The difficulties of a female ruler

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Elizabeth died on 24 March 1603 and was succeeded by James VI of Scotland, who became James I of England.

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Interpretation A is convincing about the ways Elizabeth used courtship and about her reasons for being cautious, but it is too certain when it claims that she 'never intended' to marry anyone.

The interpretation is right that Elizabeth used marriage negotiations as a diplomatic tool. Talks with Archduke Charles of Austria continued, on and off, from 1559 to 1567, and the courtship of the Duke of Alençon lasted from 1572 until 1582. While these negotiations continued, Spain and France could hope for an alliance with England, which helped her avoid isolation. She clearly enjoyed being courted - she nicknamed Alençon her 'frog'. The interpretation is also right that she feared losing power: a husband would expect to rule as king, and she is said to have told Robert Dudley that she would have 'but one mistress and no master'. Her family history gave her reasons for caution. Her mother had been executed by her own husband, and her sister Mary's marriage to Philip of Spain had been unpopular and helped drag England into a war that lost Calais.

However, the claim that she never intended to marry is less convincing. In her first years as queen, foreign ambassadors reported that she wished to marry Robert Dudley, and it was the scandal of his wife's death in 1560 that made this impossible. In November 1581 she publicly kissed Alençon, gave him a ring and declared she would marry him, before changing her mind the next day. Other reasons also explain why negotiations failed. Archduke Charles insisted on hearing Mass, and the Alençon match faced fierce opposition from councillors such as Walsingham and from the public, shown by John Stubbs' pamphlet of 1579. These obstacles suggest that circumstances, not just her own intentions, prevented a marriage.

Overall, Interpretation A is convincing about her motives for delay and her use of courtship, but its claim that she never meant to marry is too certain: historians still disagree, and the evidence suggests she was at times genuinely undecided.

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Interpretation A is convincing about the serious problems of the 1590s, but it exaggerates when it claims that Elizabeth's authority was 'crumbling'. Her authority was strained, but it survived every challenge.

The interpretation is accurate about many of the difficulties. Elizabeth was in her sixties, and she disguised her age with wigs, heavy make-up and portraits that showed a youthful face. She still refused to name a successor. Her great ministers had died - Leicester in 1588, Walsingham in 1590, Hatton in 1591 and Burghley in 1598 - and the court split into two factions under the Earl of Essex and Robert Cecil. The country suffered badly: the war with Spain continued, the Nine Years' War in Ireland brought defeat at the Yellow Ford in 1598, and four bad harvests from 1594 to 1597 caused high prices and hunger. Parliament granted heavy taxes but attacked monopolies angrily in 1597 and 1601.

However, the claim that her authority was crumbling is not convincing. When Essex led a rebellion in London in February 1601, only about 200-300 men followed him, Londoners refused to join, and the rising collapsed within a day. Later that year, the Golden Speech turned an angry Parliament into a loyal one, and MPs granted the largest tax of her reign. In Ireland, Lord Mountjoy defeated Tyrone and his Spanish allies at Kinsale in December 1601. The government also responded to poverty with the Poor Laws of 1597 and 1601. Most tellingly, when Elizabeth died in 1603 the succession of James VI was completely peaceful. The claim that few people mourned her is also doubtful, as large crowds watched her funeral procession in April 1603.

Overall, Interpretation A is convincing that the 1590s were a difficult decade, but it is one-sided: Elizabeth's authority was tested by faction, war and hardship, yet it held firm to the end of her reign.

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I partly agree with the statement. Elizabeth's determination to keep power was an important reason why she never married, and it may explain why she found a reason to reject every suitor. However, it was not the only reason, and in several cases marriages failed because of religion, opposition at court and in the country, and the scandal surrounding Robert Dudley.

Her wish to keep power was real. In the sixteenth century a husband was expected to be the head of the household, and many people assumed that a queen's husband would share in government. Elizabeth had seen this under Mary I, whose husband Philip of Spain was called king. She is reported to have told Dudley that she would have 'but one mistress and no master', and in 1566 she told Parliament that she was their anointed queen and would 'never be by violence constrained to do anything'. Her later image as the Virgin Queen, married to her kingdom, suggests that she saw her single status as part of her authority.

However, religion was a major reason why negotiations failed. Archduke Charles of Austria insisted on hearing Mass, and talks with him collapsed in 1567. Henry, Duke of Anjou made the same demand in 1571. For a Protestant queen who had just made the Religious Settlement, a Catholic husband worshipping openly at court was unacceptable.

Opposition at court and in the country was also important. When Elizabeth seemed to favour Dudley, councillors such as William Cecil and nobles such as the Duke of Norfolk opposed him, and the scandal of Amy Robsart's death in 1560 made marriage to him impossible. In 1579 the Privy Council was divided over the Duke of Alençon, and public hostility was shown by John Stubbs' pamphlet 'The Discovery of a Gaping Gulf'.

Foreign policy and personal experience played a part too. Marrying a Spanish or French prince would have angered the other power and could have dragged England into war, as Mary I's marriage had. Elizabeth's own experiences - her mother's execution, the fate of Catherine Howard and the Thomas Seymour affair - may have made her wary of marriage, and childbirth was dangerous. By the 1580s she was past the age of having children, so the question ended.

Overall, I think keeping power was the underlying reason. Every obstacle - religion, opposition, foreign policy - could have been overcome if Elizabeth had truly been determined to marry, as other rulers did. Her reluctance to share power meant that she was happy to let these obstacles end each negotiation. But the other factors matter, because they gave her good reasons to say no, and in the cases of Dudley and Alençon she may genuinely have been prevented from marrying a man she was tempted by.