Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how
Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm Katie Lambert and I'm Sarah Dowdy. And Sarah, I
Speaker 1: have a question for you today. What do Kate Blanchet,
Speaker 1: Judy Dench and Helen Mirren have in common? I think
Speaker 1: I know the answer to this one. They've all played
Speaker 1: Queen Elizabeth the First. Actually, Helen Mirren has the distinction
Speaker 1: of playing Elizabeth the First and Elizabeth the Second, right,
Speaker 1: So you don't need to send us any correction emails
Speaker 1: for that one. But it's not just Hollywood that has
Speaker 1: a fascination with Elizabeth the First. She was a really
Speaker 1: interesting person who had a very long reign during contentious times. Yeah,
Speaker 1: she's brilliant, she's incredibly intelligent, she balances her country in
Speaker 1: a very contentious time. And what she's probably most famous
Speaker 1: for though, is being the virgin Queen. Right, but was
Speaker 1: she really the virgin Queen? Well we're not going to
Speaker 1: get too much into that today, but she does use
Speaker 1: a kind of coquettish deflection that she probably inherits from
Speaker 1: her mother to keep suitors on their toes well into
Speaker 1: her old age. So you know, whether it's an English
Speaker 1: lord or a foreign prince, they think that they might
Speaker 1: have a chance with Elizabeth. She was the original game player,
Speaker 1: and they did not have a chance. They didn't because
Speaker 1: the same queen, as a young girl, vowed that she
Speaker 1: would never marry. And that's what we're going to find
Speaker 1: out about today. And that might make sense if you
Speaker 1: know that Elizabeth the First was the daughter of Henry
Speaker 1: the Eighth, who was notorious for cutting off his wife's
Speaker 1: heads and or divorcing them. Henry had, of course, famously
Speaker 1: defied the pope to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon,
Speaker 1: with whom he had a daughter, Mary, to marry Anne Boleyn,
Speaker 1: and in Boleyn was only the second commoner elevated to
Speaker 1: the consort's throne. She was very um, very unpopular with
Speaker 1: a lot of people, considered just a courtisan who had
Speaker 1: worked her way to the throne um. But in fifteen
Speaker 1: thirty three, Anne Boleyn is pregnant with her and Henry's
Speaker 1: first child, and around the same time they're also the
Speaker 1: first signs of trouble in the marriage between Henry and
Speaker 1: and Blyn. Henry up until now has been completely infatuated
Speaker 1: with his wife Um, but he's starting to stray, and
Speaker 1: he's surprised that Anne is actually angry about this um
Speaker 1: something well. Catherine, Catherine of Aragon was sort of the
Speaker 1: quietly suffering queen, but Anne is upset and Henry wants
Speaker 1: a son very badly, as does Anne, because this will
Speaker 1: cement her place in Henry's life. He needs an air.
Speaker 1: That's largely why he cast aside Catherine of Aragon in
Speaker 1: the first place, because they didn't have a living son.
Speaker 1: And everyone thinks it will be a boy. It's only
Speaker 1: the famous astrologer William Glover who says that Anne will
Speaker 1: have a woman child and a prince of the land.
Speaker 1: But surprise, on September seven, fift thirty three, a daughter
Speaker 1: is born in a bed chamber decorated with tapesters of
Speaker 1: st Ursula and eleven thousand virgins, and Henry is not
Speaker 1: the most supportive husband. After the birth of his daughter,
Speaker 1: he tells Anne, you and I are both young, and
Speaker 1: by God's grace, boys will follow um. But there's still
Speaker 1: been all of these celebrations planned for the arrival of
Speaker 1: a prince, and they go on with most of them.
