Do you agree that the last fifteen years of Elizabeth's reign were more of a crisis than an exultant end?

The two sources both offer very different viewpoints on the reaction to Elizabeth's death in 1603. The first, written at the time by Thomas Dekker, describes a country riddled with grief over the death of their beloved monarch. The second, written much more recently in 1988 by C Haigh, depicts the exact opposite. Haigh claims that if anything, the country was relieved to be rid of the tyrant their queen had become. The latter is the view that seems to have the most credibility and evidence to support it. Whilst it is true that Elizabeth did have some successes, such as her tolerant religious settlement; the majority of her actions either caused her problems at court, or made her unpopular with the general populous. These included the factions she encouraged by choosing favourites, and her financial / foreign policy situations. Addressing the question, I believe that the last fifteen years of Elizabeth's reign were indeed more of a crisis than an exultant end. It seems to me that the consensus among many historians is that the defeat of the Spanish Armada is the highest point in Elizabeth's reign. She never again had that level of success and that much adoration from her people, and many sources other than the ones supplied show her to have become an irritable and spiteful old woman in her final years.

When considering the provided sources, it is important to maintain awareness of the provenance of the two sources. Dekker's piece was written at the time of Elizabeth's death, and so he would be far more able to gage the feelings of the population at the time. However, it is possible that he was under pressure to write about the Queen in a certain manner, for a number of reasons. C. Haigh, on the other hand, wrote his piece nearly 400 years after the event in question. Whilst this may allow him to evaluate the situation from a more objective stand point, it also means that he is out of touch with what was felt by people at the time. Both sources have their merits, but I believe that Dekker's piece is possibly more reliable in capturing the feelings of the population at the time.

Without doubt, the first few years of Elizabeth's reign were her most successful. This is exemplified by her religious settlement. This was a tolerant approach, which only saw extremists punished. Although the country was Protestant, she allowed Catholics to continue to practice, so long as they did so in private and attended Church of England services (which acted as a means of propaganda). She even went as far as punishing extremist Protestants, known as Puritans. However, even up until her final years, religion still caused division in court. C. Haigh gives detail of this, as he describes how Elizabeth ended her reign amidst "factionalism at home". This evidence clearly points towards Elizabeth ending her days more so in crisis than with exultance, but even so it is impossible to ignore the success of this policy. Whilst it undoubtedly caused tensions (as every reform does when it is first introduced), the best evidence for its success and the peace it brought is the fact that it is still in place, virtually unchanged, today.

Religion was not the only thing which caused division and tensions at court. There were a number of factions in the government at the end of Elizabeth's reign, something that Elizabeth practically encouraged by having several "favourites". Rumours of Elizabeth's involvement with men such as Robert Dudley and Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex caused scandal in court. Additionally, whilst there were those who gained Elizabeth's favour because of their reliability and loyalty, the fact that she also appeared to promote men like Walter Raleigh because they were "dashing and flamboyant" proved to cause several issues for her, most notably with the Earl of Essex. Elizabeth's favourite from 1587, he caused scandal as he disobeyed her orders even led a rebellion against her. Once again, this points far more to Elizabeth's reign ending in crisis.

Finance was a major issue for Elizabeth. This is a perfect issue to demonstrate the earlier statement that Elizabeth had most of her successes in the former part of her reign, and that most of the latter fifteen years were filled with trouble. When Elizabeth came to the throne, the crown was two hundred and seventy seven thousand pounds in debt, a huge amount for the time. However, Elizabeth was by nature a careful spender, and was able to completely wipe this debt by 1574. During this time, the realm enjoyed times of relative prosperity, despite some of her financial policies being less than popular. However, as England entered war with Spain, and the cost of her foreign policy began to rise, the debt crept back up. Towards the end of her reign, there were numerous complaints from almost all sides about her policy of selling monopolies - total control to a given market - but she refused to give in. C. Haigh states that by the end of her reign, Elizabeth was left presiding over "poverty (...) at home". Yet again, this evidence supports the view that Elizabeth ended her days in crisis.

As hinted at in the above passage, foreign policy was the cause of some of Elizabeth's biggest problems, but was also the source of some of her greatest successes. As discussed above, the Spanish Armada of 1588 proved to be one of Elizabeth's greatest successes. This one, decisive victory is what gained Elizabeth the support of her people more than any other single event in her reign. Yet it also marked the end of Elizabeth's time of glory. From this moment onward, the last fifteen years of Elizabeth's reign gradually slipped into what could only be described as crisis. As the war with Spain continued and trouble began to emerge from Ireland, it was all Elizabeth could do to keep in control of both her finances and the court. It could also be argued that many of Elizabeth's other problems were caused by difficulties with foreign policy. For example, it could be argued that the Earl of Essex's rebellion against Elizabeth could have been avoided if it weren't for the conflict in Ireland he was sent to settle earlier. Foreign Policy is one of the only areas that I believe could be seen to support both sides of this argument. Whilst it did cause crisis within court, with C. Haigh claiming she "ended her (...) presiding over war and failure abroad", it is still possible that the memory of past victories, especially the defeat of the Spanish Armada. This sort of total victory is the sort that would stay in the minds of the population long after it dropped out of relevance. This could be what was responsible for the feelings of loss Dekker describes as he writes that the death of Elizabeth "took away the hearts from millions".

Regardless of individual opinions, it is almost impossible to deny that Elizabeth's death would have shocked the nation "like a thunderclap", as Dekker writes. Elizabeth had ruled for so long that "almost all were born under her" - most people did not know anything else. This combined with Elizabeth's strong propaganda and image of everlasting youth would have caused a great deal of shock at the time of her death, and many would have been fearful of the uncertainty of the country’s future. Considering all the arguments, it is very difficult to say that Elizabeth did not end her reign in crisis, but at the same time it seems clear that many of her people still loved her and saw her as a constant point, a static element throughout very difficult and turbulent lives. The two possible outcomes of the proposed question are not necessarily mutually exclusive. It seems that Elizabeth did certainly have many problems at court, some of which were "partly her own fault", as C. Haigh writes, but she was still able to appear as the "ever-young and ever beautiful virgin mother of her people". I believe that the last fifteen years of Elizabeth's reign were to some degree a crisis, but to her people it was an exultant end. Ultimately, however, taking the evidence from an objective perspective, it cannot be denied that there is far more support for Elizabeth ending her time in what is closer to crisis than anything else.