by Derek Wilson
The second, the disunion of the subjects minds in respect of the diversity of religion.
The third, the falling away in devotion of the subjects of this realm unto the competitor [Mary Stuart] in respect of religion and the expectation she hath of this crown.21
We cannot open a window into Elizabeth’s soul but, as far as the outworking of her beliefs in policy is concerned, Walsingham was right, she did ‘presume on fortune’ rather than God. That is, she was reactive, waiting on events, rather than being motivated by any politico-religious philosophy.
So it was that, throughout the crisis years of the reign, England found itself in the extraordinary position of being governed by an executive whose two principal components were engaged in an intermittent tug o’ war. There was a conflict between a monarch determined to maintain her own freedom of action, ring-fenced by prerogative, and a body of advisers who had a responsibility for the wellbeing of the nation. That basic clash of interests manifested itself over and again in the queen’s outbursts of rage, in her banishing outspoken councillors from court and in councillors taking themselves into voluntary exile. We have seen over and again how Walsingham incurred royal displeasure for speaking his mind and we have read some of the many grumbles he, Burghley, Leicester and others exchanged about Elizabeth’s behaviour.
We would be just as wrong automatically to take such complaints at face value as we would to accept uncritically the queen’s frequent assertions of her commitment to the wellbeing of her subjects. My belief is that we come closer to the truth by grappling with the clash of ideas, ideals and beliefs that marked the relationship between the last Tudor and her closest advisers. Elizabeth’s outlook on life had been shaped by her earlier experiences. If she was determined to be her own woman it was because for the first twenty-five years of her life her destiny, and even her continued existence, had been decided by others. If she was parsimonious it was because her father had squandered an immense fortune and thus put the Crown in pawn to parliament. If she was sceptical of religious enthusiasm it was because she had seen England batted to and fro by Catholic and Protestant partisans. She had learned the arts of survival by not allowing herself to be enslaved by principles. Under Edward VI she had been a Protestant. During Mary’s reign she had attended mass.
Walsingham, by contrast, had never deviated from the convictions he had espoused in his family circle and at university. Rather than being content to survive during Mary Tudor’s reign he had taken himself abroad, deepened his radical beliefs and seen at first hand the bitter cosmic struggle between the rival versions of Christianity. He understood in a way that Elizabeth never could the irreconcilability of Rome and Geneva. Everything he experienced in subsequent years served to underscore his convictions – Elizabeth’s excommunication, the St Bartholomew’s Massacre, the French wars of religion, the suppression of Protestantism in the Netherlands, the state-sponsored terrorism of Madrid and Rome, the treason and near-treason of Catholic infiltrators. Elizabeth believed a via media could be pursued which would satisfy the bulk of her subjects. Time proved her right. She believed that an imposed ritual uniformity could make all Englishmen her kind of Protestant. Time proved her wrong. Walsingham was convinced that an extensive preaching ministry would reach hearts and minds and produce a godly commonwealth. Thanks to Elizabeth and Whitgift that theory was never put to the test. The England that emerged from the crisis years 1570–90 was, in large measure, the result of these diverse viewpoints.
The Tudor Age is one which has for us an undying fascination. The members of the ruling dynasty were remarkable people. England began its movement towards a dominant position in world affairs. Unprecedented ideological conflict touched the lives of every individual. Native and immigrant artists and writers have left us impressions of England’s version of the Renaissance. Yet one of the most notable features of the nation’s political life is the roll call of gifted royal servants, from Thomas Wolsey to Robert Cecil, who maintained the machinery of government and were creative forces in the fashioning of a new national identity. In As You Like It, which Shakespeare wrote within a decade of Walsingham’s death, the shepherd Silvius expatiates on the meaning of ‘love’:
It is to be all made of faith and service
. . . All made of passion, all made of wishes;
All adoration, duty and observance,
All humbleness, all patience, and impatience,
All purity, all trial, all obedience.
Transfer those words from the romantic context to that of affection for queen and country and you have a fair portrait of Francis Walsingham.
