Monarch of
England and
Wales, born
1533, reigned from
1558 until
1603. Nicknamed the
Virgin Queen.
The second
daughter of
Henry VIII, Elizabeth came to the
throne during a troubled period in England's
history. Bitter
fighting was taking place between
Catholics who wished to remain loyal to
Rome and those who wanted to follow Henry's new
English Catholic Church (soon to become the
Protestant Church of England). Elizabeth's sister,
Mary was a devout Catholic and on the
death at the age of
20 of their younger brother
Edward VI both Mary and Elizabeth contested the throne. (
side note:
Lady Jane Grey was Queen of England for 10 days during this period before being sent to the
Tower and
beheaded).
Political machinations ensured that Mary was
imprisoned and when she died five years later Elizabeth was crowned Queen.
Many people see Elizabeth's reign as the British
Golden Age: certainly she oversaw a massive period of
discovery which saw the British
Navy come to
rule the waves following the defeat of the
Spanish Armada, with famous
fighters and
sailors such as
Sir Walter Raleigh and
Sir Francis Drake amongst her favourites at various times.
William Shakespeare also lived during Elizabeth's reign, and the first
tentative colonisation of "
The New World" began (the modern
American State of
Virginia is named in honour of Elizabeth).