Elizabeth I's Foreign Correspondence

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxv

   PDF

2. Manuscripts, Secretaries, and Scribes

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

      PDF

   2. Manuscripts, Secretaries, and Scribes: The Production of Diplomatic Letters at Court

      • Angela Andreani

      Pages 3-23

3. Elizabeth’s French Correspondence

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 25-25

      PDF

   2. Six Holograph Letters in French from Queen Elizabeth I to the Duke of Anjou: Texts and Analysis

      • Guillaume Coatalen, Jonathan Gibson

      Pages 27-62

   3. “Dedans la plie de mon fidelle affection”: Familiarity and Materiality in Elizabeth’s Letters to Anjou

      • Jonathan Gibson

      Pages 63-89

4. Elizabeth’s Italian Correspondence

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 91-91

      PDF

   2. “Perfit readiness”: Elizabeth Learning and Using Italian

      • Alessandra Petrina

      Pages 93-113

   3. Three Holograph Italian Letters from Elizabeth I to Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor: Texts and Analysis

      • Carlo M. Bajetta

      Pages 115-149

   4. Elizabeth’s Italian: Linguistic Standards and Interlingual Interference

      • Gianmario Raimondi

      Pages 151-165

   5. Elizabeth’s Italian Rhetoric: The “Maximilian Letters”

      • Giuliana Iannaccaro

      Pages 167-186

5. Correspondence with Germany, the East, and Ireland

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 187-187

      PDF

   2. Elizabeth’s Correspondence with the Protestant Princes of the Empire, 1558–86

      • David Scott Gehring

      Pages 189-207

   3. The Virgin Queen and the Son of Heaven: Elizabeth I’s Letters to Wanli, Emperor of China

      • Rayne Allinson

      Pages 209-228

   4. Letters to Ireland: Queen Elizabeth to Essex, 1599

      • Monica Santini

      Pages 229-252

6. Back Matter

   Pages 253-269

   PDF

Though Elizabeth I never left England, she wrote extensively to correspondents abroad, and these letters were of central importance to the politics of the period. This volume presents the findings of a major international research project on this correspondence, including newly edited translations of 15 of Elizabeth's letters in foreign languages.

• empire
• England
• Germany

“This is a superb collection, and one of the best collections on Elizabeth (possibly on early modern history generally) produced over the past few years. … The combination of edited texts and investigative essays allows sustained and detailed examination of key issues–the process of letter-writing, about language and how it is used, and about the materiality of letters–which we need in order to understand early modern politics.” (Natalie Mears, English Historical Review, Vol. 131 (552), October, 2016)

• Università della Valle d’Aosta, Italy

  Carlo M. Bajetta

• University of Cergy-Pontoise, France

  Guillaume Coatalen

• English department, Open University, UK

  Jonathan Gibson

Rayne Allinson, University of Michigan-Dearborn, USA Angela Andreani, University of Sussex, UK Carlo M. Bajetta, Università della Valle d'Aosta - Université de la Vallée d'Aoste, Italy Guillaume Coatalen, Université de Cergy-Pontoise, France David Scott Gehring, University of Nottingham, UK Jonathan Gibson, The Open University, UK Giuliana Iannaccaro, Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy Alessandra Petrina, Università degli Studi di Padova, Italy Gianmario Raimondi, Università della Valle d'Aosta, Italy Monica Santini, Università degli Studi di Padova, Italy

Policies and ethics