Good Queen Bess, The Virgin Queen, Belphoebe, Gloriana, these are many of the nicknames given to Elizabeth during her lifetime and she if often refered to by them even today. But what people may not realize is that Elizabeth not only received nicknames but also gave them to her favorite courtiers.
Elizabeth called Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester her "Eyes"
William Cecil was her "Spirit"
Robert Cecil was her "pigmy" or "elf"
Sir Christopher Hatton was her "mutton" or "lids"
Francis Walsingham was her "Moor"
Francis, Duke of Alencon, (her French suiter) her "frog"
Second attempt to comment:
ReplyDeleteSee Mark Twain's 1601 here http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3190/3190-h/3190-h.htm
Tim Middleton
New Jersey
Did she call anyone her "mouse"?
ReplyDeleteDidn't she call someone her "ears?"
ReplyDeleteHello Richard,
ReplyDeleteElizabeth herself was the 'Mouse', (Muris in Latin). "The Mouse-trap", Hamlet's play within the play/allegory, is to catch the Queen's conscience more than the King's -- since Dudley (Claudius) had no conscience worthy of the name.
Emma,
DeleteThe nickname 'Moor' is almost certainly misapplied to Francis Walsinghan, and derives from a letter between Robert Dudley and Walsingham dating from the early 1580's. Edward 'de Vere', the 17th Earl of Oxford is, without doubt, 'the Moor'. Dudley complained to Walsingham "the Moor cannot change his spots", referring to Oxford's uncooperative behavior in several matters.