Speaker 1: They have to add an s to the birth announcements,
Speaker 1: altering Prince to Princess um. Elizabeth does get a ta
Speaker 1: damn for the celebration of a new air and a
Speaker 1: really fancy christening. She's wrapped in purple and for um,
Speaker 1: but she doesn't get the attendant ceremonies that would be
Speaker 1: fit for an air Um. Henry cancels the tournaments that
Speaker 1: have been planned the fire works. London doesn't celebrate the
Speaker 1: birth with bonfire, so it's kind of played down, at
Speaker 1: least from Henry's side. But Anne is just infatuated with
Speaker 1: a new baby and she really wants to breastfeed, which
Speaker 1: was considered a big not okay, a queen cannot breastfeed
Speaker 1: in this time, and they treat Elizabeth very seriously and
Speaker 1: very grown up. At three months, she's given her own household,
Speaker 1: which is kind of funny, more than a play kitchen
Speaker 1: um Hatfield Palace. And meanwhile, her older half sister, Princess Mary,
Speaker 1: is being horribly degraded. She's deprived of her title, her
Speaker 1: household is disbanded. Um Anne Boleyn is very jealous of
Speaker 1: Henry and his older daughter and won't let them see
Speaker 1: each other. And um Ethan tries to urge Henry to
Speaker 1: put Catherine, his ex wife, and Mary to death or
Speaker 1: have them dispatch some way. Um, but Henry's antagonizing his
Speaker 1: old family, but he's not going to go as far
Speaker 1: as actually killing them now. And unfortunately, Anne Boleyn doesn't
Speaker 1: have a lot of luck after this. As far as
Speaker 1: pregnancies go, she does not produce a male air. She
Speaker 1: has a lot of still births and miscarriages, which some
Speaker 1: people say she may have been RH negative, which now
Speaker 1: we have things to help you with that, and that
Speaker 1: would make sense, having the first birth of a healthy
Speaker 1: baby followed by miscarriages and still births, and that would
Speaker 1: mean that Anne never would have been able to give
Speaker 1: birth to a boy. But Anne really knows that it's
Speaker 1: getting down to the wire about delivering an air. When
Speaker 1: Catherine dies in fifty six, she she's starting to realize
Speaker 1: her power over the King is waning. He doesn't like
Speaker 1: her as much anymore. He's realized that she's not a
Speaker 1: very adept queen, and she knows that if she doesn't
Speaker 1: deliver him an air, she could be put aside just
Speaker 1: as easily and kind of the chief consolation during this
Speaker 1: time of miscarriages and worry. For Anne is the little Elizabeth,
Speaker 1: and she visits her a lot, and Henry is actually
Speaker 1: really proud of his young daughter too. He shows her
Speaker 1: off to ambassadors, sometimes all dressed up, but sometimes naked
Speaker 1: to show how well made she is. Oh god, it's
Speaker 1: kind of creepy. Imagine Henry the eighth on Facebook for
Speaker 1: to be all over that place. Oh you have the
Speaker 1: naked baby pictures. But it ends up not working out,
Speaker 1: and to say the very very least, he accuses Anne
Speaker 1: of adultery and treason, among other trumpet up charges, and
Speaker 1: also has their marriage declared invalid, which makes no sense
Speaker 1: because how could it be invalid and she could also
Speaker 1: be committing adultery. Oh well, uh, he's slept with her
Speaker 1: sister before they were married, that's and that's too too
Speaker 1: close for comfort. So she is executed. Elizabeth isn't even
Speaker 1: three yet, and because the marriage was declared invalid, Elizabeth
Speaker 1: is also now illegitimate. This is obviously an incredibly traumatic
Speaker 1: event in young Elizabeth's life, and she's precocious enough that
Speaker 1: she probably realized pretty quickly what had happened. She asks
Speaker 1: why she's gone from Lady Princess to Lady Elizabeth, and
Speaker 1: we don't actually know how she was told of the death,
Speaker 1: but it probably happened pretty soon, and I'm assuming it
Speaker 1: wasn't in the most sensitive way. Henry gets remarried very quickly.
Speaker 1: It's went like a week after the little to James Seymour,
Speaker 1: and this new wife wants Henry and Mary, his daughter
Speaker 1: from his first marriage, to make up who has been
Speaker 1: so insulted and cast aside and neglected right, so their
Speaker 1: relationship improves. And Mary is Catholic, which will become important
Speaker 1: a little bit later, So she now has people looking
Speaker 1: out for her, but no one is looking after a
Speaker 1: little Elizabeth. Yeah, she's considered a bastard and the daughter
Speaker 1: of a trader, so she doesn't have many supporters. But
Speaker 1: fortunately her older sister Mary is fond of her and
Speaker 1: visits her, and Um even persuades the king to invite
Speaker 1: her to court because she's in the sent away and
Speaker 1: not allowed to be around everybody. So there's there's this
Speaker 1: really brief window of happy family time for the tutors
Speaker 1: Um in the early part of Henry's marriage to Jane Um.
