When King Henry VIII gave in to his passion and married Anne Boleyn, he could not know his union would produce one of history’s most famous and most fascinating figures : Queen Elizabeth I. Though her reign was marked by conflict and scandal, "Good Queen Bess" was one of the best-loved monarchs of England.

Henry was married to Catherine of Aragon when he became enchanted with Anne. To divorce his wife and marry his new love, the king renounced his country’s allegiance to the pope and the Roman Catholic Church – which forbade divorce – and created the Church of England with himself at its head. But after giving birth to Elizabeth, Anne fell from favour and Henry had her beheaded.

Treated as illegitimate after her mother’s death, Elizabeth was raised in Hertfordshire, far from court, facing an uncertain future: her best prospects were a mediocre marriage and a lifetime in a remote province; her worst, the risk of assassination. Nevertheless she received a superb education. Elizabeth learned to speak French, Italian and Spanish, was fascinated by ancient history, played several musical instruments, and danced and rode excellently. The dangers and hardships she experienced in her youth taught her the skills she would need as a queen; lying, deceit, negotiation, self-interest, and especially patience.

Elizabeth had to endure four of Henry’s marriages, the execution of her stepmother Katherine Howard as well as that of her own mother, and the reigns of her younger brother Edward and older sister Mary, before acceding to the throne herself at the age of twenty-five.

The Catholic Mary Tudor’s five year-reign of religious intolerance – during which Elizabeth was briefly imprisoned in the Tower of London – had earned her the sobriquet "Bloody Mary".  The strife continued when Elizabeth took the crown: the Calvinists tried to convince her to support the Reformation and eliminate the Church of England. But she preferred an Anglican hierarchy, with the throne as its head, to the independent power of Roman Catholicism or Calvinism. Working with good advisors, including Secretary of State William Cecil, she re-established the authority of the Anglican Church.

The Roman Catholics did not give up easily. In their eyes, Henry’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon was not legal, so Elizabeth was illegitimate. The Catholics rallied repeatedly behind her cousin, Henry’s great-niece Mary Stuart of Scotland, whom they considered the rightful claimant to the English throne. Elizabeth’s forces took Mary prisoner, but even in custody she remained a threat. Elizabeth’s refusal to marry and produce an heir aggravated the situation. Finally, Elizabeth had Mary beheaded for treason.

Religious conflict was not the only difficult issue Elizabeth faced upon becoming queen. The war against Spain, economic difficulties, and a society in upheaval beset her. But although vain and temperamental, Elizabeth let neither praise nor passion interfere with her wise and effective direction of the state of affairs.

Elizabeth had her favourites – notably Hatton, Raleigh, Dudley, and Essex – but would not take a husband. She inspected dozens of hopeful suitors, and listened to ambassadors from potential bridegrooms at length, making vague promises. A master of the art of procrastination, she led them all on.

Her private life, the subject of intense speculation, became legendary; she nurtured the legend. She was called the Virgin Queen, and never denied the label. Elizabeth was very emotional, and with those close to her she was familiar and outgoing. But lack of respect for the throne was never permitted: with merely a change in her tone of voice she quickly subdued any hint of insubordination. Cultivated and sensitive, she surrounded herself with poets and writers. The bright lights of the English Renaissance flourished during her reign: William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser, Christopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon.

Elizabeth’s great strength was her popularity. She had an instinct for adopting policies approved of by her subjects. A pragmatic monarch, she made no move before her advisers had studied the issue exhaustively, but she held the reins of government firmly in her own hands, exercising an almost absolute authority over Parliament.

During her reign England took its place as one of the premier powers in the world. Elizabeth was the first sovereign to pay heed to the cultural legacy her country would leave. The empire she began would continue to grow and dominate the world for centuries.

 

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