Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

How are you?

Hope you're doing well today.

My name is Ms. Afzal, and I'll be your teacher for this lesson.

I'm feeling pleased about that, 'cause I think we've got an interesting lesson ahead.

We are looking at Elizabeth I, and our lesson's called Popular Depictions of Elizabeth I.

I wonder how many depictions of Elizabeth I you've seen.

We will be getting right into this subject today.

Our lesson comes from the unit of work Elizabeth I: Why Has Elizabeth Been Represented So Differently?

So if you're ready to get into this topic, if you have energy, focus, and enthusiasm, we'll begin our lesson now.

The outcome for today's lesson is, I can explain how popular depictions of Elizabeth I have changed over time.

I hope that sounds interesting to you.

We have some keywords in our lesson.

I'd like us to go through them one at a time, saying them out loud.

My turn, your turn.

Depiction, symbolism, interpretation.

Good to hear those keywords out loud.

Now, I'd like you to turn to someone and share with them, have you heard of any of these keywords before?

Do you know what any of these keywords mean?

Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing your understanding of these keywords.

Let's find out what they mean.

A depiction is a representation of someone or something in words or pictures.

Symbolism is the use of objects or pictures to represent ideas or qualities.

An interpretation is a historian's opinion about past events.

These are our keywords, depiction, symbolism, and interpretation.

Let's look out for them.

Let's listen out for them.

Let's think carefully about these keywords that will be coming up in our lesson today.

Our lesson is called Popular Depictions of Elizabeth I, and it has three learning cycles.

How did Elizabeth present herself?

How did others depict Elizabeth during her lifetime?

And how has Elizabeth been depicted in later years?

Let's begin by exploring how did Elizabeth present herself.

Here's a pamphlet celebrating the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Elizabeth II, the great Elizabethans.

Pause here and share with someone any similarities or differences you notice between the way these two Queen Elizabeths have been portrayed.

Thanks for sharing what you noticed.

Here's a portrait of Elizabeth I.

Pause here and share with someone any details that you notice in this portrait of Elizabeth I.

Thanks for sharing what you noticed.

Here's an extract from the "Golden Speech," November 1601.

"Though you have had and may have many mightier and wiser princes sitting in the seat, yet you never had, nor shall have, any that will love you better.

" So that's an extract from Elizabeth I's "Golden Speech.

" Pause here and read the speech aloud to someone nearby.

Thanks for reading the "Golden Speech.

" Here's a painting of an Elizabethan progress.

A royal progress was a ceremonial journey undertaken by Queen Elizabeth I and her court through the English countryside, usually in the summer.

Pause here and share with someone some details that you notice in this painting of an Elizabethan progress.

Thanks for sharing what you noticed.

Let's have a check for understanding.

True or false, Elizabeth went on progresses, so she could see all the different parts of her kingdom?

Pause here while you decide is this statement true or false.

Well done if you selected false.

And now, I'd like you to justify your answer by choosing from one of these two statements.

A, progresses were a way to honor important and wealthy people, and be seen by the public.

B, progresses were a way for Elizabeth to avoid having to talk to Parliament by removing herself from London.

Pause here while you decide which of these statements justifies your earlier answer.

Well done if you selected statement A.

Indeed, progresses were a way to honor important and wealthy people, and be seen by the public.

This statement justifies your earlier answer.

And now, it's time for your first task.

Pause here while you take a look at this portrait of Queen Elizabeth I.

This is called the "Armada Portrait" from 1588.

I would like you to match the letter to the symbolism in the portrait.

So we have five letters, A, B, C, D, E, and five aspects of symbolism in a portrait.

Let's read through them.

Defeat of the Armada, wealth, virginity, naval strength, desire to expand.

So pause here while you take a close look at the "Armada Portrait," and match the letter to the symbolism in the portrait.

Enjoy your task, and I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task?

Let's take a look at how you might have matched the letters and the symbolism.

So A, in the top right, we can see the defeat of the Armada.

Wealth is letter C.

We can see this very detailed, opulent outfit that the queen is wearing.

Virginity is D, the pearls hanging in large numbers, and one particularly large pearl.

Naval strength is symbolized by the mermaid in the bottom right of the portrait.

And desire to expand is symbolized by the globe, and in particular with Queen Elizabeth's hand resting over the Americas.

Well done if you've matched the letters to the symbols in this way.

And now, for the next part of our task, what can you infer from this source?

What is Elizabeth saying in the speech to Parliament?

"Though you have had and may have many mightier and wiser princes sitting in the seat, yet you never had, nor shall have, any that will love you better.

" So pause here and share with someone what can you infer from this source, what is Elizabeth saying in this speech to Parliament, and this extract from the "Golden Speech," November 1601.

Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing what you inferred from this source.

What is Elizabeth saying in the speech to Parliament?

Your answer could include something like this, "Elizabeth is saying that there have been stronger and cleverer kings of England than her, and probably will be again.

But no king has ever loved her people as much as she does, and no king ever will.

" Well done if you answered in this way.

Well done for having a go at this task.

And now, onto our next learning cycle.

How did others depict Elizabeth during her lifetime?

Let's take a look at some extracts from John Stubbs' "Gaping Gulf," 1579, discussing Elizabeth's proposed marriage to the French Catholic Duke of Anjou.

"An immoral union.

" "Contrary coupling.

" "A thing forbidden in the law.

" "More foul and more gross.

" I don't think he approves.

What do you think?

Let's have a check for understanding.

True or false, Elizabeth tightly controlled how she was depicted by other people, and didn't handle criticism well?

Pause here while you decide is this statement true or false.

Well done if you selected true.

And now, I'd like you to justify your answer by choosing from one of these two statements.

