Elizabeth I
Elizabeth was born on the 7th of September 1533 at Greenwich Palace. Her mother Anne Boleyn had been Henry VIII's second wife. The infant became heir presumptive to the English throne immediately after birth. Her elder half-sister Mary lost her position as a legitimate heir when Henry annulled his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Elizabeth was two years and eight months old when her mother was beheaded on the 19th of May 1536. Four months later Catherine of Aragon died from natural causes. Eleven days after Anne Boleyn's execution Henry married Jane Seymour. Queen Jane died the next year shortly after the birth of their son Edward. Elizabeth was declared illegitimate and deprived of her place in the royal succession.
Catherine Champernowne better known by her married name Kat Ashley was appointed as Elizabeth's governess in 1537. She taught Elizabeth four languages: French Dutch Italian and Spanish. By 1544 William Grindal became her tutor and she progressed in Greek. At age twelve she translated her stepmother Catherine Parr's religious work Prayers or Meditations into three languages. Elizabeth also played the virginal harpsichord and lute under Philip van Wilder. Thomas Seymour Baron Seymour of Sudeley took Elizabeth into his household at Chelsea after Henry VIII died in 1547. The 14-year-old girl experienced an emotional crisis during this period. Thomas Seymour entered her bedroom in his nightgown tickled her and slapped her buttocks. Her stepmother Catherine Parr joined in the horseplay twice before ending it. In January 1549 Seymour was arrested for conspiring to marry Lady Jane Grey and take Elizabeth as his wife. He was beheaded on the 20th of March 1549 while Elizabeth lived at Hatfield House.
Mary I died on the 17th of November 1558 and Elizabeth became queen at age 25. She declared her intentions to council members who had come to Hatfield to swear allegiance. On the 15th of January 1559 a date chosen by astrologer John Dee Elizabeth was crowned in Westminster Abbey. The ceremony included a deafening noise from organs fifes trumpets drums and bells. Parliament began legislating for a church based on Edward VI's Protestant settlement in 1559. The Act of Supremacy became law on the 8th of May 1559 forcing all public officials to swear loyalty to the monarch as Supreme Governor. Elizabeth accepted the title of Supreme Governor rather than Supreme Head because many thought it unacceptable for a woman. The new Act of Uniformity made attendance at church compulsory using the 1559 Book of Common Prayer. Penalties for recusancy were not extreme despite the requirement to attend Catholic Mass under Mary's reign.
From the start of Elizabeth's reign it was expected that she would marry. She received many offers but never married or produced an heir. In spring 1559 it became evident that Elizabeth was in love with Robert Dudley. His wife Amy died in September 1560 from a fall down stairs though many suspected foul play. William Cecil Nicholas Throckmorton and conservative peers made their disapproval clear. Elizabeth raised Dudley to the peerage as Earl of Leicester in 1564. He finally married Lettice Knollys in 1578 causing the queen repeated scenes of displeasure. Dudley remained at the center of her emotional life until his death after the Spanish Armada defeat in 1588. A note marked his last letter by her handwriting was found among her belongings after her own death. She told an imperial envoy in 1563: If I follow the inclination of my nature it is this: beggar-woman and single far rather than queen and married.
Mary Queen of Scots was considered by many to be the rightful heir to the English crown. Mary returned to Scotland in 1561 but refused to ratify the Treaty of Edinburgh. She married Henry Stuart Lord Darnley who carried his own claim to the English throne in 1565. Darnley was murdered in February 1567 by conspirators led by James Hepburn Earl of Bothwell. Mary married Bothwell on the 15th of May 1567 arousing suspicions she had been party to the murder. The Scottish lords forced her to abdicate in favor of her one-year-old son James VI. Mary escaped in 1568 but sailed to England where Elizabeth detained her for nineteen years. In 1569 a major Catholic rising in the North aimed to free Mary and put her on the throne. Over 750 rebels were executed on Elizabeth's orders after their defeat. Pope Pius V issued Regnans in Excelsis in 1570 declaring Elizabeth excommunicated. Francis Walsingham uncovered plots including the Babington Plot of 1586 which provided evidence against Mary. On the 8th of February 1587 Mary was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle Northamptonshire.
