Elizabeth I’s physician-in-chief, Rodrigo Lopez, was executed in 1594 for allegedly conspiring to poison the queen. Lopez was born in Portugal to parents of Jewish descent. He was raised a Catholic before he moved to London in 1599 and became the queen’s physician-in-chief in 1581. Unfortunately, he mortally offended some of Elizabeth I’s courtiers, […]Continue reading
Dr Dee was an astrologer and mathematician who became an influential scholar in Elizabeth I’s court. As the royal astrologer, he advised the queen, Francis Walsingham, Walter Raleigh and Francis Drake on matters ranging from national security to navigation at sea. Dr Dee was even consulted to find the most auspicious day for Elizabeth I’s […]Continue reading
During the Reformation, Catholic Spain was a long-standing enemy of England and during the reign of Elizabeth I a series of attempted invasions prolonged the enmity between the two countries. The uneasy and short-lived alliance between England and Spain during the reign of Mary I was replaced by hostilities exacerbated by the Spanish Armada’s […]Continue reading
