This book examines the succession debate in England during the reign of Elizabeth I. It considers the succession question in its entirety, instead of dividing the topic into early or late periods as has been typically the case. Commencing with a consideration of the succession tracts and the laws which governed the succession, this book seeks to examine the matter in terms of its original sixteenth-century context and how the participants of the debate understood the issue. With the succession issue outlined, the main parties of the debate – those being the Queen, her Privy Council and Parliament – are considered in turn, exploring the effect of the succession debate upon English considerations of government and royal prerogative.

Elizabeth Tunstall is a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Adelaide, Australia. She received a PhD from the University of Melbourne and has published research on Elizabethan England.