Courtships and Favorites

Abstract

When Elizabeth became queen there was great pressure on her to marry, so there would be a king to help with the hardships of rule and a son to eventually restore a masculine succession. Elizabeth had many suitors from a range of European countries; there were also Englishmen who hoped to marry her, especially Robert Dudley, but also others such as Henry FitzAlan, Earl of Arundel, and William Pickering. Her foreign potential mates included Philip II of Spain, the Archduke Ferdinand, his brother the Archduke Charles, Erik XIV of Sweden, a number of the sons of Catherine de Medici. The most serious courtships were with the Archduke Charles, François, Duke of Alençon and later Anjou, and Robert Dudley, who became Earl of Leicester. She had other favorites at court, such as Sir Christopher Hatton, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, but with these there was no question whatsoever of marriage. And in the end Elizabeth married no one.