Queen Elizabeth I | Britroyals

On January 15, 1559, Elizabeth I was crowned Queen of England in Westminster Abbey. From the article:

"Queen Elizabeth I | Britroyals
Queen Elizabeth I (1558 - 1603)

Name: Queen Elizabeth I
Born: September 7, 1533 at Greenwich Palace
Parents: Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn
Relation to Elizabeth II: 1st cousin 13 times removed
House of: Tudor
Ascended to the throne: November 17, 1558 aged 25 years
Crowned: January 15, 1559 at Westminster Abbey
Married: Never Married
Children: None
Died: March 24, 1603 at Richmond Palace, Surrey, aged 69 years, 6 months, and 15 days
Buried at: Westminster
Reigned for: 44 years, 4 months, and 5 days
Succeeded by: her 3rd cousin James of Scotland
Queen of England (1558–1603), the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Through her Religious Settlement of 1559 she enforced the Protestant religion by law. She had Mary Queen of Scots executed in 1587. Her conflict with Roman Catholic Spain led to the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. The Elizabethan age was expansionist in commerce and geographical exploration, and arts and literature flourished. The rulers of many European states made unsuccessful bids to marry Elizabeth, and she used these bids to strengthen her power. She was succeeded by James I.

Elizabeth was born at Greenwich, London on 7 September 1533. She was well educated in several languages. During her Roman Catholic half-sister Mary's (Mary I) reign, Elizabeth's Protestant sympathies brought her under suspicion, and she lived in seclusion at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, until on Mary's death she became queen. Her first task was to bring about a broad religious settlement. Many unsuccessful attempts were made by Parliament to persuade Elizabeth to marry or settle the succession. She found courtship a useful political weapon, and she maintained friendships with, among others, the courtiers Leicester, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Essex. She was known as the Virgin Queen.

The arrival in England in 1568 of Mary Queen of Scots and her imprisonment by Elizabeth caused a political crisis, and a rebellion of the feudal nobility of the north followed in 1569. Friction between English and Spanish sailors hastened the breach with Spain. When the Dutch rebelled against Spanish tyranny Elizabeth secretly encouraged them; Philip II retaliated by aiding Catholic conspiracies against her. This undeclared war continued for many years, until the landing of an English army in the Netherlands in 1585 and Mary's execution in 1587, brought it into the open. Philip's Armada (the fleet sent to invade England in 1588) met with total disaster.

The war with Spain continued with varying fortunes to the end of the reign, while events at home foreshadowed the conflicts of the 17th century. Among the Puritans discontent was developing with Elizabeth's religious settlement, and several were imprisoned or executed. Parliament showed a new independence, and in 1601 forced Elizabeth to retreat on the question of the crown granting manufacturing and trading monopolies. Yet her prestige remained unabated, as shown by the failure of Essex's rebellion in 1601.

Queen Elizabeth I's Signature
Quotes:
‘I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too’ – Queen Elizabeth I (speech as the Spanish Armada approached)

‘I have already joined myself in marriage to a husband, namely the kingdom of England’ – Queen Elizabeth I (on being pressed by Parliament to marry)

‘There is no marvel in a woman learning to speak, but there would be in teaching her to hold her tongue’ – Queen Elizabeth I (on being praised for her linguistic skills by the French ambassador)

‘Better beggar woman and single than Queen and married’ – Queen Elizabeth I (her father Henry VIII had executed her mother Anne Boleyn)."