Elizabeth I (September 7, 1533-March 24, 1603) the Queen of England and Ireland, 1558-1603, was the last Tudor monarch. She was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. After her navy, under Sir Francis Drake, destroyed the Spanish Armada in 1588, England was established as a major European power.
In 1558, in answer to the question at her Coronation as to the presence of Christ in the Sacrament, Queen Elizabeth I stated:
<Christ was the Word that spake it, He took the bread and brake it, And what that Word did make it, I do believe and take it.> 1533QE001
Queen Elizabeth I asserted in October 1566:
<Though I be a woman yet I have as good a courage answerable to my place as ever my father had. I am your anointed Queen. I will never be by violence constrained to do anything. I thank God I am endued with such qualities that if I were turned out of the Realm in my petticoat I were able to live in any place in Christendom.> 1533QE002
Queen Elizabeth, on June 11, 1578, granted a Patent to Sir Humphrey Gilbert:
<Elizabeth, by the Grace of God Queen of England...We...grant to our...well beloved servant Sir Humphrey Gilbert...to discover...such remote, heathen and barbarous lands, countries and territories not actually possessed of any Christian prince or people...
And...upon the finding out, discovering and inhabiting of such remote lands...it shall be necessary for the safety of all men that shall adventure themselves in those journeys...to determine to live together in Christian peace and civil quietness each with other...that the said statutes, laws and ordinances may be as near as conveniently may, agreeable to the form of the laws & policy of England:
And also, that they be not against the true Christian faith or religion now professed in the Church of England, nor in any wise to withdraw any of the subjects or people of those lands or places from the allegiance of us, our heirs or successors, as their immediate Sovereigns under God...
We do hereby declare to all Christian Kings, princes and states, that if the said Sir Humphrey...act of unjust and unlawful hostility to any of the Subjects of us...the said Sir Humphrey...make such restitution and satisfaction of all such injuries done."> 1533QE003
Queen Elizabeth address her troops at Tilbury, Essex, August 19, 1588, when the Spanish Armada was preparing to invade England:
<Let tyrants fear, I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good-will of my subjects...I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm...Rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field. I know already, for your forwardness you have deserved rewards and crowns...By your concord in the camp, and your valour in the field, we shall shortly have a famous victory over those enemies of my God, of my kingdom, and of my people.>
Queen Elizabeth told the House of Commons in The Golden Speech, November 30, 1601:
<Though God hath raised me high, yet this I count the glory of my Crown, that I have reigned with your loves...I do not so much rejoice that God hath made me to be a Queen, as to be a Queen over so thankful a people.
Therefore I have cause to wish nothing more than to content the subject and that is a duty which I owe. Neither do I desire to live longer days than I may see your prosperity and that is my only desire...
I know the title of a King is a glorious title, but assure yourself that the shining glory of princely authority hath not so dazzled the eyes of our understanding, but that we well know and remember that we also are to yield an account of our actions before the great judge. To be a king and wear a crown is a thing more glorious to them that see it than it is pleasant to them that bear it...
There will never Queen sit in my seat with more zeal to my country, care to my subjects and that will sooner with willingness venture her life for your good and safety than myself. For it is my desire to live nor reign no longer than my life and reign shall be for your good. And though you have had, and may have, many princes more mighty and wise sitting in this seat, yet you never had nor shall have, any that will be more careful and loving.> 1533QE004
Regarding her epitaph, Queen Elizabeth I stated to her ladies:
<I am no lover of pompous title, but only desire that my name may be recorded in a line or two, which shall briefly express my name, my virginity, the years of my reign, the reformation of religion under it, and my preservation of peace.> 1533QE005
--
American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1533QE001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Queen Elizabeth I of England, in her response to the question as to Christ's presence in the Sacrament of Eucharist. S. Clarke, Marrow of Ecclesiastical History [ed. 1675], pt. II, Life of Queen Elizabeth. John Bartlett, Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1855, 1980), p. 164. Burton Stevenson, The Home Book of Quotations-Classical & Modern (New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1967).
1533QE002. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Queen Elizabeth I of England. Chamberlin, Sayings of Queen Elizabeth. John Bartlett, Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1855, 1980), p. 163. 1533QE003. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Queen Elizabeth I of England, June 11, 1578, Patent to Sir Humphrey Gilbert.
1533QE004. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Queen Elizabeth I of England, 1601, in The Golden Speech. John Bartlett, Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1855, 1980), p. 164.
1533QE005. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Elizabeth I, Queen of England. Speaking to her ladies regarding her epitaph. John Bartlett, Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1855, 1980), p. 164.