Speaker 1: And finally Henry gets what he's been after for decades.
Speaker 1: A male heir with Emma Edward's six Yeah, Edward is born. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: this little happy period does not last long because Jane
Speaker 1: dies shortly after childbirth. Um, and Elizabeth goes into Mary's
Speaker 1: care and Henry, of course marries again Anne of Cleaves,
Speaker 1: and a little six year old Elizabeth writes a very
Speaker 1: precious letter to her new stepmother asking if she can
Speaker 1: come to court. And Anne is very charmed by this letter.
Speaker 1: Elizabeth is so smart and it's very polite, and Henry
Speaker 1: gives a very rude response, Um, you know, forbidding her
Speaker 1: to come. Um. But we're kind of glossing over these
Speaker 1: marriages here. But briefly Anne concedes a nulman to Henry
Speaker 1: because Henry says that he can't sleep with her, he's
Speaker 1: unattracted to her. Um. And Anne actually retires and lives
Speaker 1: a pretty comfortable life. She's lucky she escapes the acts
Speaker 1: because she's so um, she's so willing to given to
Speaker 1: any of Henry's demands. Um. And she's really still fond
Speaker 1: of Elizabeth and knows that um, she and probably won't
Speaker 1: remarry and have kids of her own, and takes the
Speaker 1: maternal interest in her and even asks if Elizabeth can
Speaker 1: visit her sometimes, and Henry is actually okay with that.
Speaker 1: But with his short marriage to Anne of Cleaves set aside,
Speaker 1: Henry finds a new wife and she's a teenager, Catherine Howard,
Speaker 1: and he's so happy with her for a little while,
Speaker 1: and uh, they have so much fun together. He's he's
Speaker 1: kind of the Henry you think of in portraits. By
Speaker 1: this point. He's grossly overweight, and he has an abscess
Speaker 1: on his leg that oozes and smells bad. So he's
Speaker 1: not the dashing young man he used to be. So
Speaker 1: we have to kind of wonder what things were like
Speaker 1: for Catherine Howard. But they get along very nice, and um,
Speaker 1: things are fine until it comes out that she's not
Speaker 1: a virgin. She's been employing her former lovers in her household,
Speaker 1: and she's accused of treason and executed. And this is
Speaker 1: a very traumatic event in the young Elizabeth's life. Right
Speaker 1: at this time, she's eight or nine, so she's old
Speaker 1: enough to know what's really going on when you you
Speaker 1: have to kind of think. She sees this happening and
Speaker 1: she realizes, oh, this is what happened to my mother,
Speaker 1: and so yeah, by this point she's lost several stepmothers,
Speaker 1: seen several people beheaded. It's pretty traumatic, and she tells
Speaker 1: her friend that she will never marry because to her
Speaker 1: marriage equal staff. But Henry being Henry Mary's again and
Speaker 1: this time it is the widow Katherine Parr, and she
Speaker 1: really wants to be a good stepmother and let these
Speaker 1: three children have a normal life, so she invites them
Speaker 1: all to come to court, so Edward and Mary and
Speaker 1: Elizabeth are all together again, and this is another sort
Speaker 1: of short window of happiness for the tutors Um. They
Speaker 1: all come in and out of court and spend time
Speaker 1: together and Catherine Parr supervises their education. UM. And there's
Speaker 1: also a new act of succession. It goes Prince Edward
Speaker 1: the son and heir any new offspring. But by this
Speaker 1: point it's extremely likely that UM Henry couldn't have children
Speaker 1: UM and then Mary and then Elizabeth. But Henry doesn't
Speaker 1: fix the issue of Elizabeth being illegitimate, which comes comes
Speaker 1: up against her later and in early fifty four, Henry
Speaker 1: banishes Elizabeth from court, and we're still not sure why
Speaker 1: that happened. She's just a child, exactly what could she
Speaker 1: have done? But Catherine convinces him to forgive her and
Speaker 1: let her come back. And Catherine really has even more
Speaker 1: than just that maternal interest in these poor, orphaned, abandoned
Speaker 1: children who have gone in and out of their father's
Speaker 1: favor and had really rough childhoods. She's also really interested
Speaker 1: in their education. We mentioned earlier she was going to
Speaker 1: supervise Elizabeth's education, but she makes her whole court of
Speaker 1: center of feminine learning. To quote Alison Weir, who has
Speaker 1: written a great biography and Elizabeth in a history of
Speaker 1: all of Henry's wise, if you want to, if you
Speaker 1: want to go from number one to six, um, And
Speaker 1: Elizabeth and Edward both turned into these intellectual prodigies because
Speaker 1: of this really strict education they have in really high
Speaker 1: expectations that Henry has for them. Right. One of Elizabeth's
Speaker 1: tutors said, her mind has no womanly weakness. Her perseverance
Speaker 1: is equal to that of a man, and her memory
Speaker 1: long keeps what it quickly picks up. She's really smart.
