Elizabeth I
(1533-1603), queen of England and
Ireland (1558-1603), daughter
of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Elizabeth was the
longest-reigning English monarch in nearly two centuries and the first woman to
successfully occupy the English throne. Called Glorianna and Good Queen Bess,
Elizabeth enjoyed enormous popularity during her life and became an even greater
legend after her death.
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife Anne Boleyn,
ruled England from 1558 to 1603 during what is known as the Elizabethan Age.
Elizabeth’s reign was a time of great prosperity and achievement, and her court
was a center for poets, writers, musicians, and scholars.Hulton Deutsch
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Elizabeth’s reign was marked by her effective use of Parliament and the Privy
Council, a small advisory body of the important state officials, and by the
development of legal institutions in the English counties. Elizabeth firmly
established Protestantism in England, encouraged English enterprise and
commerce, and defended the nation against the powerful Spanish naval force known
as the Spanish Armada. Her reign was noted for the English Renaissance, an
outpouring of poetry and drama led by William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser, and
Christopher Marlowe that remains unsurpassed in English literary history (see
English Literature). She was the last of the Tudor monarchs, never marrying or
producing an heir, and was succeeded by her cousin, James VI of Scotland.
II BACKGROUND AND EARLY LIFE
Elizabeth was born at Greenwich Palace in London on September 7, 1533. Her
parents, Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, wanted a son as heir and were not pleased
with the birth of a daughter. When she was two her mother was beheaded for
adultery, and Elizabeth was exiled from court. She was later placed under the
protection of Catherine Parr, Henry’s sixth wife, and educated in the same
household as her half-brother, Edward. Both were raised Protestant. The noted
scholar Roger Ascham later served as her tutor, and he educated her as a
potential heir to the throne rather than as an insignificant daughter of the
monarch. Elizabeth underwent rigorous training in Greek, Latin, rhetoric, and
philosophy and was an intellectually gifted pupil.
Edward VI succeeded his father in 1547 at the age of nine. Because of her
position as a member of the royal family, Elizabeth became a pawn in the
intrigues of the nobles who governed in the boy’s name. One of them twice
proposed marriage to her. When her Roman Catholic half-sister, Mary I, inherited
the crown in 1553, Elizabeth faced different dangers. She was now sought out to
lead Protestant conspiracies, despite the fact that she had supported Mary’s
accession and attended Catholic services. In 1554 Mary had Elizabeth imprisoned
in the Tower of London, briefly threatened her with execution, and then placed
her under house arrest. Elizabeth lived quietly at her family’s country retreat
north of London until she became queen upon her sister’s death in 1558.
Elizabeth’s experiences as a child and young adult helped her develop keen
political instincts that allowed her to skillfully balance aristocratic factions
and court favorites during her long reign.
III ELIZABETHAN ECONOMY
The nation that Elizabeth inherited was experiencing a steady increase in
population. During the 16th century the population of England and Wales would
roughly double, and by Elizabeth’s death in 1603 would reach 5 million. The
continued population growth placed strains on the economy, which was made worse
by serious harvest failures in every decade of Elizabeth’s reign. Prices for
food and clothing skyrocketed in what became known as the Great Inflation. The
1590s were the worst years of the century, marked by starvation, epidemic
disease, and roving bands of vagrants looking for work.
Elizabeth’s government enacted legislation known as the Poor Laws, which made
every local parish responsible for its own poor, created workhouses, and
severely punished homeless beggars. Parliament also passed bills to ensure fair
prices in times of shortage and to regulate wages in times of unemployment. One
of the queen’s most important economic decisions was to issue a new currency
that contained a standard amount of precious metal. This raised confidence in
the currency and also allowed businesses to enter into long-term financial
contracts.
During Elizabeth’s reign, England expanded trade overseas and the merchant
community grew. Private shipbuilding boomed and navigational advances made long
sea voyages safer. England’s chief commodity was woolen cloth, traded mostly at
the Dutch port of Antwerp for finished goods and such luxuries as French wines.
Cloth exports grew over the course of the reign, but suffered from competition
from finer Spanish products and from Antwerp’s decline after its harbor silted
up and became impassable by the mid-1560s. In the 1560s financier Sir Thomas
Gresham founded the Royal Exchange to help merchants find secure markets for
their goods.
The desire to expand overseas trade was also a motive in the ventures of English
explorers.
At the same time, new enterprises like the Muscovy Company were chartered to
find outlets for English products. In 1600 the government granted the English
East India Company
a monopoly to trade in Asia, Africa, and America. The desire
to expand overseas trade was also a motive in the ventures of English explorers
such as Sir Francis Drake, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, and Sir Walter Raleigh. Such
adventurers established the first English outposts in North America.
IV ELIZABETHAN RELIGION
Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots, who ascended to the throne scarcely a
week after her birth, grew to be a Catholic monarch in a Protestant land. In
1565 she married the Scottish Catholic lord Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, father
of the future James I of England. After his death, she married James Hepburn,
4th earl of Bothwell, but the resulting fury of the Scots nobles forced her to
abdicate and escape to England. Kept as a virtual prisoner by Elizabeth I of
England, she joined Catholic plots to topple her fellow queen, and in 1587
Elizabeth reluctantly agreed to her execution.Giraudon/Bridgeman Art Library,
London/New York
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Elizabeth’s accession marked the final change in the nation’s official religion.
Her father and half-brother established Protestantism in England, but her
half-sister, Mary, attempted forcibly to restore Catholicism. As Henry VIII’s
reign had terrorized Catholics, so Mary’s persecuted Protestants. Under Mary,
prominent Protestant clergymen were either executed or they fled abroad. The
power of the pope was reestablished in England, though even Mary could do
nothing to restore the church lands sold off during Henry’s reign.
Elizabeth inherited a highly charged religious situation, which she handled with
great skill. Although there was never any doubt she would return England to
Protestantism, Elizabeth had to contend with opposition from both Catholics and
radical Protestants. Catholic bishops and peers controlled the House of Lords
and fought Elizabeth’s first attempts to bring back Protestantism. Protestants
exiled under the reign of Mary I returned to England, and many brought with them
new and radical Protestant ideas, especially those of John Calvin, a French
religious reformer. Calvin stressed the importance of predestination, the belief
that salvation was predetermined for some people and not for others. Calvin also
wanted the clergy to play a less important role in the state church and to
concern themselves with preaching the gospel rather than in becoming bishops.
Under Elizabeth, England again broke with the pope, Catholic services were
forbidden, priests were allowed to marry, and relics and decorations were
removed from the churches. In attempting to diffuse the religious situation,
Elizabeth tried to accommodate Catholic sensibilities in matters she judged less
essential. She used Parliament to establish the official doctrine of the new
church, which ensured that the voice of Catholic peers would be heard. Under the
Act of Supremacy, she assumed the title of Supreme Governor of the Church,
rather than the title of Supreme Head, a move to placate critics because Supreme
Governor sounded less powerful. She would not allow retaliation against those
who had assisted Mary, and she treated with some leniency those who refused to
swear an oath to her supremacy.
The English form of Protestantism was defined in part by two measures enacted
during Elizabeth’s reign—the Act of Uniformity of 1559 and the Thirty-nine
Articles of 1563. The Act of Uniformity established a common prayer book and set
the basic ceremonies of the church. The Thirty-nine Articles established
religious doctrine that governed the church until the English Revolution in the
1640s. Both acts were compromises that favored the views of more conservative or
moderate Protestant groups.
Elizabeth viewed the church as an inseparable part of her monarchy and would not
tolerate challenges to it. Such challenges came from both Catholics, who clung
to the old faith and plotted to remove the queen, and from Puritans, radical
Protestants who wanted to abolish all traces of Catholicism (see Puritanism).
Catholic challenges and plots persisted through much of Elizabeth’s reign, and
Elizabeth reacted to them strongly. In 1569 a group of powerful Catholic nobles
in northern England rose in rebellion but were savagely repressed. The northern
earls were executed, their property and those of their followers was
confiscated, and their heirs were deprived of their inheritance. In 1570 the
pope excommunicated Elizabeth, sanctioning Catholic efforts to dethrone her. In
1571 an international conspiracy was uncovered to assassinate her in favor of
her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots. Although Mary was beheaded in 1587 after years
of being at the center of Catholic plots against Elizabeth, such plots did not
end until England defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588.
The significance of the Elizabethan religious settlement is that it was able to
hold the vast majority of the people together.
