TABLE OF CONTENTS -- ABBREVIATIONS -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- INTRODUCTION -- Italian and English Humanism -- Gender and the Body Politic -- Sources and methods -- CHAPTER ONE - THE HUMANISM OF THE YOUNG ELIZABETH -- Introduction -- Elizabeth's Juvenilia under Henry VIII -- Elizabeth's works under Edward VI -- A Switch of Language -- Later writings under Edward VI -- Elizabeth's works under Mary I -- Conclusion -- CHAPTER TWO - ELIZABETH'S EARLY YEARS AS QUEEN (1558-1572) -- Introduction -- Elizabeth I and sixteenth-century rhetoric -- Elizabeth's humanist influences -- The early days of Elizabeth's government -- Marriage and the succession -- Elizabeth as scholar and patroness of learning -- Elizabeth as supreme governor of religion -- Mary Stewart and the Northern Rebellion of 1569 -- Conclusion -- CHAPTER THREE - ELIZABETH'S MIDDLE YEARS AS QUEEN (1573-1587) -- Introduction -- Marriage and the succession -- Religious reforms -- Foreign affairs -- The case of Mary Stewart -- Conclusion -- CHAPTER FOUR - ELIZABETH'S LATER YEARS AS QUEEN (1588-1603) -- Introduction -- The Spanish and the 1588 Armada -- Henri IV of France -- The Earl of Essex and Ireland -- A political humanist prince until the end -- Conclusion -- CONCLUSION -- The Influence of political humanism after Elizabeth -- Final thoughts -- SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX.