UC Berkeley

It is March 1554. England – and England's place in the world – is on a knife's edge. In January, it had been announced that the new queen, Mary, would marry Philip (soon to become Philip II, King of Spain), son of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V. This move would bring together several of the most important European dynasties, but many in England are gripped by the anxiety that they will become subject to imperial Spain. Thomas Wyatt proclaimed that he was taking up arms ‘to defende the realme from Spaniards and other straungers’, and together with other powerful figures marched on London. The Wyatt Rebellion has just been put down, but unrest threatens to spread and vital decisions loom. Scores thought to have played some part in the rebellion have been executed, as has Lady Jane Grey, who had claimed the throne for a short while the previous year. Settlement depends on ensuring the loyalty of the Queen's council, and above all on Mary's decision about what to do with her half-sister Elizabeth. In this situation, the Emperor's ambassador to England and Philip's primary adviser, the masterful political strategist Simon Renard, stands to play a pivotal role. Renard had orchestrated the royal betrothal, and as the eyes and ears of the Emperor in London, his word will determine whether Philip will come to England, as Mary so ardently wishes. Close counsellors have been advising clemency towards Elizabeth and others who had been less directly implicated in the plot, but both the Emperor and Renard are unflinching in their demands: Elizabeth and more leading rebels must be executed swiftly, or unrest will continue and multiply, and Philip will remain abroad. Mary's reign and Elizabeth's life are at stake, as is whether Philip will become King of England. Renard hits upon a way to tip the balance, as he writes to assure the Emperor on 22 March: ‘and certainly, Sire, I have steadily admonished [the Queen] to have the prisoners punished promptly, and gave her Thucydides translated into French so that she may see the counsel he gives and what punishments should be inflicted on rebels’. Renard stands at the beginning of a period in which Thucydides is increasingly used in this way: As an authority who can sway monarchs and inform political strategy – and who requires order, severity, and blood.