Francis Drake undertook a year-long voyage raiding Spanish ports from 1577 to 1580. He knighted Drake after his circumnavigation of the globe. In 1587 he made a successful raid on Cádiz destroying the Spanish fleet intended for the Enterprise of England. The Spanish Armada set sail for the channel on the 12th of July 1588 planning to ferry an invasion force under the Duke of Parma. English fire ships attacked the Spanish fleet off Gravelines at midnight on 28, the 29th of July dispersing the ships. The armada straggled home to Spain in shattered remnants after losses on the coast of Ireland. Elizabeth addressed troops at Tilbury in Essex on the 8th of August wearing a silver breastplate over white velvet. The victory became potent propaganda for Protestant England though the war continued for another sixteen years. An English Counter Armada sent in 1589 suffered catastrophic defeat with 11,000 to 15,000 killed or wounded. Privateers known as Elizabethan Sea Dogs including Drake Hawkins and Raleigh took part in lucrative expeditions. A Portuguese Carrack named Madre de Deus taken off the Azores in 1592 was worth half the wealth of the English treasury.
Humphrey Gilbert sailed west in 1583 to establish a colony in Newfoundland but never returned. Walter Raleigh explored the Atlantic Coast and claimed territory named Virginia extending from New England to the Carolinas. In 1585 Raleigh landed on Roanoke Island off present-day North Carolina. When he returned in 1590 there was no trace of the colony. On the 31st of December 1600 merchants received a charter from Elizabeth forming the East India Company. James Lancaster commanded the first expedition establishing a factory at Bantum on Java in 1602. The company held a monopoly on English trade east of the Cape of Good Hope for fifteen years. Anthony Jenkinson became Queen's special ambassador to Tsar Ivan the Terrible after beginning his career with the Muscovy Company. Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud visited England in 1600 as an ambassador from Morocco to negotiate an alliance against Spain. William Harborne was dispatched as the first English ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in 1578.
Lord Burghley died on the 4th of August 1598 leaving Robert Cecil to lead the government. Factional strife emerged between Robert Devereux Earl of Essex and Robert Cecil during the 1590s. Essex tried to raise a rebellion in London in February 1601 but few rallied to his support. He was beheaded on the 25th of February 1601. Elizabeth fell sick in March 1603 remaining in a settled melancholy. She died on the 24th of March 1603 aged 69 at Richmond Palace between two and three in the morning. A few hours later Cecil and the council proclaimed James king of England. Her coffin was carried downriver at night to Whitehall on a barge lit with torches. The funeral took place on the 28th of April with the hearse drawn by four horses hung with black velvet. Elizabeth was interred in Westminster Abbey in the vault of her grandfather Henry VII. In 1606 her coffin was moved to a vault below.
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Common questions
When was Elizabeth I born and who were her parents?
Elizabeth I was born on the 7th of September 1533 at Greenwich Palace to Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Her mother Anne Boleyn had been Henry VIII's second wife before being beheaded when Elizabeth was two years and eight months old.
How did Elizabeth I become queen of England and Ireland in 1558?
Mary I died on the 17th of November 1558 allowing Elizabeth to become queen at age 25. She declared her intentions to council members at Hatfield House before being crowned in Westminster Abbey on the 15th of January 1559.
Why did Elizabeth I never marry or produce an heir during her reign from 1558 to 1603?
Elizabeth received many marriage offers but chose to remain single as she told an imperial envoy in 1563 that she preferred to be a beggar-woman and single rather than queen and married. She remained in love with Robert Dudley until his death after the Spanish Armada defeat in 1588.
What happened to Mary Queen of Scots under Elizabeth I's rule?
Mary escaped Scotland in 1568 and sailed to England where Elizabeth detained her for nineteen years. On the 8th of February 1587 Mary was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle Northamptonshire following evidence uncovered by Francis Walsingham regarding the Babington Plot of 1586.
How did Elizabeth I respond to the Spanish Armada attack in 1588?
The Spanish Armada set sail for the channel on the 12th of July 1588 but English fire ships attacked the fleet off Gravelines at midnight on the 29th of July dispersing the ships. Elizabeth addressed troops at Tilbury in Essex on the 8th of August wearing a silver breastplate over white velvet before the armada straggled home to Spain.