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

Foreign Affairs

When Elizabeth visited her army at Tilbury during the Spanish Armada crisis in 1588, she said to them: "I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king . . . and take foul scorn that Parma or any prince of Europe should dare to invade the borders of my realm." No one did invade during Elizabeth's tenure. The Spanish failed in 1588 and the French were busy with their own internal religious wars during much of Elizabeth's reign. Politics and religion were bound together. Elizabeth attempted to keep Catholic Spanish and French influence from growing too large, while supporting the Protestants in France and the Netherlands. But she never wanted to throw too much money at these endeavors and used her various marriage negotiations as levers towards balancing the powers.

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Elizabeth I, Then and Now
Exhibition Highlights

Introduction | Court Life | 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