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I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king.

Elizabeth I, speech at Tilbury, 1588

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Elizabeth I gave this speech on 9 August 1588 at Tilbury, on the Thames, to troops gathered against a Spanish invasion. The Armada had been beaten at Gravelines days earlier, but an army under the Duke of Parma still waited across the Channel. Riding among the soldiers in a breastplate, she answered doubts about a woman leading in war. The wording we know comes from a letter by Leonel Sharp, a chaplain who was there, published in 1654, so it is close to her words but not certainly exact.

Türkçe oku
Zayıf, güçsüz bir kadın bedenim olduğunu biliyorum; ama bende bir kralın yüreği ve cesareti var.
I. Elizabeth, Tilbury konuşması, 1588

I. Elizabeth bu konuşmayı 9 Ağustos 1588'de, Thames kıyısındaki Tilbury'de, İspanyol istilasına karşı toplanan askerlerine yaptı. İspanyol donanması Armada birkaç gün önce Gravelines'da yenilmişti, ama Parma Dükü'nün ordusu Manş'ın öbür yakasında hâlâ bekliyordu. Kraliçe zırhını kuşanıp askerlerin arasında at sürdü ve bir kadının savaşta ordu yönetip yönetemeyeceğine dair kuşkulara böyle yanıt verdi. Bugün bilinen metin, orada bulunan papaz Leonel Sharp'ın 1654'te yayımlanan bir mektubundan gelir; bu yüzden sözlerin birebir aynısı olduğu kesin değildir.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Elizabeth I
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