Was Elizabeth interested in maps - and did it really matter?

Abstract

• It tends to be assumed that Queen Elizabeth was interested in maps and globes, not least because she was frequently depicted in their vicinity. Investigation strongly suggests that this was not the case. It is argued that this did matter. By depriving her of an independent source of spatial information, it made her more dependent on her ministers and, in particular, it meant that the royal estates were not mapped before 1600, with long-term financial and possibly constitutional consequences for the crown.