Catherine Loomis

Catherine Loomis is an associate professor of English and Women's Studies at the University of New Orleans. Her research interests include Shakespeare, early modern women writers, and Queen Elizabeth I.

This book began when I re-discovered a manuscript by Elizabeth Southwell, who was a maid of honor to Queen Elizabeth I. In her account of the events surrounding the Queen's death, Southwell reports that Elizabeth's corpse exploded. As I tried to find independent sources to confirm the details in Southwell's manuscript, I realized that there was no detailed history of Elizabeth's final days. This book describes the Queen's final illness and death, looks at the poems and plays written to commemorate her, and takes a serious look at the Southwell narrative.