Queen Elizabeth I Queen of England Born September 7, 1533 – Died March 24, 1603

Queen Elizabeth I Another disappointment! Another step to the gallows! September 7th 1533: Queen Elizabeth was born to Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.

Queen Elizabeth I She was born in a dangerous time because her father was very aggressive and desperately wanted a son to succeed him. Henry's first wife, Catherine of Aragon, had given him only one daughter who would later be Queen Mary I. He wanted to get a divorce, because then he could marry the beautiful Anne Boleyn, whom he thought would produce sons for him.

Unfortunately for Henry, the Pope did not allow divorces, so Henry broke the Catholic tradition and invented the Protestant Church of England. Then the Pope had no influence on England and could not dictate what Henry did.

E lizabeth did not have an easy life at the court. Her father was angry that she was a girl and not a boy. P lus, her mother was executed when Elizabeth was 3 years old.This was a good excuse for Henry needing to remarry...

A fter her mother was put to death, Henry invalidated his marriage to Anne Boleyn. This way Henry could marry again, this time to Jane Seymour - who finally gave him the son he wanted. T his meant, however, that Elizabeth had to live in a place called Hatfield House. A country home far away from the castle and kingdom.

E lizabeth was a very sensible and precocious girl. Although she had just a small chance of becoming queen - she was the daughter of the King, therefore could enjoy an almost royal upbringing.

E lizabeth mastered her studies of classic literature, rhetoric, history and moral philosophy with the help of her teacher Roger Ascham. S he valued her education, above just about anything else, because she understood that a future Queen, to be successful, had to be very smart.

Moreover she learned 4 foreign languages: Italian French Greek Latin

F inally, after more than a decade, Catherine Parr, Henry‘s 6th wife, allowed Elizabeth to come back to the royal court.

Important year: In the year 1547, the wife murderer, HENRY VIII died.

Queen Elizabeth I T he successor of Henry VIII was his only son, 10-year-old and sickly Edward. E verybody expected him to die soon, which meant that Mary, Henry‘s first daughter would be Queen next. C atherine Parr was the only wife to survive Henry VIII and she later married Lord High Admiral Thomas Seymour.

Important year: In the year 1553, EDWARD died and MARY I became queen!

Queen Elizabeth I Mary was known as Bloody Mary, because she actively persecuted the Protestants of England. She hated her father, Henry VIII, for what he did to her mother and therefore hated all Protestants. This was a very difficult time for the people of England and led to a large migratory period to America. When Mary finally died in 1559, people were less than mournful.

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth was crowned Queen of England in1559, in Westminster Abbey 1559: Through the change of the Act of Sovereignty and the Act of Uniformity, she tried to unite England in religion and domestic politics. She wanted both Catholics and Protestants to be able to live side by side without being persecuted. This created a great love for her by her subjects.

Elizabeth was a master of political science. She showed great wisdom by getting round the decisions of the Parliament, playing one off against another. Only a few English Kings or Queens enjoyed such political power, while they still enjoyed the loyalty of the English society. She knew, as a woman, one of her greatest political moves would be to choose a husband. This choice would tie her to another country though and make England‘s future bound to the future of whichever other country she chose. Her smart political move then, was to choose no one and not get married. This solidified her as one of the most intelligent rulers of England‘s history.

Queen Elizabeth I Philip II of Spain was not happy about his however. He wanted to marry her to be in partial control of England and to gain power for Spain, but Elizabeth was doing things that set him up as an enemy. First she was aiding the Netherlands with troops, and she helped them to fight against the Spanish rule. Her pirates attacked his ships and stole their cargo ; And worst of all, Elizabeth obviously refused him to marry when he asked.

All of this led to Philip sending his Spanish Armada to attack England. Philip II sent his Armada to invade England in The English had been preparing for this since Mary‘s death in But only less than half the Spanish fleet left the port. Queen Elizabeth I

THE BATTLE The Spanish galleons were large and difficult to manuever in comparison to the smaller and faster English ships.

THE BATTLE continued... The Armada was unable to land on the English shore because of the size of their ships. The soldiers couldn‘t come on land. But the use of land troops was an important part of Philip`s plan.

The English used fireboats to destroy the Armada. A fireboat is a unmanned ship which is covered in tar to sail into the opposing fleet The fireboats were also loaded with explosives and gunpowder. THE BATTLE continued...

The fireboats were so effective that the Armada was almost destroyed, killing the majority of the Spanish and none of the British. Only 67 ships returned to Spain. Overnight England became one of the most powerful countries in Europe. THE BATTLE continued...

Her numerous passions… Philosophy Language (spoken word and foreign languages) Writing & Reading (Poetry and plays, especially) The Performed Arts (She adored Shakespeare’s plays and spent money building stage houses) Art as a whole (She enjoyed decorating with paintings and elaborate tapestries) Entertainment (She wanted to laugh as much as possible) Music (She employed countless musicians during her reign) History Science

The end of her life 1601: Her “Golden speech” which gave an overview of the great performances during her reign 1603: Elizabeth died on March, 24th in London.