The accession of Queen Elizabeth I, which brought with it a change in the country's religion, allowed the publication of the 1559 edition. Despite press restrictions easing under the new queen the subject was still difficult. Baldwin's original plan, inferred from clues in the extant poems, seems to have been to write three volumes of lives: up to the reign of Edward VI, up to the reign of Richard III of England and lastly lives up to the reign of Mary. Although it appears that the work was well received Baldwin did not continue the plan. Whether this was due to ill health—he probably died around 1563—or because the recent lives were more controversial, is uncertain, but it is significant that the next major expansion of the work confined itself mainly to the ancient past.