As the hour of Mary’s death approached, there was no doubt of Elizabeth’s succession, though there was alarm as to possible complications.  On November 17, 1558, the Chancellor announced to Parliament that Mary was dead, and Elizabeth queen.  She held her first council at Hatfield two days later, when William Cecil took his place as her chief counsellor; on her entry into London, the position which was to be occupied by Lord Robert Dudley, afterwards Earl of Leicester, was already conspicuous.

The coronation, which took place in January, was a magnificent pageant, in which Elizabeth openly courted the favour and affection of her subjects; and it became at once apparent that the breach with Rome was reopened.  The supremacy of the crown was reasserted, the all but empty bench of bishops was filled up with reformers; and, in answer to the Commons, Elizabeth very clearly implied her intention of reigning a virgin queen.  She had already declined Philip of Spain’s offer of his widowed hand; and now the fact that Mary Stuart stood next in the succession—­with a better title than Elizabeth’s own, if her legitimacy were challenged—­became of immense importance.

Accordingly, an express declaration of her legitimate right to the throne was procured from Parliament.  For some time pageants and popular displays were the order of the day.  But, in spite of Elizabeth’s own declarations, all her council were convinced that the safety of the realm demanded her marriage; and suitors began to abound.  Arran appears—­who now stood very near the throne of Scotland.  Pickering, Arundel, Dudley, all seemed possible aspirants.  The Austrian Archduke Charles, cousin of Philip of Spain, and Eric of Norway, were candidates.  She played with them all, and the play was made more grim by the tragic death of Dudley’s wife, Amy Robsart.

II.—­Mary Stuart and Saint Bartholomew

The proposals for Elizabeth’s own hand were now diversified by her interest in those for the hand of the Queen of Scots; for it was of immense importance to the Queen of England that Mary should not wed a foreign prince who might support her claim to the English throne.  Mary professed willingness to be guided by her “sister,” but was insulted by Elizabeth’s offer of her own favourite, Dudley, who was made Earl of Leicester.  Melville, the courtly Scots ambassador, had much ado to answer Elizabeth’s questions about his mistress’s beauty and accomplishments in a manner agreeable to the English queen.  Mary solved her own problem, only to create a new one, by marrying her cousin, Lord Darnley.  Elizabeth was bitterly aggrieved when a son—­afterwards James I.—­was born to them.  She herself continued to agitate Cecil and the council by the favours she lavished on Leicester.  But the renewed entreaties of Parliament, that steps might be taken to secure the succession, led to what threatened to be a serious quarrel.