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Queen Elizabeth I was born in 1533 as the daughter of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Despite being a bastard child, she eventually took the throne in 1558 and faced many challenges, including religious strife and attacks from neighboring nations. Under her rule, England prospered and became a center of learning and the arts. She also had to deal with internal enemies, including Mary, Queen of Scots, whom she eventually had executed. Elizabeth died childless and settled on James, King of Scots, as her successor.
Queen Elizabeth I pioneered religious and social reform in England and gave the country one of the most prosperous eras it has ever known. She was born on September 7, 1533 and died on March 24, 1603.
Though she was the daughter of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth’s future as princess, let alone queen, was shaky. The times called for a son as heir to the throne, and Henry was looking for a woman who could bear him one. Elizabeth was his second daughter. Her first daughter, Maria, was born to Catherine of Aragon, from whom she divorced in favor of Anne Boleyn. When he had Boleyn executed in 1536 for adultery and treason, Henry married Jane Seymour, who bore him his only child who survived infancy: Edward.
Elizabeth’s life as a bastard child was uneventful, and Mary suffered the same fate. However, when Henry died in 1547, her life was immediately more complicated. She was soon involved in several plots to overthrow the boy King Edward, but she was cleared.
Life became much tougher when Elizabeth’s older sister Mary took the throne. The battle between Catholics and Protestants still raged in England, and staunch Catholic Mary was deeply suspicious of her Protestant sister. Elizabeth was imprisoned in the Tower of London for a time, but eventually she was kept under house arrest in Hatfield.
Mary died and Elizabeth took the throne on November 17, 1558. As Queen Elizabeth I, she faced quite a few problems in her reign. England was impoverished, full of religious strife and a tempting target for neighboring nations – and Queen Elizabeth had no husband. In 1558 this was considered a serious disability. Although her advisers and Parliament clamored for her to marry, she remained single throughout her life.
Under Elizabeth’s rule, England gained prosperity, as she financed exploration and trade. She has taken a harder line on Catholics than she probably would have liked, because Parliament forced her hand in the matter, but England has become a solidly Protestant country and the religious conflict has calmed down. She was a great patroness of the arts and painting, theater and literature flourished. She brought England into the Renaissance and, before her death, the English court had become a center of learning.
Queen Elizabeth repulsed repeated attacks from France and Spain, old enemies. The Armada’s victory against Spain in 1588 ended their ambitions against England for many years. Her subsequent reign was spent propping up the country politically and defending her throne from internal enemies.
One of the most notable of these was Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary had her throne in Scotland, but she also wanted Elizabeth’s, and was at least implicated in a number of plots to seize her throne. Eventually, Mary fled from her enemies in Scotland and Elizabeth had her imprisoned in England. Mary’s possible involvement in the Babington Plot in 1586 made it clear to Elizabeth that her throne was not secure as long as she lived. She had Maria executed in 1587.
Since Elizabeth was childless, succession was an issue as long as she lived. She eventually settled on James, King of Scots and son of Mary. He was a Protestant and the next living male relative. His death marked the end of the House of Tudor and inaugurated the House of Stuart.
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