Speaker 1: She knows Greek, Latin, French, Italian and what Welsh, Spanish,
Speaker 1: and um, she plays music, she composes. She's you know,
Speaker 1: good at more feminine pursuits like needlework. She's really good
Speaker 1: at book binding. She's got a lovely hand in calligraphy,
Speaker 1: and she is interested in riding and hunting and shooting crossbows.
Speaker 1: Some of these are adult pursuits, but she's a very
Speaker 1: talented woman, and she as a child, she spends almost
Speaker 1: every waking hour with books or religious exercises. So Elizabeth
Speaker 1: is prepared for a future that would require some diplomacy,
Speaker 1: education and intelligence. And that's a good thing. Because Henry
Speaker 1: dies and this makes Catherine the dowager queen, and it
Speaker 1: makes little Edward, who's nine or ten at the time,
Speaker 1: his heir. Yeah, and Elizabeth's actually with her younger brother
Speaker 1: when they're told that their father has died, and when
Speaker 1: the men of the court pay her brother homage, which
Speaker 1: must have been um a pretty emotional sight for her. Um.
Speaker 1: But Edward is no longer allowed by his counsel to
Speaker 1: see his stepmother or his sister's And Edward is a
Speaker 1: very quiet child. He's obviously had a difficult childhood as well,
Speaker 1: and he misses these women who are the only people
Speaker 1: who he really loves. Right he's only ten, Yeah, and
Speaker 1: I have a lot of sympathy for a little Edwards.
Speaker 1: He writes to them a lot and um, it's it's
Speaker 1: generally kind of a sad time again and again. Since
Speaker 1: Edward is so young, there are other people who are
Speaker 1: taking positions of power, and a man named Edward Seymour
Speaker 1: becomes Lord Protector of England, but his brother Thomas Seymour
Speaker 1: doesn't have a place on the council and he's a
Speaker 1: very ambitious man who doesn't like feeling left out. These
Speaker 1: are both Edward's maternal uncle, so Jane Seymour's brothers, and
Speaker 1: Thomas Seymour decides that perhaps the best way to finagle
Speaker 1: his way into power is to propose to thirteen year
Speaker 1: old Elizabeth. He knows Mary is Catholic, so she's not
Speaker 1: going to be a good match, but Elizabeth seems pretty uh,
Speaker 1: pretty good deal. So he starts flirting with her and
Speaker 1: courting her, and she's only thirteen, but she knows that
Speaker 1: it's about his ambition. Still, she's thirteen, so she's kind
Speaker 1: of flattered. Um, but she still turns him down, says,
Speaker 1: neither my age nor my inclination allows me to think
Speaker 1: of marriage. Um. So he goes back to an earlier love,
Speaker 1: Catherine Parr, who is the Dowager Queen, and Catherine had
Speaker 1: loved Thomas before, but before marrying Henry the eighth Right.
