7 September 1533

Elizabeth was the only child from the second marriage of King Henry VIII. Her mother was Anne Boleyn. She was beheaded on the charge of being unfaithful to the king when Elizabeth was only 32 months old.

Queen Elizabeth is famous for having never married. She is often called as the 'Virgin Queen'. However she often used the possibility of marriage to help with diplomatic relations. Parliament was very keen that she marry so that there might be an heir to the throne, but she never did.

Queen Elizabeth is felt to be one of the greatest monarchs that England ever had. For this reason, she was referred to as 'Gloriana' and 'Good Queen Bess'. 

When she first came to the throne, the country was in a difficult position. Calais, England's last French possession, had fallen, the country was in religious turmoil and there was little money left in the Treasury. 

By the end of Elizabeth's reign, England had become a major power. Great explorers like Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh toured the globe in the name of Queen Elizabeth I. Raleigh named Virginia in North America in her honour, while Drake plundered Spanish ships and treasure, bringing millions home in stolen loot. 

The English defeated one of the greatest seafaring forces ever to have put to sea. The defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 filled Englishmen with pride and enhanced Elizabeth's popularity.

Meanwhile the Elizabethan Church Settlement and the 39 Articles tried to settle the religious disputes by trying to strike a balance between Catholics on the one hand and extreme Protestants (or Puritans) on the other. 

At the same time, English literature flourished. This was the age of William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, while Francis Bacon was one of the greatest minds of the day.

In the age of Elizabeth, England discovered its place in the world and she left it as one of the great European powers.

Although the church settlement brought about by Elizabeth went some way towards solving the religious disputes in the country, it left many people unhappy on both sides. Catholics were unhappy that they were again being forced to practise in the Church of England while more extreme Protestants felt that the settlement did not go far enough. 

In 1570, this uneasy religious balance was further undermined by the Pope, who declared Elizabeth illegitimate. The queen was now forced to be tougher on Catholics, which meant the return of persecution. 

At the same time, trouble was brewing in Scotland in the shape of Elizabeth's relative, Mary Queen of Scots. After an unpopular marriage, she fled Scotland and threw herself upon Elizabeth's mercy. Mary was a Catholic and became the figurehead of Catholic attempts to overthrow the English Protestant Elizabeth. As a result, Mary was executed in 1587. 

Many in Parliament were critical of Elizabeth's failure to marry because by not doing so, she was failing to provide an heir to the throne. Her nominated heir was King James VI of Scotland, but England and Scotland had always been separate kingdoms. Would the English parliament accept a Scottish king? Would the Scottish accept their king moving to London? These were not easy questions to answer. 

Trouble brewed in Ireland too, where it was feared that the Catholic Irish were trying to ally with the Catholic Spanish and French. Any such alliance would obviously be a threat to Protestant England. 

Towards the end of Elizabeth's reign, she sent the Earl of Essex to Ireland to defeat a rebellion but Essex's subsequent actions served to anger the queen. Elizabeth wanted the rebels defeated, but Essex made peace with them and returned home to find himself shunned by the Court. Angry at his treatment, he took four Privy Councillors hostage before attempting to raise an army to march against the queen. He was defeated, arrested, and executed for treason in 1601. The rebellion in Ireland was not defeated until shortly after Elizabeth's death.

Elizabeth was the last Tudor monarch and the last queen of England. After her death, provision was made for King James VI of Scotland to become king of England as well, thus uniting the kingdoms of England and Scotland for the first time.

'I am your anointed Queen. I will never be by violence forced to do anything. I thank God that I have such qualities that if I were turned out of my realm in a petticoat I would be able to live in any place in Christendom.'
 
The Queen said this in 1567 to some representatives from Parliament, who were pressing her on the subject of marriage.