SPEECH TO THE TROOPS AT TILBURY

The Speech to the troops at Tilbury was delivered in 1588 by Queen Elizabeth I
of England and is a political speech to the land forces earlier assembled at
Tilbury in preparation of repelling the expected invasion by the Spanish
Armada. Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and queen regnant of
Ireland from November 1558 (at the age of 25) until her death. She was the fifth
and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. She was born a princess but her mother
was executed two and a half years after her birth, and she succeeded the
Catholic Mary I in 1588.

Elizabeth´s early life was consequently troubled. Her mother failed to provide
the King with a son and was executed on false charges of incest and adultery.
Anne´s marriage to the King was declared null and void, and Elizabeth, like her
half-sister Mary, was declared illegitimate and deprived of her place in the line
of succession. Despite being officially illegitimate, her father had reinstated his
daughters in the line of succession. When he died, his young son became King
Edward VI, Mary was to follow Edward, and Elizabeth was to follow Mary. Her
brother was too young to rule himself as he was only nine years old, but for
Elizabeth, her main problem was Mary I, Queen of Scots. Edward had died in
the summer of 1553 from prolonged ill health, and Mary was now Queen Mary I
of England. Catholics considered Mary as the rightful Queen of England, and
they persuaded Mary that Elizabeth may have been conspiring to seize the
throne, so Elizabeth was jailed in the Tower of London. Mary have liked
Elizabeth to have been executed, but there was no evidence against her and
she was popular with the people. After the years in prison, Elizabeth discovered
a plot to assassinate her, so due to this, Elizabeth ordered the beheading of
Mary in 1587. The death of Mary was the perfect excuse for Philip II of Spain
(catholic as Mary) to declare the war to England. It is important to say that
Spain had been suffering the attacks of English pirates during several years. In
addition, Elizabeth, who sought to advance the cause of Protestantism where
possible, supported the Dutch Revolt against Spain. Thus, Philip planned an
expedition to invade and conquer England, supported by Pope Sixtus V, who
treated the invasion as a crusade, with the promise of further subsidy should the
Armada make land. This great fleet would be known as the Spanish Armada.

One of her first moves as queen was to support the establishment of an English
Protestant church, of which she became the Supreme Governor. It was
expected that Elizabeth would marry but despite several petitions, she never
did. In government, Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and her
strategy often saved her from political misalliances. The defeat of the Spanish
Armada associated her name forever with what is popularly viewed as one of
the greatest victories in English history. Her 44 years on the throne provided
welcome stability for the kingdom and helped forge a sense of national identity.
She is still one of the most loved monarchs and one of the most admired rulers
of all time.

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Queen Elizabeth went to Tilbury to encourage her forces, and the next day gave
to them what is probably her most famous speech:

"My loving people, we have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety, to take
heed how we commit ourselves to armed multitudes for fear of treachery; but, I do assure you, I
do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people. Let tyrants fear, I have always so
behaved myself, that under God I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal
hearts and goodwill of my subjects; and, therefore, I am come amongst you as you see at this
time, not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of battle, to live
or die amongst you all; to lay down for my God, and for my kingdoms, and for my people, my
honour and my blood even in the dust. I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman; but
I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a King of England too, and think foul scorn that
Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm; to
which, rather than any dishonour should grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be
your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field. I know already, for
your forwardness, you have deserved rewards and crowns, and, we do assure you in the word
of a prince, they shall be duly paid you. In the mean time, my lieutenant general shall be in my
stead, than whom never prince commanded a more noble or worthy subject; not doubting but
by your obedience to my general, by your concord in the camp, and your valour in the field, we
shall shortly have a famous victory over those enemies of my God, of my kingdom, and of my
people”.

In the sixteenth century, England experienced a cultural efflorescence and

acquired a clear modern national identity. Part of that identity was formed in
conflict with Spain. A defining moment occurred with the attack of the Spanish
Armada in 1588. The England of Elizabeth was a very structured place and had
a rather complicated system of government. To ensure that the Queen´s laws
were being obeyed, there were royal representatives everywhere. The most
important of these were The Justices of the Peace, the Sheriffs, and later the
Lord Lieutenants. In Tudor and Elisabeth times the nobility was a great
influence and it was considered to be in a position of responsibility, to aid the
monarch in governing the lands over which she presided.

The defeat of the Spanish Armada is one of the most famous events in English
history. Spain was the most powerful country in the world. Philip II ruled vast
territories of land. England was a small country, with little wealth, few friends,
and many enemies. Although relations between Spain and England had began
rather well, over the 30 years since the Queen´s accession, relations had
deteriorated. There were many reasons for this. To begin with, England was a
Protestant country, and Spain was a Roman Catholic one. The Spanish made
no secret of their hostility to the English Queen, who they believed was
illegitimate and had no right to the English throne. Elizabeth herself had
encouraged the activities of the English pirates, who plundered Philip´s ships as
they made their way from the New World.

