Engraving of Queen Elizabeth I, William Cecil and Sir Francis Walsingham
Title
Engraving of Queen Elizabeth I, William Cecil and Sir Francis Walsingham
Description
This picture depicts Queen Elizabeth I sitting in the middle, Willim Cecil and Sir Francis Walsingham, two major secretaries of Elizabeth, sitting on her side. William Cecil, who is sitting on her left, is a major figure to help her carry out the Elizabethan Big Science projects and review the petitions.
During Queen Elizabeth I’s reign, England experienced great transformation “financially, militarily and geopolitically by investing in science and technology” (Harkness, 143). One significant systematic change was the “governmental and industrial patronage of science and technology that led to big budgets, big staffs, big machines, and big laboratories,” which is now described as Elizabethan “Big Science” (Harkness, 143). The motivation of such huge amount of investment includes the development of highly utilitarian technologies, for example, mining and alchemy techniques, glass making and salt manufacturing industries and maritime technologies, so that England would be able to equip itself with more secured trade routes and armed forces and increased the economic profit that came alongside with prosperous industries. Another reason for such investment was largely to promote understanding and exploration, which might be accompanied by exploitation, of the New World. This move was largely influenced by the European colonization after the Spanish Conquest of the New World.
Elizabeth, as the second women monarch in England history, through the promotion of Big Science, planted the seed of the larger Scientific Revolution and encouraged new inventions to improve technological advancement and productivity. Though the system eventually collapsed because of defects of the patent system and financial crisis, and London technicians and investors were mainly committed to private profits instead of public profits, the urban sensitivity (Harkness, 180).
During Queen Elizabeth I’s reign, England experienced great transformation “financially, militarily and geopolitically by investing in science and technology” (Harkness, 143). One significant systematic change was the “governmental and industrial patronage of science and technology that led to big budgets, big staffs, big machines, and big laboratories,” which is now described as Elizabethan “Big Science” (Harkness, 143). The motivation of such huge amount of investment includes the development of highly utilitarian technologies, for example, mining and alchemy techniques, glass making and salt manufacturing industries and maritime technologies, so that England would be able to equip itself with more secured trade routes and armed forces and increased the economic profit that came alongside with prosperous industries. Another reason for such investment was largely to promote understanding and exploration, which might be accompanied by exploitation, of the New World. This move was largely influenced by the European colonization after the Spanish Conquest of the New World.
Elizabeth, as the second women monarch in England history, through the promotion of Big Science, planted the seed of the larger Scientific Revolution and encouraged new inventions to improve technological advancement and productivity. Though the system eventually collapsed because of defects of the patent system and financial crisis, and London technicians and investors were mainly committed to private profits instead of public profits, the urban sensitivity (Harkness, 180).
Creator
William Faithorne
Source
Faithorne, William. Queen Elizabeth I; Sir Francis Walsingham; William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley. William Faithorne. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Queen_Elizabeth_I%3B_Sir_Francis_Walsingham%3B_William_Cecil%2C_1st_Baron_Burghley_by_William_Faithorne_%282%29.jpg.
Date
1655
Contributor
Changlan Wang
Rights
Public Domain
Citation
William Faithorne, “Engraving of Queen Elizabeth I, William Cecil and Sir Francis Walsingham,” HIST 139 - Early Modern Europe, accessed July 20, 2025, https://earlymoderneurope.hist.sites.carleton.edu/items/show/119.