"I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too"
Now if that doesn't want to get you up off your cushion and start banging your tankard against a wooden post with hearty cheers then I don't know what will.
Queen Elizabeth I is traditionally viewed as the first badass woman in a place of real power in this country. This post is coming at a very appropriate time for badass-power women (RIP Lady Thatcher) so 410 years since Liz' death we can all say that - well actually - we've not come that far.
The Queen had to fight to maintain her position as head-monarch. Given to her supposedly by God - 'divine right to the throne' which according to her speeches, at least, she believed she had: "God hath raised me high" - it was going to take more than that to keep her there. The male-dominated government saw policy as a man's job and since it was currently her job, they insisted on getting her married off to one of three potential suitors. Think of the government as the Cilla Black of the 16th century.
She then adopted this bizarre way of talking about her sex as both derogatory and empowering. She adopted "prince" to mean both a male and female monarch; took her female sex and used it to her advantage, acknowledging it's supposed "weakness" she turned it round to construct an image of herself as married to/mothering her country as a chaste female, pledging herself to God. The opening quote from her speech to the troops at Tilbury is a perfect example. She also referenced herself as male: "the heart and stomach of a king" not to mention the brain - she was educated to the same standard as any prince before herself - she's attempting to create an equality between herself and previous rulers.
Whether this actually worked to comfort a kingdom in a time of economic and social turmoil we'll never know. But we do know that she reigned for 45 years - a lot longer than most of them in this period - and was only forced out of court by her inevitable death.
Based on that, you could say, she was indeed the Margaret Thatcher of her time; strong-willed, powerful, and diving opinions. Queen Elizabeth who wasn't necessarily a patron of females in power - executing her sister and competition to the throne wasn't exactly feminist - addressed parliament very early on in her reign (1566) recognising the end of it and the female body's true weakness, the humanness of it:
"I care not for death, for all men are mortal"
Riling for battle and comfort in the face of death. Queenie sure knew how to make a good speech.
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