QUEEN ELIZABETH I

The reign of Queen Elizabeth I is often referred to as 'the golden age'. Elizabeth was a very popular queen, famed in her lifetime as a great ruler, and she is remembered as one of history's greatest monarchs.

Elizabeth was born on 7 September 1533 at Greenwich Palace and she was the daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Desperate for a prince to succeed him, King Henry was bitterly disappointed at the bith of a princess, and a joust planned to celebrate the baby's birth was cancelled. The King already had a daughter, Mary, by his first wife, Katherine of Aragon, and he had not divorced his loyal queen of 20 years, and changed the religion of the land, losing (and even executing) friends, statesmen and allies in the process, just for another daughter. The proud King felt like a fool, knowing his enemies were laughing at him, and he came to believe that God was as displeased with his marriage to Anne as He had been with his marriage to Katherine.

King Henry VIII & Anne Boleyn
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When Elizabeth was two and a half years old her father decided to get rid of her mother and take a new wife. After three years of marriage there was still no son and the King could wait no longer. Not wanting a second divorce saga, the King, or his advisors, concocted a case of adultery against Anne Boleyn, the accusations almost certainly untrue, and she was put on trial, found guilty, and executed at the Tower of London on 19 May 1536. At the same time, the King's marriage to Anne was declared null and void and Elizabeth, like Mary before her, was declared illegitimate. This meant she lost her place in the line of succession and her title of princess. From them on she was known as Lady Elizabeth.

The next eight years of Elizabeth's life saw a quick succession of stepmothers. There was Jane Seymour, who finally gave the King a son, Prince Edward, but died not long after the birth; Anne of Cleves (1515-1557), who the King found unattractive so divorced; Katheryn Howard (c.1523-1542), who allegedly committed adultery and was consequently beheaded; and finally Kateryn Parr.

Katheryn Howard
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For the first four years of her life Elizabeth was looked after by her Lady Mistress, Margaret Bourchier, Baroness Bryan. Following the birth of Prince Edward, the baroness left Elizabeth's nursery to take care of the newborn prince, and Blanche Milborne, Lady Herbert of Troy Parva, took over responsibilty for Elizabeth. Assisting her was Kateryn Champernon, Blanche Parry, and several other women who Elizabeth came to think of as 'family'. Although Henry VIII did not believe that a woman was capable of ruling, he did believe in schooling girls, and he made sure that Elizabeth was given a good education. The young royal was first taught by her governesses and then by famous scholars such as William Grindal and Roger Ascham. Elizabeth was a stellar pupil, for she was exceptionally clever, and by her teens she could speak several languages.

Although her mother's death had cast a shadow over her life, Elizabeth's childhood was not unhappy. As long as her father was alive he was a protecting figure, even if he and Elizabeth were not close, and she was safe from political opportunists. It was only when her father died in the January of 1547 that Elizabeth's life took a dark and deadly turn. Now the King's sister, for Edward succeeded his father to become King Edward VI, she could be used by ambitious men to seize power, especially as King Henry had restored her to the line of succession in his last years.

One of these ambitious men was Thomas Seymour, Lord High Admiral, the new king's uncle and brother of Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, Lord Protector of England as Edward was too young to rule. Jealous of his brother's power, the admiral married the widowed queen, Kateryn Parr, as he wanted a high profile marriage, and in time he tried to overthrow his brother. By then, Kateryn Parr was dead, as she had died in childbirth in late 1548, and Elizabeth was implicated in the admiral's plot as he had made no secret of his desire to marry her. It was treason for an heir to the throne to marry without the consent of the King and the Privy Council, so Elizabeth, now just 15 years of age, had to persuade her interrogators that she knew nothing of the admiral's plot and had not planned to secretly marry him and seize the throne. For his scheming, the admiral was executed, but Elizabeth managed to defend her innocence and survived the ordeal. But people were gossiping everywhere about her and the admiral, some even saying she was pregnant with his child, and the scandal lasted some time and still echoes down the centuries.

Queen Mary I
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When Edward died in 1553 Elizabeth's half-sister, Mary, became queen afer a battle for the throne against the supporters of Lady Jane Grey, led by John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, who had taken over from Lord Somerset as ruler in Edward's minority. The duke was executed, and Lady Jane imprisoned, but a few months later there was another plot by religious reformists led by a man named Thomas Wyatt. The plot aimed to make Elizabeth queen, as she was a Protestant, and although Elizabeth claimed to know nothing about the plot, she was imprisoned in the Tower of London on charges of treason.

