Last Year's Lesson: Elizabeth I Delivered Golden Speech - Nov. 30, 1601

Elizabeth I delivered her "Golden Speech" on this day in 1601.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, history fans, if you want a double dose of history,
here's a rerun for today, brought to you by Tracy V. Wilson.
Welcome to this Day in History Class from how Stuff
Works dot com and from the desk of Stuff you
missed in History Class. It's the show where we explore
the past one day at a time with a quick
look at what happened today in history. Hello, and welcome

(00:24):
to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson, and it's November.
Queen Elizabeth the First delivered her Golden Speech on this
day in sixteen o one. The speech was before members
of the House of Commons and it was expected to
be about economic issues. In particular, they were expecting her
to talk about monopolies. Monopolies were a contentious issue, and

(00:45):
the Queen had previously pledged to subject all monopolies to
quote the trial and true touchstone of the law, but
then shouldn't actually carry through on that pledge. So monopolies
were widely attacked in the How of Commons because they
drove up prices, they bestowed an unfair advantage on the
people who had the monopolies. No one else was allowed

(01:07):
to take part in that area. Of business. So this
led to some contentious arguing on the subject, until the
Queen finally agreed to abolish some of the monopolies that
she had been granted, and to do what she had
said exposed others to trial under common law. So the
speech on November was expected to stick to this topic

(01:31):
of monopolies. It was delivered in the Council Chamber at Whitehall,
and it did start out this way. She started with
an acknowledgement that quote, we perceive your coming is to
present thanks to us. That's thanks for dealing with this
issue of monopolies. And it went on to say quote
of myself, I must say this, I never was any greedy,

(01:54):
scraping grasper, nor a strict, fast holding prince, nor yet
a waster. My heart was never set upon any worldly goods,
but only for my subjects good. What you do bestow
on me I will not hoard up, but receive it
to bestow on you again. Yea mine own properties, I
account yours to be expended for your good, and your

(02:16):
eyes shall see the bestowing of it for your welfare.
She went on to thank the Speaker and the Lower House,
because she said that without them she might have made
the wrong decision just because she didn't have the correct information,
so she was thanking them for raising her attention to
this issue. She said that she had made these grants
through a focus on the greater good, and that they

(02:38):
wouldn't be allowed to stand if instead of working towards
the greater good, they were instead causing a grievance or oppression.
But then her focus shifted a bit. She started talking
more about how she saw herself as a monarch and
what she felt for her kingdom and her subjects. She said,
quote the zeal of which affection tending to ease my

(03:00):
people and knit their hearts unto us, I embrace with
a princely care, far above all earthly treasures. I esteem
my people's love more than which I desire not to merit.
And God that gave me here to sit and placed
me over you knows that I never respected myself, but

(03:20):
as your good was concerned in me. Yet what dangers,
what practices, and what perils I have passed, some if
not all, of you know. But none of these things
do move me or ever made me fear. But it
is God that hath delivered me. And she ended this
speech by really acknowledging that she was getting very close
to the end of her reign. She was sixty eight

(03:42):
years old at this point, and she said, quote, for
it is not my desire to live or rain longer
than my life, and rain shall be for your good.
And though you have had and may have many mightier
and wiser princes sitting in this seat, yet you never had,
nor shall have any that will love you better. Thus,
Mr Speaker, I commend me to your loyal loves and

(04:05):
yours to my best care and your further counsels. And
I pray you, Mr Controller, and Mr Secretary, and you
of my counsel, that before these gentlemen depart to their countries,
you bring them all to kiss my hand. It was
reported that many in the room were deeply moved by
this speech, some of them moved to tears. It was

(04:26):
Queen elizabeth The first last speech to Parliament, and she
died on March three. The Golden Speech was written down
by someone in the room. It was printed and distributed
in what might have been considered an official version. It
was also reprinted several times throughout the sixteen hundreds under
the reign of subsequent monarchs, and it really became part
of Queen Elizabeth. The first legacy really emblematic of her

(04:50):
relationship that she developed with the nation and its subjects,
and the way she used what we would think of
today as public relations. She framed what was real, really
a dispute over monopolies, as an expression of how much
she loved her people and how much they loved her.
Thanks to Eve's Jeff Cope for her research work on
Today's podcast, and thanks to Casey Pigram and Chandler Maize

(05:13):
for their audio work on the show. You can subscribe
to the Stay in History Class on Apple Podcasts, Google
Podcasts and We're Real to get your podcasts, and you
can tune in tomorrow for a woman who was tired
of giving in