between Mary and her cousin Queen Elizabeth I, this brief narrative with documents explores a variety of important themes in English history, including issues of religion, nationality, sovereignty, gender, and the legitimacy of female rule. An extensive introduction discusses the trial and the events that precipitated it and offers relevant background on the political and religious history of sixteenth-century England. Nine primary documents — including treatises on queenship, the trial record, Elizabeth’s speeches to Parliament, letters between Mary and Elizabeth, and accounts of the trial by contemporaries — immerse students in the debates and controversies surrounding the two rivals and the trial. Explanatory headnotes to the documents, images, a chronology, questions for consideration, a bibliography, and an index are also included.

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