Speaker 1: But once the king decides he wants to marry you,
Speaker 1: you marry the king, especially if the king is prone
Speaker 1: to be heading people. So she ended up with Henry,
Speaker 1: of course, but now she has her chance. The only
Speaker 1: problem is that she marries him with what is called
Speaker 1: indecent haste. At the time, it's just a few weeks
Speaker 1: after Henry died, and something that quick would have to
Speaker 1: be approved by the council because it's so soon, she
Speaker 1: could potentially, let's say, have had a baby with Henry,
Speaker 1: and then you would never know exactly the line of
Speaker 1: succession is muddled once again, so she marries him. They're
Speaker 1: in trouble, but they're forgiven because little Edward really likes her. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so her her young stepson likes her. He likes his uncle,
Speaker 1: so he's fine with the marriage. He doesn't see the
Speaker 1: political implications of his very ambitious uncle getting a little
Speaker 1: bit closer to him and to his affairs. And Elizabeth
Speaker 1: goes to live in this household with Katherine Parr and
Speaker 1: Thomas Seymour and people are a little bit scandalized, or
Speaker 1: at least Mary is Mary is is scandalized that you
Speaker 1: know that Catherine accepted the proposal only six weeks after
Speaker 1: becoming a widow. But Elizabeth is basically just like, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna do whatever I want, or I'm at least gonna
Speaker 1: wait until this scandal dies down. Um. She says that
Speaker 1: they don't want to offend the Seymours. They should play
Speaker 1: it cool because the Seymours are are have so much
Speaker 1: power now. And she also says that her stepmother has
Speaker 1: been so kind to her. It's not really her place
Speaker 1: to to offend her, right, but things at this household
Speaker 1: get a little creepy would maybe be a good word,
Speaker 1: because Thomas still has that interest in the very young Elizabeth,
Speaker 1: and it's definitely of a sexual nature. Um. They start
Speaker 1: romping together, and that's the word that's always used. They
Speaker 1: they chase each other and have tickle fights, and um,
Speaker 1: it's all pretty unseemly from our perspective, But to Catherine,
Speaker 1: Elizabeth is just a child, and um, Thomas actually jokingly
Speaker 1: kind of calls himself her stepfather, and it all seems okay.
Speaker 1: It just seems like a family, family fun. Especially he
Speaker 1: makes sure that he does it in front of other
Speaker 1: people because there's the implication then that if it were inappropriate,
Speaker 1: you know, surely he wouldn't want to do it in
Speaker 1: front of the front of his wife or Elizabeth's governess.
Speaker 1: But since he's tickling this young girl in her nightgown
Speaker 1: in front of his wife, it must be fine. But
Speaker 1: things get even more inappropriate when Catherine gets pregnant, and
Speaker 1: so I assume they were no longer having relations with
Speaker 1: each other, and Thomas focuses his sexual energy even more
Speaker 1: strongly little Elizabeth. He would bust into Elizabeth's bed chamber,
Speaker 1: um in his nightgown and slippers, and Um. He would
Speaker 1: only stay though if she was in bed, where he
Speaker 1: would tickle her, mess with her, and um once he
Speaker 1: even tried to kiss her, and Missus Catherine Ashley Um,
Speaker 1: Elizabeth's lady in waiting, cried for shame, you know, don't
Speaker 1: be careful. And Um would even smack her on the
Speaker 1: bottom too. So he's he's pretty pretty reckless. And she again,
Speaker 1: is about fourteen, So for her, this is a little
Speaker 1: bit of a youthful infatuation. She's flattered by this older
Speaker 1: man's attentions, and she's a bit too naive, maybe an
Speaker 1: innocent to understand what's really going on. He's a manipulative
Speaker 1: predator and she's too young to see it. And Catherine
Speaker 1: Parr is so oblivious he even joins in sometimes with
Speaker 1: these romps um, you know, just everyone having a grand
Speaker 1: old time apparently, But Thomas is worried because Elizabeth can't
Speaker 1: quite conceal her infatuation, so he's worried he's going to
Speaker 1: get into trouble, and so he tells Katherine that he
Speaker 1: saw Elizabeth with her arms around a man's neck, and
Speaker 1: of course the Dowager Queen is horrified by this and
Speaker 1: asks Mrs Ashley about you know what, do you know
Speaker 1: anything about this? And Mrs Ashley doesn't want to get involved,
Speaker 1: so she refers her to Elizabeth. Has the book, yeah,
Speaker 1: and um, Elizabeth, of course you know that's not true.
Speaker 1: I don't even know any men outside of your household.
