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Saturday, October 29, 2011

Actual Factual Speech at Tilbury by Elizabeth I



Speech to the Troops at Tilbury   








My loving people,

         We have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit our selves to armed multitudes, for fear of treachery; but I assure you I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people. Let tyrants fear, I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good-will of my subjects; and therefore I am come amongst you, as you see, at this time, not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live and die amongst you all; to lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and my people, my honour and my blood, even in the dust. I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm; to which rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field. I know already, for your forwardness you have deserved rewards and crowns; and We do assure you in the word of a prince, they shall be duly paid you. In the mean time, my lieutenant general2 shall be in my stead, than whom never prince commanded a more noble or worthy subject; not doubting but by your obedience to my general, by your concord in the camp, and your valour in the field, we shall shortly have a famous victory over those enemies of my God, of my kingdom, and of my people.


My own words
*This is one of my favorite speeches of all time, especially when she states "I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too".  Queen Elizabeth was one tough cookie and that is one of the many reasons I love her character and consider her one of my heroes.*

4 comments:

  1. Hi there....I would like to get to know a bit more about Mary ( queen of Scotts) i dont know much about her...in the HBO Mini series it depicted a fairly loving relationship with her then younger sister (Elizabeth) what happened to make these 2 sisters fall completely away from from each other?...was it only the religion aspect?

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  2. Mary, Queen of Scots, was her couse first removed. She had a Sister but that was Mary and she died before Elizabeth took over as Queen. Like, Elizabeth's half sister, Mary - Mary Queen of Scots was a catholic. Whereas, Elizabeth was a protestant. So, religion had a big part to do with it. Hope this helps....

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  3. i think i made a error. i meant her sister ( Mary)....:)...i would like to know about this sister who was queen before Elizabeth....i believe history depicts her in a very unfavorable way??

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  4. I will in the future get into Mary. The movie with Helen Mirren on HBO started the movie 20 years after her realm so it does not illustrate Mary, her half sister. Other movies do and I will make sure to describe, in my opinion, the kind of Queen she was. Thanks for your input and keep on checking this blog and commenting.

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