Person of the Month

Sir Francis Walsingham was brought up on the edge of the court. A convinced Protestant, he went into exile during Mary I's reign but returned to sit in Elizabeth I's first Parliament. A talented linguist, he was ambassador to France before becoming one of the queen's Secretaries - an arduous role that occupied him for seventeen years. His chief preoccupation was the preservation of the queen in the face of plots and threats from Catholics at home and abroad.