Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I , "Darnley Portrait", c. 1575
Queen of England and Ireland (more...)
Reign	17 November 1558 – 24 March 1603 (&000000000000004400000044 years, &0000000000000127000000127 days)
Coronation	15 January 1559 (&000000000000002500000025 years, &0000000000000130000000130 days)
Predecessor	Mary I
Successor	James I
House	House of Tudor
Father	Henry VIII
Mother	Anne Boleyn
Born	7 September 1533 Greenwich, England
Died	24 March 1603 (aged 69) Richmond, England
Burial	Westminster Abbey
Signature

Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was Queen regnant of England and Queen regnant of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. The daughter of Henry VIII, she was born a princess, but her mother, Anne Boleyn, was executed two and a half years after her birth, and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate. Her brother, Edward VI, bequeathed the crown to Lady Jane Grey, cutting his sisters out of the succession. His will was set aside, and in 1558 Elizabeth succeeded the Catholic Mary I, during whose reign she had been imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels.

Elizabeth set out to rule by good counsel,^[1] and she depended heavily on a group of trusted advisers led by William Cecil, Baron Burghley. One of her first moves as queen was to support the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the Supreme Governor. This Elizabethan Religious Settlement held firm throughout her reign and later evolved into today's Church of England. It was expected that Elizabeth would marry, but despite several petitions from parliament and numerous courtships, she never did. The reasons for this outcome have been much debated. As she grew older, Elizabeth became famous for her virginity, and a cult grew up around her which was celebrated in the portraits, pageants, and literature of the day.

In government, Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and siblings.^[2] One of her mottoes was "video et taceo" ("I see, and say nothing").^[3] This strategy, viewed with impatience by her counsellors, often saved her from political and marital misalliances. Though Elizabeth was cautious in foreign affairs and only half-heartedly supported a number of ineffective, poorly resourced military campaigns in the Netherlands, France and Ireland, the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 associated her name forever with what is popularly viewed as one of the greatest victories in English history. Within 20 years of her death, she was celebrated as the ruler of a golden age, an image that retains its hold on the English people.

Elizabeth's reign is known as the Elizabethan era, famous above all for the flourishing of English drama, led by playwrights such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, and for the seafaring prowess of English adventurers such as Sir Francis Drake. Some historians are more reserved in their assessment. They depict Elizabeth as a short-tempered,^[4] sometimes indecisive ruler,^[5] who enjoyed more than her share of luck. Towards the end of her reign, a series of economic and military problems weakened her popularity to the point where many of her subjects were relieved at her death. Elizabeth is acknowledged as a charismatic performer and a dogged survivor, in an age when government was ramshackle and limited and when monarchs in neighbouring countries faced internal problems that jeopardised their thrones. Such was the case with Elizabeth's rival, Mary, Queen of Scots, whom she imprisoned in 1568 and eventually had executed in 1587. After the short reigns of Elizabeth's brother and sister, her 44 years on the throne provided welcome stability for the kingdom and helped forge a sense of national identity.^[2]

Contents 1 Early life 2 Thomas Seymour 3 Mary I's reign 4 Accession 5 Church settlement 6 Marriage question 6.1 Lord Robert Dudley 6.2 Political aspects 7 Mary, Queen of Scots 7.1 Mary and the Catholic cause 8 Wars and overseas trade 8.1 Netherlands expedition 8.2 Spanish Armada 8.3 Supporting Henry IV of France 8.4 Ireland 8.5 Russia 8.6 Barbary states, Ottoman Empire, Japan 9 Later years 10 Death 11 Legacy 12 Titles from birth to death 13 Ancestry 14 See also 15 Notes 16 References 17 Further reading 18 External links

Early life

Elizabeth was born in Greenwich Palace in the Chamber of Virgins on 7 September 1533 between three and four o'clock in the afternoon, and was named after both her grandmothers, Elizabeth of York and Elizabeth Howard.^[6] She was the second child of Henry VIII of England to survive infancy born in wedlock; her mother was Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn. At birth, Elizabeth was the heiress presumptive to the throne of England. Her older half-sister, Mary, had lost her position as legitimate heir when Henry annulled his marriage to Mary's mother, Catherine of Aragon, in order to marry Anne.^[7][8] King Henry VIII had desperately wanted a legitimate son, to ensure the Tudor succession. Anne had been crowned with St. Edward's crown, unlike any other queen consort, while carrying Elizabeth. Historian Alice Hunt has suggested that this was done because Anne's pregnancy was visible at the moment of coronation and she was carrying an heir who was presumed to be male.^[9] Elizabeth was baptised on 10 September in a ceremony held at Greenwich Palace. Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, the Marquess of Exeter, Elizabeth Howard, Duchess of Norfolk, and Margaret Wotton, Marchioness of Dorset stood as her four godparents. After Elizabeth's birth, Queen Anne failed to provide a male heir. She suffered at least two miscarriages, one in 1534 and another at the beginning of 1536. On 2 May 1536, she was arrested and imprisoned. Hastily convicted on trumped-up charges, she was beheaded on 19 May 1536.^[10][11]

Elizabeth, who was two years and eight months old at the time, was declared illegitimate and deprived of the title of princess.^[12] Eleven days after Anne Boleyn's death, Henry married Jane Seymour,^[13] who died 12 days after the birth of their son, Prince Edward. Elizabeth was placed in Edward's household and carried the chrisom, or baptismal cloth, at his christening.^[14]

Elizabeth's first Lady Mistress, Margaret, Lady Bryant, wrote that she was “as toward a child and as gentle of conditions as ever I knew any in my life”.^[15] By the autumn of 1537, Elizabeth was in the care of Blanche Herbert, Lady Troy who remained her Lady Mistress until her retirement in late 1545 or early 1546.^[16] Catherine Champernowne, better known by her later, married name of Catherine “Kat” Ashley, was appointed as Elizabeth's governess in 1537, and she remained Elizabeth’s friend until her death in 1565, when Blanche Parry succeeded her as Chief Gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber.^[17] She clearly made a good job of Elizabeth’s early education: by the time William Grindal became her tutor in 1544, Elizabeth could write English, Latin, and Italian. Under Grindal, a talented and skilful tutor, she also progressed in French and Greek.^[18] After Grindal died in 1548, Elizabeth received her education under Roger Ascham, a sympathetic teacher who believed that learning should be engaging.^[19] By the time her formal education ended in 1550, she was the best educated woman of her generation.^[20]

