Elizabeth I in Writing

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

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2. Introduction

   • Donatella Montini, Iolanda Plescia

   Pages 1-8

3. Elizabeth as Author

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 9-9

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   2. The Young Princess Elizabeth, Neo-Latin, and the Power of the Written Word

      • Brenda M. Hosington

      Pages 11-36

   3. Ethics from the Classroom: Elizabeth I’s Translation of Cicero’s “Pro Marcello”

      • Alessandra Petrina

      Pages 37-58

   4. Styling Power: A Corpus-Linguistic Approach to the Correspondence of Queen Elizabeth I

      • Mel Evans

      Pages 59-82

   5. “Beholde Me Thy Handmaiden”: The Pragmatics and Politics of Queen Elizabeth’s Prayers

      • Donatella Montini

      Pages 83-107

   6. Elizabeth I as Poet: Some Notes on “On Monsieur’s Departure” and John Dowland’s “Now O Now I Needs Must Part”

      • Cristina Vallaro

      Pages 109-126

4. Elizabeth Authored

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 127-127

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   2. A Critical Edition and Discussion of SP 70/2 f.94: A Letter and Two Sonnets by Celio Magno to Queen Elizabeth I

      • Carlo M. Bajetta, Guillaume Coatalen

      Pages 129-143

   3. “La Comediante Politica”: On Gregorio Leti’s 1693 Life of Queen Elizabeth I

      • Giovanni Iamartino

      Pages 145-170

   4. Multilingualism at the Tudor Court: Henry, Elizabeth and the Love Letter Genre

      • Iolanda Plescia

      Pages 171-194

5. The Gift of Language, the Language of the Gift

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 195-195

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   2. What Elizabeth Knew. Language as Mirror and Gift

      • Nadia Fusini

      Pages 197-212

   3. Queen Elizabeth and the Power and Language of the Gift

      • Carole Levin

      Pages 213-232

6. Back Matter

   Pages 233-254

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This collection investigates Queen Elizabeth I as an accomplished writer in her own right as well as the subject of authors who celebrated her. With innovative essays from Brenda M. Hosington, Carole Levin, and other established and emerging experts, it reappraises Elizabeth’s translations, letters, poems and prayers through a diverse range of approaches to textuality, from linguistic and philological to literary and cultural-historical.  The book also considers Elizabeth as “authored,” studying how she is reflected in the writing of her contemporaries and reconstructing a wider web of relations between the public and private use of language in early modern culture. Contributions from Carlo M. Bajetta, Guillaume Coatelen and Giovanni Iamartino bring the Queen’s presence in early modern Italian literary culture to the fore. Together, these essays illuminate the Queen in writing, from the multifaceted linguistic and rhetorical strategies that she employed, to the texts inspired by her power and charisma.

• queenship
• Elizabeth I
• Tudor
• Henry VIII
• Anne Boleyn
• letters of Elizabeth I
• afterlife of Elizabeth I
• Tudor court culture
• Elizabeth I's translations
• early modern women's writing
• early modern Italian literature
• history of the English language
• early modern textuality

“This is an essay-collection … with a number of new approaches and some fresh materials to interest the scholar of writing about, and especially by, this remarkable queen. The volume certainly helps to advance the case for Elizabeth to be studied not only as a monarch, but also as an impressive author, translator, and linguist, wielding language skilfully in a multitude of ways in order to manage both political and personal relationships … .” (Helen Hackett, Early Modern Women Journal, Vol. 14 (1), 2019)

• Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

  Donatella Montini, Iolanda Plescia

Donatella Montini is Associate Professor of English Language and Translation at Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.


Iolanda Plescia is Assistant Professor of English Language and Translation at Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.

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