NOTES
Preface
1 W.T. MacCaffrey, ed., William Camden – The History of the most renowned and victorious Princess Elizabeth, late queen of England, Chicago, 1970, pp.5–6
2 H.M. Margdiouth, ed., Poems and Letters of Andrew Marvell, 1952, 1, p.195
Chapter 1 Background and Beginnings, 1532–53 pp. 3–18
1 D. MacCullough, Reformation, 2003, p.199
2 H.C. Porter, Reformation and Reaction in Tudor Cambridge, Cambridge, 1958, p.68
3 Ibid., p.54
4 J. Fortescue, A Learned Commendation of the Politique Lawes of England, trs R. Mulcaster, 1567, fol. 114v–115
5 J. Bruce, ed., Correspondence of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leycester during his Government of the Low Countries, Camden Society, 1844, p.192
Chapter 2 Travel and Travail, 1553–8 pp. 19–32
1 J.G. Nichols, ed., Chronicles of Queen Jane and of Four Years of Queen Mary, Camden Soc., Old Series, XLVIII (1890), 2. xi, p.272
2 Ibid., p.11
3 L. Serrano, ed., Correspondencia diplomatica entre España y la Santa Sede, Madrid 1914, I, p.316. Quoted in P. Pierson, Philip II of Spain, 1975, p.167
4 J. Milton, Paradise Lost, Bk 1
5 See W. Haller, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs and the Elect Nation, 1963, p.64
6 Ibid., p.75
7 H. Höpfl, The Christian Polity of John Calvin, 1982, pp.162–3
8 D. Laing, ed., The Works of John Knox, Woodrow Soc. (1846–64), IV, p.373
9 Ibid.
Chapter 3 ‘The Malice of This Present Time’, 1558–69 pp. 33–59
1 H. Robinson, ed., The Zurich Letters, 1st series, 1842, pp.4–5
2 Ibid., 2nd ser., 1845, p.l
3 Ibid., 1st ser., p.4
4 Ibid., 2nd ser., p.9
5 Ibid., 2nd ser., p.37
6 Ibid., 1st ser., p.8
7 Ibid., 2nd ser., pp.12–14
8 Ibid., 2nd ser., p.5
9 See P.W. Hasler, The House of Commons 1558–1603, III, p.572
10 Ibid., III., p.573
11 Surrey Record Office, Loseley Correspondence, 3/56
12 State Papers Domestic, Elizabeth, XLVIII, 61
13 R.B. Wenham, Before the Armada: The growth of English Foreign Policy, 1485–1588, 1971, p.239
14 H. Robinson, op.cit., 2nd ser., p.250
15 See M.P. Holt, The French Wars of Religion, 1562–1629, Cambridge, 1995, p.44
16 Ibid., p.62
17 H. Robinson, op.cit., 1st ser., p.252
18 Ibid., 1st ser., pp.149–150
19 Ibid., 2nd ser., p.168
20 Ibid, 1st ser., pp.208–210
21 See Conyers Read, Mr Secretary Walsingham and the policy of Queen Elizabeth, 1925, I, p.57
22 Calendar of the Manuscripts of the Most Honourable the Marquess of Bath preserved at Longleat, Wiltshire, HMC, V, Talbot, Dudley and Devereux Papers, 1533–1659, 1980 (Hereafter referred to as ‘Cal. Bath MSS’), p.184
23 Ibid.
Chapter 4 ‘In Truth a Very Wise Person’, 1569–73 pp. 61–84
1 It is printed in full in Conyers Read, op.cit., I, pp.68f
2 Ibid., p.79
3 See P. Collinson, The Elizabethan Puritan Movement, 1967, p.82
4 H. Robinson, op.cit., 1st ser., pp.214–5
5 See Conyers Read, op.cit., p.66
6 Ibid., p.67
7 C.T. Mar
tin, ed., Journal of Sir Francis Walsingham, Camden Miscellany VI, 1870, p.2
8 See Conyers Read, op.cit., I, p.68
9 See G. Parker, The Grand Strategy of Philip II, New Haven, 1998, p.162
10 John Strype, The Life and Acts of Matthew Parker, 1711, I, p.298
11 Cal. S.P. For. 1569–71, 1632
12 J. Guy, Tudor England, 1988, p.279
13 See G. Parker, op.cit., p.101
14 See C. Read, Lord Burghley and Queen Elizabeth, 1965, p.91
15 See A. Stewart, Philip Sidney – A Double Life, 2000, p.88
16 See C. Read, Walsingham, I, p.228
17 Ibid., p.247
18 BL. Cotton MS Vespasian Fvi, fol.261
19 Cal. Bath MSS, p.184
Chapter 5 ‘To Govern that Noble Ship’, England, 1574–80 pp. 85–114
1 Walsingham & Leicester, 23 May 1586, J. Brace, ed., Correspondence of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leycester . . ., Camden Soc., 1844, p.279
2 C. Read, Walsingham, I, p.322
3 Cal. S.P. Span. I.468
4 H. Robinson, op.cit., 2nd ser. p.286–7
5 See S. Budiansky, Her Majesty’s Spymaster, 2005, pp.109–110 (No source cited)
6 L.S. Marcus, J. Mueller and M.B. Rose, eds., Elizabeth I – Collected Works, Chicago, 2000, pp.105–6
7 Cal Bath MSS, Dudley Papers, p.185
8 See, C. Read, Walsingham, I, pp.423ff for all citations from Beale’s treatise
9 P. Collinson, Elizabethans, 2003, p.42
10 Huntingdon Library, MSS HA 13067
11 D. Digges, ed., The compleat ambassador, 1655, p.424
12 See A. Hogg, God’s Secret Agents, 2006, p.71
13 H. Robinson, op.cit., 1st ser. p.314
14 Ibid., 1st ser., pp.256–9
15 Cal. S.P. For. 1575–7, pp.468–9
16 P.W. Hasler, The House of Commons 1558–1603, 333, 1981, p.599
17 See P. Collinson, Archbishop Grindal 1519–1583: The Struggle for a Reformed Church, 1979, p.242
18 Ibid., p.244
19 Ibid., p.245
20 State Papers 12/113/17
21 See C. Read, Walsingham, II, pp.264–5
22 B.L. Cotton MS Caligula C iii, fol.217
Chapter 6 ‘God Open Her Majesty’s Eyes’: Foreign Affairs, 1578–80 pp. 115–146
1 H. Robinson, Op.cit., 1st ser., p.325
2 See P. Collinson, Godly People: Essays on English Protestantism and Puritanism, 1983, p.380
3 See C. Read, Walsingham, I, pp.377f
4 Ibid., II, p.170
5 Ibid., II, p.186
6 L.S. Marcus, J. Mueller and M.B. Rose, eds., op.cit., p.169
7 See C. Read, Walsingham, I, p.310
8 Ibid., p.334
9 See P. Collinson, Archbishop Grindal, p.262
10 See J.H. Pollen, The English Catholics in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, 1920, p.257
11 See P.W. Hasler, op.cit., III, p.460
12 H. Robinson, ed., op.cit., I, p.332
13 Ibid., II, pp.287–8
14 Cal. S.P. Dom. XIV, 27
15 See C. Read, Walsingham, I, pp.393–4
16 Ibid., I, p.416
17 Ibid., II, p.16
18 Cal. S.P. Dom. Addenda, XVII, 31
19 J.B.M.C.K. de Lettenhove, Relations Politiques des Pays Bas et de l’Angleterre, (1882–1900) X, p.678
20 Cal. S.P. For. 1579, 80, 112
21 BL. Harley MSS 540, fol. 102
22 See C. Read, Walsingham, II, p.57
Chapter 7 ‘She Seemeth to be Very Ernestly Bent to Proceed’, 1581–4 pp. 147–178
1 L.S. Marcus, J. Mueller and M.B. Rose, op.cit., pp.249–250
2 D. Digges, op.cit., 408
3 Cal. S.P. Span. III. 226
4 See J.E. Neale, Elizabeth and Her Parliaments, 1559–1581, 1953, pp.383–4
5 Ibid., pp.384–5
6 BL., Add. MS 48023, fol. 48v; Graves 203
7 J.E. Neale, op.cit., p.402
8 See P.W. Hasler, op.cit., III, p.573
9 Talbot Papers, Bath MSS., V, pp.33–4
10 Cal. S.P. For. 1583–4, 102
11 Ibid., 1583–4, 286
12 Cal. S.P. For. 1583–4, p.459
13 Cal. S.P. Dom. 1583–4, p.84
14 See C. Read, Walsingham, II, p.218
15 Ibid. II, p.341
16 Cal. S.P. For. 1583–4, pp.652–3
17 See P. Collinson, Elizabethans, 2003, p.74n
18 See C. Read, Walsingham, II, p.382
19 Cal. S.P. Dom. 1583–4, p.584
Chapter 8 ‘Be You All Stout and Resolute’, 1584–8 pp. 179–222
1 Cal. S.P. For. 1583–4, pp.387–8
2 Hatfield MSS, III, p.45
3 See P.W. Hasler, op.cit., III, p.181
4 Letter to the Lord Mayor of London quoted in G. Adland, Amye Robert and the Earl of Leicester, 1870, pp.56–7
5 See Read, Walsingham, II, p.415
6 Ibid., II, p.419
7 W. Shakespeare, Midsummer Night’s Dream, V.1.21
8 W. Camden, History of the most renowned and victorious Princess Elizabeth, ed. W.T. MacCaffrey, Chicago, 1970, p.178
9 See P. Collinson, Elizabethans, p.50
10 P.W. Hasler, op.cit. II, p.37
11 J. Ayre, ed., The Works of John Whitgift, DD, Parker Society, Cambridge, 1852, II, pp.263–4
12 L.S. Marcus, J. Mueller and M.B. Rose, op.cit., pp.178–9
13 See C. Read, Walsingham, III, p.52
14 See J. Corbet, ed., Papers Relating to the Navy during the Spanish War 1585–1587, Navy Records Society, 1987, pp.41–2
15 J. Bruce, ed., Correspondence of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leycester . . ., Camden Soc., 1844, p.4