Speaker 1: And that's when Catherine gets her first inkling that something
Speaker 1: is amiss, because if Elizabeth isn't lying, why is her husband?
Speaker 1: And so some accounts have her finding Elizabeth in Thomas's
Speaker 1: arms in that April. They come apart, they're ashamed, and
Speaker 1: no one thinks the relationship was consummated. But clearly that
Speaker 1: was the track going in that direction. So Elizabeth leaves
Speaker 1: the household. I believe she's asked to leave by Kat. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And there's a really awkward meeting between Catherine and Elizabeth
Speaker 1: right before she goes, when Catherine tells her God has
Speaker 1: given you great qualities, cultivate them always, and labor to
Speaker 1: improve them, for I believe you are destined by Heaven
Speaker 1: to be Queen of England. And Elizabeth is so ashamed
Speaker 1: she can't even look at her. No. And of course
Speaker 1: at this time she realizes that she hurt Katherine, and
Speaker 1: the ladies part maybe not in the best terms, but
Speaker 1: they do make up later because Catherine realizes, you know,
Speaker 1: she's only fourteen, she had no idea. Yeah, And Elizabeth
Speaker 1: is never so foolish again about her her honor and
Speaker 1: her place in the succession. She realizes that she jeopardized
Speaker 1: it all. And Elizabeth takes care after this to appear
Speaker 1: as the perfect Protestant woman. She's dressed very plainly, she's
Speaker 1: modest and demeanor, she's very sober in general, and she
Speaker 1: wants to give off this, you know, this image of
Speaker 1: being not that kind of girl, and this essentially saves
Speaker 1: her life later, but but we won't skip ahead to
Speaker 1: their quite yet. Catherine and Thomas, do you have their child?
Speaker 1: Katherine dies in childbirth, and it's sort of the beginning
Speaker 1: of a riff between Elizabeth and her older sister Mary,
Speaker 1: who had gotten along pretty well before then. Um. About
Speaker 1: seven months after the baby is born, Thomas is executed
Speaker 1: for treason. This is his ambitions really throw him to
Speaker 1: the wind, don't they. You have to roll your eyes
Speaker 1: a little bit. He's caught with a knife outside of
Speaker 1: Edward's bed chamber, and some people think Elizabeth is involved too.
Speaker 1: They're both questioned extremely thoroughly, but she holds out much
Speaker 1: better than you would think of fourteen year old would
Speaker 1: that kind of questioning. And she's perfectly calm, cool and composed. Yeah,
Speaker 1: she acts like the ideal woman for her brother's court.
Speaker 1: Um and her her little brother Edward likes her a lot,
Speaker 1: but he wouldn't have had any power to save her
Speaker 1: should she be implicated with Thomas's treason. And speaking of Edward,
Speaker 1: about the same time, he comes down with either tuberculosis
Speaker 1: or some other sort of respiratory infection. We're not sure,
Speaker 1: but it's very clear that his health is in grave danger,
Speaker 1: and he is about to die, and this is when
Speaker 1: all the succession stuff just blows up. So back to
Speaker 1: that line of succession we were talking about earlier, the
Speaker 1: one that Henry decreed when he married Catherine Parr. It
Speaker 1: made Edward, of course his air, followed by any other
Speaker 1: babies that might be born, followed by Mary, followed by Elizabeth,
Speaker 1: followed by the descendants of his youngest sister, not his
Speaker 1: eldest sister, because we should say his eldest sister's descendants.
Speaker 1: That's Mary, Queen of Scott's and Henry's great enemy in
Speaker 1: Scotland of course, So his younger sister's airs are kind
Speaker 1: of low down on this line of succession um, but
Speaker 1: they jumped to the top right after Edward dies and
Speaker 1: their interests put forth the teenage Lady Jane Gray, who
Speaker 1: again as a descendant of Henry the eighth youngest sister Mary,
Speaker 1: and Gilford Dudley marries Lady Jane, thinking that the political
Speaker 1: power of his family, combined with her somewhat dubious blood
Speaker 1: claim together will make them a stronger candidate than Mary.
