Elizabeth I, Then and Now
March 21 through August 2, 2003
a Folger exhibition

Court Life

Elizabeth's life at court was both religious and secular. She spent time in private devotions, and heard services in her chapel, with magnificent singing by a choir of men and boys. She loved music, as well as dancing, horseback riding and hunting. In addition, she watched others perform acrobatics, masques, tourneys, fencing, and wrestling. Many of the plays she saw were performed by boy students from the schools of St. Paul's, Westminster, and the Chapel. The queen and some of her courtiers also sponsored acting companies. In the 1590s, late in her reign, a new talent appeared on the London scene: William Shakespeare. 

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Elizabeth I, Then and Now
Exhibition Highlights

Introduction | Elizabeth's Wardrobe | Foreign Affairs | Leicester and Essex | The Scottish Connection | Elizabeth as Ruler | Elizabeth's Funeral | Afterlife, Then and Now

Exhibition Catalogue | Elizabeth For Young People | Curator's Notes | Elizabeth I Exhibition Home Page