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IN THIS ISSUE, BRENDA RALPH LEWIS looks back at the realities behind the glitzy image of England’s most romantic age, when Elizabeth I inspired admiration in her own subjects and often anger and frustration abroad.
But Elizabeth’s image even among her own courtiers was not without blemish. In 1560, Amy Robsart, wife of the Earl of Leicester, was found dead at the foot of a staircase at Cumnor Place, Berkshire. It had often been said that Leicester and the Queen would likely have married had the Earl not already taken a wife; therefore, Amy’s death seemed a bit too convenient. Rumours abounded. Had Leicester arranged for his wife to have a fatal “accident”? Had the Queen herself had knowledge of the alleged plot? It was a delicate situation. If Elizabeth had ever truly hoped to wed Leicester, to do so under such circumstances would only have added fuel to the controversy and suspicion.
Might a legal marriage of Elizabeth and leicester have deprived the world of many or all of Shakespeare’s works?
In the end, Elizabeth and Leicester never married—at least not publicly. Some theorists contend that they were, in fact, wed in secret, and that Francis Bacon and the Earl of Essex were their children. While this seems unlikely, it is entertaining to speculate on the consequences of such a marriage, had it been officially acknowledged.
Most obviously, the Stuarts would never have ruled England, and the Civil War might have been avoided. Instead Bacon, the elder of the two heirs, might have become King. Such a premise provides fertile ground for the imagination, because few figures in English history have been the subject of so many “conspiracy theories.” For example, to those who believe Bacon wrote Shakespeare’s plays, the question of whether he would have had time for such a diversion had he borne the responsibilities of kingship has to be considered. Might a public union of Elizabeth and Leicester have deprived the world of many or all of the Bard’s works?
Stranger still might have been the outcome of such a marriage if we accept the premise of those who believe Bacon founded Freemasonry. Might King Francis have put an end to Catholic/Protestant tensions by brushing both of those factions aside and making Freemasonry the official religion of England?
Nonsense? Of course. But the accepted “facts” of history probably often come no closer to reality than do these wild suppositions. Because we can never be sure what really went on inside the head of any historical figure, we must judge them by their words and public actions, which can be (sometimes intentionally) misleading. Thus, when it comes to history, image is its own reality.
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