Elizabeth's Bedfellows [electronic resource] : An Intimate History of the Queen's Court
Whitelock, Anna2013
eBook
Find it!
Elizabeth I acceded to the throne in 1558, restoring the Protestant faith to England. At the heart of the new queens court lay Elizabeths bedchamber, closely guarded by the favoured women who helped her dress, looked after her jewels and shared her bed. Elizabeths private life was of public, political concern. Her bedfellows were witnesses to the face and body beneath the make-up and elaborate clothes, as well as to rumoured illicit dalliances with such figures as Robert Dudley. Their presence was for security as well as propriety, as the kingdom was haunted by fears of assassination plots and other Catholic subterfuge. For such was the significance of the queens body: it represented the very state itself. This riveting, revealing history of the politics of intimacy uncovers the feminized world of the Elizabethan court. Between the scandal and intrigue the women who attended the queen were the guardians of the truth about her health, chastity and fertility. Their stories offer extraordinary insight into the daily life of the Elizabethans, the fragility of royal favour and the price of disloyalty.
Author:
Imprint:
[Place of publication not identified] : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2013
Collation:
1 online resource (1 text file)
ISBN:
9781408833636
Language:
English
Subject:
BRN:
2556610