both because you do not consider such speech to be foreign, «« having been very well educated in it both in itself and as you are accustomed to engage also in other goods of education; and because your father the most famous King Henry, Eighth of that name, for the sake of this learning did many good things for me, and once engaged me on a far from negligible stipend and grant, »» so that I should always educate the youths of this University earnestly engaged with the Greek tongue

Elizabeth's education had benefited from the skills of a talented circle of humanist scholars centred on St John's College, Cambridge, who were also involved in teaching her brother Edward. Her principal tutor was initially William Grindal, assisted on occasion by Edward's tutors, most notably Grindal's mentor Roger Ascham, Tudor England's most influential teacher. Ascham took over as Elizabeth's tutor on Grindal's death in 1548, and discussed her education in The Schoolmaster, his book combining guidance for teachers with personal reminiscences. Her studies encompassed theology, music, French, Italian and Latin as well as Greek. The Greek texts she studied included the works of Sophocles and Isocrates in addition to the New Testament. She was a precocious and gifted pupil, though while acclaiming her excellence in most respects, Ascham was more guarded regarding her spoken Greek, saying that she spoke the language 'frequently, willingly and moderately well'.