Chapter 29 Summary

Essex and six associates are charged with high treason, and he and others are sentenced to be beheaded. Elizabeth reprieves one of the men as a follower of Essex and not a leader. The queen is playing the virginal when Essex is executed. She receives the news and resumes playing.

Elizabeth at sixty is not the same person she was at twenty-five. She is weary and worn down, having to face situations not known before. The Scots and Irish rebellion collapses primarily because the ordinary Englishman will not rebel against the queen. Mountjoy requests more money because the Spaniards are about to launch another invasion from the Irish base. In her last years, Elizabeth has had to sell Crown lands and her jewels to support the troops. Finally, she asks Parliament for a large subsidy. Parliament requests in exchange for a new tax...