Thomas Seymour

Henry VIII died in 1547, when Elizabeth was 13 years old, and was succeeded by her half brother, Edward VI. Catherine Parr, Henry's last wife, soon married Thomas Seymour of Sudeley, Edward VI's uncle and the brother of the Lord Protector, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset. The couple took Elizabeth into their household at Chelsea. There Elizabeth experienced an emotional crisis that some historians believe affected her for the rest of her life.^[22] Seymour, approaching age 40 but having charm and "a powerful sex appeal",^[22] engaged in romps and horseplay with the 14-year-old Elizabeth. These included entering her bedroom in his nightgown, tickling her and slapping her on the buttocks. Catherine Parr, rather than confront her husband over his innappropriate activities, joined in.^[23] Twice she accompanied him in tickling Elizabeth, and once held her while he cut her black gown "into a thousand pieces."^[24] However, after Catherine Parr discovered the pair in an embrace, she ended this state of affairs.^[25][26] In May 1548, Elizabeth was sent away.^[27]

Seymour continued scheming to control the royal family.^[28][29] When Catherine Parr died of puerperal fever after childbirth on 5 September 1548, he renewed his attentions towards Elizabeth, intent on wedding her.^[30] The details of his former behaviour towards Elizabeth emerged during an interrogation of Catherine Ashley and Thomas Parry, Elizabeth’s cofferer.^[31] For his brother and the council, this was the last straw,^[32] and in January 1549, Seymour was arrested on suspicion of plotting to marry Elizabeth and overthrow his brother. Elizabeth, living at Hatfield House, would admit nothing. Her stubbornness exasperated her interrogator, Sir Robert Tyrwhitt, who reported, "I do see it in her face that she is guilty".^[32] Seymour was beheaded on 20 March 1549.

Mary I's reign

Edward VI died on 6 July 1553, aged 15.^[33] His will swept aside the Succession to the Crown Act 1543, excluded both Mary and Elizabeth from the succession, and instead declared as his heir Lady Jane Grey, granddaughter of Henry VIII's sister Mary, Duchess of Suffolk.^[34] Lady Jane was proclaimed queen by the Privy Council, but her support quickly crumbled, and she was deposed after reigning nine days.^[35] Mary rode triumphantly into London, with Elizabeth at her side.^[36]

The show of solidarity between the sisters did not last long. Mary, the country's first undisputed queen regnant,^[37] was determined to crush the Protestant faith in which Elizabeth had been educated, and she ordered that everyone attend Mass. This included Elizabeth, who had to outwardly conform.^[38] Mary's initial popularity ebbed away when it became known that she planned to marry Prince Philip of Spain, the son of Emperor Charles V.^[39] Discontent spread rapidly through the country, and many looked to Elizabeth as a focus for their opposition to Mary's religious policies. In January and February 1554, uprisings broke out (known as Wyatt's rebellion) in several parts of England and Wales, led by Thomas Wyatt.^[40]

Upon the collapse of the uprising, Elizabeth was brought to court and interrogated. On 18 March, she was imprisoned in the Tower of London, where Lady Jane Grey had been executed on 12 February to deter the rebels.^[41] The terrified Elizabeth fervently protested her innocence.^[42] Though it is unlikely that she had plotted with the rebels, some of them were known to have approached her. Mary's closest confidant, Charles V's ambassador Simon Renard, argued that her throne would never be safe while Elizabeth lived; and the Chancellor, Stephen Gardiner, worked to have Elizabeth put on trial.^[43] Elizabeth's supporters in the government, including Lord Paget, convinced Mary to spare her sister in the absence of hard evidence against her. Instead, on 22 May, Elizabeth was moved from the Tower to Woodstock, where she was to spend almost a year under house arrest in the charge of Sir Henry Bedingfield. Crowds cheered her all along the way.^[44][45]

On 17 April 1555, Elizabeth was recalled to court to be closely attended during the final stages of Mary's apparent pregnancy. If Mary and her child died, Elizabeth would become queen. If, on the other hand, Mary gave birth to a healthy child, Elizabeth's chances of becoming queen would recede sharply.^[44] When it became clear that Mary was not pregnant, no one believed any longer that she could have a child.^[46] Elizabeth's succession seemed assured.^[47] Even Philip, who became King of Spain in 1556, acknowledged the new political reality. From this time forward, he cultivated Elizabeth, preferring her to the likely alternative, Mary, Queen of Scots, who had grown up in France and was betrothed to the Dauphin of France.^[48]When his wife fell ill in 1558, Philip sent the Count of Feria to consult with Elizabeth.^[49] This interview was conducted at Hatfield House, where she had returned to live in October 1555. By October 1558, Elizabeth was already making plans for her government. On 6 November, Mary recognised Elizabeth as her heir.^[50][51] Eleven days later, Elizabeth succeeded to the throne when Mary died at St. James's Palace on 17 November 1558.

Accession

Elizabeth became queen at the age of 25, and upon hearing of her accession to the throne, she is reputed to have quoted the 118th Psalm's twenty-third line, in Latin: "A Dominum factum est illud, et est mirabile in oculis notris" - "It is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes."

On 20 November 1558, Elizabeth declared her intentions to her Council and other peers who had come to Hatfield to swear allegiance. The speech contains the first record of her adoption of the mediaeval political theology of the sovereign's "two bodies": the body natural and the body politic:

My lords, the law of nature moves me to sorrow for my sister; the burden that is fallen upon me makes me amazed, and yet, considering I am God's creature, ordained to obey His appointment, I will thereto yield, desiring from the bottom of my heart that I may have assistance of His grace to be the minister of His heavenly will in this office now committed to me. And as I am but one body naturally considered, though by His permission a body politic to govern, so shall I desire you all...to be assistant to me, that I with my ruling and you with your service may make a good account to Almighty God and leave some comfort to our posterity on earth. I mean to direct all my actions by good advice and counsel.^[52][53]

As her triumphal progress wound through the city on the eve of the coronation ceremony, she was welcomed wholeheartedly by the citizens and greeted by orations and pageants, most with a strong Protestant flavour. Elizabeth's open and gracious responses endeared her to the spectators, who were "wonderfully ravished".^[54] The following day, 15 January 1559, Elizabeth was crowned at Westminster Abbey and anointed by the Catholic bishop of Carlisle. She was then presented for the people's acceptance, amidst a deafening noise of organs, fifes, trumpets, drums, and bells.^[55]

Church settlement

Elizabeth's personal religious convictions will never be definitely known. Her religious policy favoured pragmatism above all in dealing with three major concerns. The first concern was that of her legitimacy. Although she was technically illegitimate under both Protestant and Catholic law, her retroactively declared illegitimacy under the English church was not a serious bar compared to having never been legitimate as the Catholics claimed she was. Perhaps most importantly, the break with Rome made her legitimate in her own eyes. For this reason, it was never in serious doubt that Elizabeth would embrace at least nominal Protestantism.

