Speech to the Troops at Tilbury
Facing a Spanish invasion in 1588, Elizabeth I tells her army she trusts them, will live or die among them, and has “the heart and Stomach of a King.”
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In the summer of 1588 England expected a Spanish invasion, and Queen Elizabeth I went to the army camp at Tilbury on the Thames to face her soldiers in person. The version of her speech on this page answers three doubts at once: that it was unsafe for her to be there, that a woman could not lead a war, and that the men would not be paid. Its most famous line admits she has the body of a woman and then claims the heart of a king. There is a catch worth knowing: the words come from a clergyman’s letter written decades later, so historians still argue about how close they are to what she said.
The claim
Elizabeth can stand unguarded among armed men because her strength has always rested on her people’s loyalty. Though she has a woman’s body, she has a king’s courage, and she will fight, judge and reward her soldiers herself. If they obey their general and stand together, they will soon defeat England’s enemies.
The rhetorical situation who, to whom, when, and why
The army camp at Tilbury, Essex
A camp on the north bank of the Thames, placed to defend the approach to London. Sharp recalls the Queen riding through the ranks of her army.
August 1588
The height of the Armada crisis, when the Spanish fleet had been driven north but a landing by Parma’s army was still expected.
What Speech to the Troops at Tilbury says
The Queen begins by calling the soldiers her loving people. She says some who care for her safety have urged her to be careful about trusting herself to armed crowds, for fear of treachery. She answers that she does not wish to live if she must distrust her faithful and loving people.
Let tyrants fear, she says. She has always behaved so that, under God, her chief strength and safeguard lie in the loyal hearts and good will of her subjects. That is why she has come among them now, not for recreation or sport, but resolved to live or die among them in the heat of battle, and to lay down her honor and her blood for her God, her kingdom and her people.
She knows she has the body of a weak and feeble woman, she says, but she has the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too. She scorns the idea that Parma, Spain or any prince of Europe should dare invade her realm. Rather than let dishonor grow through her, she will take up arms herself and be their general, judge and rewarder.
She tells them they have already deserved rewards and crowns, and promises on the word of a prince that they will be paid. Meanwhile her Lieutenant General will command in her place, and no prince ever had a more noble or worthy subject. If they obey him, keep concord in the camp and show valour in the field, she ends, they will soon win a famous victory over the enemies of her God, her kingdoms and her people.
The page prints Leonel Sharp’s version with its 1654 spelling, including “then” for “than” and “subiects” for “subjects.”
The line of reasoning how the argument moves
- Rejects fear, claims trustSentences 1 and 2 raise the advisers’ warning and dismiss it: tyrants fear their subjects, but her strength has always been their loyalty. Beginning with trust flatters the soldiers and makes her presence itself the first proof of what she says.
- Shares the dangerSentence 3 says why she has come: not for pleasure, but to live or die among them and to give her honor and blood for God, kingdom and people. The queen places herself on the same ground as the men she is asking to fight.
- Answers the doubt about a woman at warSentence 4 concedes that she has a woman’s body, then claims a king’s heart and scorns the foreign princes who dare invade. Having shared the danger, she can now claim command: she will take up arms and be their general, judge and rewarder.
- Promises reward, sets conditionsSentences 5 and 6 turn to practical matters: pay, the Lieutenant General’s authority, and the obedience, concord and valour that will bring victory. Ending on concrete promises and duties turns a stirring speech into orders the army can follow.
The full text paragraphs numbered for citation
¶1My loving people, we have been perswaded by some, that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit our self to armed multitudes for fear of treachery: but I assure you, I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful, and loving people. Let Tyrants fear, I have alwayes so behaved my self, that under God I have placed my chiefest strength, and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good will of my subiects. And therefore I am come amongst you as you see, at this time, not for my recreation, and disport, but being resolved in the midst, and heat of the battaile to live, or die amongst you all, to lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and for my people, my Honour, and my blood even in the dust. I know I have the bodie, but of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and Stomach of a King, and of a King of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any Prince of Europe should dare to invade the borders of my Realm, to which rather then any dishonour shall grow by me, I my self will take up arms, I my self will be your General, Judge, and Rewarder of everie one of your virtues in the field. I know alreadie for your forwardnesse, you have deserved rewards and crownes, and we do assure you in the word of a Prince, they shall be duly paid you. In the mean time my Lievetenant General shall be in my stead, then whom never Prince commanded a more Noble or worthie subject, not doubting but by your obedience to my General, by your Concord in the Camp, and your valour in the field, we shall shortly have a famous victorie over those enemies of my God, of my Kingdomes, and of my People.
