The Elizabethans (79 page)
Authors: A.N. Wilson
It was the great era of domestic building. Longleat was one of the first great houses not to be fortified, a sign that the civil wars of the past were over.
Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire was a sign of the enormous wealth of its proprietress, Bess of Hardwick. It is also a wholly original, modern piece of architecture, anticipating the modern movement in its dazzling use of glass.
The Middle Temple Hall was the scene not only of many legal dinners but also of plays. Shakespeare’s
Twelfth Night
probably had its first performance here.
The 16th century religious legacy. Pope Pius V, whose tomb is shown, excommunicated Elizabeth and called Catholics to depose her, if necessary by violence.
Mary Queen of Scots became the (willing) figure- head for Catholic rebellion.
On her state visit in May 2011, Queen Elizabeth II, with bowed and silent head, acknowledged the disaster of English attitudes to Ireland since Queen Elizabeth I.
Dr Dee, mathematician, mage, and book- collector, was one of the first to popularize the astronomical discoveries of Copernicus, and coined the phrase ‘the British Empire’.
Richard Hooker, whose statue dominates the close of Exeter Cathedral, was a great philosopher and theologue who in a sense invented what is today called Anglicanism.
In this portrait, the Queen, looking particularly Welsh, fingers pearls. She loved jewels, but the picture is full of symbolism. The pearls are loot from the Spanish Main, used as a symbol of her virgin purity.
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Epub ISBN: 9781409038276
Version 1.0
Published by Hutchinson 2011
2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1
Copyright © A.N. Wilson 2011
A.N. Wilson has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work
This book is a work of non-fiction.
First published in Great Britain in 2011 by Hutchinson
Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road,
London SW1V 2SA
Addresses for companies within The Random House Group Limited can be found at:
www.randomhouse.co.uk/offices.htm
The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9780091931513
Table of Contents
List of illustrations and credits
1 The Difficulty
2 The New World
3 Ceremonial – Twixt earnest and twixt game
4 Men in Power
5 Which Church?
6 The New Learning
7 A Library at Mortlake
8 The Northern Rebellion
9 St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre
10 Elizabethan Women
11 Histories
12 Kenilworth
13 Ireland
14 Sir Francis Drake’s Circumnavigation
15 A Frog He Would A-wooing Go
16 Religious Dissent
17 Sir Philip Sidney
18 Hakluyt and Empire
19 The Scottish Queen
20 The Armada
21 London and Theatre
22 Marprelate and Hooker
Part Four: The Close of the Reign
23 A Hive for Bees
24 Sex and the City
25 The Occult Philosophy
26 My America
27 Tyrone
28
29 Hamlet : One Through Two
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Picture Section
Copyright