Elizabeth and her advisors perceived the threat of a Catholic crusade against heretical England. Elizabeth therefore sought a Protestant solution that would not offend Catholics too greatly while addressing the desires of English Protestants; she would not tolerate the more radical Puritans though, who were pushing for far-reaching reforms.^[56] As a result, the parliament of 1559 started to legislate for a church based on the Protestant settlement of Edward VI, with the monarch as its head, but with many Catholic elements, such as priestly vestments.^[57]

The House of Commons backed the proposals strongly, but the bill of supremacy met opposition in the House of Lords, particularly from the bishops. Elizabeth was fortunate that many bishoprics were vacant at the time, including the Archbishopric of Canterbury.^[58][59] This enabled supporters amongst peers to outvote the bishops and conservative peers. Nevertheless, Elizabeth was forced to accept the title of Supreme Governor of the Church of England rather than the more contentious title of Supreme Head, which many thought unacceptable for a woman to bear. The new Act of Supremacy became law on 8 May 1559. All public officials were to swear an oath of loyalty to the monarch as the supreme governor or risk disqualification from office; the heresy laws were repealed, to avoid a repeat of the persecution of dissenters practised by Mary. At the same time, a new Act of Uniformity was passed, which made attendance at church and the use of an adapted version of the 1552 Book of Common Prayer compulsory, though the penalties for recusancy, or failure to attend and conform, were not extreme.^[60]

Marriage question

From the start of Elizabeth's reign, it was expected that she would marry and the question arose whom. She never did, although she received many offers for her hand; the reasons for this are not clear. Historians have speculated that Thomas Seymour had put her off sexual relationships, or that she knew herself to be infertile.^[62][63] She considered several suitors until she was about fifty. Her last courtship was with François, Duke of Anjou, 22 years her junior. Elizabeth had no need of a man's help to govern, and marrying risked a loss of control or of foreign interference in her affairs; as had happened to her sister Mary. On the other hand, marriage offered the chance of an heir.^[64]

Lord Robert Dudley

Elizabeth's childhood friend Lord Robert Dudley came to wider notice in the spring of 1559, when friendship turned to love. Their intimacy soon was talk in court and country and abroad.^[65] It was also said that Amy Robsart, his wife, was suffering from a "malady in one of her breasts", and that the Queen would like to marry Lord Robert in case his wife should die.^[66] Several princely suitors vying for Elizabeth's hand, their envoys, growing impatient, engaged in ever more scandalous talk and reported that a marriage with her favourite was not welcome in England: "There is not a man who does not cry out on him and her with indignation ... she will marry none but the favoured Robert".^[67] Unsurprisingly, a great scandal arose when Dudley's wife died in September 1560 from a fall from a flight of stairs; many people suspected Dudley to have arranged his wife's death in order to be able to marry the queen.^[68] An inquest found that it had been an accident, and Elizabeth seriously considered marrying Dudley for a time. William Cecil, Nicholas Throckmorton, and some high-ranking peers, however, became alarmed and made their disapproval unmistakably clear.^[69] The opposition was overwhelming; there were even rumours that the nobility would rise if the marriage took place.^[70]

Despite several other marriage projects, Robert Dudley was regarded as a candidate for nearly another decade.^[71] Elizabeth was extremely jealous of his affections, even when she no longer meant to marry him herself.^[72] In 1564 Elizabeth created Dudley Earl of Leicester. He finally remarried in 1578, to which the queen reacted with repeated scenes of displeasure and lifelong hatred towards his wife.^[73] Still, Dudley always "remained at the centre of [Elizabeth's] emotional life", as historian Susan Doran has described the situation.^[74] He died shortly after the Armada, and after Elizabeth's own death, a note from him was found among her most personal belongings, marked "his last letter" in her handwriting.^[75]

Political aspects

Elizabeth kept the marriage question open but often only as a diplomatic ploy,^[77] treating it as an aspect of foreign policy.^[78] Though she turned down Philip II's own offer in 1559, she negotiated for several years to marry his cousin Archduke Charles of Austria. Relations with the Habsburgs deteriorated by 1568. Elizabeth then considered marriage to two French Valois princes in turn, first Henri, Duke of Anjou, and later, from 1572 to 1581, his brother François, Duke of Anjou, formerly Duke of Alençon.^[79] This last proposal was tied to a planned alliance against Spanish control of the Southern Netherlands.^[80] Elizabeth seems to have taken the courtship seriously for a time, and wore a frog-shaped earring that Anjou had sent her.^[81]

Parliament repeatedly petitioned her to marry, but she always answered evasively.^[82] In 1563, she told an imperial envoy: "If I follow the inclination of my nature, it is this: beggar-woman and single, far rather than queen and married".^[77] In the same year, following Elizabeth's illness with smallpox, the succession question became a heated issue. Parliament urged the queen to marry or nominate an heir, to prevent a civil war upon her death. She refused to do either. In April, she prorogued the Parliament, which did not reconvene until she needed its support to raise taxes in 1566. The House of Commons threatened to withhold funds until she agreed to provide for the succession. In 1566, Sir Robert Bell boldly pursued the issue despite Elizabeth's command to desist and became the target of her anger, saying, "Mr. Bell with his complices must needs prefer their speeches to the upper house to have you my lords, consent with them, whereby you were seduced, and of simplicity did assent unto it."^[83] Later in that year, she confided to the Spanish ambassador that if she could find a way to settle the succession without marrying, she would do so. By 1570, senior figures in the government privately accepted that Elizabeth would never marry or name a successor. William Cecil was already seeking solutions to the succession problem.^[77] For this stance, as for her failure to marry, she was often accused of irresponsibility.^[84] Elizabeth's silence strengthened her own political security: she knew that if she named an heir, her throne would be vulnerable to a coup.^[85]

