The influx of queens regnant in sixteenth-century Britain was an unprecedented phenomenon.
Before this there had only been isolated cases of female rule within the kingdoms of England and
Scotland: the Empress Matilda had not managed to maintain her position as ‘Lady of the
English’ in 1141,1 and Margaret, Maid of Norway (r. 1286-90), had died during her minority as
the first queen regnant of Scotland, where a group of male guardians had been governing the
kingdom on her behalf