Speaker 1: And so she's this sad puppet queen for a few
Speaker 1: days before she's executed as well, and kind of an
Speaker 1: interesting connection. Lady Jane Gray is actually educated for a
Speaker 1: time in the same household as Elizabeth, and the cousins
Speaker 1: are very much alike. They look similar, they're both incredibly intelligent.
Speaker 1: But Elizabeth takes no part in this coup, which is
Speaker 1: pretty smart because it doesn't work right. And Mary gets
Speaker 1: the crown, and she initially has a lot of support
Speaker 1: people like her despite the fact that she's Catholic, but
Speaker 1: she loses that very quickly when she marries the very
Speaker 1: Catholic Philip of Spain, and then, of course she sanctions
Speaker 1: the burning of three Protestants over her reign um, getting
Speaker 1: the name Bloody Mary. So that doesn't really endear a
Speaker 1: queen to her people know, and the people decide they
Speaker 1: want their Protestant Elizabeth instead to get the Catholics out
Speaker 1: of their country, and so they institute various uprisings, and
Speaker 1: Elizabeth gets caught up in them a little bit, not
Speaker 1: by her own doing, just because she's the figurehead. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So one of these is Sir Thomas Wyatt's Rebellion in
Speaker 1: fifteen fifty four, which began as a protest against Mary's
Speaker 1: marriage to Philip and Elizabeth is accused of being involved
Speaker 1: in this and spends three months in the tower in
Speaker 1: fear of her life, but there's no strong evidence against her,
Speaker 1: even though Mary is very suspicious and UM thinks that
Speaker 1: she's secretly a Protestant and Um Elizabeth does get out
Speaker 1: of the tower or though, because Mary is pregnant and
Speaker 1: therefore Elizabeth is not as much of a threat to her,
Speaker 1: you know, if Mary has her own air. But it
Speaker 1: turns out that she wasn't really pregnant, and this happens
Speaker 1: again in Mary's range. She has two false pregnancies and
Speaker 1: no one knows if it was there was a a
Speaker 1: physical cause for it, perhaps in a very insist or
Speaker 1: some sort of cancer because she had all the symptoms
Speaker 1: of pregnancy, or if it was pseudocyesis, which is a
Speaker 1: hysterical pregnancy. That's you know, that's more of a psychological
Speaker 1: issue because there was so much pressure on every TV
Speaker 1: an air to use an air. But this stint in
Speaker 1: the tower is another one of those really traumatic events
Speaker 1: for Elizabeth's life, and she she's thankful for for her escape.
Speaker 1: For her entire life is as late as fifteen seventy nine,
Speaker 1: she's still composing private prayers to thank God from pulling
Speaker 1: me from the prison to the palace. And Elizabeth plays
Speaker 1: the game during Mary's rain very much again. She's doing
Speaker 1: that outward obedience perhaps inner disobedience thing. Mary is positive
Speaker 1: that Elizabeth is secretly Protestant, but in deference to her sister,
Speaker 1: Elizabeth practices, you know, the Catholic rites and jewels and
Speaker 1: where she goes to London for her coronation, and she's
Speaker 1: she plays it cool during these years. So Mary's horrible
Speaker 1: childhood growing up with Henry the eighth, and the dishonor
Speaker 1: of her mother and her inability to have a child,
Speaker 1: her horrible rain killing all these people, and Philip, her
Speaker 1: husband's abandonment of her. He moves back to Spain, so
Speaker 1: she's really not going to have a child now leaves
Speaker 1: her a broken woman in middle age. And she dies
Speaker 1: on November seif fifty eight. And when Elizabeth is told,
Speaker 1: the story goes that she's outside at Hatfield the estate,
Speaker 1: reading under a tree, and she's rendered speechless initially, and
Speaker 1: she sinks to her knees and says in Latin, this
Speaker 1: is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes.
Speaker 1: From the eighteenth Psalm, and I think she's provided us
Speaker 1: with the perfect ending words to our podcast. Elizabeth goes
Speaker 1: on to be a wonderful queen that that is a
Speaker 1: story for another day. But if you'd like to learn
Speaker 1: more about Elizabeth's father and her childhood, you should check
Speaker 1: out the top ten heads that rolled during the reign
Speaker 1: of Henry the Eighth on our homepage at www dot
Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. For more on this and
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