ABSTRACT
During the first half of Elizabeth’s reign politicians and preachers engaged in lengthy debate on the subject of the queen’s marriage. The issues raised were in part pragmatic, concerning for example the perils of child-birth for a middle-aged queen, the expense of maintaining a consort’s household and the practical problems arising from marriage to a foreign king. But they were also theoretical, centring on questions with far-reaching theological implications: was marriage a higher state than celibacy? were marriages between Protestants and Catholics against the word of God? was the Mass an evil which could never be sanctioned in a godly commonwealth? To obtain guidance on all these issues Elizabethans automatically turned to the authority of the Bible, which contained a variety of teachings or texts open to conflicting interpretations. In addition, with the benefit of a humanist education behind them, they looked to history to provide examples of the effects of foreign or mixed marriages which they then used to substantiate their arguments. During the years 1570-75 discussions tended to be confined to the Council chamber; usually, however, there was wider public involvement in the debate as councillors and other interested parties encouraged pamphlets and sermons to be written in support of their own particular line.
