The Queen and her friends were in great fear, that the ill-affected
towards her should seize the Lady Elizabeth, and, it may be, set her up for
Queen. This made them resolve to secure her; but thought it best to attempt it
at first in a gentle manner. The Queen therefore, out of great seeming care of
her sister's person in these dangers, sends a kind letter to her, dated Jan.
26, (which was the day after Sir Thomas Wyat appeared openly in arms at
Maidston,) to come up to her to St. James's, and to be with her:…[1]
Surely, Elizabeth wondered if Mary knew of Wyatt’s
communications with her? Was she being summoned to ignominy and execution?
The reply of the servants of the Princess was that she was much
too ill to travel. The following is found in Chamberlin’s Private Character,
from a dispatch from the French ambassador to England, De Noailes, to his
counterpart in Scotland, d'Oysel:
The princess Elizabeth for whom no better fate is forseen, is
about seven or eight miles from here, so very ill that nobody longer anticipates
anything except her death . . . she is so swollen and weakened that she is a
pitiful sight.[2]
The text that filled the ellipses in this quote is “it is
the common opinion that she has been poisoned.”[3]
All of Europe was watching with bated breath. Word was going out from London:
someone has poisoned the Princess Elizabeth.
De Noailes presumably wrote by the next available courier to his boss, the King of France. The first item of business was news of the April parliament that would debate the details of the marriage of Queen Mary to the Spanish King Philip that so provoked Wyatt and others. Well down in the dispatch we find:
Madame Elizabeth, sister of the said lady, arrived Thursday
in this city (London), so ill with dropsy or some swelling which has attacked
her whole body and even her face, that those who have seen her do not promise
her long to live. I believe that on account of this illness she will not be
able to accompany her sister, but will remain here, if she live that long.[4]
The marriage took precedence, by far, over matters of a Protestant
princess. France’s satisfaction to see England return to the Catholic fold had
turned into a nightmare. The Hapsburgs now held the throne of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain and
were about to hold the throne of England. France was suddenly surrounded by its
historical nemeses.
These matters would take precedence. Elizabeth would not be mentioned
again for more than two weeks. She was still greatly swollen and physically
weak.
They tell me that Madame Elizabeth, sister of the queen, will
be soon thrust into the Tower, no matter how ill she may be; and she almost entirely
swollen.[5]
Again, Chamberlin ends his quote before Noailles’ discreet Latin
note: “Not dead of the poison to which they ascribe her illness.”[6]
This would be of interest also because it might create a bond between English
Protestants and the French that could contain Philip’s power. Every opportunity
needed to be considered.
We receive in the same letter the description by Noailes’
secretary of the execution of the Lady Jane Grey, in which
She laid her head humbly down, saying as she did, my god,
into your hands I commend my spirit, & was executed & decapitated with
a great abundance of blood.[7]
Surely, Elizabeth had pictured herself in Lady Jane’s place
many times since the failed Rebellion. Maybe even before. The stress that she
was under had to be almost unbearable.
This was not the only occasion in which Elizabeth suffered
extreme swelling (“dropsy” in the language of the time). She was Queen, in
1562, when the condition appears in the record again. This time together with a
rash diagnosed as small pox.
Chamberlin states more generally that;
She had been the subject of an extreme dropsical condition in
which her legs and feet became greatly swollen.[8]
He also refers to dropsical tendencies when she went through
puberty. No particular records are cited for his claims but his information has
been so consistently and precisely correct that it seems reasonable to take his
word in the matter pending further information.
[1] Strype,
John. Ecclesiastical Memorials, Relating Chiefly to Religion, and the
Reformation of It,
and The Emergencies of The Church Of England,…
(1822). Volume 3, Part 1. 126.
[2]
Chamberlin, Frederick. The Private Character of Queen Elizabeth (1921). Citing: Vertot, l'Abbé de. Ambassades de Messieurs De
Noailes en Angleterre. Vol. iii. p. 77.
[3] De Noailes, Vol. iii. p. 77. M. de Noailles à M. d'Oysel. 21 Fébruary 1553 [O.S.].
“est la commune oppinion qu'elle a esté empoisonnée”.
[4] Chamberlin. Citing De Noailes,
Vol. iii. p. 86-7. De Noailles to King of France. February 27, 1553 [O.S.]
[5] Chamberlin. Citing De Noailes,
Vol. iii. p. 125. Prothonotary de Noailles a M. Le Connestable. March 12, 1553.
[O.S.]
[6] De Noailes, Vol. iii. p. 77. Prothonotary de Noailles à M. Le Connestable. March 12,
1553. [O.S.] “Non défunt qui veneno hujus morbi occasionem ascribant. ”
[7] De Noailes, Vol. iii. p. 77. Prothonotary de Noailles à M. Le Connestable. March 12,
1553. [O.S.] “ elle mist la teste humblement dessus, en disant, mon dieu, entre
tes mains je recommande mon esprit, & fust exécutée & descapitée en
grande abondance de sang.”
[8]
Chamberlin. 102.
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