ABSTRACT
Writing about Elizabeth I is not easy. This statement may seem absurd giventhe seemingly never-ending production of biographies of the Queen and studies of her reign. Nonetheless, it is true that any attempt to get behind royal decisions and to uncover the beliefs, attitudes, character and influence of Elizabeth encounters serious problems, not least because of the nature of the source materials. Unlike William Cecil, Lord Burghley, Elizabeth did not leave behind a wealth of memoranda that can reveal her thinking about the political issues of the day. Compared to her father, Henry VIII, her annotations on documents were few and sparse, so again it is difficult to separate her own views from those of her counsellors. Drafts of her letters were often in another person’s hand, and we cannot know how far they represent her own or her secretary’s work. Similarly, when amendments were made to drafts, and a final letter emerged in a different form, it is impossible to tell whether her wording or that of an adviser had prevailed. Elizabeth’s letters were clearly a collaborative venture, but the process of co-production eludes, and sometimes divides, historians.
