Armitage, David2009-11-052004Armitage, David. 2004. The Elizabethan idea of empire. Transactions of the Royal Historical Society (Sixth Series) 14: 269-277.0080-44011474-0648http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:3382856This paper argues that the English idea of empire in the reign of Elizabeth I was derivative, belated and incoherent. Its sources were classical and continental rather than indigenous. It arose more than a century after the Scottish monarchy had elaborated its own conception of empire. Moreover, it expressed a sense of backwardness, isolation and anxiety that mirrored the English failure to establish any permanent settlements in the Atlantic world. As a result, any balance sheet of empire drawn up on Elizabeth's death in 1603 would have valued prospects in the Mediterranean and the East Indies more highly than possibilities in the Americas.en-USJournal Article2009-11-0510.1017/S008044010400012X