Hello everyone and welcome to the History of England.

Episode 288 Elizabeth I and the Historians.

We left Elizabeth a couple of weeks ago passing through Temple Bar with professions of love

for her subjects. Time would tell. We discussed whether the more cast a version of events

the official one was in fact a little for an easy with the verite, you might say.

Now I decided not that it reflected reality but look I'm a trusting innocent soul and you

may take a different view. But what more cast a version certainly does is to play to an

image of good Queen Bess that we like to believe in and furthermore which explains much of what we

do know about her reign. Which brings us to myth because the myth of Elizabeth is all around us,

possibly more than any other English public figure. Maybe Churchill and Henry VIII can compete

and of course Dennis Amos, peerless opening bat for Warwickshire and England.

Sturke by the way, I am confident that I'm the only person to still carry a flame for old Dennis.

Back on topic, Susan Doron and Thomas Freeman edited an interesting book on the myth of Elizabeth,

the title of which is in the transcript on Tintonet for the Keen is amongst you.

In the introduction there's an interesting bit about defining historical myth and they make

the point that myth should not be confused with error, that myth may contain substantial amounts

of truth and is believed because people wish to believe it and because it explains things

satisfactorily. And so a powerful and enduring view of Elizabeth is of the solitary and all-knowing

successful Virgin Queen succeeding despite the patriarchy, glorious victor over the imperial and

colonial might of Spain, defender of the English National Church. It's a lovely view and it

seems to explain a lot about the reign and what happened afterwards so we go along with it.

And there's a big part of me that says well alright then go for it and nation needs to have

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