated. This was important because it rested on England being a republic (being without a monarch).

• The Throckmorton Plot in 1583 was a plot to assassinate Elizabeth I accompanied by the invasion of England by the Duke of Guise.
• This plot terrified Elizabeth I's closest ministers and they wanted to have a backup plan in case she was killed.

• Historians such as Lake have emphasised the far-reaching implications of the Bond of Association.
• Cecil essentially planned a situation where there would be no monarch: a republic.
• Cecil wanted to give a select group of politicians the authority to choose the future monarch. This was unprecedented as usually, the ability to choose the line of succession was a royal prerogative

• In 1583, Cecil established the Bond of Association.
• The Bond of Association was written in case the Queen was murdered and had not chosen a successor.
  • It gave its signatories the power to execute the Queen's killer.
  • It gave the signatories the power to choose the new monarch.

Cecil showed his paranoia over the crisis when he said: “If God should take her Majestie, the succession being not established, I know not what shall become of my self, my wife, my children, landes, goodes, friendes, or cuntrie, for in truth noe man doth know what”.