page_title: Succession to Elizabeth I
section_title: The Doleman tract
hierarchical_section_title: Succession to Elizabeth I / Succession tracts / The Doleman tract
caption_attribution_description: English: Title page of The Right of Succession to the Kingdom of England (1703), English translation of a Latin work by Sir Thomas Craig (c. 1538–1608), Scottish jurist.
context_page_description: The succession to the childless Elizabeth I was an open question from her accession in 1558 to her death in 1603, when the crown passed to James VI of Scotland. While the accession of James went smoothly, the succession had been the subject of much debate for decades. It also, in some scholarly views, was a major political factor of the entire reign, if not so voiced. Separate aspects have acquired their own nomenclature: the "Norfolk conspiracy", and Patrick Collinson's "Elizabethan exclusion crisis".
  The topics of debate remained obscured by uncertainty. The male line from Henry VIII had failed with the death in 1553 of Edward VI. Elizabeth I balked at establishing the order of succession in any form. The dynastic position of the House of Tudor was therefore not clarified.
  The legal position was held by a number of authorities to hinge on such matters as the statute De natis ultra mare of Edward III, and the will of Henry VIII. Their application raised different opinions. Political, religious and military matters came to predominate later in Elizabeth's reign, in the context of the Anglo-Spanish War.
context_section_description: The arguments naturally changed after Queen Mary's execution. It has been noted that Protestant supporters of James VI took over debating points previously used by her supporters; while Catholics employed some arguments that had been employed by Protestants.
  A significant step was taken in Robert Highington's Treatise on the Succession, in favour of the line through the House of Portugal. 
  Robert Persons's pseudonymous Conference about the next Succession to the Crown of England, by R. Doleman (comprising perhaps co-authors, 1595), was against the claim of James VI. It cited Highington's arguments, against those of Hales and Sir Nicholas Bacon. This work made an apparent effort to discuss candidates equitably, including the Infanta of Spain, Isabella Clara Eugenia. It was taken by some in England to imply that Elizabeth's death could lead to civil war. A preface suggested that Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex might be a decisive influence. The circumstance reflected badly on Essex with the Queen. It also sought to undermine Burghley by suggesting he was a partisan of Arbella Stuart, and dealt acutely  with the Lancaster/York issues.
caption: Title page from 1703, English translation of a Latin work of Sir Thomas Craig, a reply to the Conference about the next Succession to the Crown of England (1595) of Robert Persons on the succession to Elizabeth I
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