Elizabeth's unmarried status inspired a cult of virginity. In poetry and portraiture, she was depicted as a virgin or a goddess or both, not as a normal woman.^[87] At first, only Elizabeth made a virtue of her virginity: in 1559, she told the Commons, "And, in the end, this shall be for me sufficient, that a marble stone shall declare that a queen, having reigned such a time, lived and died a virgin".^[87] Later on, particularly after 1578, poets and writers took up the theme and turned it into an iconography that exalted Elizabeth. In an age of metaphors and conceits, she was portrayed as married to her kingdom and subjects, under divine protection. In 1599, Elizabeth spoke of "all my husbands, my good people".^[88]

Mary, Queen of Scots

Elizabeth's first policy toward Scotland was to oppose the French presence there.^[89] She feared that the French planned to invade England and put Mary, Queen of Scots, who was considered by many to be the heir to the English crown,^[90] on the throne.^[91] Elizabeth was persuaded to send a force into Scotland to aid the Protestant rebels, and though the campaign was inept, the resulting Treaty of Edinburgh of July 1560 removed the French threat in the north.^[92] When Mary returned to Scotland in 1561 to take up the reins of power, the country had an established Protestant church and was run by a council of Protestant nobles supported by Elizabeth.^[93] Mary refused to ratify the treaty.^[94]

In 1563 Elizabeth proposed her own suitor, Robert Dudley, as a husband for Mary, without asking either of the two people concerned. Both proved unenthusiastic,^[95] and in 1565 Mary married Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, who carried his own claim to the English throne. The marriage was the first of a series of errors of judgement by Mary that handed the victory to the Scottish Protestants and to Elizabeth. Darnley quickly became unpopular in Scotland and then infamous for presiding over the murder of Mary's Italian secretary David Rizzio. In February 1567, Darnley was murdered by conspirators almost certainly led by James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell. Shortly afterwards, on 15 May 1567, Mary married Bothwell, arousing suspicions that she had been party to the murder of her husband. Elizabeth wrote to her:

How could a worse choice be made for your honour than in such haste to marry such a subject, who besides other and notorious lacks, public fame has charged with the murder of your late husband, besides the touching of yourself also in some part, though we trust in that behalf falsely.^[96]

These events led rapidly to Mary's defeat and imprisonment in Loch Leven Castle. The Scottish lords forced her to abdicate in favour of her son James, who had been born in June 1566. James was taken to Stirling Castle to be raised as a Protestant. Mary escaped from Loch Leven in 1568 but after another defeat fled across the border into England, where she had once been assured of support from Elizabeth. Elizabeth's first instinct was to restore her fellow monarch; but she and her council instead chose to play safe. Rather than risk returning Mary to Scotland with an English army or sending her to France and the Catholic enemies of England, they detained her in England, where she was imprisoned for the next nineteen years.^[97]

Mary and the Catholic cause

Mary was soon the focus for rebellion. In 1569 there was a major Catholic rising in the North; the goal was to free Mary, marry her to Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, and put her on the English throne.^[98] After the rebels' defeat, over 750 of them were executed on Elizabeth's orders.^[99] In the belief that the revolt had been successful, Pope Pius V issued a bull in 1570, titled Regnans in Excelsis, which declared "Elizabeth, the pretended Queen of England and the servant of crime" to be a heretic and released all her subjects from any allegiance to her.^[100][101] Catholics who obeyed her orders were threatened with excommunication.^[100] The papal bull provoked legislative initiatives against Catholics by Parliament, which were however mitigated by Elizabeth's intervention.^[102] In 1581, to convert English subjects to Catholicism with "the intent" to withdraw them from their allegiance to Elizabeth was made a treasonable offence, carrying the death penalty.^[103] From the 1570s missionary priests from continental seminaries came to England secretly in the cause of the "reconversion of England".^[101] Many suffered execution, engendering a cult of martyrdom.^[101]

Regnans in Excelsis gave English Catholics a strong incentive to look to Mary Stuart as the true sovereign of England. Mary may not have been told of every Catholic plot to put her on the English throne, but from the Ridolfi Plot of 1571 (which caused Mary's suitor, the Duke of Norfolk, to lose his head) to the Babington Plot of 1586, Elizabeth's spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham and the royal council keenly assembled a case against her.^[104] At first, Elizabeth resisted calls for Mary's death. By late 1586 she had been persuaded to sanction her trial and execution on the evidence of letters written during the Babington Plot.^[105] Elizabeth's proclamation of the sentence announced that "the said Mary, pretending title to the same Crown, had compassed and imagined within the same realm divers things tending to the hurt, death and destruction of our royal person."^[106] On 8 February 1587, Mary was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle, Northamptonshire.^[107]

Wars and overseas trade

Elizabeth's foreign policy was largely defensive. The exception was the English occupation of Le Havre from October 1562 to June 1563, which ended in failure when Elizabeth's Huguenot allies joined with the Catholics to retake the port. Elizabeth intention had been to exchange Le Havre for Calais, lost to France in January 1558.^[108] Only through the activities of her fleets did Elizabeth pursue an aggressive policy. This paid off in the war against Spain, 80% of which was fought at sea.^[109] She knighted Francis Drake after his circumnavigation of the globe from 1577 to 1580, and he won fame for his raids on Spanish ports and fleets. An element of piracy and self-enrichment drove Elizabethan seafarers, over which the queen had little control.^[110][111]

Netherlands expedition

After the occupation and loss of Le Havre in 1562–1563, Elizabeth avoided military expeditions on the continent until 1585, when she sent an English army to aid the Protestant Dutch rebels against Philip II.^[112]. This followed the deaths in 1584 of the allies William the Silent, Prince of Orange, and François, Duke of Anjou, and the surrender of a series of Dutch towns to Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, Philip's governor of the Spanish Netherlands. In December 1584, an alliance between Philip II and the French Catholic League at Joinville undermined the ability of Anjou's brother, Henry III of France, to counter Spanish domination of the Netherlands. It also extended Spanish influence along the channel coast of France, where the Catholic League was strong, and exposed England to invasion.^[112] The siege of Antwerp in the summer of 1585 by the Duke of Parma necessitated some reaction on the part of the English and the Dutch. The outcome was the Treaty of Nonsuch of August 1585, in which Elizabeth promised military support to the Dutch.^[113] The treaty marked the beginning of the Anglo-Spanish War, which lasted until the Treaty of London in 1604.

