8-4VirginQueen

Why did Queen Elizabeth never marry? //Answer prepared by Hayley Gebhardt//

Queen Elizabeth was know as the “virgin queen”. Elizabeth was a smart leader. As a woman, she knew that if she were to marry, she would lose some of the power she enjoyed as queen. Elizabeth was also aware of her responsibility to England. She knew that marrying the prince of another country could weaken her own nation or cause conflict with other countries. There were also political reasons that made marriage problematic, and never did the Queen's subjects unanimously agree on a husband for her. There was much background to it. According to the Elizabethan Era website under the section of the __Virgin Queen,__ “England was hundreds of years away from women obtaining the right to vote. Elizabethan Women were governed by the rules of society and their roles were subservient to the male members of their families. Elizabethan woman were raised to believe that they were inferior to men and that men knew better! Disobedience was seen as a crime against their religion. The Church firmly believed this and quoted the Bible in order to ensure the continued adherence to this principle. Understanding the subservient role of Elizabethan women provides an understanding as to why Queen Elizabeth was reluctant to marry, thus earning herself the title of the 'Virgin Queen'.” If she would have got married then Elizabeth would have been expected to obey her husband.

Rumors suggested that she had some illegitimate children, whom she allegedly gave birth to whilst out of London on her summer progresses. They also say that the Queen told no one about them. However, there is little hard evidence to support this. In 1559, parliament petitioned the Queen to marry a Protestant as soon as possible, but there was a shortage of suitable candidates. The man that Elizabeth is popularly believed to have loved the most was Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester. The Internet of Shakespeare under the section of __The Virgin Queen__ stated, “Despite the fact that he was already married, Dudley and the Queen were seen together almost constantly and she often referred to him as “Darling Robin.” The suspicious circumstances of the death of Dudley's first wife, together with his unpopularity at court, meant that no marriage ever took place. In 1562, Elizabeth nearly died of smallpox. When she recovered, the Privy Council was even more keen for her to marry.” Also from britannia under the section of the __Privy Council__ it stated that, “The Privy Council constituted the governing executive and chief advisors of the monarch. Privy Councilors were all chosen personally by the Queen (or King), to whom they swore an oath of personal loyalty.” Although she knew that she could not marry the Earl of Leicester, they remained close throughout her reign. Despite the distrust of William Cecil and others at court, Leicester, which was the country he Dudley ruled, held many key posts within the Privy Council. When he died, the Queen shut herself away for days. Much later in her reign, she considered marriage to Henry, Duke of Anjou, who was the brother of Charles IX of France. In 1579, at the age of 46, the Anjou proposal was probably her last chance of marriage.

According to English law, any property owned by a widowed woman, or an unmarried woman who received an inheritance, went to her husband. Therefore whoever married her, would get as a bonus the kingdom of England. According to the BBC website under the second of __The Virgin Queen__ it stated, “As a married woman, she would only be a Queen consort, a breeding machine for the king. However, as an unmarried Queen, she had an entire kingdom full of handsome young men for her to exploit, and indeed it was rumored that like her father King Henry VIII, she had a strong libido. For political reasons, she wanted the country to herself. There was no room for a man to dictate how she is ruling. Without him she can make all the rules and it can me her country” Also Sovereign with all the authority that this superior position decreed was another reason why she never married.

Caption: Queen Elizabeth I Caption: Queen Elizabeth I

Picture on the left: http://theoldworld.wordpress.com/2008/03/27/a-day-at-the-cecil-homeplace/

Picture on the right: http://englishhistory.net/tudor/beeslychaptertwelve.html