FREE ESSAY ON QUEEN ELIZABETH I

QUEEN ELIZABETH I

Queen Elizabeth I
Queen Elizabeth, the first, proved to be a very good and loyal monarch to England. She
brought about many changes, both good and bad.
On September 7, 1533 a baby girl came into the world. Back then many parents would have
been greatly disappointed to have had a baby girl, rather then a boy. However these
parents were glad by the birth of their first child together. These proud parents were
the king and queen of England, King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. The girl child was named
Elizabeth. The only reason for the birth of Elizabeth had been that she would have been
male so that he could have been the heir to king Henry the VIII. It wasn't until two
years later that Henry realized he wasn't going to get a healthy male heir from Anne
Boleyn. She had miscarried twice before delivering a stillborn son. When Elizabeth was
two her father had her mother beheaded for adultery and treason, this was just a way to
rid himself of her rather then get a divorce. This was not Henry's first wife, this was
his second wife. His first wife had also born him a female child. He had divorced her in
hopes that he would get a heir from Anne. With his first wife, Catherine, he had a
daughter which they named Mary. Between the time of Elizabeth's mothers death and 1537
Henry married yet again. The woman was named Jane Seymour and she cared greatly for
Elizabeth. She forced Henry to take Elizabeth back into the house, as it was, Elizabeth
had been sent away for schooling and whatnot. In 1537 Elizabeth's new stepmother, Jane
Seymour, gave birth to a son, the birth of this son however brought about the death of
Jane from bed fever. The child was named Edward. Once Edward had been born Elizabeth
faded into the background, everyday receiving less and less attention. From the time
Edward was born Elizabeth spent a lot of time with him. Growing up they were very close,
they spent all of their spare time together. The only real time that the two of them were
apart was when it came to schooling. She received her education under the famous scholar
and humanist Roger Ascham. Under his guidance, Elizabeth studied Greek and Roman
classics, read history and theology, and learned both classical and modern languages. She
was considered extremely intelligent, and records say that, in her youth, she spoke six
languages. 
In 1547 Henry VIII died. At the age of fourteen Edward became King Edward VI. He died
only six short years later. Elizabeth's older half-sister, Mary Tudor came to the throne.

Mary, who was Catholic, earned the nickname Bloody Mary. During the time that Bloody Mary
was at the throne she married Philip of Spain, soon to be Philip the second. However
Parliament blocked his accession to the English throne. She burned many Protestants at
the stake. When rebels wanted to place Elizabeth on the throne Queen Mary had her
arrested and sent to the Tower of London and later on to Woodstock. She remained
imprisoned for five years until Mary, near death, named Elizabeth her successor. On March
17, 1558, the last Tudor monarch of England ascended the throne.
Elizabeth initially did not want to face the heated conflict between the Catholics and
Protestants In England. However Mary Stuart forced her to. The Catholic Mary, queen of
Scotland, was the grandniece of Henry VIII and the next in line to the throne. Accused of
murdering her second husband, Henry Stuart Darnley, Mary fled to England to escape a
rebellion in Scotland. Many European and English Catholics plotted to put her on the
throne. To protect her crown, Elizabeth had her cousin Mary Placed under house arrest in
1567. 
Meanwhile, Elizabeth's throne was threatened from the outside forces. Philip II, who
became ruler of Spain and it's empire in 1556, sought to control the world. England and
many other European countries were jealous of Spain's riches, especially in the New
World. Elizabeth allowed her seamen to raid Spanish ships on the high seas. Between 1557
and 1580, Francis Drake sailed around the world, becoming the first man, after Francis
Magellan to do so. On his trip he ravaged Spanish settlements in South America, returning
to England with 1,000,000 in treasure. Elizabeth knighted him aboard his ship, the Golden
Hind, worsening already tense relations between Protestants England and catholic Spain. 
During the 1580's, Elizabeth began to harshly persecute Catholics in England. She sent
hundreds to their deaths. Many felt the horrors of the wrack, the manacles, and the
Scavenger's daughter. The Scavenger's Daughter was an iron hoop that brought a victim's
hands, head, and feet together into a tight ball until he or she was crushed. One of the
reasons for the persecutions was a series of Catholic plots to murder Elizabeth and
replace her with mary, Quuen of Scots. Finally, in 1586, Mary's part in these plots were
proven and she was beheaded the following February. 
Mary's death was the final blow to the English- Spanish relations. Philip II declared
war. In July 1588, a huge navy fleet, the Spanish Armada, set sail for England. The
English navy, led by Francis Drake and Martin Frobisher, rose to meet the armada in a
nine- day battle. The smaller, quicker English ships easily outmaneuvered the Spanish
galleons, but could not move close enough to attack. The Spaniards, however, made the
mistake one night of anchoring their entire fleet, and the English sent a squadron of
flaming ships into the anchored vessels. Scared, the armada cut it's lines and fled to
open waters. Chased by the English the Spanish tried to sail north around the British
Isles. However storm after storm pounded the armada and about half the fleet was lost.
Their war continued for fifteen years. The Spaniards could not overcome the English. 
Elizabeth's reign after the defeat of the armada was beset by troubles. Her control over
her country's religious, political, and economic problem's, as well as her presentation
of herself, began to show severe strains. Bad harvests, inflation, and unemployment,
caused by the loss of public morale. Corruption and greed led to wide spread popular
hatred for Elizabeth's favorites, to whom she had given lucrative and much resented
monopolies. By the turn of the century, even her admirers, such as Sir Walter Raleigh,
said she was a lady surprised by time. 
Queen Elizabeth had never married and had never born any children this brought about the
nicknames such as Good Quuen Bess, and The Virgin Queen. Oftentimes poets compared her to
the Moon Goddess, to a Virgin and Fertility Goddess, the bringer of justice, and the
conerstone of the Empire. Painters portrayed her in impossible magnificence and with the
symbols of peace, virtue, majesty, and truth. 
During Elizabeth's reign there was a boom of the arts that would be impossible for almost
any other period of English history to match. Edmund Spencer, Christopher Marlowe,
William Shakesphere, and Ben Johnson are great names not only in theEnglish literature,
but in World literature. The English Renaissance was a highlight that appeared bloody,
dark, and dreary. Elizabeth's reign was and still is sometimes referred to as the
Elizabethan Period. 
Shortly before Quuen Elizabeth died on March 24, 1603, she designated James VI of
Scotland as her successor.