Young Elizabeth I: Princess & Prisoner
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How did Elizabeth’s early childhood and loss of her mother shape her status as a princess?
Want to walk the halls of Anne Boleyn's childhood home, or explore the castles that made up Henry VIII's English stronghold? With a subscription to History Hit, you can dive into our Tudor past alongside the world's leading historians and archaeologists. You'll also unlock hundreds of hours of original documentaries with a brand new release every single week. Covering everything from the ancient world to World War II. Just visit historyhit.com forward slash subscribe. Hello, I'm Professor Susanna Lipscomb and welcome to Not Just The Tudors from History Hit. The podcast in which we explore everything from Anne Boleyn to the Aztecs, from Holbein to the Huguenots, from Shakespeare to Samurai's. Relieved by regular doses of murder, espionage, and witchcraft.
Not, in other words, just the Tudors, but most definitely also the Tudors.
Before she was Gloriana, the glittering Virgin Queen who ruled over England's golden age, Elizabeth Tudor was a girl in peril. Born to Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII, Elizabeth entered the world a royal princess, but before she turned three, her mother would be executed, her title stripped, and her future cast into doubt. Declared illegitimate, pushed to the fringes of power, surrounded by stepmothers who vanished as quickly as they arrived. And then a father who left her orphaned. And in the shadows of royal ambition, danger waited. From the predatory advances of Thomas Seymour to her imprisonment in the Tower of London under suspicion of treason, Elizabeth's path to the throne was not one of destiny.
But survival. Every word she wrote, every move she made, could mean life or death. Back in May twenty twenty five, I was joined by Doctor Nicola Talas to explore how Elizabeth, a vulnerable child, became one of the most powerful women in history. Nicola is the author of Young Elizabeth, The Making of the Virgin Queen, and the presenter of a two-part film on history hit, Young Elizabeth in Her Own Words. I'm Professor Susanna Lipscomb, and this is Not Just The Tutors from History Hit.
Nicola, welcome to Not Just the Tutors. Thank you for having me. Famously, when Elizabeth was born on the seventh of september fifteen thirty three, The document announcing the birth of a prince had to be quickly altered to announce the birth of a princess. It was disappointing for Henry VIII and Amberlyn that she was not a boy, but what arrangements were made immediately for her care? What can we read into those early years?
Well, just a couple of months after Elizabeth was born, she was taken to Hatfield, just north of London, and it was here that her nursery was to be established. And we know that Even though Elizabeth hadn't been the boy that her parents had been hoping for, she was still given a suitably royal household. And this consisted of all manner of staff whose job it was to ensure that her every need was attended to. And I think my favourite fact about Elizabeth's nursery is the fact that there were four rockers whose sole responsibility was to. Take interns to rock Elizabeth to sleep in her cradle. And we also know that her nursery was overseen by Lady Margaret Bryan. So she was effectively Elizabeth's mother figure in her early years.
And it was she who was responsible for overseeing life in Elizabeth's nursery.
And amazingly, her first marriage proposal, or at least the first negotiations to marry her, happened within a year of her birth. To whom?
Yes, exactly so. Henry VIII didn't waste any time. So there is talk of a French marriage for Elizabeth at this time, which was very much the hope and desire of her mother, Anne Boleyn. She very much wanted that to happen to um the French dauphin. And Elizabeth is displayed to the French ambassador without any clothes to show that she is perfect and completely unblemished. But yes, from a very, very early age Henry is determined to ensure that Elizabeth plays an important role in extending his influence and securing valuable matrimonial alliances.
And you suggest in your book that there's a possibility that Hans Holbein, the younger, designed something for the baby Elizabeth.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How did Elizabeth’s early childhood and loss of her mother shape her status as a princess?
0:01–6:59
2
What was the purpose of the early marriage negotiations for a newborn Elizabeth?
6:59–12:57
3
How did Lady Margaret Bryan’s nursery influence Elizabeth’s upbringing?
12:57–18:47
4
What role did Thomas Seymour’s advances play in Elizabeth’s teenage years?
18:47–25:10
5
How did Catherine Parr’s regency expose Elizabeth to female rule and court politics?
25:10–32:01
6
What was Elizabeth’s religious stance during Mary’s Catholic reign and how did it shift?
32:01–38:32
7
How involved was Elizabeth in the Wyatt Rebellion and what were the consequences?
38:32–44:42
8
What did Elizabeth’s release from the Tower reveal about her relationship with Mary?
44:42–50:58