I Do Not So Much Rejoice

Queen Elizabeth I delivered her "Golden Speech" to Parliament on November 30, 1601, during a dispute over monopolies that had created rare popular opposition to her rule. Rather than defend the monopoly system, Elizabeth acknowledged the grievances and framed her authority as resting on the love and loyalty of her subjects rather than on abstract prerogative. The speech was so celebrated that MPs immediately requested a copy, and it was widely circulated in print. It is regarded as one of the finest pieces of Tudor political rhetoric and a deliberate act of symbolic reconciliation late in a reign that had lasted 43 years.