Why another web site about Elizabeth I?

At the age of twelve, I discovered an odd volume in my father's library by the great English eccentric and poet, Dame Edith Sitwell. The Queens and the Hive is not much read now and no longer in print. It told, in Sitwell's peculiarly muscular and haunting prose, the history of the long conflict between Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots, as well as the intrigues of Catherine d'Médici in France and the sad legacy of "Bloody Mary." A great age of queens indeed for a girl who, up to then, had only read one mediocre romance about the romantic 'Mary Queen of Scots'. While at first inclining towards Mary (what teenager does not?), I was later entranced by the cast of Elizabeth Tudor's mind and the many ambiguities of her long reign. I outgrew Mary, but never Elizabeth.

As any web student knows, the beauty of the Internet is its ability to make a wealth of knowledge easily available. Its great trap is the accuracy of that wealth in the proliferation of sites that range from superb to full of careless error. Fortunately,some of the best scholarly web sites I have found online on any subject are in the field of Tudor and Elizabethan history. Only a handful provide significant detail in considering the careers of those extraordinary rulers, Elizabeth and her great predecessors. For the student who wishes more depth, then, I offer my attempts: they are as long as I thought the reader could bear (but not nearly long enough for all the wonderful events) and as accurate as my reading can provide.

The pre-eminent web site on Elizabeth is, I believe, The Life and Times of Elizabeth I, an extraordinary achievement outlining almost every important biographical and political aspect of her reign. But there are several excellent sites acknowledged in Links for their excellent contribution for the online student. My appreciation and thanks to their authors for their unfailing courtesy, assistance, and help with images.

To my personal regret, the Royal Portrait Gallery, home to so many of the Tudor portraits, has apparently begun a strict policy of requiring payment for use of its treasures on web sites, regardless of whether the sites are for-profit or, as this one is, done merely for love of the subject. As long as the lawyers do not forbid me from presenting images, I will do so. Please do not link directly to the pictures (if you do, it costs me money), but save the image in your hard drive. Similarly, the words on this site are my own, unless otherwise quoted. I would appreciate the courtesy of being asked before you use any materials from it.

II am frequently asked by students (or teachers) for my credentials in creating historical web sites (this is my third, the others being devoted to Roman history). I am no professional academic, but the materials on this site were researched, written, and checked repeatedly by me over a space of two years. Please e-mail me if you desire further bona fides.

I hope the reader will explore the books recommended in Reading and Links even though I am sure that the Queen will continue to keep her own counsel, as she always has.

My particular thanks to Antony Kamm for editorial assistance and his kind friendship and support.