Gloriana

On the 24th March, 1603 Queen Elizabeth I died. She was the last monarch in the Tudor dynasty. Her impressive legacy as a ruler and national figurehead continues to be revered today. She is remembered for the many successes achieved during her reign. Her achievements include the restoration of Protestantism, the preservation of Royal Supremacy, quelling any malicious attack upon her crown and stopping foreign invasion.

Her place in English history is assured. In her lifetime, she was admired for her popular appeal and cultural potency. Her position in our national story is down to her intelligence and insight. She understood that our identity has always depended upon our ability to absorb other influences without compromising our uniqueness. It is indeed a strange paradox that we are defined by our ambiguity.

Our lack of clarity ensured our stability and continuity. In contrast other European powers foundered under the constraints of rigidity. Elizabeth sought a pragmatic solution to the religious conflicts that were tearing the continent apart. Her religious settlement was her ambitious attempt to find a middle path between the polar opposites of Catholicism and Protestantism. Her ambitions rapidly bore fruit. Her reforms engendered a sense of national pride which had failed to flower under the bitter and vengeful rule of her sister Queen Mary I.

The unmarried Queen soon acquired a cult status, and she became an object of veneration. Central to her myth was her inviolability. This inspired poets like Philip Sidney and Edmund Spenser. Spenser was a key figure in the Elizabethan national project, in 1580 he was appointed secretary to the Lord Deputy of Ireland.

The Queen faced rebellion from her Irish subjects who were implacably opposed to her Protestantism and had instead chosen to ally themselves with her enemies. She decided to grant land to her courtiers to prevent the rebels from establishing a base for their allies in Spain.

Spenser was given a castle and estates in County Cork. While residing here he composed a remarkable elegy to his beneficent, in the form of the epic and allegorical poem “The Faerie Queene”. He dedicated the poem to her, and honoured her strengths, virtues and distinctly feminine intelligence. These qualities are embodied in the character “Gloriana”, a regal archetype and personification of imperial might.

Another aspect to our culture is our innate conservatism, and our inclination to pay homage to our past. At the height of Tudor power, allusions were drawn to the court of King Arthur. The Tudor monarchs relied upon legend to cement their popularity, and other mythical figures were invoked, including the supposed founding father of the nation, Brutus. The poets of the era absorbed these conventions in their work.

Spenser utilises Arthurian myth and legend in the poem to reconstruct his vision of the nation under the reassuring helm of Gloriana herself. Her Empire, unlike the Catholic theocracies across the continent, is free from tyranny and oppression. It is inhabited solely by the brave, the good and the godly. In spite of the threats, her Knights have the courage to defend the Crown, the nation and her people.

In 1589, Queen Elizabeth I awarded Spenser a pension, however nine years later his castle in Ireland was set on fire during Tyrone’s rebellion. It was burned into the ground, and his youngest child succumbed to the flames and was killed. He returned to England a year later and died from a broken heart. Spenser’s verse is a vital part of the myth of Elizabeth, and his vivid depictions of the glorious Queen continue to inspire us today.