The History of England Volume 4

In Volume 4, Hume closes his account of ‘England Under the House of Tudor' begun in Volume 3, and devotes it entirely to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. It was not really expected that she would survive to accede to the monarchy; and it was certainly unexpected that she would rule for so long (1558-1603) while steadfastly declining to take a husband. All in all, her reign was a remarkable achievement. Elizabeth had so much to contend with over the years. From the start, she had to oversee the reinstatement of the Protestant religion after the tumultuous reign of her sister, Mary. Then came the testing matter of Mary, Queen of Scots which dragged on for decades. There were also numerous Catholic conspiracies (many threats to her personally), requiring close attention by her protective spymaster ministers William Cecil and Francis Walsingham. Then there were the complex relationships with other leading European powers, France and Spain, culminating in the spectacular climax in 1588 when