Often considered by many historians as England's greatest monarch, Queen Elizabeth I ruled during an age that saw the expansion of the Britain (England and Wales with parts of Ireland, and united with Scotland upon her death) to North America through voyages of discovery by men such as Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh. It witnessed the accomplishments of playwrights such as William Shakespeare and would change history by defeating the Spanish Armada. Although her reign saw many accomplishments that would soon make Great Britain one of the leading economic and military powers in the world, it was also made up of plots and assassinations that were intended for or falsely accused the queen and controversies, such as her claims of being a virgin and the amount of influence that her privy council had over her.
Elizabeth's birth dramatically altered the course of English history. Although King Henry VIII of the Tudor dynasty had an illegitimate son, he needed an heir from a queen to properly continue the dynasty. His first child to survive was, Mary, born to Catherine of Aragon, Henry's first wife. After it was clear that Catherine could give him no more children, he ended his marriage, which provoked the English Reformation. Henry married the already pregnant Anne Boleyn, who gave birth to Elizabeth on September 7, 1533. At the age of two she became motherless as the accusations of adultery, which were drummed up by Henry, sent her mother to the guillotine. She had a younger brother, Edward by Henry's third wife, Jane Seymour, and who would follow his father as king. With two older siblings, no one at the time expected Elizabeth to matter much.
Still, being the daughter of a king, Elizabeth had educational opportunities that were not available for most women of her age. At the hands of private tutors, she learned six languages: French, Spanish, Greek, Italian, Latin and Flemish along with her native English, studied theology, astronomy, physics, and other subjects in which she performed remarkably.
After the early death of her brother Edward VI, her sister Mary Tudor inherited the throne. "Bloody" Mary, as she would become known, was a Roman Catholic and her reign saw the persecution of many Protestants. In an attempt to dethrone Mary, Protestants led by Thomas Wyatt started a rebellion. Mary insisted that her sister was active in the uprising and had her imprisoned in the Tower of London. After a few treacherous months she was released and sent away to an estate under the constant watch of her sister. However, Elizabeth never gave in to her sister's demand of converting to Roman Catholicism.
In 1558, Mary died and Elizabeth became queen. Faced with a country that was reeling from religious differences, Elizabeth once again made the Church of England the official religion, although retaining some Roman Catholic traditions in the church by issuing the 39 Articles of 1563, which was designed to prevent the country from further turmoil. Her tolerance of Roman Catholicism would wane in her later years as assassination plots were uncovered that originated in at the hands of Roman Catholics that sought to reestablish a Roman Catholic queen. Pope Pius V excommunicated her in 1570 in hope of an uprising that would allow a Roman Catholic to once again restore the faith to England. During the 1580's her tolerance ran out and sent many to their death.
The figure in the conspiracies that was to take Elizabeth's position as monarch was Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. After the suspicious death of her second husband, Lord Darnley, in 1566, Mary, along with the Earl of Bothwell whom she had grown very close to had been accused of assassinating the King. She was forced to leave Scotland and sought the protection of Elizabeth in England. During a nearly twenty-year stay, the former Queen of Scots was more than once suspected of conspiring to overthrow Elizabeth and become Queen of England, but Elizabeth long refused to have her executed. Only after her role in the Babington Plot was uncovered did Elizabeth allow her execution in 1587. I think this might be over kill but it has all the info you need to know!!, good luck on any further assighnments
~razerthebrainieace
