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Secondary sourceBook1898

The Great Lord Burghley: A Study in Elizabethan Statecraft

Martin A. S. Hume · 1898

A 1898 study by Martin Hume of William Cecil, Lord Burghley, Elizabeth's chief minister, showing how the queen governed through her advisers.

Explains how Elizabeth governed through her chief minister Burghley, whose advice shaped her reign.

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Full text (public-domain edition)

About this source

What it is

This is a book by Martin A. S. Hume, published in London by James Nisbet and Company in 1898. It is a study of William Cecil, Lord Burghley (1520-1598), who served as Elizabeth's chief minister.

Why it matters

Hume was an editor of the Calendars of Spanish State Papers, so he worked from official records. The book explains how Elizabeth I ruled through trusted advisers, and it shows the relationship between the queen and her chief statesman. The book is a later interpretation, written about three centuries after the events it describes.

Look closer

  • Why does the author focus on a minister rather than on the queen herself?
  • Which sources would a historian in 1898 have used, and what might they have missed?
  • How does the book's dedication to a prime minister of Queen Victoria's time shape its view of statecraft?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Elizabeth I on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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