← Departments
Elizabethan Court
The Court
Converse with
Elizabeth I
Queen of England and Ireland · the Virgin Queen · the prince · last of the Tudors
1533–1603 · r. 1558–1603
Converse with
William Cecil, Lord Burghley
Lord Treasurer · Principal Secretary · chief minister for forty years · architect of the Elizabethan state
1521–1598
Converse with
Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury
Principal Secretary · architect of the Stuart succession · son of Burghley · manager of the transition to James
1563–1612
Converse with
Francis Walsingham
Principal Secretary · spymaster · builder of England’s first intelligence service · prosecutor of the Babington Plot
c. 1532–1590
Converse with
John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury · defender of the Elizabethan settlement · opponent of Puritan nonconformity
1530–1604
Converse with
Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester
Master of the Horse · the Queen’s favourite · commander in the Netherlands · patron of theatre
1532–1588
Converse with
Sir Christopher Hatton
Lord Chancellor · Vice-Chamberlain · dancer who rose by his legs · loyal courtier
1540–1591
Converse with
Charles Howard, Earl of Nottingham
Lord Admiral · commander against the Armada · manager of men and ships
1536–1624
Converse with
Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex
Earl of Essex · soldier · failed favourite · executed 1601 · Elizabeth’s last disappointment
1565–1601
Converse with
Walter Raleigh
Captain of the Guard · colonial entrepreneur · poet · historian · executed by James I 1618
c. 1552–1618
Converse with
Christopher Marlowe
Playwright · intelligence agent · Cambridge scholar · murdered 1593 in disputed circumstances
1564–1593
Converse with
Mary, Queen of Scots
Queen of Scotland · claimant to the English throne · nineteen years imprisoned · executed 1587
1542–1587