The Tudor Arte of Warre: Volume 2 - The conduct of war in the reign of Elizabeth I, 1558-1603: Diplomacy, Strate

The Elizabethan army has been disregarded, denigrated or derided: Shakespeare's portrayal of Falstaff and Fluellen bear more responsibility for this than any accurate assessment of its role in Elizabeth's reign. This book aims to provide a comprehensive explanation of the part that the English army, in its various guises, played in her long and increasingly troubled reign. Elizabeth was no Amazon Queen; she abhorred war because of its cost, its unpredictability and the inconstancy and insubordination of those she placed in charge. She could gain little personally from war as she was excluded from direct participation. Until 1585 she faced the problem of Queen Mary, a Catholic claimant to her throne whose existence threatened internal peace and greatly complicated matters abroad. Elizabeth was fearful of all her near neighbors as they could so easily unsettle her kingdom and her religious settlement.

On her accession she tried to take advantage of crises in Scotland and France, and for the first time experienced the gap between what her military men would promise and what they could deliver. Determined as she was to maintain domestic peace, the Northern Rebellion of 1569 made it clear that England's military preparedness was wholly inadequate. Thus began a long project to make widespread military service managed by the government, especially as after 1585 more and more men were sent for service abroad.