THE GREAT QUEEN: 1558 - 1603

“For the English government itself was poor…Elizabeth seldom levied direct taxes, and she took only L36,000 in customs dues. Ordinarily she relied on income from Crown lands, on grants in aid from the English Church, and on “loans” from the rich, which were practically compulsory but punctually repaid…She honored the debts left by her father, her brother, and her sister, and acquired such a reputation for solvency that she could borrow money at Antwerp at 5%, while Philip II of Spain at times could not borrow at all.”

The Age of Reason Begins, Will and Ariel Durant, p. 7