Saturday, May 28, 2022

Why Did Princess Elizabeth Swell So Severely for Months in 1554?

It is no wonder that Queen Mary I suspected evasion when her summons to the Princess Elizabeth, in the wake of the Wyatt Rebellion, in January 1554 [N.S.], was not immediately obeyed. Surely the Princess reflected upon the fact that Wyatt had written her in support. Regardless, the Queen would consider her a threat. In the words of John Strype:

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.


Also at Virtual Grub Street:

  • Gossip as History: All of London abuzz with Mistress Anne’s big wedding. April 22, 2022. “Mrs. Anne Russel went from Court upon Monday last, with 18 Coaches, the like hath not bene seen  amongest the Maydes.”
  • What in the World Happened to Queen Elizabeth in the Autumn of 1572??? May 14, 2022. ‘“…she had a bad stomach owing to her having taken a little mithridate.”’
  • To Where Did Queen Elizabeth I Disappear in August 1564? July 18, 2021. “Leicestershire was in the opposite direction from London. Nichols could discover no more.”
  • Queen Elizabeth I’s Heart and the French Ambassador.  April 3, 2019.  “…the Queen of England, with the permission of her physicians, has been able to come out of her private chamber, she has permitted me… to see her…”
  • Check out the English Renaissance Article Index for many more articles and reviews about this fascinating time and about the Shakespeare Authorship Question.
  • Check out the Queen Elizabeth I Biography Page for many other articles.
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