The expedition was led by her former suitor, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. Elizabeth from the start did not really back this course of action. Her strategy, to support the Dutch on the surface with an English army, while beginning secret peace talks with Spain within days of Leicester's arrival in Holland,^[114] had necessarily to be at odds with Leicester's, who wanted and was expected by the Dutch to fight an active campaign. Elizabeth on the other hand, wanted him "to avoid at all costs any decisive action with the enemy".^[115] He enraged Elizabeth by accepting the post of Governor-General from the Dutch States-General. Elizabeth saw this as a Dutch ploy to force her to accept sovereignty over the Netherlands,^[116] which so far she had always declined. She wrote to Leicester:

We could never have imagined (had we not seen it fall out in experience) that a man raised up by ourself and extraordinarily favoured by us, above any other subject of this land, would have in so contemptible a sort broken our commandment in a cause that so greatly touches us in honour....And therefore our express pleasure and commandment is that, all delays and excuses laid apart, you do presently upon the duty of your allegiance obey and fulfill whatsoever the bearer hereof shall direct you to do in our name. Whereof fail you not, as you will answer the contrary at your utmost peril.^[117]

Elizabeth's "commandment" was that her emissary read out her letters of disapproval publicly before the Dutch Council of State, Leicester having to stand nearby.^[118] This public humiliation of her "Lieutenant-General" combined with her continued talks for a separate peace with Spain,^[119] irreversibly undermined his standing among the Dutch. The military campaign was severely hampered by Elizabeth's repeated refusals to send promised funds for her starving soldiers. Her unwillingness to commit herself to the cause, Leicester's own shortcomings as a political and military leader and the faction-ridden and chaotic situation of Dutch politics were reasons for the campaign's failure.^[120] Leicester finally resigned his command in December 1587.

Spanish Armada

Meanwhile, Sir Francis Drake had undertaken a major voyage against Spanish ports and ships to the Caribbean in 1585 and 1586, and in 1587 had made a successful raid on Cadiz, destroying the Spanish fleet of war ships intended for the Enterprise of England:^[121] Philip II had decided to take the war to England at last.^[122]

On 12 July 1588, the Spanish Armada, a great fleet of ships, set sail for the channel, planning to ferry a Spanish invasion force under the Duke of Parma to the coast of southeast England from the Netherlands. A combination of miscalculation,^[123] misfortune, and an attack of English fire ships on 29 July off Gravelines which dispersed the Spanish ships to the northeast defeated the Armada.^[124] The Armada straggled home to Spain in shattered remnants, after disastrous losses on the coast of Ireland (after some ships had tried to struggle back to Spain via the North Sea, and then back south past the west coast of Ireland).^[125] Unaware of the Armada's fate, English militias mustered to defend the country under the Earl of Leicester's command. He invited Elizabeth to inspect her troops at Tilbury in Essex on 8 August. Wearing a silver breastplate over a white velvet dress, she addressed them in one of her most famous speeches:^[126]

My loving people, we have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit ourself to armed multitudes for fear of treachery; but I assure you, I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people....I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a King of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any Prince of Europe should dare to invade the borders of my realm.^[127]

When no invasion came, the nation rejoiced. Elizabeth's procession to a thanksgiving service at St Paul's Cathedral rivalled that of her coronation as a spectacle.^[125] The defeat of the armada was a potent propaganda victory, both for Elizabeth and for Protestant England. The English took their delivery as a symbol of God's favour and of the nation's inviolability under a virgin queen.^[109] However, the victory was not a turning point in the war, which continued and often favoured Spain.^[128] The Spanish still controlled the Netherlands, and the threat of invasion remained.^[122] Sir Walter Raleigh claimed after her death that Elizabeth's caution had impeded the war against Spain:

If the late queen would have believed her men of war as she did her scribes, we had in her time beaten that great empire in pieces and made their kings of figs and oranges as in old times. But her Majesty did all by halves, and by petty invasions taught the Spaniard how to defend himself, and to see his own weakness.^[129]

Though some historians have criticised Elizabeth on similar grounds,^[130] Raleigh's verdict has more often been judged unfair. Elizabeth had good reason not to place too much trust in her commanders, who once in action tended, as she put it herself, "to be transported with an haviour of vainglory".^[131]

Supporting Henry IV of France

When the Protestant Henry IV inherited the French throne in 1589, Elizabeth sent him military support. It was her first venture into France since the retreat from Le Havre in 1563. Henry's succession was strongly contested by the Catholic League and by Philip II, and Elizabeth feared a Spanish takeover of the channel ports. The subsequent English campaigns in France, however, were disorganised and ineffective.^[132] Lord Willoughby, largely ignoring Elizabeth's orders, roamed northern France to little effect, with an army of 4,000 men. He withdrew in disarray in December 1589, having lost half his troops. In 1591, the campaign of John Norreys, who led 3,000 men to Brittany, was even more of a disaster. As for all such expeditions, Elizabeth was unwilling to invest in the supplies and reinforcements requested by the commanders. Norreys left for London to plead in person for more support. In his absence, a Catholic League army almost destroyed the remains of his army at Craon, north-west France, in May 1591. In July, Elizabeth sent out another force under Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, to help Henry IV in besieging Rouen. The result was just as dismal. Essex accomplished nothing and returned home in January 1592. Henry abandoned the siege in April.^[133] As usual, Elizabeth lacked control over her commanders once they were abroad. "Where he is, or what he doth, or what he is to do," she wrote of Essex, "we are ignorant".^[134]

Ireland

Although Ireland was one of her two kingdoms, Elizabeth faced a hostile—and in places virtually autonomous^[135]—Catholic native Irish population that was willing to plot with her enemies. Her policy there was to grant land to her courtiers and prevent the rebels from giving Spain a base from which to attack England.^[136] In response to a series of uprisings, the English forces pursued scorched-earth tactics, burning the land and slaughtering man, woman and child. During a revolt in Munster led by Gerald FitzGerald, Earl of Desmond, in 1582, an estimated 30,000 Irish people starved to death. The poet Edmund Spenser wrote that the victims "were brought to such wretchedness as that any stony heart would have rued the same".^[137] Elizabeth advised her commanders that the Irish, "that rude and barbarous nation", be well treated; but she showed no remorse when force and bloodshed were deemed necessary.^[138]

Between 1594 and 1603, Elizabeth faced her most severe test in Ireland, with the revolt known as Tyrone's Rebellion, or the Nine Years War. Its leader, Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, was backed by Spain.^[139] In spring 1599, Elizabeth sent Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, to put the revolt down. To her frustration,^[140] he made little progress and returned to England without permission. He was replaced by Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy, who took three years to defeat the rebels. O'Neill finally surrendered in 1603, a few days after Elizabeth's death.^[141]