Many of Queen Mary's supporters wanted to execute Elizabeth, as she was an existential threat, but Elizabeth was popular with the people and there was no evidence against her. Reluctanty, then, the Queen's advisors had to admit defeat and Elizabeth was released from the Tower into the custody of Sir Henry Bedingfield. She was taken to Woodstock Manor in Oxfordhsire, a dilapitated house in need of repair, and kept there for almost a year. It was largely due to the influenece of the Queen's husband, Philip of Spain, that she was eventually released. Philip wanted to secure Elizabeth's friendship for if Mary died (she was facing the perils of childbirth as she believed herself pregnant) he thought it was better for Spanish interests that Elizabeth become queen rather than Mary, Queen of Scots, who was half French and betrothed to the French King's heir.

Elizabeth finally succeed to the throne on 17 November 1558 and it was a moment of great triumph for the unwanted daughter of Henry VIII who had spent her life in the shadow of the court, cast aside and forgotten. Her coronation followed two months later, on Sunday 15 January 1559 in Westminster Abbey, and it was preceded by a magnificent procession through London the day before. Hundreds of people lined the streets to greet their new queen, despite snowfall, and Elizabeth greeted them back and promised to be a good queen.

Queen Elizabeth I
Coronation Portrait
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In the busy months that followed her coronation, Elizabeth, with the help of her chief minister, William Cecil, later Baron Burghley, restored England's debased coinage and re-established the Protestant Church Of England. Perhaps to appease Catholics or those who did not believe a woman could be Supreme Head of the Church of England, as Henry VIII had been, Elizabeth styled herself Supreme Governor of the Church of England instead. Although a committed reformist, Elizabeth was a conservative reformist, as she had candles and crucifixes in her private chapel, enjoyed choral music, and preferred traditional styles of worship to evangelical ones. Indeed, she had little time for religious extremism, whether of the Protestant or Catholic kind, and was reluctant to punish people for their religious views, only doing so when she believed her own safety, or the safety of the country, was at stake.

Robert Dudley
Earl of Leicester
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Now that Elizabeth was queen, proposals of marriage flooded in, but Elizabeth refused them all. In a genius of political wheeling and dealing she managed to use her single state to the country's advantage without committing herself. She could promise marriage to those she wanted as an ally or could threaten marriage with their foes. Elizabeth did come close to marrying twice, however. For many years the most serious contender for her hand was Robert Dudley, created Earl of Leicester in 1564. He and Elizabeth had known each other for years and had been imprisoned in the Tower of London at the same time. He was the only serious love interest of the Queen's life. Politically, however, marrying him would have been a disaster as he was a son of the 'traitor' Northumberland and was ruined by the scandal of his wife being found dead in mysterious circumstances.

Although there were advantages in staying single, doing so meant that the succession was unsettled. There were no lack of heirs but there were big questions over who was the rightful heir. Should it be Mary, Queen of Scots, the granddanghter of Henry VIII's eldest sister, even though she had been excluded from Henry VIII's will, or should it be one of the sons of Lady Katherine Grey, even though they were illigitimate? Or should the crown go to another descendent of Henry VII? There was no agreement and the matter caused some unrest, especially when Mary, Queen of Scots, arrived in England.

Mary, Queen of Scots
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Forced to flee her own country, having abdicated her throne in favour of her infant son, James, Mary sought Elizabeth's help. She hoped her English cousin would help her recover her throne, but in this she mistaken. It was not in Elizabeth's interest to raise an army in Mary's name, for that army might turn on herself, so she took Mary into her custody and the Scottish Queen was a prisoner for the rest of her life. It was a sad existence for Mary, but Elizabeth could not trust her, and eventually was forced to sign her death warrant when Mary conspired with Catholics to kill her and seize the throne. Mary was executed at Fotheringay Castle on 8 February 1587 and Elizabeth, rightly or wrongly, always maintained that the execution was done without her knowlegde or consent.

Relations between Queen Elizabeth and Philip, now King of Spain, had begun amicably, but had deteriorated over the years as their different political and religious agendas clashed. By 1588 they were enemies of the first-rate. Philip had spoken of invading England, and dethroning Elizabeth, for years but the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, gave him an added incentive as now he could claim the English throne for his daughter and not for Mary. In the summer of 1588 he sent a mighty fleet against England known as the Spanish Armada. But by superior skill, ship design, and sheer good fortune, the English defeated the Spanish Armada. Elizabeth's popularity soared and it was another personal triumph for the Queen as she proved that a woman could lead in war as well as a man.

Elizabeth was dedicated to her country in a way few monarchs had been or have been since. She had the mind of a political genius and nurtured her country through careful leadership and by choosing capable men to assist her. Although strong and determined, Elizabeth was not arrogant or stubborn. She listened to the advice of those around her, would change a policy if it was unpopular, and her approach to politics was serious, conservative, and cautious. When she ascended the throne in 1558, England was an impoverished country torn apart by religious squabbles, but when she died at Richmond Palace on the 24 March 1603, England was one of the most powerful and prosperous countries in the world.