At 1585, Philip had begun to prepare a great fleet that would invade England. At
first the aim of the Armada was to liberate the captive Queen of Scots, but when
Mary was executed for conspiring Elizabeth´s death, Philip planned to invade
England in the name of his daughter, the Infanta Isabella. The purpose of the
mission was to depose Elizabeth, put Mary or Isabellan on the throne, and
make England Roman Catholic once again. However, from the start, the
Spanish had problems. Queen Elizabeth had heard mutterings of the intended
invasion of England by Spain for some time.

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She was not, however, at first concerned about the rumours. But in those days,
the Spanish were really going to send a fleet against England, and the Queen
now employed all her efforts to ensure that when the Spanish fleet came,
England would be prepared.

Despite numerous setbacks the Spanish had received, they were determined to
set a fleet against England, and in May 1588 at last the great fleet set out. The
plans of the Spanish were meticulous. It was planned that the Spanish fleet,
consisting of over 100 ships, would sail up from Spain along the English
Channel and meet with the forces of the Duke the Parma, Philips´s nephew,
making their way from the Netherlands, Together they would sails towards
England. The English would be conquered, and the heretical Queen would be
captured.

But the English were waiting. On the cliffs of England and Wales, men watched
the seas day and night, waiting for the first sighting of the great Armada. When
at last, the ships appeared on the horizon, the message was sent over the cliffs
and throughout the country, that the Spanish were coming. London and Queen
knew that the day had come. As soon as the ships began to make their way up
the channel, the fighting began. While English soldiers and sailors fought for
England´s liberty, Queen Elizabeth made her way to Tilbury. She was no going
to sit trembling inside a guarded Palace while her people fought, but was going
to go to the coast of the battle and “live or die” with them. Like a true warrior
Queen, Elisabeth, upon a white horse, inspected her soldiers, and made what
was possibly her most famous speech of all: “Speech to the troops at Tilbury”.
During the nine-day battle, the smaller, English ships met the Spanish Armada
and inflicted terrible losses. The Spanish ships that escaped the English ran into
bad weather and only a few returned to Spain. Following the defeat of the
Spanish Armada, England became the dominant world power and remained so
for centuries.

There often comes a point in the history of a nation when its people must stand
and fight or be vanquished at the hands of their enemies. In such cases when
battles draw near, it is frequently necessary for great leaders to rise up and
compel their followers to stay strong in the face of adversity. Awaiting a Spanish
invasion, in 1588 Queen Elizabeth I attempted to rally her troops assembled at
Tilbury. To rouse their emotions and stir them to fight, the queen appealed to
her troops' sense of honor, duty, and patriotism. In order to gain the trust of her
subjects and prove the strength of her resolve, Queen Elizabeth I uses
powerfully vivid language and a myriad of stylistic. We analyse the speech like a
political text which contains specific words that appear overall in a political
context:

armed multitudes enemies

treachery invade
tyrants arms
loyal hearts judge
battle crowns
honour / dishonour lieutenant general
king / kingdom victory

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The use of language and the conjuring up of images demonstrates her purpose
of boosting morale and showing her own will to persevere. Although Queen
Elizabeth I's outward appearance is perceived as "weak and feeble," she more
than makes up for her lack of physical might by having a "heart of a king," which
effectively shows her willingness to lead her troops to victory. While it is a king
who is more often associated with the ability to fight, Queen Elizabeth I
intimates to her audience that her passion for her country surpasses any
deficiency that may come with being a woman.

In the speech Elizabeth I hit head-on the allegation that a female monarch was
less suited to lead a nation in wartime than a male. As a result, the speech is
best known for its line "I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I
have the heart and stomach of a king.

Queen Elizabeth I of England gave a speech to her troops in which she uses
diction, comparison of her feminism and sentence structure to convince her
troops to confide in her even though she is a female. Queen Elizabeth I tries to
gain the assistance of her troops. If necessary she is ready to die for “her
people, her honour, and her blood." The usage of parallel structure strengthens
the idea of being a strong leader. She further reinforces her leadership qualities
by saying "I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder." The addition of
another parallel sentence helps her reverberate the message that she is
capable of leading the army in a war. She is also resounding her confidence not
only in herself but also in her troops. Queen Elizabeth persuades her troops to
confide in her ability as their leader through sentence structure.

This famous speech was given by British monarch Elizabeth I in 1588 as

England prepared for an invasion by King Philip of Spain and his powerful
Armada. Victory for the English was in no way certain, but the expected
invasion was averted when an unexpected and powerful wind blew the Armada
away from the English shores.

EDELWEISS SÁNCHEZ SÁEZ

GRADO EN ESTUDIOS INGLESES
MUNDOS ANGLÓFONOS