Book contents
- Frontmatter
- PREFACE
- TRANSLATORS' PREFACE
- Contents
- BOOK I THE CHIEF CRISES IN THE EARLIER HISTORY OF ENGLAND
- BOOK II ATTEMPTS TO CONSOLIDATE THE KINGDOM INDEPENDENTLY IN ITS TEMPORAL AND SPIRITUAL RELATIONS
- BOOK III QUEEN ELIZABETH. CLOSE CONNEXION OF ENGLISH AND SCOTTISH AFFAIRS
- INTRODUCTION
- CHAP. I Elizabeth's accession. Triumph of the Reformation
- CHAP. II Outlines of the Reformation in Scotland
- CHAP. III Mary Stuart in Scotland. Relation of the two Queens to each other
- CHAP. IV Interdependence of the European dissensions in Politics and Religion
- CHAP. V The fate of Mary Stuart
- CHAP. VI The Invincible Armada
- CHAP. VII The later years of Queen Elizabeth
- BOOK IV FOUNDATION OF THE KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN. FIRST DISTURBANCES UNDER THE STUARTS
- BOOK V DISPUTES WITH PARLIAMENT DURING THE LATER YEARS OF THE REIGN OF JAMES I AND THE EARLIER YEARS OF THE REIGN OF CHARLES I
CHAP. VII - The later years of Queen Elizabeth
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 June 2011
- Frontmatter
- PREFACE
- TRANSLATORS' PREFACE
- Contents
- BOOK I THE CHIEF CRISES IN THE EARLIER HISTORY OF ENGLAND
- BOOK II ATTEMPTS TO CONSOLIDATE THE KINGDOM INDEPENDENTLY IN ITS TEMPORAL AND SPIRITUAL RELATIONS
- BOOK III QUEEN ELIZABETH. CLOSE CONNEXION OF ENGLISH AND SCOTTISH AFFAIRS
- INTRODUCTION
- CHAP. I Elizabeth's accession. Triumph of the Reformation
- CHAP. II Outlines of the Reformation in Scotland
- CHAP. III Mary Stuart in Scotland. Relation of the two Queens to each other
- CHAP. IV Interdependence of the European dissensions in Politics and Religion
- CHAP. V The fate of Mary Stuart
- CHAP. VI The Invincible Armada
- CHAP. VII The later years of Queen Elizabeth
- BOOK IV FOUNDATION OF THE KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN. FIRST DISTURBANCES UNDER THE STUARTS
- BOOK V DISPUTES WITH PARLIAMENT DURING THE LATER YEARS OF THE REIGN OF JAMES I AND THE EARLIER YEARS OF THE REIGN OF CHARLES I
Summary
Every great historic existence has a definite purport; the life of Queen Elizabeth lies in the transactions already recorded, and their results in the change of policy which she brought about.
The issue of the war between the hierarchy, which had once swayed every act and thought of the West, and those who had fallen off from it was not yet decided as long as England with its power vacillated between the two systems. Then this Queen came forward, attaching herself to the new view as by a predetermined destiny; she carried it out in a form answering to the historical institutions of her kingdom, and with an energy by which she at the same time upheld that kingdom's power. It was against her therefore that the hierarchy, when it could renew the contest, mainly directed its most energetic efforts: an author of the period makes those leagued with the Pope against the Queen say to each other, ‘come let us kill her, and the inheritance shall be ours.’ The chief among these was the mighty King who had himself once ruled England. She maintained a war with this league, in which it was at each moment a question of existence for her. She was assailed with all the weapons of war and of treason; but she adopted corresponding means of defence against every assault: she not only maintained herself, but created in the neighbouring countries a powerful representation of the principle which she had taken up, without pressing the adoption of a form for it exactly like her own.
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- A History of EnglandPrincipally in the Seventeenth Century, pp. 330 - 356Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1875