History of the British Isles Unit 3

Assignment: “Elizabeth: Golden Age”

Material>

Kapur, S. (director). (2007) Elizabeth The Golden Age. [Film]. USA: Universal

Pictures.

Shultz, H. (1992) An Outline of British History. NY: Harper Collins. Chapter 8

1. As you watch the film, answer these questions:

1. In what year did the movie start?

The movie starts in 1585, 27 years after Elizabeth I acceded the throne of

England and three years before the Spanish Armada invaded England.

2. Which country in Europe is the most powerful at that time?

The most powerful country in Europe was Spain, and in the movie, it is

called an empire. Phillip II was the King of Spain, a devout Catholic.

3. What religion Spain’s official religion? What about England?

Spain was (and is) Catholic, in fact, it was the champion of Catholicism and

Phillip was on a holy war to restore it. England was Anglican and ruled by a

protestant queen.

4. What did the Spanish call Sir Walter Raleigh when he entered the

Queen’s court? Why?

Sir Walter Raleigh was called a pirate. He had attacked and robbed Spanish

ships.

5. What is Mary to be tried for?

History of the British Isles Unit 3

She was tried for treason as she conspired to assassinate Elizabeth and seize

the English throne.

6. Who was Elizabeth’s father she spoke of? Her Mother? (from

your book)

Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. She was

considered a bastard by many as the Catholic Church refused to accept

Henry and Anne’s marriage and considered the former still married to

Catherine of Aragon. And, people in England were fond of Catherine and did

no accept Anne as their Queen, however Elizabeth refers to her mother as a

queen.

2. Write a report answering the following question: What elements, topics,

facts, etc. present in the text can also be found in the movie?

Please refer to specific scenes by stating between brackets the minutes, for

example> (25;10 to 26:30).

Length: 2 – 3 pages. A4 – double spaced.

Include a title, an introduction and a conclusion, where you can state your

personal opinion.
History of the British Isles Unit 3

Elizabeth: The Iron Queen

Although Elizabeth Tudor’s claim to the throne was weak, she survived

many conspiracies to remove her from the English throne and kill her and

defeated the Spanish “Invincible” Armada invasion. A war that, together

with the Magna Carta became a symbol of the defense of freedom. Her claim

was weak because the Tudor claim was weak as they ascended the throne by

conquer and not by blood, she was a protestant whereas Mary Stuart was a

Stuart with a, we can say, right to rule England by blood and because she

was the “Queen anointed by God”.

Elizabeth was absolutely not a Catholic, she was a protestant, but

followed the tradition of her father of the Anglicanism. At the beginning of

the movie, (03:34 to 04:33) we can see Elizabeth discussing with her

councilors, defending them, stating that her subjects must be protected by

their Queen until it is proved that they are breaking the law and if half of

England is Catholic, she cannot hang half of the country. Although she was

far more open on the matter of religion as her sister Mary Tudor, Catholics

were persecuted as the Roman Church exoculated Elizabeth and choosing

Catholicism was to betray the Queen. The Queen’s claim was that the

punishment of the Catholics was because of their political treason. This is

reflected in the movie when Elizabeth (the maid, not the Queen) goes to visit

her cousin in secret (34:18 to 35:41). He begs her for help, as she is the

favourite of the Queen she can speak on his and his father’s favour. Bess

seems to feel ashamed of them., of the atrocity of them being “papists”, she
History of the British Isles Unit 3

actually uses this term that, at the time was strongly pejorative. She refuses

to help her family. In another scene (37:17 to 38:26) we can see that Bess’

cousin and uncle are taken prisoners and tortured until the cousin reveals a

valuable piece of information to the Queen’s councilor, Walsingham; and

finally, in the scene (48:28 to 48:53), we can see that Bess’ cousin is hung.

So, this shows us the kind of treatment that those who were open Catholics

received, followers of the Roman Church. On the other hand, there was the

matter of Mary Stuart. She was a Stuart and one of her husbands, Lord

Darnley was a descendant of Henry VII, and she was a Catholic. Also, she

was the mother of an heir, whereas Elizabeth was not even married. So, her

possibilities to depose Elizabeth and sit in the English throne were strong.

