Queen Elizabeth I

Elizabeth's Childhood and Youth Elizabeth was born near London on Sept. 7, 1533. Her father was Henry VIII, "bluff King Hal". Her mother was Anne Boleyn, the second of Henry's six wives. Henry's first wife, Catherine of Aragon, had only one surviving child, Mary. Henry wanted a male heir, so he asked the pope to annul the marriage. Because the pope refused, Henry broke away from the Roman Catholic church and set himself up as head of the church in England. Then he married Anne. He was disappointed that Anne's child also was a girl. Before Elizabeth was 3 years old, he had her mother beheaded.

Henry gave Elizabeth a house of her own in the country. He paid little attention to her, and her governess complained that the princess "hath neither gown, nor kirtle, nor petticoat." Henry provided excellent tutors, however, and Elizabeth showed a love for learning. One of her tutors, Roger Ascham, wrote: "Her perseverance is equal to that of a man, and her memory long keeps what it quickly picks up. She talks French and Italian as well as she does English. When she writes Greek and Latin, nothing is more beautiful than her handwriting. She delights as much in music as she is skillful in it."

Henry's third wife, Jane Seymour, gave birth to a son, Edward. Henry died when Edward was 10 years old, and the boy came to the throne as Edward VI. Elizabeth and Edward were both brought up in Henry's new church. Their half sister Mary was brought up a Roman Catholic. When Edward died in 1553, Mary became queen and at once made Catholicism the state religion. Mary suspected Elizabeth of plotting with the Protestants to gain the throne and had her imprisoned for two months in the Tower of London.

When Mary died, there were two claimants to the throne. If Elizabeth did not succeed, the next heir was Mary Stuart of Scotland, a Catholic. Mary Stuart was about to be married to the dauphin Francis of France. If she won the throne of England, both Scotland and England would be joined to France. Philip II of Spain, though a Catholic, threw his influence on the side of Elizabeth because he was jealous of France's power. Later the Spanish ambassador hinted to Elizabeth that she owed her throne to Philip. Elizabeth replied that she owed it to her people. "She is very much wedded to her people," the ambassador wrote, "and thinks as they do."

When Elizabeth became queen in 1558, she rode at once to London from her country home, traveling in a slow procession to give the people a chance to see her. Guns boomed, bells rang, and the people cheered her and scattered flowers in her path.

At the beginning of her reign England was in despair. The country had been weakened by war and religious strife, and the treasury was empty. Spain and France were powerful, and both wanted to rule England. The people hoped their young queen would soon marry a strong man who would guide her.

But Elizabeth at once took the government into her own hands; and, though she had many suitors and close friendships with several men, she steadfastly refused to marry. The young queen chose as her chief minister Sir William Cecil (Lord Burghley), who was cautious and conservative like herself. For 40 years he was her mainstay in both home and foreign affairs. Her favorite courtier was the charming and handsome Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester. When she died at the age of 69, she was still called the Virgin Queen. By then rich and secure, England was enjoying its greatest literary period. English ships were sailing into all seas, and the island kingdom had begun to establish its position as a world leader.

The Problem of Religion

In religious matters Elizabeth steered a middle course between the extreme Protestants and the Catholics. She restored the Protestant service but retained many features of Catholicism, including bishops and archbishops. She hoped this compromise would produce unity in the state; but the Catholics, who formed a majority of her subjects, were not reconciled. From time to time some of them plotted with Spain or France to put Mary Stuart on the throne in place of Elizabeth. France and Spain were rivals, and Elizabeth was usually able to play one off against the other. She even used courtship as part of her diplomatic game. She refused to marry Philip II of Spain but held out hopes to more than one of his royal relatives when France seemed to threaten. Later, when Philip turned against England, Elizabeth encouraged French princes. To cut Scotland's ties with France, she gave secret help to the Scottish Presbyterians. She also aided the Protestant Netherlands when they revolted against Spain.

Mary Stuart returned to Scotland in 1561 after the death of her husband, Francis, king of France. In 1568 she was compelled to flee across the English border to ask Elizabeth's help. Elizabeth kept her a prisoner for 19 years. Finally Mary was accused of having a part in the so-called Babington plot to assassinate Elizabeth. Parliament demanded her execution. Elizabeth signed the warrant; and Mary Stuart was beheaded in 1587. In the last years of Elizabeth's reign, Catholics were cruelly persecuted and many were put to death.

Defeat of the Spanish Armada During the first 30 years of Elizabeth's reign England was at peace. Commerce revived, and English ships were boldly venturing across the seas to the West Indies. There they came into conflict with Spain and Portugal, which owned and ruled the whole New World and claimed a monopoly of trade. English smugglers broke through the blockade and made huge profits by selling, in the West Indies, blacks they had seized in Africa. John Hawkins, Sir Francis Drake, and other English seamen also waylaid Spanish ships on their way home and seized their gold. Elizabeth aided the English privateers with ships and money and shared in their profits and stolen treasure. Philip II finally decided to put an end to these attacks by invading and conquering England.

After years of preparation, Philip assembled a great fleet of his best and largest warships, called by the Spanish the Armada (that is, fleet). In 1588 the Armada sailed into the English Channel. The English were waiting for them and at once put out to sea. Their ships were of newer design, smaller than the Spanish galleons, but faster and more heavily armed. In a nine-day battle they inflicted terrible losses on the enemy. The ships that escaped ran into bad weather and only a few returned to Spain. (See also Armada, Spanish.) English ships then carried the war to Spain. When the struggle ended--after the deaths of both Elizabeth and Philip--no Spanish fleet dared to contest England's command of the seas.

England's Golden Age The most splendid period of English literature, called the Elizabethan Age, began in the later years of Elizabeth's reign. Francis Bacon, writer of the 'Essays', was one of the queen's lawyers. Edmund Spenser wrote 'The Faerie Queene' in her honor. Shakespeare acted before her; but at the time of her death he had not yet written most of his great tragedies. Elizabeth enjoyed plays, but there is no evidence that she appreciated Shakespeare's genius.

Elizabeth was 55 years old when the Spanish Armada was defeated. Her joy in the victory was soon followed by grief, because her great favorite, Leicester, died a few months later. In 1598 her faithful minister Lord Burleigh passed away. In her court appeared young men--Sir Walter Raleigh, brilliant and adventurous, and the earl of Essex, a handsome young soldier. Essex fell from favor and Elizabeth had him executed for trying to stir up a rebellion against her. She died two years later, in 1603, at the age of 69, and was buried with great magnificence in Westminster Abbey. Mary Stuart's son, James VI of Scotland, was proclaimed James I of England, thus uniting the crowns of the two kingdoms.

The things we think of chiefly as marking the reign of Elizabeth are the religious question, the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and the flourishing of literature. Also important, however, were hundreds of laws on shipping, commerce, industry, currency reform, roads, poor relief, and agriculture. These laws shaped the policy of England for more than two centuries after Elizabeth's reign had ended.

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