And there was light. Some 400 years after the death of Queen Elizabeth I, some of the best-kept secrets of her reign are coming to light. Using state-of-the-art imaging technology, the British Library is trying to unravel the mysteries that lie within the covered and rewritten pages of the Camden Annals.
These chronicles of the sovereign’s reign were commissioned by the King of Scotland and the Queen’s successor to the throne of England, James I Stuart. Written in Latin, the Annales rerum Anglicarum and Hibernicarum regnante Elizabetha are based on testimonies of contemporaries and official parliamentary documents, collected by the historian until his death in 1623. Considered as one of the most important sources of information on the Elizabethan period, the Annals are today the object of a meticulous re-reading.
Key sections of the narrative were indeed “deliberately rewritten before publication in order to present a version of the reign of Elizabeth I in a more favorable light for her successor”, explains Julian Harrison, chief curator of medieval historical and literary manuscripts. the British Library, to the Guardian. “Across ten manuscript volumes, hundreds of pages with made-up passages”, once invisible to the naked eye, testify to Camden’s self-censorship, no doubt for fear of being sent to prison if he displeases the king .
Among the hidden episodes, an assassination attempt on Queen Elizabeth. A certain Valentine Thomas confesses in 1598 to having been sent by King James to kill his great aunt and godmother at the head of the kingdom of England. “Passages recently studied tell us that Camden originally wished to preserve this revelation in his Annals. But he ends up modifying the testimony, minimizing its scope. It is then written that Thomas “accused the king of Scotland with vile intentions against the queen”, relates the British Library on its site.
Similarly, Camden dithers over the excommunication of the Queen in 1570 by the Pope. He first writes that Pius V motivates his decision by a “spiritual war”. Then the historian covers his personal commentary with the official document of the queen’s excommunication. The published version of the Annals reports “secret plots” instigated by the pope against Elizabeth. “By removing the once inflammatory wording, Camden gives a more neutral tone to the official record,” analyzes the British Library.
The queen’s obituary also appears in a new light. If part of the Annals were written during her lifetime, the “Virgin Queen” died in 1603, twelve years before their publication. Never married and childless, she carried with her the Tudor dynasty, which had reigned since 1485. Daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth I designated her successor on her deathbed: Jacques, son of her cousin Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. Finally, officially.
In reality, the queen “was too ill to speak in her last hours”, corrects Julian Harrison. “There is no other historical evidence to confirm that this episode in his deathbed is authentic.” According to the historian, William Camden “no doubt included this passage to appease James. So that his succession seems stopped in advance, more than it was in reality.
The use of this new technology may well once again lift the veil of history; the full text has yet to be studied in depth, and the hidden passages require translation from Latin to English. “There is still a lot to discover,” enthuses Julian Harrison. Most interesting will be how these recent interpretations of such an important historical figure as Elizabeth I will potentially be overturned.”