Text: Dr. Leonel Sharp’s letter in Cabala, Mysteries of State (London, 1654), page 260, checked on page images of two copies; original spelling kept.
Paragraph by paragraph what each part does
- 1
Sentences 1 to 2: Trust instead of fear
Elizabeth tells her loving people that some who care for her safety warned her against going among armed crowds. She answers that she does not want to live if she must distrust them. Let tyrants fear, she says: her strength and safeguard have always been the loyal hearts and good will of her subjects.
Why it mattersThe opening makes her physical presence the argument. By refusing the advisers’ caution in front of the soldiers, she shows the trust she claims.
- 2
Sentence 3: To live or die among you
She says she has come not for recreation or sport but resolved to live or die among them in the heat of battle. She will lay down her honor and her blood for her God, her kingdom and her people, even in the dust.
Why it mattersThe contrast between pleasure and sacrifice removes any idea that the visit is ceremony. Sharing the soldiers’ risk earns her the right to lead them.
- 3
Sentence 4: A woman’s body, a king’s heart
Elizabeth admits she has the body of a weak and feeble woman but claims the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England. She scorns Parma, Spain or any prince of Europe who dares invade. She will take up arms herself and be their general, judge and rewarder.
Why it mattersThis is the turn of the speech. She grants the common view of women only to overturn it, and ties her courage to England itself.
- 4
Sentences 5 to 6: Rewards, a general and victory
She says the soldiers have already deserved rewards and crowns and promises on the word of a prince that they will be paid. Her Lieutenant General will command in her place. If they obey him, stay united and fight bravely, they will soon win a famous victory over the enemies of her God, her kingdoms and her people.
Why it mattersThe close turns emotion into obligation on both sides: she promises pay, they owe obedience. The last words echo the triad of God, kingdom and people from sentence 3.
Rhetorical choices what the writer does, and why it works
Shifting pronouns
Elizabeth moves between the royal “we” (“we have been perswaded,” “we do assure you”) and a direct “I” (“I assure you,” “I my self will take up arms”). The formal “we” carries the authority of the crown, while the “I” makes her promises personal to each soldier.
Concession and reversal
In sentence 4 she grants that she has “the bodie, but of a weak and feeble woman,” then answers with “the heart and Stomach of a King.” Before an audience that may have doubted a woman in war, she accepts the doubt only to defeat it. “Stomach” here means courage or spirit.
Antithesis
Sentence 2 opposes tyrants who fear their people to a ruler who trusts hers, and sentence 3 opposes “recreation, and disport” to the resolve to live or die in battle. Each contrast shows the soldiers the kind of ruler she claims to be.
Polysyndeton and tricolon
Sentence 3 offers her life “for my God, and for my kingdom, and for my people,” each item joined by “and.” The last sentence returns to the same three: “my God, of my Kingdomes, and of my People.” The repeated triad frames the speech and ties loyalty to faith and country.
Anaphora
Sentence 4 repeats “I my self will”: she will take up arms, and she will be their general, judge and rewarder. The repetition insists that she will act in person, which answers the doubt the sentence has just raised.
Direct address
The speech opens with “My loving people” and ends with “my People.” Calling the soldiers her people rather than her subjects or her army casts the relationship as mutual affection, which is the basis of the trust she claims.
People & audiences
Elizabeth I
Speaker
The Queen of England, who calls herself both “a weak and feeble woman” and a king in heart. She presents herself as ready to fight, judge and reward in person.
The soldiers at Tilbury
Immediate audience
The army addressed as “My loving people.” She praises their loyalty and forwardness and promises them rewards and crowns (sentence 5).
The cautious advisers
Voices she answers
“Some, that are careful of our safety,” who warned her not to trust herself to armed crowds (sentence 1). She rejects their advice before the soldiers.
Parma and Spain
Enemies
The Duke of Parma, commander of the Spanish army in the Netherlands, and Spain itself, named in sentence 4 among those who dare invade her realm.
The Lieutenant General
Commander in her place
Unnamed in the speech, and in 1588 this was Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. She calls him the most noble and worthy subject any prince ever commanded (sentence 6).
Leonel Sharp
Recorder of this version
A clergyman who attended the Earl of Leicester at the camp and set down this version in a letter to the Duke of Buckingham decades later. He wrote that he had repeated the oration to the army the day after she left.
Big ideas in Speech to the Troops at Tilbury
Trust between ruler and people
The speech rests on a claim that her safety lies in her subjects’ loyalty, not in guards (sentences 1 and 2). By coming among armed men, she acts out that trust.
