The Tudor Society

Elizabeth I Words Quiz

Claire Ridgway

The Rainbow Portrait

Elizabeth I had a wonderful way with words but how much do you know about the words she said, the speeches she gave, the letters she wrote etc.?

Elizabeth I Words

Q1) Fill in the blank in the following words uttered by Elizabeth when she was dying in 1603: "The word '................' is not to be used to princes".

must

cannot

impossible

marriage

Correct! According to Elizabeth Southwell's Manuscript Account of the Death of Queen Elizabeth, when Robert Cecil told the dying queen that she must go to bed Elizabeth I "smiled wonderfully contemning him, saing that the word ‘must’ was not to be used to princes. Therupon said, ‘little man, little man, yf your father had lived ye durst not have said so much: but thou knowest I must die and that maketh thee so presumtious’."
Wrong! The missing word is "must". According to Elizabeth Southwell's Manuscript Account of the Death of Queen Elizabeth, when Robert Cecil told the dying queen that she must go to bed Elizabeth I "smiled wonderfully contemning him, saing that the word ‘must’ was not to be used to princes. Therupon said, ‘little man, little man, yf your father had lived ye durst not have said so much: but thou knowest I must die and that maketh thee so presumtious’."

Q2) Where was Elizabeth said to have etched the words "Much suspected by me, Nothing proved can be, Quoth Elizabeth prisoner." on a window?

Rycote

Tower of London

Woodstock

Hatfield

Correct! Elizabeth was kept under house arrest at Woodstock 1554-55 in the reign of her half-sister Mary.
Wrong! It was at Woodstock. Elizabeth was kept under house arrest there in 1554-55 in the reign of her half-sister Mary.

Q3) The words "Today died a man of much wit, and very little judgment", which are now thought to apocryphal, were attributed to Elizabeth but who was she describing?

Anthony Babington

Robert Devereux

Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley

Thomas Seymour

Correct!
Wrong! It was Thomas Seymour.

Q4) On hearing of her accession, Elizabeth I was said to have uttered the words "This is the Lord's doing and it is marvellous in our eyes." From which book of the Bible was she quoting?

Proverbs

Psalms

Genesis

Ecclesiastes

Correct! It is from Psalm 118 verse 23.
Wrong! It is from Psalm 118 verse 23.

Q5) To whom did Elizabeth I say the following words: "This judgement I have of you that you will not be corrupted by any manner of gift and that you will be faithful to the state; and that without respect of my private will you will give me that counsel which you think best."

William Cecil

Robert Dudley

Francis Walsingham

Matthew Parker

Correct! She said them when she was appointing Cecil her Secretary of State.
Wrong! She said them to William Cecil when she was appointing him her Secretary of State.

Q6) In which speech did Elizabeth I say "I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and a king of England too."

The Golden Speech

The speech to the lords at her accession

Her speech to Parliament in 1563 on marriage and the succession

The Tilbury Speech

Correct! She was speaking to her troops at Tilbury in 1588.
Wrong! She was speaking to her troops at Tilbury in 1588.

Q7) To whom in particular was Elizabeth referring when she wrote "We are more bound to them that bringeth us up well, than to our parents, for our parents do that which is natural for them, that is bringeth us into the world, but our bringers up are a cause to make us live well in it."

Catherine Parr

Kat Ashley

Blanche Parry

Blanche Herbert

Correct! She wrote the words in a letter to Edward Seymour, Lord Protector, in March 1549 in defence of Kat who had been arrested for possible involvement in Thomas Seymour's alleged plot to marry Elizabeth.
Wrong! She was referring to Kat Ashley. Elizabeth wrote the words in a letter to Edward Seymour, Lord Protector, in March 1549 in defence of Kat who had been arrested for possible involvement in Thomas Seymour's alleged plot to marry Elizabeth.

Q8) Finish this Elizabeth I quotation: "There is only one Christ, Jesus, one faith. All else is a dispute over ....."

trifles

nothing

baubles

trivialities

Correct!
Wrong! It's "trifles".

Q9) Complete these words written by Elizabeth to Edward Seymour, Lord Protector, in February 1549: "They are most deceived that trusteth most in ..................."

their friends

man

themselves

false doctrine

Correct!
Wrong! "They are most deceived that trusteth most in themselves."

Q10) How old was Elizabeth when she presented her own translation of "Le miroir de l’ame pecheresse" (originally by Queen Margaret of Navarre) to Queen Catherine Parr?

14

13

12

11

Correct! It was a New Year's gift for Catherine.
Wrong! She was 11.

Q11) Complete the words spoken by Elizabeth I in her 1601 Golden Speech: "Though God hath raised me high, yet this I count the glory of my Crown, that I have reigned with your ........."

loves

hearts

support

loyalty

Correct!
Wrong! "Though God hath raised me high, yet this I count the glory of my Crown, that I have reigned with your loves."

Q12) Who said of Elizabeth I "Just look how well she governs; she is only a woman, only mistress of half an island, and yet she makes herself feared by Spain, by France, by the Empire, by all."?

William Cecil

James VI of Scotland

Pope Gregory XIII

Pope Sixtus V

Correct!
Wrong! It was Pope Sixtus V.

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