Good Queen Bess

Elizabeth I (Routledge Historical Biographies), by Judith M. Richards

Secrecy & Deception, Gareth Russell

There’s a branch of the Medicis that moved to Ireland and now are running a successful chain of fried chicken restaurants which is a very different vinbe from when they were like buying popes and stuff

The current heir to the main branch of the Hapsburg family is an endurance race car driver

#if he got rid of some middle names i bet he would be more aerodynamic and better at racing via @/honeyseller

Correction: it's not the Medicis who run the Dublin fried chicken shops, but the direct decendants of the enemies of the Medici; the Borgias. The chain is called Borza and is better known for fish and chips. They moved to Ireland in the early 20th century. They are also said to have introduced the deep fried Mars bar from Scotland to Ireland.

The Borgias, among the most feared and reviled families in European history, running a fish 'n chips shop with deep fried Mars bars is one of the funniest things I've ever heard. It's like something from a D&D campaign where they decided to completely change genres.

Melita Thomas, The King's Pearl

“I’m having his baby - no I’m not, but you should see your faces!” sounds like something Elizabeth would say to fuck with her privy council lmao

“there is the famous chequers ring, a beautiful mother-of-pearl band set with gold and rubies, and the monogram ‘ER’ in diamonds and enamel. the ring features a locket containing two exquisitely painted tiny miniatures. one of these was elizabeth, while the other is a woman who seems likely to have been anne. elizabeth owned this ring during her queenship, although how and when it came into her possession is unknown. it could have been a gift from one of her courtiers; susan doran has suggested it may have been given to her by edward seymour, later duke of somerset.” (nicola tallis, young elizabeth)

Tallis makes a small mistake here though - Susan Doran was not referring to Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, but Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford - Somerset’s son. There was no duke in England during Elizabeth’s reign other than the Duke of Norfolk.

Hertford may have been trying to get back into Elizabeth’s good books after falling out of favour for marrying Katherine Grey, but there is scant evidence to support this because the ring has pretty much no providence before James’ reign. The only potential connection to the Seymours is the depiction of the phoenix which was part of their family emblem. But even this is not a surefire connection because Elizabeth herself also used the phoenix in her own, personal symbolism.

Mary Hill Cole in her essay “Maternal Memory: Elizabeth Tudor’s Anne Boleyn” posits that it might have been Robert Dudley who commissioned the ring since it has been tentatively dated to the mid 1570s which corresponds nicely with Kenilworth 1575. He was also no stranger to gifting her items of jewellery that required profound skill in minor details. I’ve included Cole’s extensive footnote on the matter below;

But ultimately this theory relies just as much on speculation as the Hertford theory because there just isn’t any extant information on the ring prior to James’ reign. I’m willing to call out my own bias here and say that I lean towards the Leicester theory for obvious reasons lol but the bottom line is that it 100% could not have been given to her by Somerset. The depiction of Elizabeth in the ring is quite clearly her in mature age, not the teenager/young adult Somerset would have known her as.

alison weir is a menace and her books have had a deleterious effect on the general public's understanding of tudor history (quoting a friend there), part 12323526:

ok, so, if you're like me, when you come across a quote from a biography that you don't recognise, you will often search the quote to see if it comes up in any others, or what is available of the bho archives by general search. as such, i found this:

except...what was in quotes showed up in nothing except weir's books, author's notes, and websites.

so. apparently. as per @theladyelizabeth ...this was, as is common with weir, a complete misquote/misattribution.

the primary source in question was thomas parry, and the quote is not that elizabeth loved thomas seymour 'too well' (or...at all), but this:

Elizabeth having her annual leave holiday in France:

Meanwhile, the privy council back in England:

Young Elizabeth: Elizabeth I and Her Perilous Path to the Crown, Nicola Tallis

I really enjoyed Estelle's take on whether Robert and Elizabeth had sex or not. As well as if and when it would have been possible. Kenilworth Castle is a good theory as the Queen was almost never alone at other times. I personally don't think they would've risked going all the way but love supporting the idea that they were intimate in other ways:

Edward and Elizabeth observed the festivities separately, much to Edward’s dismay. Writing to his sister from the manor of Tittenhanger near St Albans on 18 December [1546], he lamented, ‘Change of place, in fact, did not vex me so much, dearest sister, as your going from me. Nothing can happen more agreeable to me than a letter from you […] I hope to visit you shortly […] as my chamberlain has reported to me. Farewell, dearest sister!’

Many of Elizabeth’s earliest thoughts were of the brother she adored, who had ‘four teeth, three full out and the fourth appearing’ by the summer of 1538.  She liked giving Edward gifts, such as a ‘shirt of cambric of her own working’, which she presented to him at New Year 1539 – an extremely personal gift that not only showcased Elizabeth’s skill with a needle but also displayed her thoughtfulness. 

Young Elizabeth: Elizabeth I and Her Perilous Path to the Crown, Nicola Tallis

Young Elizabeth: Elizabeth I and Her Perilous Path to the Crown, Nicola Tallis

CATE BLANCHETT as ELIZABETH I 

 ELIZABETH (1998)

Hi @itzmaki! I hope you don’t mind me responding to your ask like this, I just wanted to cover OPs username because I don’t want to put them on blast just for having a difference of opinion.

Because that’s all this is really - yeah, they’re clearly not aware that there is an actual source for Elizabeth running her fingers through Robert’s hair which tells me they’re not very familiar with Elizabeth’s reign and personality as a whole but that’s my only real gripe. If they’re not fond of the acting style, no about of “well actually-” arguments is going to change their mind. I personally think Tom Hardy did a great job - not a perfect one mind you, there were moments I think could have been improved but overall really well done - and they don’t. Not much more to say about that really.

I personally severely dislike Reign and I despise their characterisation of Elizabeth and literally nothing anyone says is going to change my mind about that so I’m pretty much on the opposite end of the matter from them … it is what it is!

I've been in this fandom for years and it's always like that, there's room for all opinions ✨

I blame @fideidefenswhore for this lmao

You could probably swap out Cecil for pretty much anyone and this would still work