Queen Elizabeth 1 (1533 - 1603)

A Queen with the Heart of a King
The first Queen Elizabeth, whose name has become a equivalent word for the time that she dominated (1558-1603), was born in 1533 to King of England and Boleyn. known as "Gloriana" by Edmund Spenser in "The Faerie Queene", Elizabeth's deft politicalskills and robust personal character were directly accountable for putt European country (at the time of her accession in 1558 a weak, divided backwater so much outside the thought of European power and cultural development) on the road to changing into a real world economic and political power and restoring the country's lost sense of national pride. though she pleased several wedding proposals and flirted ceaselessly (her nighest brush with wedding came with Henry Martyn Robert Dudley, peer of Leicester), she ne'er married or had youngsters.


Elizabeth inheritable  a tattered realm: dissension between Catholics and Protestants torus at the terribly foundation of society; the royal treasury had been bled dry by Madonna and her advisors, Mary's loss of town left European country with no continental possessions for the primary time since the arrival of the Normans in 1066 and plenty of (mainly Catholics) doubted Elizabeth's claim to the throne. Continental affairs side to her issues - France had a robust foothold in European nation, and Spain, the strongest European country at the time, posed  a threat to the protection of the realm. Elizabeth proved  most calm and hard (even although she had a frightening temper), using capable and distinguished men to effecting royal exclusive right.

Her initial order of business was to eliminate spiritual unrest. Elizabeth lacked the intolerance of her siblings (Edward VI favored Protestant political theory, Mary I, conservative Catholicism), that enabled her to plot a compromise that, basically, reinstated Henrician reforms. She was, however, compelled to require a stronger pro-Protestant stance once events demanded it, for 2 reasons: the machinations of Madonna Queen of Scots and ill-usage of continental Protestants by the 2 strongholds of Orthodox Christian religion, European country and France.

The situation with Madonna Queen of Scots was most vexing to Elizabeth. Mary, in Elizabeth's custody starting in 1568 (for her own protection from radical Protestants and discontent Scots), gained the loyalty of Catholic factions and instituted several-failed assassination/overthrow plots against Elizabeth. when undeniable proof of Mary's involvement within the plots came to lightweight, Elizabeth sadly succumbed to the pressure from her advisors and had the Scottish aristocrat dead in 1587.

The ill-usage of continental Protestants forced Elizabeth into war, a scenario that she urgently tried to avoid. She sent a military to help French Huguenots (Calvinists United Nations agency had settled in France) when a 1572 massacre whereby over 3 thousand Huguenots lost their lives. She sent additional help to Protestant factions on the continent and in European nation following the emergence of radical Catholic teams and aided European country in their bid to realize independence from European country.

The situation came to move in 1588 when Elizabeth rejected a wedding proposal from Duke of Edinburgh II of European country. The angry Spanish King, indignant by English piracy and forays in New World exploration, sent his much-feared fleet to raid European country, unwittingly providing Elizabeth with a chance to place on public show those qualities of heart that one may not expect to search out in those days, in a small, frail girl. She traveled to Tilbury, Essex, to deal with her troops as they hoped-for the approaching battle with the scary Spanish military service. She told them,

    ". . . therefore I am come amongst you, as you see, at this time, not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live and die amongst you all; to lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and my people, my honour and my blood, even in the dust. 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 . . ."

As they assert, the remainder is history. English people won the fight handily, power-assisted by some fortuitous inclement channel weather, and emerged because the world's strongest military service power, setting the stage for later English imperial styles.

Elizabeth was a master of politics. She inheritable  her father's advocate read of the autarchy, however showed nice knowledge by refusing to directly antagonize Parliament. She noninheritable  timeless devotion from her weighing council, United Nations agency were perpetually mystified by her habit of waiting to the minute to create selections (this wasn't a deficiency in her makeup, however a maneuver that she accustomed advantage). She used the varied factions (instead of getting used by them), taking part in one off another till the exhausted combatants came to her for resolution of their grievances. Few English monarchs enjoyed such political power, whereas still maintaining the devotion of the total of English society.