However, in Scotland, she was rejected by the Protestants because of her

religion; and later she became rejected by the Catholics as she had Lord

Darnley (her husband) killed by the Earl of Bothwell, a protestant to whom

she got married soon after Darnley’s death, under protestant rites. After

that, she was forced to abdicate in favour of her son, James I and fled to

England to ask Elizabeth for protection. But after being involved in many

conspiracies to depose Elizabeth, she was tried and finally executed. It took

the councilors a lot of time to convince Elizabeth of giving her consent for

the execution as, because of Anne Boleyn’s beheading, she was against the

idea of the decapitation of a queen. (04:33 to 06:26) We can see Mary Stuart

in her prison in Fotheringhay Castle. One of Mary’s maids gets a secret

message from the laundress. This message is from her “friends” conspirators

in England; however, she seems reluctant to kill Elizabeth as she protests

History of the British Isles Unit 3

when her maid talks about slitting Elizabeth’s throat. Then we can see

Elizabeth with her maids and Walsingham on a small boat. Walsingham

respectfully reprimands Elizabeth for her being still single, reminding her

that Mary Stuart has a son and Elizabeth replies “…it’s not her fault she is

the next in line to the throne”. Walsingham urges her to produce an heir

soon, so Mary Stuart would not continue being such a threat. The are some

scenes regarding the conspirators, but I will refer to one in particular. In the

scene (59:55 to 01:09:10) Queen Elizabeth is going to Church and a

conspirator calls her a whore and shoots her, but the gun is not loaded so

the Queen unharmed and the conspirators arrested. Mary Stuart is informed

of this event and that the letter of the conspiracy, written by her own hand,

were found. So that she is going to be executed. Finally, she is beheaded

at Fotheringhay Castle in England, after 19 years of imprisonment, showed

in the scene (01:10:08 to 01:13:27). Finally, I will refer to the conflict

between England and Spain, which was ruled by Phillipe II, a staunch

Catholic and passionate defendant of the Roman Church. After Elizabeth’s

decisive rejection to marry Phillipe, he started plotting to place Mary Stuart

in the English Throne. Elizabeth and William Cecil (Elizabeth’s Secretary of

State) tried to avoid war with Spain for years. Phillip claimed that this was a

religious war, but the truth is that there were also political and commercial

reasons. England was an obstacle in Spain’s hegemony over Europe. In the

movie (14:29 to 15:26) the Spanish ambassador calls Walter Raleigh maldito

piarata as he assaulted Spanish ships and took the gold to Elizabeth. She

tells Raleigh that she cannot accept “the fruits of piracy”, but allows him to
History of the British Isles Unit 3

remain in her castle. In the scene (38:25 to 40:11) Elizabeth is informed that

“the enterprise has begun”. This enterprise consisting of two armies landing

on the coast of Sussex and Elizabeth being assassinated to place her cousin

in the throne. Elizabeth confronts the Spanish ambassador accusing Phillip

of attacking her country, to which he replies that is his country the one being

attacked by English pirates, he ends up being told to leave England. Finally,

The Spanish Armada attacks England in 1588, but is repelled not only by the

English army, but also by fierce storms (01:15:33 to 01:40:27).

Elizabeth’s claim to the throne was weak because of the blood line,

because she was childless and because there was a Catholic Queen that could

seize her throne while she was a protestant. However, she was able to face all

the threats to her country and her life. Thanks to her England built an

identity and emerged as Nation State and became a major participant in

European affairs. She left a sense of unity and an assertive strong House of

Commons that remained until this day.

Bibliography

 Schultz, H. (1992). Chapter 8 - Elizabethan England: 1558-1603.

In British History (4th ed., pp. 99-117). New York: HarperCollins.

 Kapur, S. (Director). (2007, October 12). “Elizabeth: Golden Age” [Video

file]. Retrieved May 16, 2021, from
https://yesmovies.ag/movie/elizabeth-the-golden-age-12112/1-1/watchi
ng.html