Heroic Queens in the Age of the Stuart Kings: Elizabeth and Boudicca

Especially at the time of the victory over the Spanish Armada, Queen Elizabeth was lauded as a hero and compared with Boudicca, the queen of the Iceni, who had also fought invaders of a different religion fifteen hundred years earlier. But almost immediately after becoming king James I disparaged his predecessor and other women. In histories, pamphlets, and drama the contested representations of both Elizabeth and Boudicca were presented. This article examines the political/cultural context in the early Stuart age for both the denigration of women and how examples of these two were used to demonstrate the heroism of powerful queens.