The Queen's Period

Abstract

One of the most important people at the court of Queen Elizabeth I was neither a courtier nor one of the Queen's ladies in waiting; it was her personal laundress. The laundress, charged with the care of the Queen's sheets, was privy to all the intimate secrets of the royal body, including knowledge about the Queen's menstrual cycle. This knowledge was so valuable there were persistent rumors that a Spanish ambassador, on behalf of Phillip II of Spain, attempted to bribe the laundress in order...