Queen Elizabeth I was regarded as an icon to worship, whose beauty was a sign of her divine right to rule. As we know, she used ceruse, to make the skin appear paler and smoother and paler (see here) and red lipstick (see here), imitated by many other ladies of her time, whose beauty was… Read More Shakespeare: Sonnet 130
During her reign, Elizabeth I became an icon to worship, the Protestant object of a “royal cult” intended, according to some critics, to “clash with and contest the Catholic worship of the Virgin Mary”. This cult emphasized her virginity and beauty: she was never seen without her whitened ‘mask of youth’.Some historians believe she may… Read More Queen Elizabeth I’s Death
During the Elizabethan age, the ‘golden age in English history’, the Queen was an icon of the beauty of the time with an impact never surpassed by any other English queen. Besides using the dangerous Venetian ceruse, (see here) Elizabeth I loved lipstick and on her death, also her lips were encrusted with a layer… Read More Queen Elizabeth I’s Lipstick
In 1562, Elizabeth I contracted smallpox which left her face pockmarked (see here). Since the queen had always been proud of her beauty, she feared this would spoil her image, showing a flawlessly fair skin, the typical look of the upper class, nobility and earthly perfection.Since she was aware that as the queen, she couldn’t… Read More Queen Elizabeth I & Venetian Ceruse (part 2)
During the Elizabethan era, white skin was highly desired by women as it symbolized youthfulness and an elevated social class. When Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) one of the greatest English monarchs in history, was 29, in 1562, she was struck by what was initially believed to be a violent fever. Therefore she was ordered by… Read More Queen Elizabeth I & Venetian Ceruse (part 1)
On this day, 30th December 1546, a rather ill Henry VIII signed his last will and testament, authorising some changes to be made to a previous document. At the beginning of the will, Henry hopes that his testament “shall be acceptable to God, Christ, and the whole company of Heaven, and satisfactory to all godly… Read More Henry VIII’s Last Will
15 January 1559: Elizabeth I is crowned Queen of England Two months after the death of her half-sister, Queen Mary I, 25-year-old Elizabeth Tudor was crowned Queen Elizabeth I at Westminster Abbey in London, at 12pm. It was a huge achievement for the second daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, a woman executed as a… Read More 15 January 1559: Elizabeth I is crowned Queen of England
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