ABSTRACT
Thirty years ago, before gender history had entered the arena, an influential, if largely monochromatic, interpretation of Elizabeth I's reign was in vogue. In a celebrated essay on the Elizabethan political scene, John Neale decontextualized and effectively turned into a rationale of politics an impromptu gibe by Spenser. A distinguished narrative trilogy by Wallace MacCaffrey, published between 1969 and 1992, together with his later biography of Elizabeth and a much earlier article discussing the role of patronage in politics, stimulated fresh approaches. Policy disputes arose, notably over religion, the queen's marriage, the succession, the intervention in the Netherlands, and the trial and execution of Mary queen of Scots. Helen Hackett's deconstruction of the Elizabethan 'cult' illustrates the ways in which the queen's death revived interest in her early life. To reconstruct definitively the politics of Elizabeth will require us to go beyond a mere analysis of political events and enter the minds of the protagonists themselves.
