The Name of a Queen : William Fleetwood's Itinerarium ad Windsor

Itinerarium ad Windsor concerns a central question of the Elizabethan era: Why should a woman be allowed to rule with the same powers as a king?

Why should a woman be allowed to rule with the same powers as a king? Readers may be surprised to discover that the man who asks this controversial question is none other than Queen Elizabeth''s favorite Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. On hand to provide answers are statesman and poet Thomas Sackville, Lord Buckhurst; and William Fleetwood, Recorder of London, who reports their 1575 conversation in Itinerarium ad Windsor. The Name of a Queen presents an annotated edition of Itinerarium, plus essays by a team of leading scholars who interpret and contextualize Fleetwood''s dialogue. This critical edition and the accompanying contextual essays will make available to scholars and students alike this remarkable discussion of the form and nature of English regnant queenship, which provides a valuable tool for gaining a greater understanding of contemporary notions of and underlying fears concerning the efficacy and desirability of female rule in Elizabethan England.