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Queen Elizabeth I
(1533-1603)
I Introduction
Elizabeth I, queen of England and Ireland (1558-1603), daughter
of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Elizabeth was the longest-
reigning English monarch in nearly two centuries and the first woman to
successfully occupy the English throne. Called Glorianna and Good Queen
Bess, Elizabeth enjoyed enormous popularity during her life and became an
even greater legend after her death.
Elizabeth's reign was marked by her effective use of Parliament
and the Privy Council, a small advisory body of the important state
officials, and by the development of legal institutions in the English
counties. Elizabeth firmly established Protestantism in England, encouraged
English enterprise and commerce, and defended the nation against the
powerful Spanish naval force known as the Spanish Armada. Her reign was
noted for the English Renaissance, an outpouring of poetry and drama led by
William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser, and Christopher Marlowe that remains
unsurpassed in English literary history (see English Literature). She was
the last of the Tudor monarchs, never marrying or producing an heir, and
was succeeded by her cousin, James VI of Scotland.
II Background And Early Life
Elizabeth was born at Greenwich Palace in London on September
7, 1533. Her parents, Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, wanted a son as heir and
were not pleased with the birth of a daughter. When she was two her mother
was beheaded for adultery, and Elizabeth was exiled from court. She was
later placed under the protection of Catherine Parr, Henry's sixth wife,
and educated in the same household as her half-brother, Edward. Both were
raised Protestant. The noted scholar Roger Ascham later served as her
tutor, and he educated her as a potential heir to the throne rather than as
an insignificant daughter of the monarch. Elizabeth underwent rigorous
training in Greek, Latin, rhetoric, and philosophy and was an
intellectually gifted pupil.
Edward VI succeeded his father in 1547 at the age of nine. Because of her
position as a member of the royal family, Elizabeth became a pawn in the
intrigues of the nobles who governed in the boy's name.
One of them twice proposed marriage to her. When her Roman Catholic
half-sister, Mary I, inherited the crown in 1553, Elizabeth faced different
dangers. She was now sought out to lead Protestant conspiracies, despite
the fact that she had supported Mary's accession and attended Catholic
services. In 1554 Mary had Elizabeth imprisoned in the Tower of London,
briefly threatened her with execution, and then placed her under house
arrest. Elizabeth lived quietly at
her family's country retreat north of London until she became queen upon
her sister's death in 1558. Elizabeth's experiences |