A Monarchy of Letters Royal Correspondence and English Diplomacy in the Reign of Elizabeth I

Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) sent more letters into more distant kingdoms than any English monarch had before, and her exchanges with an ever-growing number of rulers reveal how shifting conceptions of sovereignty were made manifest on paper. This book examines Elizabeth's correspondence with several significant rulers, analyzing how her letters were constructed, drafted and presented, the rhetorical strategies used, and the role these letters played in facilitating diplomatic relations. Elizabeth's letters did more than authorize diplomatic action abroad: in most cases they reflected, and sometimes even influenced, the direction of foreign policy.

Rayne Allinson is an assistant professor of History at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. She received a DPhil from Magdalen College, Oxford and her BA and MA from The University of Melbourne.