26. Elizabeth I: "I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a ________."
From Quiz That's What She Said!
Answer:
king
Yup! Not the heart of a queen! Queen Elizabeth Tudor spent her whole (long) reign making sure that no one would think her weak because of her gender. A sound success, to be sure. These words she uttered in her "Speech to the Troops at Tilbury", in preparation for an expected attack of the Spanish Armada. The year was 1588 - 30 years into her reign. Philip II, King of Spain, had been allowed by Pope Sixtus V to launch a crusade against Protestant England. His Armada of 151 ships had set sail from Lisbon and already fought in the Battle of Gravelines a few days before the speech. After the battle, the fleet meant to go rest on the Irish shore for a few days, but the winds carried it further east instead. Anticipating an attack, Elizabeth went to encourage her troops in Tilbury, giving her most famous speech. The Spanish Armada, already weakened by starvation and illness, was decimated in the following weeks. They ultimately went back to Spain with less than half of their fleet and troops. With a bit of luck, England had become the greatest naval power of the world for more than three centuries.