Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was <a href="/facts/List_of_English_monarchs/qpow970E">Queen of England</a> and <a href="/facts/List_of_Irish_monarchs/cKLGWFhC">Ireland</a> from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the <a href="/facts/House_of_Tudor/vGCmXz5v">House of Tudor</a>. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history and culture, gave name to the <a href="/facts/Elizabethan_era/DMfrDl3t">Elizabethan era</a>.
Elizabeth was the only surviving child of <a href="/facts/Henry_VIII/LFgGAjh0">Henry VIII</a> and his second wife, <a href="/facts/Anne_Boleyn/zN7ssVCS">Anne Boleyn</a>. When Elizabeth was two years old, her parents' marriage was annulled, her mother was executed, and Elizabeth was declared <a href="/facts/Royal_bastard/VnFb9FUY">illegitimate</a>. Henry <a href="/facts/Third_Succession_Act_1543/nvp0Puvt">restored her to the line of succession</a> when she was 10. After Henry's death in 1547, Elizabeth's younger half-brother <a href="/facts/Edward_VI/ByrMhg9b">Edward VI</a> ruled until his own death in 1553, bequeathing the crown to a <a href="/facts/Protestant/NXja4K3g">Protestant</a> cousin, <a href="/facts/Lady_Jane_Grey/1CGl0RcQ">Lady Jane Grey</a>, and ignoring the claims of his two half-sisters, <a href="/facts/Mary_I_of_England/smBAdhhD">Mary</a> and Elizabeth, despite statutes to the contrary. Edward's will was quickly set aside and the <a href="/facts/Catholic/rJ4F4gqH">Catholic</a> Mary became queen, deposing Jane. During Mary's reign, Elizabeth was imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels.
Upon Mary's 1558 death, Elizabeth succeeded to the throne and set out to rule by good counsel. She depended heavily on a group of trusted advisers led by <a href="/facts/William_Cecil%2c_1st_Baron_Burghley/K97VjJha">William Cecil</a>, whom she created <a href="/facts/Baron_Burghley/MHn7S7o0">Baron Burghley</a>. One of her first actions as queen was the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the <a href="/facts/Supreme_governor/bVoKYscR">supreme governor</a>. This arrangement, later named the <a href="/facts/Elizabethan_Religious_Settlement/rP1WLw8d">Elizabethan Religious Settlement</a>, would evolve into the <a href="/facts/Church_of_England/A1CoKeGz">Church of England</a>. It was expected that Elizabeth would marry and produce an heir; however, despite numerous courtships, she never did. Because of this she is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". She was succeeded by her cousin, <a href="/facts/James_VI_of_Scotland/mcmPE59x">James VI of Scotland</a>.
In government, Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and siblings had been. One of her <a href="/facts/Mottoes/zPMmWKAW">mottoes</a> was video et taceo ("I see and keep silent"). In religion, she was relatively tolerant and avoided systematic persecution. After the pope <a href="/facts/Regnans_in_Excelsis/gkEAt71V">declared her illegitimate</a> in 1570, which in theory released English Catholics from allegiance to her, several conspiracies threatened her life, all of which were defeated with the help of her ministers' secret service, run by <a href="/facts/Francis_Walsingham/tWNdf3jo">Francis Walsingham</a>. Elizabeth was cautious in foreign affairs, manoeuvring between the major powers of <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_France/Ul6rT7cQ">France</a> and <a href="/facts/Habsburg_Spain/YDSCuG3x">Spain</a>. She half-heartedly supported a number of ineffective, poorly resourced military campaigns in the <a href="/facts/Dutch_Republic/PlxBXbKF">Netherlands</a>, France, and Ireland. By the mid-1580s, England could no longer avoid <a href="/facts/Anglo-Spanish_War_(1585%25E2%2580%25931604)/dqmXsha4">war with Spain</a>.
As she grew older, Elizabeth became celebrated for her <a href="/facts/Virginity/ceJczHyF">virginity</a>. A <a href="/facts/Cult_of_personality/ghjjeoYI">cult of personality</a> grew around her which was celebrated in the portraits, pageants, and literature of the day. The Elizabethan era is famous for the flourishing of <a href="/facts/English_Renaissance_theatre/ecSNPJTc">English drama</a>, led by playwrights such as <a href="/facts/William_Shakespeare/ohI96JTv">William Shakespeare</a> and <a href="/facts/Christopher_Marlowe/7MqLkX1S">Christopher Marlowe</a>, the prowess of English maritime adventurers, such as <a href="/facts/Francis_Drake/MaXqvRCg">Francis Drake</a> and <a href="/facts/Walter_Raleigh/4XLgHJI1">Walter Raleigh</a>, and for the defeat of the <a href="/facts/Spanish_Armada/wjzhE7Ns">Spanish Armada</a>. Some historians depict Elizabeth as a short-tempered, sometimes indecisive ruler, who enjoyed more than her fair share of luck. Towards the end of her reign, a series of economic and military problems weakened her popularity. Elizabeth is acknowledged as a charismatic performer ("Gloriana") and a dogged survivor ("Good Queen Bess") in an era when government was ramshackle and limited, and when monarchs in neighbouring countries faced internal problems that jeopardised their thrones. After the short, disastrous reigns of her half-siblings, her 44 years on the throne provided welcome stability for the kingdom and helped to forge a sense of national identity.

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Elizabeth I