THE SPELL OF GRAND MONARCHY 355

monarch, plundered monasteries for the spiritual health of
England, made England independent of Rome without tam-
pering with its doctrines, and tried to hold the '* balance of
power" in Europe in his own favour. In the next two
reigns—of Edward VI and Mary—England violently swung
between Geneva and Rome and lit ' such candles as should
never be easily put out/ until she got inebriated with the glory
<of the good Queen Bess.

Now these her princes are come home again,
Come the three corners of the world in arms,
And we shall shock them. Naught shall make us rue,
If England to itself do rest but true.
Though Calais, the last foothold of England in France, had
been lost by Mary, Elizabeth more than restored English
prestige among continental powers by winning the " English
Salamis "—i.e. the defeat of the Spanish Armada (1588). It
was * both a victory for Protestantism in Europe, and a sign
that the mastery of the seas was passing from the Mediter-
ranean to the northern peoples/ "Yet," observes Professor
Flenley, "the spirit of the Elizabethan age is to be found
not only in the daring exploits of its sea-dogs, or in the
charm of the Elizabethan manor-houses whose appearance
testified to the growth of wealth and comfort, but also in
the music of the Elizabethan madrigal composers, and, above
all, in Elizabethan poetry and prose/'1 It was the age of
Spenser, Shakespeare, and Bacon. We must now turn to
the Grand Monarchy on the continent of Europe. But here
we can touch only the peak-points in the dynastic histories
of the various countries. Nor should more be necessary for
-illustrating this well-known phenomenon.

French history, as distinct from that of the Western Franks,
began only with the accession of Hugh Capet (968 A.D,)

1. World History, p.. 446.