In December 1593 Robert Individuals, a pacesetter of the English Jesuits on the Continent, was placing the ending touches to a guide he had been engaged on. Written within the English seminary that he had lately based with the help of the Spanish king Philip II at Valladolid, A Convention In regards to the Subsequent Succession to the Crowne of Ingland describes a fictional assembly of involved Englishmen who’re decided to resolve the long-running query of who ought to succeed Elizabeth I. Individuals’ assembly takes place in Amsterdam and includes a gathering of gents of varied professions from throughout the confessional divide. Two unnamed attorneys, one an professional in civil regulation and the opposite frequent regulation, make the case for the viability of varied potential claimants, who embrace James VI of Scotland, his cousin Arbella Stuart, Edward and Thomas Seymour (the sons of Katherine Gray), Henry Hastings, third Earl of Huntingdon, and the Infanta of Spain, Isabella Clara Eugenia. Whereas the convention was imaginary, the problems Individuals’ characters debate weren’t. Anxiousness over the succession had been an virtually fixed difficulty in English politics from the time of Elizabeth’s ascension in 1558, however because the century approached its finish the necessity to resolve the matter grew to become ever extra important – particularly to those that held the prospect to succeed the ageing queen.
Whereas the English crown had historically been handed down via the hereditary precept of primogeniture, there was no mounted rule to control the succession. When the 25-year-old Elizabeth grew to become queen it was assumed that she would marry and have kids to increase the Tudor line. As time handed, and her quite a few courtships all resulted in failure, many inside her Privy Council and Parliament argued that Elizabeth ought to title her personal successor via using Parliamentary statute, simply as her father had finished in his trio of succession Acts. Elizabeth refused. Whereas her sister Mary dominated, Elizabeth had develop into a lightning rod for any conspiracy or discontent towards the regime. She noticed how a recognized inheritor may develop into the main focus of opposition, and for that motive she decided to carry intently the succession as a matter of royal prerogative.
Although Elizabeth tried to cease dialogue of the succession, significantly when the subject arose in Parliament, she couldn’t halt it fully. Her needs didn’t cease individuals from writing in regards to the matter, both. Between 1562 and 1571 six succession tracts have been written: John Hales’ A Discovrs uppon certen pointes towchinge the Enheritounce of the Crowne (1563), the nameless Allegations towards the svrmisid title of the Qvine of Scotts (1565), the additionally nameless Allegations in behalf of the excessive & mighty princess the Woman Marie, now Queen of Scots (1566), an nameless ‘Letter’ (1566), Roger Edwardes’ Castra Regia (1569), and John Leslie’s A defence of the honour of the proper highe, mightye and noble Princesse Marie Quene of Scotlande (1569). Whereas the conclusions of those tracts have been directed by the confessional leanings of their authors, they have been primarily centered on debating the legal guidelines and customs which may influence the succession. They argued in regards to the software of frequent regulation to the royal succession, wrangled over the validity of Henry VIII’s will, and quibbled as as to if Scotland may very well be thought-about overseas because it was not positioned throughout any sea. With no reply in sight, the written debate was dropped at an abrupt finish in 1571 when a brand new Treasons Act was handed which outlawed ‘any E book or Work printed or written’ that declared ‘that anybody explicit individual whosoever or not it’s, is or should be the proper Inheritor & Successor to the Queen’s Majesty’. This Act led to a halt within the manufacturing of succession tracts for over 20 years, nevertheless it couldn’t maintain again the tide endlessly.
Unusual Legislation
The potential claimants to Elizabeth’s throne have been distant kin. For many, the apparent selection lay with the Scottish Home of Stuart, which descended from Henry VIII’s eldest sister Margaret. The Scottish declare was debated extensively as, whereas it was the strongest by primogeniture, there was a standard regulation rule that foreign-born individuals couldn’t inherit in England – although there was doubt as as to if this utilized to royal succession. There was an extra difficulty as Henry’s will had clearly eliminated Margaret’s descendants from the succession, however its validity was usually challenged because it had not been signed by the king himself. No matter these questions, few have been ready to disclaim the Scottish declare fully. After the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, in February 1587, her solely son, James VI of Scotland, assumed her declare. James had grown up as a king; he later referred to himself as a cradle king, having been topped at solely 13 months outdated. As a married Protestant monarch with a son to ensure the continuation of his line, James appeared a sound candidate for the English throne. He was satisfied that there was no higher candidate. Nonetheless, so long as Elizabeth refused to call James as her inheritor, the query of succession persevered, and it supplied a gap for Individuals to meddle.
Individuals’ guide was from the outset a political ploy. Following its completion, two thousand copies of A Convention have been printed by Arnout Conincx in Antwerp in 1594. Regardless of the reservations of the Jesuit Common, Claudius Aquaviva – who thought the guide more likely to hurt different Jesuit endeavours as soon as its authorship was uncovered – the choice was taken for it to be distributed. By the next 12 months A Convention had been smuggled into England and commenced to flow into. It quickly discovered its approach into the arms of William Cecil, Lord Burghley, who had his son Robert ship a duplicate north to James. After studying A Convention James’ confidence in succeeding Elizabeth was shaken, as, very like earlier succession tracts, Individuals’ account was at first look centered on the regulation – however its mangled studying of that regulation culminated within the suggestion of a distinct successor.
Individuals’ tract constructed not solely upon the sooner authorized debates over the succession but in addition upon more moderen developments. In 1584, when English fears that Elizabeth can be assassinated have been at their peak following the homicide of the Dutch Protestant chief William of Orange, the Bond of Affiliation was created. Francis Walsingham and William Cecil, the 2 privy councillors behind the Bond, sought to unite the nation in a public expression of loyalty to their queen. The Bond was extremely unorthodox for the English political lessons, and resulted in public ceremonies of oathtaking across the realm. Nonetheless, it had a extra sinister side, as a part of the oath sure those that swore it to ‘by no means desist from all method of forcible pursuit towards such individuals, to the utter extermination’ of these discovered responsible of plotting Elizabeth’s loss of life, and to stop the conspirators’ heirs from succeeding the throne. The Bond was basically a lynch regulation. Its anomalous nature was considerably altered by the 1585 Act for the Queen’s Security which safeguarded any heirs from repercussions and restrained its excesses. Although the Bond and the Act have been basically completely different paperwork, within the arms of Individuals they grew to become entwined. As Individuals bluntly put it, since:
the girl Mary late Queene of Scotl[an]d, mom of the king, was condemned and executed by the authority of the mentioned parliament, it seemeth euident, vnto these males, that this king vvho pretendeth al his proper to the crowne of Ingland by his mentioned mom, can haue none at al.
With that in thoughts, Individuals claimed that the rightful successor may solely be the Catholic infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain, who traced her declare again via John of Gaunt to Edward III, and who, fortunately, was the eldest daughter of Individuals’ patron, Philip.
‘The lawfull successor’
Whereas Individuals’ tract was primarily based on a distortion of English regulation, it apprehensive James. John Carey, the marshal of Berwick, reported to William Cecil that James had acquired a duplicate of the tract and was ‘a lot discontented’. Some type of motion wanted to be taken to counteract it; James determined that the easiest way to cope with Individuals and his Convention can be to combat phrases with phrases and have interaction writers of his personal. Thus started a public relations mission to argue and publicise his proper to the English throne. Whereas printing and writing on the succession had been outlawed by the Treasons Act in England, it didn’t cease the manufacturing of succession tracts exterior England’s borders. Utilizing Individuals’ instance, James wrote, commissioned, or ordered printed 5 separate tracts to argue for his declare to succeed Elizabeth, and used the printers in Edinburgh to unfold his message far and vast.
One of many first of those tracts was written by Alexander Dickson. Dickson (or Dicsone) was a Scot who acquired his training on the College of St Andrews. He then lived in London for a time and was a recognized supporter of Mary Stuart throughout her imprisonment. He later returned to Scotland and by February 1598 it was broadly recognized that he was writing a tract on the succession, with James’ help, to counter Individuals’ ‘pretended convention at Amsterdam’. In Dickson’s Of the Proper of the Crowne, after contemplating the online of regulation, statute, and primogeniture, he concluded that James’ declare to the English throne was simply. The English ambassador on the time, George Nicolson, suspected that Dickson’s tract can be despatched out of Scotland to be printed, nevertheless it by no means was. It has been speculated that James himself prevented the work from being printed. Dickson’s work was extremely important of Elizabeth’s resolution to not settle the succession, and argued that she had endangered her kingdom by encouraging James’ enemies. The guide was not more likely to promote a lot understanding or goodwill from the lady James hoped to succeed.
Whereas Dickson’s doubtlessly embarrassing work was shelved, James sought one other tract to distribute as a replacement. Shortly after Individuals’ A Convention was revealed Peter Wentworth, a wayward English Parliamentarian, wrote a response. Wentworth had written two earlier succession tracts and had been concerned in quite a few unsuccessful Parliamentary makes an attempt to have Elizabeth set up the succession. Imprisoned within the Tower after one more try to drive the problem, he wrote A Treatise Containing M. Wentworth’s Ivdgement In regards to the Particular person of the True and Lawfull Successor to the Realmes of England and Eire. In his closing mediation on the problem Wentworth thought-about James to carry the most effective proper to the English throne primarily based on blood descent. He argued that, since James’ proper flowed via each his mom and his father, it didn’t matter even when Individuals was proper in regards to the Act for the Queen’s Security relating to Mary. Certainly, the Act ‘can’t defeate or hinder the Scottishe King of that proper which commeth in to him by his father, and which hath the firste and subsequent place, if his moms title ought to abate’. He then concluded, in a fairly stunning method contemplating his outspoken profession dedicated to Parliamentary rights, that ‘Parliament can’t defeat the lawful successor’.
The printing of books like Wentworth’s was treasonous in England, however after Wentworth’s loss of life in 1596 it was smuggled northwards by an unidentified Englishman and located its approach to James. To have the help of such a well known agitator from the Home of Commons – a Puritan who repeatedly pushed the principles of free speech to advocate for the institution of the succession – was a lift to James’ trigger. It confirmed that it was not solely Scotsmen who supported his declare, but in addition Englishmen with an intensive understanding of their very own legal guidelines. In 1598 James ensured it was revealed.
After being smuggled from the Tower of London, Wentworth’s work was printed by James’ royal printer in Edinburgh, the exiled Englishman Robert Waldegrave. Waldegrave had been a printer in London however had fled England after his involvement in producing the Presbyterian anti-episcopal Marprelate tracts – a set of radical works which attacked the governance of the English Church by bishops – was uncovered. James appointed him as royal printer in 1590. For Waldegrave himself the scenario was fraught. He was totally conscious that involvement within the succession query, and the printing of such texts, would more than likely stop him from with the ability to petition for his eventual return to England. Because the royal printer, nevertheless, he had little selection and within the closing years of the sixteenth century three succession tracts would emerge from his workshop, the primary of which was by Wentworth.
James’ technique was not restricted to publishing the works of others. In 1598 he outlined his personal ideas on kingship and monarchy in The True Lawe of Free Monarchies. James was a extremely educated monarch who had acquired a rigorous humanist training at Stirling Fortress. He carried a love of writing all through his life and it’s no shock that when the time got here to argue for his proper to succeed Elizabeth he may consider no higher creator than himself. Amongst his arguments in The True Lawe was the essential level that he held the proper of succession by primogeniture to overrule any human regulation, particularly since in his view the ‘King is aboue the lawe, as each the creator and giuer of power’. In his personal thoughts the blood which flowed via his veins related him on to the throne; it couldn’t be interrupted by an idiosyncratic net of regulation and custom. Along with his ideas on the matter firmly spelled out, he turned to Waldegrave to have it printed.
The next 12 months, 1599, noticed the publication of one other succession tract in Edinburgh. The work had a sometimes forthright title: A treatise declaring, and confirming towards all obiections the simply title and proper of the moste wonderful and worthie prince, Iames the sixt, King of Scotland, to the succession of the croun of England, and is considerably mysterious in its origins. The work was written underneath the pseudonym ‘Irenicus Philodikaios’ and whereas he claims to be an Englishman within the textual content, there is no such thing as a proof of his true id. ‘Philodikaios’ sought to current himself as a loyal and loving topic, as he argued for the primacy of succession by primogeniture. He concluded that ‘the proper of the croune by descent of blood falleth vppon JAMES the sixt, King of Scotland’, a proper that was strengthened because it was traced via ‘his fathers aspect, as of his moms’. With James because the clear successor, and the tract written for the advantage of Philodikaios’ ‘deare countrie-men’, this work was ideally suited for James’ functions. It too was given to the royal printer.
The final phrase
In 1600 the fifth and closing succession tract with connections to Scotland was revealed. The work was written by John Colville, a minister educated on the College of St Andrews, who had left Scotland for Europe three years earlier, following his involvement with the politically unstable Francis Stewart, earl of Bothwell, and by no means returned. His tract The palinod of Iohn Coluill was itself a retraction of a earlier work by which he had not solely denied James’ proper to the English throne however had additionally claimed that he was illegitimate. In his palinod, Colville fully turned his again on his earlier stance. He argued that the hereditary precept was what primarily guided the succession to a crown, and that by proper of primogeniture James ought to succeed to the English throne. In his conclusion Colville addressed the English, urging that ‘motive and good conscience doth recomend unto them the King of Scotland, as a result of he’s the righteous successor’. Colville despatched a duplicate of his palinod to James who fortunately acquired it. With the palinod in his arms James had one other work so as to add to his rising physique of public supplies supporting his declare, and he handed it to Robert Charteris, one other printer with royal ties, to have it revealed.
Within the closing years of Elizabeth’s reign it grew to become ever clearer that James would succeed her. His efforts in writing, commissioning, and printing tracts fashioned a constant technique to publicise his proper to succeed by primogeniture and to counter any claims similar to these put ahead by Individuals in his tract. It’s virtually unattainable to measure the total influence of James’ technique or of Individuals’ work, which began this flurry of publishing. In England dialogue of the succession and publication of works was nonetheless towards the regulation – certainly anybody who ‘willfully set upp in open place publishe or spreade any Bookes or Scrowles to that impact, or shall print bynde or put to sale’ was responsible of treason. Nonetheless, from the State Papers of the English authorities it’s clear that they have been conscious not solely of Individuals’ guide, but in addition James’ makes an attempt to counter it with works of his personal. Elizabeth herself, ever the mistress of her personal realm, was additionally probably conscious of debates which had surrounded the succession because the solar slowly set on her reign.
Many of the works revealed as a part of James’ technique light into the background as soon as he grew to become king of England, their goal served, however the identical can’t be mentioned for Individuals’ A Convention. The guide initially created a divide amongst exiled English Catholics, a few of whom felt it was too strongly in favour of a Spanish claimant to the throne. The work then had a fairly unusual afterlife, later resurrected by political opponents of Charles I and James II for its consideration of elective monarchy. Succession tracts continued to be a function of English politics and, as every monarch’s reign drew to a detailed, or completed with loss of life – as James’ did in March 1625 – works regarding the succession have been once more written and disseminated. However at no level have been printed tracts as pivotal in settling a succession as they have been within the closing years of Elizabeth’s reign: it was James’ confrontation which ensured his declare was broadly recognized when he travelled south to develop into king of England in 1603.
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Elizabeth Tunstall is a visiting analysis fellow on the College of Adelaide and the creator of The Succession Debate and Contested Authority in Elizabethan England, 1558-1603 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024).