Elizabeth’s battles against the Puritans were less conclusive. She suspended
Archbishop of Canterbury Edmund Grindal when he would not punish Puritans who
refused to kneel or make the sign of the cross. She also imprisoned a member of
Parliament in
1576 for introducing a bill to change the prayer book, and she
refused to accept the Lambeth Articles of 1595, which contained a Calvinist, and
more radical, interpretation of the doctrine of predestination. But Elizabeth’s
efforts did not stop the Puritans from criticizing the established church,
attacking bishops, and converting others to their views. The significance of the
Elizabethan religious settlement is that it was able to hold the vast majority
of the people together, despite being a compromise few would have chosen.
V ELIZABETHAN GOVERNMENT
The 45-year reign of Elizabeth I as queen of England and Ireland (1558-1603) was
so influential it became known as the Elizabethan Age. During her rule,
Elizabeth helped shaped the future of England, creating a stable monarchy,
developing legal institutions, encouraging commerce, establishing the Protestant
religion as England’s faith, and defending the nation against Spanish forces. In
1601, near the end of her reign, Elizabeth delivered to Parliament what came to
be known as her Golden Speech. The speech demonstrates Elizabeth’s skills of
oratory as well as her devotion to her people.
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The difficulties Elizabeth experienced governing the English state were enhanced
by prejudices against women rulers. Though she presented herself in the
traditional images of the monarchy, such as carrying the sword of state,
commissioning a portrait showing her bestriding the counties of England, and
even appearing in armor, Elizabeth realized the importance of securing the
cooperation of powerful men in order to rule effectively. She made extensive use
of the Privy Council and summoned ten parliaments during her reign. She used
Parliament to raise taxes and to endorse her policies, but also allowed its
members to suggest laws regarding local issues, something rarely permitted by
prior monarchs. The House of Lords and the House of Commons both grew in size
during her reign, but they remained councils of the queen rather than parts of
an independent legislature. When she did not like the advice Parliament offered,
she ended its sessions.
Elizabeth effectively expanded royal government by increasing the role of
sheriffs in the counties and by relying upon justices of the peace to perform
the basic administrative work of local government. Thousands of gentlemen served
in this capacity, each an official, if unpaid, member of the regime. Meeting in
quarter sessions (that is, in sessions held four times a year), justices
enforced everything from the Poor Laws to statutes against theft.
At the center of her government, Elizabeth was fortunate in having a succession
of capable ministers, including Sir Nicholas Bacon, Sir Francis Walsingham, and
Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester, who was her personal favorite. She favored
Leicester so extensively their relationship became the subject of rumors. But
the ablest of all Elizabethan ministers was William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley,
who held the offices of secretary and treasurer. Burghley served the queen
loyally for 40 years and more than anyone else guided Elizabeth’s policies.
Burghley’s lifelong concern was for the queen to provide an heir for succession.
Having refused suitors pressed upon her when a princess, as a queen, Elizabeth
was never able to make a decision to marry and she had no desire to share power
with a husband. She rejected her sister Mary’s husband, Philip II, king of
Spain, who wished to remain allied with English naval power, as well as nearly
every eligible European royal bachelor, including a future king of France. At
first Burghley feared Elizabeth would marry his rival, the earl of Leicester,
whose wife had died under mysterious circumstances. Then he feared Elizabeth
might suddenly die, throwing the kingdom into chaos, a fear magnified by her
bout with smallpox in 1562.
The failure to settle the succession encouraged aristocratic factions to grow
around the queen. Until her execution, Mary, Queen of Scots, was a focus of
intrigue. In her prime, Elizabeth was adept at balancing competing claimants for
her favor, keeping them loyal and dependent. But toward the end of her reign,
the contest between Burghley and Robert Devereux, earl of Essex, led to an open
rebellion against her. Essex’s attempt to overthrow Elizabeth in 1601 was
successfully put down, but it demonstrated that the queen’s power had weakened.
VI FOREIGN POLICY
The Spanish Armada In an attempt to invade England in 1588, King Philip II of
Spain amassed a huge armada of 130 ships carrying almost 30,000 men. They were
met by an even larger fleet deployed by Queen Elizabeth I to defend England.
After several indecisive engagements, the English fleet defeated the Spanish
armada off the coast of Calais, France. Only 67 of the 130 Spanish ships
returned safely to Spain.
