Greek Gods- Rome- Middle Ages- England

Queen Elizabeth

Perhaps you may ask: "Why was it that Philip II. of Spain did not interfere in England, while it was under Elizabeth, to protect the Catholics, and to put down the Protestant religion?"

The answer is that he was so jealous of France that he preferred to see England become Protestant rather than see it Catholic under France.

Mary Stuart, Queen of the Scots (as you will remember), had been married to the son of the French King; so, when he became King in turn (as he did the year after Elizabeth became Queen of England), the two kingdoms of France and Scotland were united under French rule. Queen Mary claimed to be the rightful ruler of England, also, on the ground that Elizabeth's father and mother were not truly married, and so the throne should go to herself as the nearest lawful heir.

It was this claim that Philip II. feared to see established, for it would make France so powerful that Spain would be completely overshadowed. He took Elizabeth under his protection, and even proposed to marry her, though to this Elizabeth could not consent. Mary's French husband soon died, and she returned to Scotland as a young widow of nineteen. But Philip II. could still be counted upon to aid Elizabeth in checking any movement to enforce Mary's claim to the throne of England, because Queen Mary leaned on French support.

All this made Elizabeth the enemy of the Queen of Scots. In addition, Elizabeth was foolishly jealous of her, because Mary was younger and more lovely than Elizabeth. But it was Mary's own imprudence and misconduct that finally put her completely in Elizabeth's power.

Scotland was now in the midst of a Reformation of the church which was more thoroughly Protestant than that which had taken place in England. Its teachings came from John Calvin, a religious reformer in Geneva, Switzerland. The Church government there became more democratic than that which was established in England, for it put the chief power in the hands of "presbyters," or elders, instead of bishops. The chief preacher of this "Presbyterian" reform in Scotland was John Knox, a bold but harsh preacher, of whom it was said that "one mass-service was more fearful to him than ten thousand armed enemies."

In order to strengthen her position on the throne, Queen Mary married her worthless cousin, Lord Darnley, who was Catholic. This act offended Protestant lords. A son was born to Mary; nevertheless she and her husband bitterly quarreled. The Protestant lords formed a plot to get rid of Darnley, and one night the house in which he was recovering from a spell of sickness was blown up. The next morning his dead body was found in a near-by field—strangled. A fierce, bullying lord, named Bothwell, was chiefly responsible for the murder; but he was so powerful that the attempt to punish him was given up. Mary was passionately in love with Bothwell, and, ten weeks after the murder of her husband, she allowed herself to be carried off and married to him. Her subjects then rebelled, drove Bothwell from the kingdom, made her infant son King as James VI., and shut her up in prison. Soon, however, Mary contrived to escape, through the aid of a young page, and to raise an army. When she was finally defeated in battle, she fled into England, to ask aid from her enemy, Elizabeth, in recovering her forfeited throne.

Gold Coin of Elizabeth

Elizabeth did not wish to encourage rebels to revolt against her ruler, but she could not let Mary go. As one of her courtiers said, she now "held the wolf that wished to devour her." "Why does the Queen of Scotland seem so dangerous to you?" one of Mary's friends asked Elizabeth.

"Because she is a Papist," the English Queen replied, "and wishes to succeed to my throne."

The Scots sent to Elizabeth letters which they claimed had been left by Bothwell, in a silver casket, when he fled. If these "Casket Letters" were genuine, they proved that Mary had had a part in Darnley's death, and so was guilty with Bothwell of his murder. Without deciding this question, Elizabeth ordered Mary to be kept prisoner, and from that day until her death on the scaffold, eighteen years later, the Queen of Scots remained in honorable confinement in Elizabeth's castles.

Many Englishmen did not think that this was enough. So long as Mary lived, conspirators were at work trying to stir up rebellion, which would dethrone Elizabeth—and possibly murder her—and give the crown to Mary. Mary knew of some of these plots, and encouraged them. At one time she sent this message to the Spanish ambassador in England:

"Tell your master that if he will help me, I shall be Queen of England in three months, and mass shall be said throughout the land."

To aid Mary's cause, the Pope excommunicated Elizabeth, and declared her subjects to be freed from their oaths of allegiance. This forced English Catholics to choose between obedience to their Church and their duty to their Queen. France and Spain had now made up their quarrel, and were ready to aid in restoring England to the list of Catholic countries. Catholic priests came into England from France, at the peril of their lives, to convert the people; and some of these were engaged in the conspiracies against Elizabeth. After the failure of one of these plots the Protestant nobles of England formed a great "association," binding themselves to avenge any attempt against the life of their Queen. Soon after this, Parliament passed a law providing that any one in whose favor a plot should be made should be put to death. This law was directed against Mary of Scotland; nevertheless, her friends paid no attention to the warning, and the plotting continued.

Positive proof of a new plot was soon obtained, and then at last Mary herself was brought to trial. It was not clearly proved that she had given any encouragement to the attempts against the Queen's life, yet she had taken part in the conspiracy to dethrone the Queen. The law considered her guilty, and she was sentenced to death. After much hesitation, Elizabeth signed the death warrant, and Mary was beheaded, in February, 1587. She went to her execution with the courage of a martyr.

"Cease to lament," said she to one of her attendants, "for you shall now see a final end to Mary Stuart's troubles. I pray you, take this message when you go—that I die true to my religion, to Scotland, and to France."

Many English Catholics had supported Mary Stuart's claims to the English throne. But when she passed these on to Philip II. of Spain (as she did at her death), all Englishmen united to oppose him. Spain at this time ruled Mexico, the West Indies, and the greater part of South America, and claimed the sole right to settle and trade in those regions. This claim the English sailors had refused to recognize. They crossed the Atlantic, traded wherever they liked, and fought and captured Spanish treasure ships. Many of them were little better than pirates, and grew rich by kidnapping slaves in Africa and selling them to the Spanish colonists.

The greatest of these English captains was Sir Francis Drake. On one of his expeditions to the West Indies, he visited the mainland of North America, where he found and rescued a small body of English colonists, who had been sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh. On another voyage, he rounded Cape Horn, and attacked the Spanish colonies on the west coast of South America, where he secured an immense amount of gold, silver, and precious stones. In returning to England, he sailed across the Pacific and around the cape of Good Hope. A Spanish expedition under Magellan had sailed around the world sixty years before; but Drake, in this voyage, was the first Englishman to accomplish that feat. By such acts as his, the hatred between the Spanish and English was steadily increased.