Historical Fiction - the problem of too many Elizabeths

My latest novel in progress features a cast of real historical characters most of which have the real name 'Elizabeth.' My main character is not called Elizabeth, but her mother is, and her sister. Her aunts on her mother's and father's side are also called Elizabeth, as is her employer for whom she works as a lady's companion.

The Charity of St Elizabeth Of Hungary
Edmund Blair Leighton 

This is a real problem for historical novelists who are stuck with a cast of characters who all have the same name. I have taken the obvious way out which is to call them all by variants - so we have Aunt Beth, Aunt Eliza, Liddy, and yes, you've guessed it, Elisabeth (but spelled with an 's'.) Oh, and 'Mama' (who is also an Elizabeth, but I try to avoid using her actual name!)

Here are a few more common abbreviations that were used in the 17th and 18th centuries: Bess, Bessie, Beth, Betsy, Betty, Elisa, Eliza, Ella, Ellie, Elsa, Elsie, Elyse, Libby, Liddy, Lydia, Lilian, Lilibet, Lilibeth, Lillia, Lillian, Lisa, Lise, Lizbeth, Lizette, Lizzie, Lizzy, Tetty.

I imagine the general population had exactly the same trouble in knowing who was who, and that's why all the diminutives sprang up. But to add to 'Elizabeth mania', and not content with the English version, the pesky name crept into English at this time as these exotic variants as well:

Isabella (Spanish), Lise (Danish), Isabelle (French), Lisa (Dutch), Liliana, (Hungarian), Elísabet (Icelandic), Eilish, (Irish), Elisabetta,  Liana, (Italian), Belinha, (Portuguese), Elspet, Elspeth, Ishbel, Isobel, Lileas, Lilias, Lillias (Scottish) and Bethan or Bethany (Welsh).

Originally Elizabeth was the Greek form of the Hebrew name 'Elisheva' meaning 'my God is my oath'. The name appears in the Bible in two variants, but Elizabeth as a name was originally far more common in Eastern Europe where the twelfth century saint, Elizabeth of Hungary, made it fashionable. She was a wealthy princess, daughter of King Andrew II, who used her riches to help the poor. One day during Mass she placed her crown on the altar as a sign of renunciation and to symbolise her humility and poverty. In 1228, she renounced her position and the world entirely, and took vows as a Franciscan penitent.

Cate Blanchett as Elizabeth I

In medieval England the name was occasionally used in honour of the saint, though the Spanish version, Isabel, was much more common, until of course England went to war with Spain. Then of course English parents preferred the version used by our own Queen Elizabeth I. The centuries following Elizabeth's reign led to a great flowering of Elizabeths, as parents wanted to bestow upon their girl children the health, wealth and wisdom of the deceased monarch. For centuries afterwards, during the Civil Wars and upheavals of the 17th century, Elizabeth's era was looked back upon as a Golden Age, and girls were named after her in the hope of her long life and good fortune - hence my problem!

Incomers 1592

At the end of the 16th century London had become such a popular place to live that Elizabeth banned any more building.

The Act of 1592 says there are
"great Mischiefes and Inconveniences" from the habit of dividing up houses "into several Tenements or Dwellings". Because of this overpopulation it was hard to find food or fuel - after all coal had to be brought in by boat from elsewere, and there were few trees left standing. The document says

"great Infection of Sickness and dearth of Victuals and Fuel hath growen and ensued."



Elizabeth was also concerned about the kind of incomers that were making their way to the city.

"Many idle vagrant and wicked Persons have harboured themselves there and divers remote places of the Realme have been disappointed of Workmen and dispeopled." 

The solution? Just as we are preserving the countryside with our Green Belt laws, a law was passed forbidding any more building 

"That noe person (shall) henceforth make and erect any newe Building or Buildings House or Houses for Habitation or dwelling within either of the said cities [of London and Westminster] or within three miles of any of the Gates."


Of course the law had no effect whatever, and by the time of the Restoration, the city had stretched to Piccadilly and beyond.

Which is just as well, for by the time my two incomers - Sadie and Ella Appleby from Westmorland - arrive in 1661, it is a veritable warren of tenements and rookeries, alleyways and ginnels. The Gilded Lily tells how the sisters hope they will be able to hide from their pursuers. But the London underworld is full of beggars and ne'er-do-wells who will sell their soul for a penny, and they soon find there is no-one they can trust.

Not even each other.