Russia

Elizabeth continued to maintain the diplomatic relations with the Tsardom of Russia originally established by her deceased brother. She often wrote to its then ruler, Tsar Ivan IV, on amicable terms, though the Tsar was often annoyed by her focus on commerce rather than on the possibility of a military alliance. The Tsar even proposed to her once, and during his later reign, asked for a guarantee to be granted asylum in England should his rule be jeopardised. Upon Ivan's death, he was succeeded by his simple-minded son Feodor. Unlike his father, Feodor had no enthusiasm in maintaining exclusive trading rights with England. Feodor declared his kingdom open to all foreigners, and dismissed the English ambassador Sir Jerome Bowes, whose pomposity had been tolerated by the new Tsar's late father. Elizabeth sent a new ambassador, Dr. Giles Fletcher, to demand from the regent Boris Godunov that he convince the Tsar to reconsider. The negotiations failed, due to Fletcher addressing Feodor with two of his titles omitted. Elizabeth continued to appeal to Feodor in half appealing, half reproachful letters. She proposed an alliance, something which she had refused to do when offered one by Feodor's father, but was turned down.^[142]

Barbary states, Ottoman Empire, Japan

Trade and diplomatic relations developed between England and the Barbary states during the rule of Elizabeth.^[144][145] England established a trading relationship with Morocco in opposition to Spain, selling armour, ammunition, timber, and metal in exchange for Moroccan sugar, in spite of a Papal ban.^[146] In 1600, Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud, the principal secretary to the Moroccan ruler Mulai Ahmad al-Mansur, visited England as an ambassador to the court of queen Elizabeth I,^[147][148] in order to negotiate an Anglo-Moroccan alliance against Spain.^[143][149] Elizabeth "agreed to sell munitions supplies to Morocco, and she and Mulai Ahmad al-Mansur talked on and off about mounting a joint operation against the Spanish".^[150] Discussions however remained inconclusive, and both rulers died within two years of the embassy.^[151]

Diplomatic relations were also established with the Ottoman Empire with the chartering of the Levant Company and the dispatch of the first English ambassador to the Porte, William Harborne, in 1578.^[150] For the first time, a Treaty of Commerce was signed in 1580.^[152] Numerous envoys were dispatched in both directions and epistolar exchanges occurred between Elizabeth and Sultan Murad III.^[153] In one correspondence, Murad entertained the notion that Islam and Protestantism had "much more in common than either did with Roman Catholicism, as both rejected the worship of idols", and argued for an alliance between England and the Ottoman Empire.^[154] To the dismay of Catholic Europe, England exported tin and lead (for cannon-casting) and ammunitions to the Ottoman Empire, and Elizabeth seriously discussed joint military operations with Murad III during the outbreak of war with Spain in 1585, as Francis Walsingham was lobbying for a direct Ottoman military involvement against the common Spanish enemy.^[155] Anglo-Turkish piracy also started to thrive during that time.^{[156][157][158]}

The first Englishman to reach Japan, William Adams, was a former employee of the Barbary Company, which had been established in 1585. He set foot in Japan in August 1600, as a pilot for the Dutch East India Company. He would play a key role as a counselor to the Japanese Shogun, and helped establish the first diplomatic contacts and commercial treaties between England and Japan.

Later years

The period after the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 brought new difficulties for Elizabeth that lasted the fifteen years until the end of her reign.^[128] The conflicts with Spain and in Ireland dragged on, the tax burden grew heavier, and the economy was hit by poor harvests and the cost of war. Prices rose and the standard of living fell.^[159][160] During this time, repression of Catholics intensified, and Elizabeth authorised commissions in 1591 to interrogate and monitor Catholic householders.^[161] To maintain the illusion of peace and prosperity, she increasingly relied on internal spies and propaganda.^[159] In her last years, mounting criticism reflected a decline in the public's affection for her.^[162]

One of the causes for this "second reign" of Elizabeth, as it is sometimes called,^[163] was the different character of Elizabeth's governing body, the privy council in the 1590s. A new generation was in power. With the exception of Lord Burghley, the most important politicians had died around 1590: The Earl of Leicester in 1588, Sir Francis Walsingham in 1590, Sir Christopher Hatton in 1591.^[164] Factional strife in the government, which had not existed in a noteworthy form before the 1590s,^[165] now became its hallmark.^[166] A bitter rivalry between the Earl of Essex and Robert Cecil, son of Lord Burghley, and their respective adherents, for the most powerful positions in the state marred politics.^[167] The queen's personal authority was lessening,^[168] as is shown in the affair of Dr. Lopez, her trusted physician. When he was wrongly accused by the Earl of Essex of treason out of personal pique, she could not prevent his execution, although she had been angry about his arrest and seems not to have believed in his guilt (1594).^[169]

Elizabeth, during the last years of her reign, came to rely on granting monopolies as a cost-free system of patronage rather than ask Parliament for more subsidies in a time of war.^[170] The practice soon led to price-fixing, the enrichment of courtiers at the public's expense, and widespread resentment.^[171] This culminated in agitation in the House of Commons during the parliament of 1601.^[172] In her famous "Golden Speech" of 30 November 1601, Elizabeth professed ignorance of the abuses and won the members over with promises and her usual appeal to the emotions:^[173]

Who keeps their sovereign from the lapse of error, in which, by ignorance and not by intent they might have fallen, what thank they deserve, we know, though you may guess. And as nothing is more dear to us than the loving conservation of our subjects' hearts, what an undeserved doubt might we have incurred if the abusers of our liberality, the thrallers of our people, the wringers of the poor, had not been told us!^[174]

This same period of economic and political uncertainty, however, produced an unsurpassed literary flowering in England.^[175] The first signs of a new literary movement had appeared at the end of the second decade of Elizabeth's reign, with John Lyly's Euphues and Edmund Spenser's The Shepheardes Calender in 1578. During the 1590s, some of the great names of English literature entered their maturity, including William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe. During this period and into the Jacobean era that followed, the English theatre reached its highest peaks.^[176] The notion of a great Elizabethan age depends largely on the builders, dramatists, poets, and musicians who were active during Elizabeth's reign. They owed little directly to the queen, who was never a major patron of the arts.^[177]

As Elizabeth aged her image gradually changed. She was portrayed as Belphoebe or Astraea, and after the Armada, as Gloriana, the eternally youthful Faerie Queene of Edmund Spenser's poem.^[178] Her painted portraits became less realistic and more a set of enigmatic icons that made her look much younger than she was. In fact, her skin had been scarred by smallpox in 1562, leaving her half bald and dependent on wigs and cosmetics.^[179][180] Sir Walter Raleigh called her "a lady whom time had surprised".^[181] However, the more Elizabeth's beauty faded, the more her courtiers praised it.^[179]