16 Ibid., pp.22–24
17 L.S. Marcus, J. Mueller and M.B. Rose, op.cit., p.273
18 See C. Read, Walsingham, II, p.139
19 Cal. S.P. For. 1584–5, p.266
20 See C. Read, Walsingham, III, p.60
21 Ibid., II, p.143
22 Ibid., III, p.148
23 See J.H. Pollen, ‘Mary Queen of Scots and the Babington Plot’, in Scottish History Society, 3rd ser., 3 (1922), p.126
24 J.H. Pollen, op.cit., pp.38–46
25 J. Bruce, op.cit., pp.341–2
26 Ibid., pp.420–21
27 Ibid., p.431
28 C. Read, Walsingham, III, p.53
29 J. Bruce, op.cit, pp.445–6
30 C. Read, Walsingham, III, p.168
31 Ibid., III, p.169
32 L.S. Marcus, J. Mueller and M.B. Rose, op.cit., p.189
33 Ibid.
Chapter 9 No Tomb, 1587–90 pp. 223–252
1 See C. Read, Walsingham, II, p.265
2 J. Bruce, op.cit., p.169
3 Ibid., p.343
4 See C. Read, Lord Burghley and Queen Elizabeth, p.374
5 See C. Read, Walsingham, I, p.441
6 L.S. Marcus, J. Mueller and M.B. Rose, op.cit., p.296
7 See C. Read, Walsingham, III, pp.182–6
8 See G. Parker, The Grand Strategy of Philip II, New Haven, 1998, p.226
9 M. Leimon and G. Parker, ‘Treason and plot in Elizabethan England: the “fame of Sir Edward Stafford” reconsidered’, in English Historical Review, CU (1996), p.1154
10 See C. Read, Walsingham, III, p.296
11 Ibid., III p.448
12 Ibid., II, p.218
13 Ibid., II, pp.87–8
14 P.W. Hasler, op.cit., III, p.146
15 T.E. Hartley, ed., Proceedings in the Parliament of Elizabeth I 1558–1581, Leicester, 1981, p.203
16 M. Axton, The Queen’s Two Bodies: Drama and the Elizabethan Succession, 1977, p.12
17 See E. Lodge, Illustrations of British History, 1791, II, pp.276–7
18 See T. Wright, ed., Queen Elizabeth and her Times, 1838, II, p.75
19 J. Bruce, op.cit., p.276
20 L.S. Marcus, J. Mueller and M.B. Rose, op.cit., p.321
21 See C. Read, Walsingham, II, p.14
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Anyone wishing to explore the life and times of Francis Walsingham in more detail will, as a starter, need to track down a copy of Conyers Read, Mr Secretary Walsingham and the Policy of Queen Elizabeth, 3 vols, 1925. A reprint by Archon Books, Hamden, Connecticut, was produced in 1967. Read included a comprehensive survey of all the relevant archival sources available at that time and it is still relevant. The most easily accessible source material is to be found in printed calendars and collections of contemporary documents. The basic relevant volumes for Walsingham are:
Calendar of State Papers Domestic of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, 1856–72
Calendar of State Papers Foreign of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, 1863–1950 (Most of these are available on DVD)
Calendar of Letters . . . in the Archives of Simancas . . . 1892–99
Calendar of State Papers relating to Scotland and Mary, Queen of Scots, 1898–1952
Calendar of State Papers relating to Ireland, 1860–1905
Calendar of State Papers, Venetian, 1864–98
Historical Manuscript Commission (HMC) Calendar of Manuscripts of Marquis of Bath at Longleat, 1904–80
HMC Calendar of Manuscripts of Marquis of Salisbury at Hatfield House, 1883–1923
Journal of Sir Francis Walsingham (ed. C.T. Martin), Camden Miscellany VI, 1870
Correspondence of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leycester during his government of the Low Countries (ed. J. Bruce) Camden Soc. Ser 1. 27, 1844
Zurich Letters, 1558–1579 (ed. H. Robinson) Parker Soc. 2 vols, 1842–5
The compleat ambassador, or, Two treatises of the intended marriage of Queen Elizabeth, comprised in letters of negotiation of Sir F. Walsingham . . . (ed. D. Digges), 1655
Original Letters Illustrative of English History (ed. H. Ellis), 1st ser., 3 vols. 1842
Relations politiques des Pays-Bas et de l’Angleterre sous la regne de Philippe II (ed.J.M.B.C. Kervyn de Lettenhove and L. Galliodts-van Severen), 11 vols, 1882–1900
Hamilton Papers . . . illustrating the political relations of England and Scotland . . . (ed. J. Bain), 1890–92
Collection of State Papers, relating to affairs in the reign of Queen Elizabeth . . . (ed. W. Murdin), 1759