A, critics were often imprisoned, tortured, mutilated, and sometimes executed.

B, we have no evidence to suggest that people in England were critical of Elizabeth.

Pause here while you decide which of these statements justifies your earlier answer.

Well done if you selected statement A.

Indeed, critics were often imprisoned, tortured, mutilated, and sometimes executed.

This statement justifies your earlier answer.

Take a look at these images.

On the left, we have an illustration criticizing Mary I from Foxe's "Book of Martyrs.

" And on the right, we have the front page of Spencer's "The Faerie Queene.

" Pause here and share with someone any details you notice in these two images.

Thanks for sharing.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Why did Elizabeth punish some critics, but not others?

Choose from this selection: A, Elizabeth punished obvious criticism, but ignored disguised criticism, B, Elizabeth was less bothered by criticism as she got older, C, Elizabeth tried to punish all critics, but some managed to escape.

Pause here while you decide why did Elizabeth punish some critics, but not others.

Well done if you selected statement A.

Indeed, Elizabeth punished obvious criticism, but ignored disguised criticism.

And now, it's time for your next task.

I would like you to explain how Elizabeth dealt with criticism during her reign.

Include the following terms in your explanation: young, older, praise, criticism, executed.

So pause here while you explain how Elizabeth dealt with criticism during her reign.

I'll see you when you finish your task.

So how did you get on with that task, explaining how Elizabeth dealt with criticism during her reign?

Your answer could include something like this, "Elizabeth allowed some criticism of her during her reign, as long as it was disguised as praise.

If it was not, then she dealt with critics extremely harshly, in some cases, by having them executed.

Elizabeth was very careful to only allow her approved image to be seen by people.

She wanted to be seen as young and beautiful, even when she was older and in poor health.

" Well done if you answered in this way.

Well done for having a go at this task.

And now, we're onto our final learning cycle.

How has Elizabeth been depicted in later years?

David Hume, 18th-century historian, his interpretation of Elizabeth was that she was the most popular monarch that England has ever had or ever will have.

John Guy, modern historian, his interpretation of Elizabeth is that she was better than any other European monarch of her time at using politics to achieve her goals.

Let's have a check for understanding.

How do the historians Hume and Guy depict Elizabeth?

Choose two options.

A, extremely passionate, B, incredibly popular, C, master politician, D, overwhelmingly powerful.

Pause here while you decide how do the historians Hume and Guy depict Elizabeth.

Well done if you selected B and C.

Indeed, the historians Hume and Guy depict Elizabeth as incredibly popular and a master politician.

Well done if you answered in this way.

James Froude, a 19th-century historian, his interpretation on Elizabeth was that whenever she didn't take Burghley's advice, she caused harm to both the country and herself.

Christopher Haigh, modern historian, his interpretation of Elizabeth is that she avoided problems rather than tried to solve them.

And luckily, some of these problems eventually just went away.

Let's have a check for understanding.

How do the historians Froude and Haigh depict Elizabeth?

Choose two options.

A, she made bad decisions that damaged the country.

B, she was overly aggressive towards Catholics.

C, she wasted money on expensive clothes and jewelry.

D, she ignored problems until they went away.

Pause here while you decide how do the historians Froude and Haigh depict Elizabeth.

Well done if you selected answers A and D.

Indeed, the historians Froude and Haigh depict Elizabeth as making bad decisions that damaged the country, and ignoring problems until they went away.

Well done if you answered in this way.

And now, it's time for your final task.

Historians Hume and Guy think that Elizabeth was a good ruler, whereas Froude and Haigh think that she was not.

Who do you agree with?

Support your interpretation with at least two pieces of evidence.

Use everything you've learned previously about Elizabeth to support your answer.

Pause here while you have a go at this task of explaining which historians you agree with.

Enjoy your task, and I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you.

So how did you get on with explaining who you agree with, historians Hume and Guy, who thought that Elizabeth was a good ruler, or Froude and Haigh, who thinks she was not?

And did you support your interpretation with at least two pieces of evidence?

Your answer could include something like this, "I agree with Hume and Guy that Elizabeth was a good ruler, because she introduced her Middle Way religious settlement, which was a compromise for Protestants and Catholics.

This stopped huge fights from breaking out about which religion was best, something that was happening a lot all across Europe.

She also defeated the Spanish Armada, which was the biggest navy in Europe at the time, and stopped Spain from taking over England.

" Alternatively, your answer could look something like this, "I agree with Froude and Haigh, that Elizabeth was not a good ruler, because she never got married and had children or named an heir.

This meant that when she died, no one was sure who the next ruler of England would be, which could have caused a war.

She also didn't do enough to help poor people during her reign.

You can't be considered a good ruler if lots of your people are starving and unhoused, homeless.

" Well done if you answered in either of these two ways.

Well done for having a go at this task.

In our lesson, Popular Depictions of Elizabeth I, we've covered the following: many English people would've never seen Elizabeth with their own eyes, so the queen used symbolism within paintings to present different ideas about herself.

Elizabeth was highly intelligent and was able to use speeches to persuade and rally support amongst members of Parliament and the common people.

Elizabeth understood the power of presentation, and as a result, strictly controlled how she was depicted during her own lifetime.

Popular interpretations of Elizabeth have changed over time, although the vast majority have maintained a positive interpretation of the queen.

Well done, everyone, for joining in with this lesson.

I thought it was so interesting to explore the different depictions of Elizabeth I and how strictly she controlled how these depictions during her lifetime.

I thought the "Armada Portrait" was very interesting, with all the heavy symbolism, and also the portrait of the progress had so many interesting details.

I really enjoyed teaching you.

And I hope you enjoyed this lesson too.

I look forward to seeing you at another lesson soon.

Bye for now.