Queen Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth I Queen Elizabeth, the first, proved to be a very good and loyal monarch to England. She brought about many changes, both good and bad. On September 7, 1533 a baby girl came into the world. Back then many parents would have been greatly disappointed to have had a baby girl, rather then a boy. However these parents were glad by the birth of their first child together. These proud parents were the king and queen of England, King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. The girl child was named Elizabeth. The only reason for the birth of Elizabeth had been that she would have been male so that he could have been the heir to King Henry the VIII. It wasn’t until two years later that Henry realized he wasn’t going to get a healthy male heir from Anne Boleyn. She had miscarried twice before delivering a stillborn son. When Elizabeth was two her father had her mother beheaded for adultery and treason, this was just a way to rid himself of her rather then get a divorce. This was not Henry’s first wife; this was his second wife. His first wife had also born him a female child. He had divorced her in hopes that he would get an heir from Anne. With his first wife, Catherine, he had a daughter, which they named Mary. