Elizabeth I

The Tudor War on Libel

As rude rhymes and rumours threatened reputations, the Elizabethan government attempted to regulate barbed language.

‘All His Spies’ and ‘Spycraft’ review

All His Spies: The Secret World of Robert Cecil and Spycraft: Tricks and Tools of the Dangerous Trade from Elizabeth I to the Restoration bring Tudor and Stuart espionage in from the cold.

The Other Favourite

Christopher Hatton rose to great power as a favourite of Elizabeth I. Born in obscurity, why has he returned to it?

The Crowd-Funded War

In the wake of the failure of the Spanish Armada, England sought retaliation by launching an invasion of its own. But how to finance such a venture?