I may not be a lion, but I am a lion’s cub, and I have a lions’ heart.

Elizabeth I

The reign of Queen Elizabeth I is often referred to as The Golden Age of English
history. Elizabeth was a very popular Queen. She is still one of the best loved
monarchs, and one of the most admired rulers of all time. She became a legend in
her own lifetime, famed for her remarkable abilities and achievements. Yet, about
Elizabeth the woman, we know very little. She is an enigma, and was an enigma to
her own people.

Elizabeth was the daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn.
She was born on 7th September 1533 at Greenwich Palace. Her birth was possibly
the greatest disappointment of her father's life. He had wanted a son and heir to
succeed him as he already had a daughter, Mary, by his first wife, Katherine of
Aragon. Maybe you know that he changed the religion of the country in the process to
divorce Katherine. But he got another daughter.
Elizabeth's early life was consequently troubled. Her mother failed to provide the King
with a son and was executed on false charges of incest and adultery when she was
three.

Her father kept changing his brides for next 8 years. There was Jane Seymour who
died giving birth to the King's longed for son, Edward; Anne of Cleves who was
divorced; Catherine Howard who was beheaded; and finally Catherine Parr. We
don’t know that, but this may be the reason why Elizabeth refused to marry. There
may be another reason for the Queen’s single state, such as a fear of childbirth - b.
childbirth claimed the lives of a significant number of women in this period. There
were political problems with it of course, when the political sphere was exclusively
male.

As a child, Elizabeth was given a very impressive education. It had become popular
amongst the nobility to educate daughters as well as sons and Elizabeth excelled at
her studies. She was taught by famous scholars such as William Grindal and Roger
Asham, and from an early age it was clear that she was remarkably gifted. She had
an especial flare for languages, and by adulthood, she could speak five languages
fluently.

Elizabeth's adolescence was no easier than her childhood. While the King lived, she
was safe from political opportunists, but when he died in the January of 1547, and his
young son became King Edward VI, she was vulnerable to those who saw her as a
political pawn. Mary was to follow Edward, and Elizabeth was to follow Mary. So that
Elizabeth was now second in line to the throne. Edward was too young to rule himself
as he was only nine years old, so his uncle, Edward Seymour, became Protector of
England.
He had made no secret of his desire to marry Elizabeth (in Tudor times a girl was
considered of marriageable age at twelve) so she was implicated in his plot - to
kidnap the Boy King. Elizabeth had to persuade others that she knew nothing of the
plot and had not consented to marry the King's uncle. She succeeded in defending
her innocence.
Elizabeth again found herself implicated in treason after the Wyatt rebellion of 1554.
Edward had died in the summer of 1553 from prolonged ill health, and Elizabeth's
half-sister, Mary, was now Queen Mary I of England. Mary was not a popular
monarch. It was not difficult to persuade her that Elizabeth may have been conspiring
with Thomas Wyatt and his men to seize the throne. Whether or not the rebellion was
to make Elizabeth queen is uncertain, and it is also unknown whether Elizabeth had
any knowledge of the conspirators’ plans. Even if she did have knowledge of them,
there is no evidence that she approved of the actions of Wyatt and his followers.
Elizabeth said she was innocent of the accusations made against her, but she was
still arrested and sent to the Tower of London as a prisoner.

The Queen would have liked Elizabeth to have been executed, but there was no
evidence against her and she was popular with the people. Elizabeth was kept at the
Tower for two months and then removed to Woodstock Manor in Oxfordshire, where
she was kept a prisoner for a year. She was allowed to return to her childhood home
of Hatfield in Hertfordshire. It was only at the command of the Queen's husband,
Philip of Spain. Philip was aware of the Queen's poor health and wanted to gain the
friendship of Elizabeth to ensure peaceable relations between England and Spain
should his wife die and Elizabeth succeed to the throne.

Elizabeth did finally succeed to the throne on 17th November 1558. It was a moment
of supreme triumph for the unwanted daughter who had spent her life in the shadow
of the court. Now she was Queen, Elizabeth was determined to enjoy her new found
freedom and live life to the full.
She loved all kinds of sports, especially horse riding, and in the early years of her
reign spent many hours riding. She also loved hunting, hawking, bear baiting, and
watching the male courtiers at jousts or other sporting contests. She loved music and
dancing, and could even play the virginals and the lute herself with skill. She also
loved watching plays and created the atmosphere responsible for the flourishing of
the literary masterpieces of the period. Not as the Puritan demands for the closure of
all theatres and playhouses.

Elizabeth was crowned Queen on Sunday 15th January 1559. In the months that
followed she restored the coinage.
She was a committed Protestant, and reputedly spent time in prayer every day, but
she was probably a conservative Protestant. She liked candles and crucifixes in her
private chapel, liked church music. That is why the new Queen re-established the
Protestant Church in England. She did not like religious extremism and did not want
to persecute any of her people for their religious beliefs. However, the tenacious
political nature of the Catholic/Protestant split meant that her government had to take
a harsher line towards Catholics than she wanted.

Now that Elizabeth was Queen, proposals of marriage flooded in, but Elizabeth
committed herself to none of them. She managed to use her single state to benefit
the country by using the bait of marriage to draw in enemies, or to frighten them by
suggesting she would marry one of their foes. But she got close to it - twice.
For many years, the most serious contender for her hand was Robert Dudley, Earl
of Leicester. 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
personal love interest of the Queen's life. Politically, however, marrying him would
have been a disaster. He was unpopular as he was the son of the traitor
Northumberland, and after his wife was found dead, it was thought he had murdered
her so he would be free to marry Elizabeth. The other serious contender for the
Queen's hand was Francis, Duke of Alencon/Anjou, heir to the French throne. But
again, political considerations made the match ultimately impossible.

Not marrying and having a child of her own made people anxious about what would
happen to the country when she died. However, having a child of her own may not
have been an end to all problems. In the eyes of Catholics, Elizabeth was illegitimate
and had no right to the throne. To them, Mary, Queen of Scots was the rightful
Queen of England. Plots were made to make Mary queen.
Mary was immediately imprisoned. This was as much to protect her as to minimize
the danger she posed to Elizabeth. Mary was kept a prisoner for almost twenty years.
In that time, Elizabeth refused to hear about executing her cousin, but Mary's
complicity in the Babington plot of 1586 made the execution, in the eyes of many,
necessary. It was a traumatic time for Elizabeth, and for a while it seemed that she
would not go ahead with the execution, but she did, and Mary was executed at
Fotheringay Castle on 8 February 1587.

Relations between Elizabeth and Philip had changed a lot. By 1588 they were
enemies of the first rate. Philip, now King of Spain, had spoken of invading England
and dethroning Elizabeth for years but the execution of the Queen of Scots gave him
an impulse. In the summer of 1588 he sent his mighty fleet against England. But by
superior tactics, ship design, and good fortune, the English defeated them.
Elizabeth's popularity reached its top. It was also another personal triumph as she
had proved that she, a woman, could lead in war as well as any man

Elizabeth was dedicated to her country in a way few monarchs had been or have
been since. Elizabeth had the mind of a political genius and cared for her country
through careful leadership and by choosing capable men to assist her, such as Sir
William Cecil and Sir Francis Walsingham. Elizabeth was a determined woman.
She listened to the advice of those around her, and would change a policy if it was
unpopular. In appearance she was extravagant, in behaviour sometimes flippant and
frivolous, but her approach to politics was serious and conservative. When she got
the throne in 1558, England was a country torn apart by religious squabbles. When
she died at Richmond Palace on the 24th March 1603, England was one of the most
powerful and prosperous countries in the world.