Sarah Gibbard Cook
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Queen Elizabeth’s Men

9/9/2019

2 Comments

 
After years immersed in Tudor-Stuart England, I’m embarrassed to admit trouble keeping track of Queen Elizabeth I’s court. Sage counselor William Cecil, dashing courtier Robert Dudley, dour spymaster Francis Walsingham: Though I can match their names and portraits, they only came to life for me lately through Fiona Buckley’s mystery novels. Memorable, vivid detail is a gift of well-researched imaginative portrayals, whether in fiction, film, or the presentation of Elizabeth’s nobles at the Bristol Renaissance Faire last weekend.

The risk, for me, is to mistake the character brought to life for the character who lived. What novelists and screenwriters can’t know, they are free to make up. Unlike historians, they don’t have to break the flow with terms like “probably” or “perhaps.” Did Elizabeth and Dudley, her favorite, consummate their relationship? My opinion: She was too savvy and self-controlled to risk outright scandal or a child out of wedlock, even for her “sweet Robin.” But no one can know for sure. In the case of fictionalized accounts, readers and viewers who care will have to insert “probably” or “perhaps” for themselves.
2 Comments
Rebecca link
9/9/2019 07:15:39 pm

Was Dudley the kilt-wearing one? I saw a PBS special that hinted at that. -R

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Sarah link
9/9/2019 09:09:26 pm

Wearing a kilt? How bizarre! I didn't see the PBS special and have no idea how or why they'd put a kilt on the man - nothing Scots about him. I found a website that shows three portraits made during his lifetime and the way a bunch of movies and TV programs have dressed him - another example of the historical fiction aspect of every film portrayal. http://www.frockflicks.com/mcm-robert-dudley-earl-leicester/

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    I'm a historian who writes novels and literary nonfiction. My home base is Madison, Wisconsin. 

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