Elizabeth was happy to play the part,^[182] but it is possible that in the last decade of her life she began to believe her own performance. She became fond and indulgent of the charming but petulant young Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, who was Leicester's stepson and took liberties with her for which she forgave him.^[183] She repeatedly appointed him to military posts despite his growing record of irresponsibility. After Essex's desertion of his command in Ireland in 1599, Elizabeth had him placed under house arrest and the following year deprived him of his monopolies.^[184] In February 1601, the earl tried to raise a rebellion in London. He intended to seize the queen but few rallied to his support, and he was beheaded on 25 February. Elizabeth knew that her own misjudgements were partly to blame for this turn of events. An observer reported in 1602 that "Her delight is to sit in the dark, and sometimes with shedding tears to bewail Essex".^[185]

Death

Elizabeth's senior advisor, Burghley, died on 4 August 1598. His political mantle passed to his son, Robert Cecil, who soon became the leader of the government.^[186] One task he addressed was to prepare the way for a smooth succession. Since Elizabeth would never name her successor, Cecil was obliged to proceed in secret.^[187] He therefore entered into a coded negotiation with James VI of Scotland, who had a strong but unrecognised claim.^[188] Cecil coached the impatient James to humour Elizabeth and "secure the heart of the highest, to whose sex and quality nothing is so improper as either needless expostulations or over much curiosity in her own actions".^[189] The advice worked. James's tone delighted Elizabeth, who responded: "So trust I that you will not doubt but that your last letters are so acceptably taken as my thanks cannot be lacking for the same, but yield them to you in grateful sort".^[190] In historian J. E. Neale's view, Elizabeth may not have declared her wishes openly to James, but she made them known with "unmistakable if veiled phrases".^[191]

The Queen's health remained fair until the autumn of 1602, when a series of deaths among her friends plunged her into a severe depression. In February 1603, the death of Catherine Howard, Countess of Nottingham, the niece of her cousin and close friend Catherine, Lady Knollys, came as a particular blow. In March, Elizabeth fell sick and remained in a "settled and unremovable melancholy".^[192] She died on 24 March 1603 at Richmond Palace, between two and three in the morning. A few hours later, Cecil and the council set their plans in motion and proclaimed James VI of Scotland as king of England.^[193]

Elizabeth's coffin was carried downriver at night to Whitehall, on a barge lit with torches. At her funeral on 28 April, the coffin was taken to Westminster Abbey on a hearse drawn by four horses hung with black velvet.^[194] In the words of the chronicler John Stow:

Westminster was surcharged with multitudes of all sorts of people in their streets, houses, windows, leads and gutters, that came out to see the obsequy, and when they beheld her statue lying upon the coffin, there was such a general sighing, groaning and weeping as the like hath not been seen or known in the memory of man.^[195]

Despite the presence of several other claimants to the throne, the transition of power went smoothly.^[197] James's succession set aside Henry VIII's Third Succession Act and will in favour of the line of Henry's younger sister, Mary Tudor.^[198] To rectify this, James had Parliament pass the Succession to the Crown Act 1603. The question of whether Parliament could control the succession to the crown by statute was controversial throughout the 17th century.^[199]

Legacy

Elizabeth was lamented, but many people were relieved at her death.^[200] Expectations of King James were high, and at first they were met, with the ending of the war against Spain in 1604 and lower taxes. Until the death of Robert Cecil in 1612, the government ran along much the same lines as before.^[201] James's rule, however, became unpopular when he turned state affairs over to court favourites, and in the 1620s there was a nostalgic revival of the cult of Elizabeth.^[202] Elizabeth was praised as a heroine of the Protestant cause and the ruler of a golden age. James was depicted as a Catholic sympathiser, presiding over a corrupt court.^[203] The triumphalist image that Elizabeth had cultivated towards the end of her reign, against a background of factionalism and military and economic difficulties,^[204] was taken at face value and her reputation inflated. Godfrey Goodman, Bishop of Gloucester, recalled: "When we had experience of a Scottish government, the Queen did seem to revive. Then was her memory much magnified."^[205] Elizabeth's reign became idealised as a time when crown, church and parliament had worked in constitutional balance.^[206]

The picture of Elizabeth painted by her Protestant admirers of the early 17th century has proved lasting and influential.^[208] Her memory was also revived during the Napoleonic Wars, when the nation again found itself on the brink of invasion.^[209] In the Victorian era, the Elizabethan legend was adapted to the imperial ideology of the day,^[200][210] and in the mid-20th century, Elizabeth was a romantic symbol of the national resistance to foreign threat.^[211][212] Historians of that period, such as J. E. Neale (1934) and A. L. Rowse (1950), interpreted Elizabeth's reign as a golden age of progress.^[213] Neale and Rowse also idealised the Queen personally: she always did everything right; her more unpleasant traits were ignored or explained as signs of stress.^[214]

Recent historians, however, have taken a more complicated view of Elizabeth.^[215] Her reign is famous for the defeat of the Armada, and for successful raids against the Spanish, such as those on Cádiz in 1587 and 1596, but some historians point to military failures on land and at sea.^[132] Elizabeth's problems in Ireland also stain her record.^[216] Rather than as a brave defender of the Protestant nations against Spain and the Habsburgs, she is more often regarded as cautious in her foreign policies. She offered minimal aid to foreign Protestants and failed to provide her commanders with the funds to make a difference abroad.^[217]

Elizabeth established an English church that helped shape a national identity and remains in place today.^{[218][219][220]} Those who praised her later as a Protestant heroine overlooked her refusal to drop all Catholic practices.^[221] Historians note that in her day, strict Protestants regarded the Acts of Settlement and Uniformity of 1559 as a compromise.^[222][223] In fact, Elizabeth believed that faith was personal and did not wish, as Francis Bacon put it, to "make windows into men's hearts and secret thoughts".^[224][225]

Despite Elizabeth's largely defensive foreign policy, her reign raised England's status abroad. "She is only a woman, only mistress of half an island," marvelled Pope Sixtus V, "and yet she makes herself feared by Spain, by France, by the Empire, by all".^[226] Under Elizabeth, the nation gained a new self-confidence and sense of sovereignty, as Christendom fragmented.^{[202][227][228]} Elizabeth was the first Tudor to recognise that a monarch ruled by popular consent.^[229] She therefore always worked with parliament and advisers she could trust to tell her the truth—a style of government that her Stuart successors failed to follow. Some historians have called her lucky;^[226] she believed that God was protecting her.^[230] Priding herself on being "mere English",^[231] Elizabeth trusted in God, honest advice, and the love of her subjects for the success of her rule.^[232] In a prayer, she offered thanks to God that:

