Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I

Anne Boleyn gave birth to Elizabeth I on September 7, 1533. Elizabeth's father, Henry VIII, had Anne executed before Elizabeth reached the age of three. Some believe that he had this done because Anne did not produce a male heir to the throne (Weir 12-13). After the death of Elizabeth's stepsister, Mary, Elizabeth won the claim to the throne. When Elizabeth came to power, many problems plagued her island country. During Elizabeth's reign, many problems arose, but using her intellectual ability, she maneuvered her small country through the times of hardship.

The first step in navigating her country through times of trouble laid in the foundation of her education as a child. According to Weir, Katherine Parr, Elizabeth's stepmother, and Henry greatly affected the progress of Elizabeth's education; they both demanded that Elizabeth experience the highest quality of learning. Roger Ascham, a Cambridge scholar and convert to the Protestant faith, educated Elizabeth (12-13). Elizabeth always quested for knowledge; one of her teachers commented that "her perseverance is equal to that of a man, and her memory long keeps what it quickly picks" (renaissance 1). Today, we know that a woman's intelligence equals, if not exceeds, that of a man, but in the time that her teacher made this comment, it truly expressed a great respect for her intellect.

In the age that Elizabeth lived, a royal marriage always affected politics and the economy; therefore she had to make a thoughtful decision on whether or not to marry, and if she did choose to marry, who would become her husband. Two outcomes of marriage existed in Elizabeth's era; England would experience a growth in foreign relations, and the marriage could produc...

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...ish shoreline after the Armada's defeat (Erickson 376-377).

Elizabeth died at the age of sixty-nine still known as the 'Virgin Queen.' Her reign, though plagued with conflicts that threatened to rip her small country apart, ended with her country having a strong and secure economy. Near the end of Elizabeth's reign and stretching past the time of her death, England experienced a great literary period, which people now refer to as the Elizabethan age.

Bibliography:

Works Cited

Erickson, Carolly. The First Elizabeth. New York: Summit Books, 1983.

Levine, Joseph M. Elizabeth I. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1969.

Neale, J. E. Queen Elizabeth I. New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1957.

"Queen Elizabeth I." Renaissance Faire. January 2001.

Weir, Alison. The Life of Elizabeth I. New York: Ballantine Books, 1998.