Bradford Conner

Tuesdays, April 3 - May 1 3:30-5:30 5 sessions
The Engineering Center, One Walnut Street

“By the Grace of God, Queen of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith and of the Church of England and of Ireland in Earth Supreme Head!” In this course we will explore the life and times of Elizabeth 1 (1533-1603), widely thought to be one of the greatest politicians and most adept survivors of all time. Daughter of the infamous Henry VIII, Elizabeth was at first hailed as an almighty princess. As the marriage between her parents quickly soured, ending with the execution of her mother, Anne Boleyn, she was demoted to the rank of “bastard.” The next 22 years of her life were filled with a wide-swinging pendulum of immense favor and abject dejection from which she molded the tools which would benefit her once she became queen. As monarch, she inherited a kingdom torn by religious strife and confusion, supported by her fellow sovereigns with hopes of failure. She overcame the obstacles of being “a weak and feeble woman” in a world dominated by males while being plagued by a publicly and privately complex relationship with her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots. At her demise she could claim a successful reign of 45 years, dying of old age, and leaving behind an image which continues to influence present day British politics.

Recommended reading for this course is The Life of Elizabeth I by Alison Weir (paperback – Ballantine Books, 1999) and The First Elizabeth by Carolyn Erickson (paperback – St. Martin’s Griffin, 1997).

Bradford Conner

Bradford Conner is a graduate of West Virginia University, having also studied at the University of Salzburg (Austria) and at the American College of Salzburg. A renaissance individual with degrees in business, musicology, and foreign language, he has lectured and written on his interests in music and world history, including European politics before 1918. Conner also performs and team-teaches regularly with Benjamin Sears.