Hello and welcome to the Renaissance English History podcast, a part of the Agora Podcast Network. I am your

host, Heather Tesco. I am thrilled that you downloaded this podcast episode. We are going to have

such fun today. I'm really excited about this one. As I said,

I'm your host, Heather, and I'm a storyteller who makes history accessible because I believe

it's a pathway to understanding who we are, our place in the universe, and being more deeply

in touch with our own humanity. So this is episode 148, and it's a second episode where I'm looking at one specific year during the long 16th century.

So a couple of months ago, I did this with year 1527, and the feedback was really positive.

So I'm back at it again with a new year. A very exciting year.

This year is 1601. Why did I choose this year? Well, in many ways, it is a culmination of Elizabeth's time as queen,

even though she would live for another year and a half or so. This is the year of the Essex Rebellion,

also the year that one of the finest social programs ever created, the English poor laws, was passed. It's also the year that one of the finest social programs ever created, the English poor laws,

was passed. It's also the year when Elizabeth gave her final speech to Parliament.

So, let us dive straight in, shall we? One note, you can get show notes at Englandcast.com

slash 1601. I've done a lot of other episodes that I'll refer back to

that relate to things in this episode. So you can check those other episodes out and my other

show notes at Englandcast.com slash 1601. So the 17th.

So the 17th century began with intrigue and posturing over who the next monarch would be after Queen Elizabeth's inevitable death.

Gloriana had been on the throne for over 40 years during that time she stabilized the currency,

which we've talked about when we talked about Henry the 8th's debasing of the currency.

She found a compromise in religion that no one was truly happy with, which is, of course,

the mark of a great compromise. And she beat off the Spanish Armada.

But she would eventually pass on to another realm, though it was still treason to discuss the death of a monarch, and who would be her heir? There were several people in

...