The Reign of Elizabeth 1

The reign of Elizabeth I was marked by change: England finally became a protestant nation, and England's relations with her neighbours were also changing, in part because of religious controversies. Elizabeth's reign was also significant in terms of changing gender expectations, and in terms of attitudes towards those considered different. While a woman ruled, others, often at the bottom of the social scale, were condemned as witches.
Levin evaluates Elizabeth and the significance of her reign both in the context of her age and our own, examining the increasing cultural diversity of Elizabethan England and the impact of the reign of an unmarried queen on gender expectations, as well as exploring the more traditional themes of religion, foreign policy, plots and conspiracies. Levin's fresh perspective will be welcomed by students of this exceptional reign.

Thematic organisation makes Levin especially useful for classroom use
Innovative approach, stressing the diversity of Elizabeth's subjects (including Africans and Jews) and role of impact of the reign of an unmarried Queen on gender expectations
Well known and respected author

Autorentext
CAROLE LEVIN is Professor of History at the University of Nebraska and the author of The Heart and Stomach of a King: Elizabeth I and the Politics of Sex and Power and Propaganda in the English Reformation: Heroic and Villainous Images of King John. She has held fellowships at the Folger Shakespeare Library and the Newberry Library.

Inhalt

Introduction.- Overview of Elizabeth's life and reign.- Religious Divides and the Religious Settlement.- England's relations with others in the first part of the reign.- England's relations with others in the last part of the reign.- Plots, conspiracies and the succession.- Culture and difference at the end of the reign.- Bibliography.