Gender and royal authority
Elizabeth names the objection that a woman cannot lead in war and answers it with a king’s heart (sentence 4). She does not deny that she is a woman; she claims that her office and courage matter more.
Shared sacrifice
She says she has come to live or die among the soldiers and to lay down her honor and blood (sentence 3). A ruler who shares the risk can ask others to take it.
England against Europe
She scorns Parma, Spain “or any Prince of Europe” who would dare invade (sentence 4), and claims the heart of “a King of England too.” The speech turns national pride into a reason to fight.
Duty on both sides
She promises rewards “in the word of a Prince” (sentence 5), and in return asks for obedience, concord and valour (sentence 6). Loyalty runs in both directions.
Key images
The heart and stomach
In Elizabethan English the heart and the stomach were seats of courage and spirit. Set against her “weak and feeble” body, they stand for an inner strength that makes her fit to lead.
The dust
She will lay down her honor and her blood “even in the dust” (sentence 3). The image of dust stands for death on the battlefield and a willingness to fall as low as any soldier.
Repeated words and ideas
My people. The speech opens with “My loving people,” repeats “faithful, and loving people,” and ends with “my People.” The phrase keeps the soldiers at the center and presents her rule as a bond of affection.
God. Her strength rests “under God” (sentence 2), she will die “for my God” (sentence 3), and the enemies are enemies “of my God” (sentence 6). The repetition presents the war as a defense of faith as well as of the realm.
Tensions and counterarguments
Counterargument. Advisers warned her that going among armed crowds invited treachery (sentence 1). She answers that she would rather not live than distrust her people, and that only tyrants need fear their subjects.
Gender vs. authority. The speech anticipates the doubt that a woman can lead an army (sentence 4). She meets it by conceding the body and claiming the heart, then by promising to take up arms herself.
The speech vs. the record. Sharp’s letter, written decades later and printed in 1654, gives the fullest text. A manuscript copy very close to it survives in the British Library (Harley MS 6798), and William Leigh printed a quite different version in 1612. Some historians doubt Sharp’s wording, while others think it keeps the substance of what she said.
Key quotes
“but I assure you, I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful, and loving people.”
“Let Tyrants fear, I have alwayes so behaved my self, that under God I have placed my chiefest strength, and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good will of my subiects.”
“being resolved in the midst, and heat of the battaile to live, or die amongst you all”
“I know I have the bodie, but of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and Stomach of a King, and of a King of England too”
“I my self will take up arms, I my self will be your General, Judge, and Rewarder of everie one of your virtues in the field.”
The conclusion of Speech to the Troops at Tilbury, explained
After the famous claim to a king’s heart, the speech turns practical. In sentence 5 Elizabeth tells the soldiers that she already knows their forwardness and that they have deserved rewards and crowns. She promises “in the word of a Prince” that they will be duly paid. A soldier worried about wages hears a pledge from the highest authority in the land.
The last sentence hands command to her Lieutenant General, in 1588 the Earl of Leicester. She praises him lavishly (“then” here means “than”): no prince ever commanded a more noble or worthy subject. Then she sets three conditions for victory: obedience to the general, concord in the camp and valour in the field. If the army meets them, they will shortly have a famous victory over the enemies of her God, her kingdoms and her people.
That final triad echoes sentence 3, where she offered her life for her God, her kingdom and her people. The echo closes the speech in a circle. She began by offering herself to them and ends by promising them victory, with the same three loyalties at both ends.
The invasion never came. The Armada’s ships were already heading north, and many were wrecked on the long voyage home around Scotland and Ireland. Leicester died within weeks of the visit. Because the text comes from Sharp’s letter, written decades later, it is safest to read the ending as Sharp’s version of how the Queen spoke, not as her guaranteed words.
Common misreadings
MythThis is a word-for-word record of what Elizabeth said at Tilbury.
ActuallyThe text comes from Leonel Sharp’s undated letter to the Duke of Buckingham, written decades later and first printed in 1654. William Leigh printed a different version in 1612, and historians disagree about how faithful Sharp’s version is.
MythElizabeth gave this speech to the sailors before the Armada battle.
ActuallyShe spoke to the land army at Tilbury in August 1588, after the fleets had already fought. The danger she addresses is an invasion by Parma’s army, which she names in sentence 4.
MythBy calling herself “a weak and feeble woman,” Elizabeth admits a woman is unfit to lead.