[At a time] when wars and seditions with grievous persecutions have vexed almost all kings and countries round about me, my reign hath been peacable, and my realm a receptacle to thy afflicted Church. The love of my people hath appeared firm, and the devices of my enemies frustrate.^[226]

Titles from birth to death

• 7 September 1533 – July 1536: The Princess Elizabeth
• July 1536 – 17 November 1558: The Lady Elizabeth
• 17 November 1558 – 24 March 1603: Her Majesty The Queen

Ancestry

Ancestors of Elizabeth I of England

16. Owen Tudor               8. Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond                       17. Catherine of Valois               4. Henry VII of England                             18. John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset               9. Margaret Beaufort                       19. Margaret Beauchamp of Bletso               2. Henry VIII of England                                   20. Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York               10. Edward IV of England                       21. Cecily Neville               5. Elizabeth of York                             22. Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers               11. Elizabeth Woodville                       23. Jacquetta of Luxembourg               1. Elizabeth I of England                                         24. Geoffrey Boleyn               12. William Boleyn                       25. Anne Hoo               6. Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire                             26. Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormonde               13. Margaret Butler                       27. Anne Hankford               3. Anne Boleyn                                   28. John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk               14. Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk                       29. Catherine de Moleyns               7. Elizabeth Howard                             30. Frederick Tilney               15. Elizabeth Tilney                       31. Elizabeth Cheney

See also

• English Renaissance
• Portraiture of Elizabeth I of England
• Protestant Reformation
• Royal Arms of England
• Royal Standards of England
• Royal eponyms in Canada – Queen Elizabeth I
• Tudor conquest of Ireland

Notes

References

• Woodward, Jennifer (1997). The Theatre of Death: The Ritual Management of Royal Funerals in Renaissance England, 1570–1625. Boydell & Brewer. ISBN 9780851157047. 

Further reading

• Camden, William. History of the Most Renowned and Victorious Princess Elizabeth. Wallace T. MacCaffrey (ed). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, selected chapters, 1970 edition. OCLC 59210072.
• Clapham, John. Elizabeth of England. E. P. Read and Conyers Read (eds). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1951. OCLC 1350639.
• Elizabeth I: The Collected Works Leah S. Marcus, Mary Beth Rose & Janel Mueller (eds.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002. ISBN 0226504654.
• Elizabeth: The Exhibition at the National Maritime Museum. Susan Doran (ed.). London: Chatto and Windus, 2003. ISBN 0701174765.
• Ridley, Jasper. Elizabeth I: The Shrewdness of Virtue. New York : Fromm International, 1989. ISBN 088064110X.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Elizabeth I of England

Wikisource has original works written by or about: Elizabeth I

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Elizabeth I of England

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Speech to the Troops at Tilbury

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Elizabeth I's Farewell Speech

• William Camden. Annales Rerum Gestarum Angliae et Hiberniae Regnante Elizabetha. (1615 and 1625.) Hypertext edition, with English translation. Dana F. Sutton (ed.), 2000. Retrieved 7 December 2007.
• Tudor and Elizabeth Portraits. Tudor and Elizabethan portraits and other works of art, provided for research and education. Retrieved 15 December 2007.
• Archival material relating to Elizabeth I of England listed at the UK National Register of Archives
• Annals of the Reformation and Establishment of Religion, and Other Various Occurrences in the Church of England, During Queen Elizabeth's Happy Reign by John Strype (1824 ed.): Vol. I, Pt. I, Vol. I, Pt. II, Vol. II, Pt. I, Vol. II., Pt. II, Vol. III, Pt. I, Vol. III, Pt. II, Vol. IV
• Elizabeth I with rare pictures from the British Museum and British Library

Elizabeth I of England House of Tudor Born: 7 September 1533 Died: 24 March 1603
Regnal titles
Preceded by Mary I and Philip	Queen of England Queen of Ireland 17 November 1558 – 24 March 1603	Succeeded by James I
English royalty
Preceded by Lady Mary Tudor	Heir to the English Throne as heiress presumptive March 1534–1536	Vacant Title next held by Edward, Prince of Wales
Preceded by Lady Catherine Grey	Heir to the English and Irish Thrones as heiress presumptive 19 July 1553 – 17 November 1558	Vacant Never designated an heir¹ Title next held by Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales
Notes and references
1. Her potential heirs at the time of succession were Lady Frances Brandon by the Third Succession Act and Mary, Queen of Scots, by cognatic primogeniture

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v • d • e English monarchs Kingdom of the English 886–1066 Alfred the Great · Edward the Elder · Ælfweard · Athelstan the Glorious1 · Edmund the Magnificent1 · Eadred1 · Eadwig the Fair1 · Edgar the Peaceable1 · Edward the Martyr · Æthelred the Unready · Sweyn Forkbeard · Edmund Ironside · Cnut1 · Harold Harefoot · Harthacnut · Edward the Confessor · Harold Godwinson · Edgar the Ætheling Kingdom of England 1066–1649 William I · William II · Henry I · Stephen · Matilda · Henry II2 · Henry the Young King · Richard I · John2 · Henry III2 · Edward I2 · Edward II2 · Edward III2 · Richard II2 · Henry IV2 · Henry V2 · Henry VI2 · Edward IV2 · Edward V2 · Richard III2 · Henry VII2 · Henry VIII2 · Edward VI2 · Jane2 · Mary I2 with Philip2 · Elizabeth I2 · James I3 · Charles I3 Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland 1653–1659 Oliver Cromwell4 · Richard Cromwell4 Kingdom of England 1660–1707 Charles II3 · James II3 · William III and Mary II3 · Anne3 1Overlord of Britain. 2Also ruler of Ireland. 3Also ruler of Scotland. 4Lord Protector. Debatable or disputed rulers are in italics.

Persondata
NAME	Elizabeth I
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Elizabeth I of England; The Virgin Queen; Gloriana; Good Queen Bess
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Queen of England; Queen of Ireland
DATE OF BIRTH	7 September 1533(1533-09-07)
PLACE OF BIRTH	Greenwich, England
DATE OF DEATH	24 March 1603
PLACE OF DEATH	Richmond, Surrey