The failure to secure her succession was also a factor in the international
struggles for power in which England engaged. Because she would not marry a
Catholic prince, she was drawn into the conflicts of European Protestants.
Elizabeth came to the throne in 1558 at the end of a disastrous war that her
sister Mary fought against France. One of Elizabeth’s first acts was to conclude
a treaty that gave up English control over the French port of Calais, a blow to
England’s prestige. Despite this truce, trouble with France continued over
developments in Scotland. Mary, Queen of Scots, a Catholic, was married briefly
to the king of France, and after his death in 1560 returned to rule Scotland.
But Scotland was undergoing its own Protestant Reformation that was supported by
Elizabeth and, with France’s assistance, opposed by Mary. In 1568 Mary lost her
Scottish crown and was exiled to England, where she continued to conspire
against Elizabeth.
In 1588 Queen Elizabeth I of England spoke to her naval troops at the port of
Tilbury, located outside of London on the Thames River, before their battles
with the Spanish Armada off the English coast. Her personal appearance did much
for her popularity, and the defeat of the Spanish fleet was a decisive factor in
ensuring England’s naval and imperial supremacy over the following decades.
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A similar struggle took place on French soil in 1562 and 1563, as French
Protestants, supported by Elizabeth, fought for religious freedom from their
Catholic monarch. English military expeditions to Scotland and France proved
expensive and ineffective. Troops were badly trained, poorly equipped, and none
too eager for battle. Most importantly, Elizabeth never gave her wholehearted
support to the French Protestants, whom she regarded as rebels against their
monarch.
In late November of 1597, French ambassador André Hurault arrived in England to
meet with Queen Elizabeth on behalf of France and France’s king, Henri IV.
Hurault went to England to learn the queen’s position on ending the war between
England and Spain that had begun in 1585. Hurault’s journal entries of his
visits with Elizabeth, excerpted below, provide a glimpse of royal life in the
late 1500s.
The most significant English international expeditions were in support of the
Dutch Protestants. In 1581 the Dutch, then part of the Spanish Empire,
proclaimed their independence, which was contested by Philip II of Spain, a
Catholic. Spain was the most powerful nation in Europe, and the Dutch could not
hope to survive as an independent nation without outside help. The earl of
Leicester persuaded a reluctant Elizabeth to support the Dutch Protestants, and
in 1585 he was given command of an army that fought with the Dutch. The campaign
was a disaster—not only did it fail to prevent the loss of the crucial port of
Antwerp, but it also roused the anger of Philip II against England.
The defeat of the Spanish Armada was the high point of the queen’s reign and
united the nation.
Philip feared that English assistance would hinder his efforts to reconquer the
Dutch, especially since English ships could easily send vital supplies. In 1587
Philip began organizing an immense naval fleet, the Spanish Armada, for a direct
attack upon England. His objectives were to destroy the English navy, force
Elizabeth out of the war in the Netherlands, and gain concessions for English
Catholics. The Spanish Armada, one of the most powerful fighting forces ever
known, was no match for the “Protestant wind” that blew many of the Spanish
ships off course in August 1588, or for the smaller, swifter English vessels
that were able to fire cannonballs more quickly than the Spanish galleons. The
defeat of the Spanish Armada was the high point of the queen’s reign and united
the nation. But it did not end the war with Spain, which continued for the
remaining 15 years of Elizabeth’s life. She died on March 23, 1603, and was
succeeded by her cousin James VI of Scotland, who became James I of England.
VII ASSESSMENT
When Elizabeth died, one of the great epochs of English history ended. Her
45-year rule decisively shaped the future of England as a stable monarchy
governed through the cooperation of crown and local elites. The roles played by
Parliament and the justices of the peace, two of the most characteristic of all
English institutions, solidified during her reign and were indispensable
thereafter. The Protestant religion was firmly established as England’s faith,
and though religious conflict was to be a serious problem for another century,
it was within the context of the Elizabethan church settlement that the battles
were fought. The defeat of the Spanish Armada was a cause for national
celebration, and “Glorious ’88” was spoken of generations later when Elizabeth’s
birthday was still celebrated as a national holiday. The defeat of Spain
established the glory of the English navy and inspired merchants and explorers
toward colonization of a wider world.
