British Royals safety King Philip II made no secret of his desire to marry Elizabeth, but she had no interest in marrying Mary’s former husband Henry of Anjou was suggested as a match, but he was still a child Elizabeth spoke instead of being married to her nation, but scandal struck when Dudley’s wife Amy died suddenly after apparently falling down the stairs in 1560 It was rumoured that Dudley had committed the deed for his queen, and Elizabeth was forced to expel him from her court In 1561, Elizabeth’s cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots, returned to Scotland from France For many Catholics, Mary was the true successor and she did little to downplay those clamouring for a Catholic monarch Her arrival was perfectly timed, as Elizabeth was on the verge of death due to smallpox However, she recovered and, with the scandal over Dudley dissipating, Elizabeth chose him to be Lord Protector, bringing him back into her court, before shocking everyone by suggesting a marriage between him and Mary This was Elizabeth showing her political astuteness; she knew well that Scotland with a Catholic heir would Did Elizabeth have a genuine thirst for new worlds? Although the expansion of trade into India occurred during Elizabeth’s reign, in terms of exploration she is best remembered for England’s attempt to colonise North America The Spanish and Portuguese had already laid claim to much of South America, establishing lucrative trade routes, but North America was relatively unexplored Elizabeth was reluctant to fund exploratory voyages for much the same reasons that she was reluctant to fund wars: they were expensive and risky However, she could be won around with the promise of riches from one of her favourites and, when sailor Davy Ingram returned to England with alluring tales of riches and simple inhabitants, geographer Richard Hakluyt began plotting a serious expedition to be led by Walter Raleigh With the promise of fortune and the flattery of Raleigh, she agreed to a trip to form a colony named after her: Virginia The first party launched, and Raleigh would follow When the nobleman arrived, he saw the settlement had failed The English were desperate to leave Raleigh’s second attempt was intended for Chesapeake Bay, but the first group, led by John White, returned to Roanoke Raleigh arrived with his second group and found no trace of survivors Elizabeth was disappointed that these costly ventures yielded no results There was one purpose to these expeditions, as de Lisle explains very simply: “Making money.” “ The Queen rallied troops by declaring that she would fight by their side to repel anyone who dare set foot on their land” Verdict The Elizabethan era’s reputation for exploration is largely due to the fact that there was money to be made from it Piratical ventures were profitable; colonisation was not 1585 Following a positive report, Raleigh dispatches colonists to settle at Roanoke in Virginia By the time he arrives on a later ship, the crops have failed and the English are desperate to leave 1587 Raleigh tries again to establish a colony at Chesapeake Bay, but instead the settlers travel to Roanoke When Raleigh arrives, all 150 colonists have disappeared, with only a single skeleton remaining 102 1584 Walter Raleigh and Richard Hakluyt convince Elizabeth to fund an expedition to explore the possibility that a colony could be founded on America’s east coast vk.com/englishlibrary vk.com/bastau