ActuallyThe phrase is a concession set up to be overturned. In the same sentence she claims “the heart and Stomach of a King,” where stomach means courage, and promises to take up arms herself.
AP practice a rhetorical analysis prompt in the exam's style
In August 1588, with a Spanish invasion expected, Queen Elizabeth I visited her army at Tilbury, and a version of her speech was later set down by Leonel Sharp, who was in the camp. Read the speech carefully, then write an essay that analyzes the rhetorical choices Elizabeth makes to win the loyalty and confidence of her soldiers.
What a strong response notices
- The opening rejection of her advisers’ warning in sentence 1, which makes her presence among armed men a proof of trust.
- The antithesis between tyrants who fear and a ruler who relies on loyal hearts in sentence 2.
- The concession and reversal in sentence 4, from “a weak and feeble woman” to “the heart and Stomach of a King,” and the anaphora of “I my self will.”
- The shifts between the royal “we” and a personal “I” across sentences 1, 4 and 5.
- The promise of pay “in the word of a Prince” in sentence 5 and the triad of God, kingdom and people that frames sentences 3 and 6.
Practice prompt written by StoryBites, not taken from a College Board exam. See the AP Language free-response guide for how answers are scored.
Test yourself
1. What had some of Elizabeth’s advisers warned her about, according to the speech?
Sentence 1 says some who care for her safety urged her to take heed how she committed herself to armed multitudes, for fear of treachery.
2. Why does Elizabeth say she has come among the soldiers?
Sentence 3 says she came not for recreation and disport but resolved to live or die among them.
3. In “the heart and Stomach of a King,” what does “stomach” mean?
In Elizabethan English, stomach could mean courage or spirit, which she sets against her “weak and feeble” body.
4. Which enemies does she name?
Sentence 4 scorns the idea that “Parma or Spain, or any Prince of Europe” should dare to invade her realm.
5. Where does the text of this speech come from?
The page prints Sharp’s version from his letter to the Duke of Buckingham, printed in Cabala in 1654.
Flashcards flip, self-grade, and the deck remembers what you know
Nice work.
In 1588 England thought Spain was about to invade. Queen Elizabeth I went to meet her army at a camp called Tilbury. Some people told her it was dangerous to stand among so many armed men, but she said she trusted her people. She said she had come to live or die with them. She said she had the body of a woman but the heart of a king. She promised to pay the soldiers and told them to obey their general. The words we have were written down by a man who was there, many years later.
Compare & connect
Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death
Another call to arms known only through a later reconstruction, William Wirt’s in 1817. Both texts raise the same question about how much of a famous speech belongs to the person who wrote it down.
Henry V
Shakespeare’s King Henry rallies his outnumbered army before Agincourt. Compare how a playwright imagines a king’s battle speech with how Elizabeth’s version handles her own position as a woman at war.
I Will Fight No More Forever
Elizabeth vows to live or die among her soldiers; Joseph, after the dying, vows to stop. Both short texts were recorded by others and reach us in versions whose exact wording is uncertain.
Discussion and essay prompts:
💬 Discussion questions
- What did Elizabeth I say to the troops at Tilbury
- What does the heart and stomach of a king mean
- Did Elizabeth I really give the Tilbury speech
- How does Speech to the Troops at Tilbury explore the theme of trust between ruler and people?
- How does Speech to the Troops at Tilbury explore the theme of gender and royal authority?
- What is the central conflict in Speech to the Troops at Tilbury, and how does it shape the ending?
✎ Essay prompts
- Analyze how Elizabeth I develops the theme of trust between ruler and people in Speech to the Troops at Tilbury. Support your argument with specific evidence from the text.
- Examine the significance of the heart and stomach in Speech to the Troops at Tilbury. What does it represent, and how does it deepen the work’s meaning?
- How does Elizabeth I use shifting pronouns to shape the reader’s experience of Speech to the Troops at Tilbury?
- Some readers assume that this is a word-for-word record of what Elizabeth said at Tilbury. Argue for or against this interpretation, using evidence from the text.
Key questions students ask
- What did Elizabeth I say to the troops at Tilbury
- What does the heart and stomach of a king mean
- Did Elizabeth I really give the Tilbury speech
- Why did Elizabeth I go to Tilbury in 1588
- What rhetorical devices are in Elizabeth I’s Tilbury speech
- Who was the Lieutenant General in the Tilbury speech
Analysis is original StoryBites commentary. The full text and quotations follow Leonel Sharp’s version of the speech, from his letter to the Duke of Buckingham as printed in Cabala, Mysteries of State (London, 1654), with its original spelling. It is in the public domain.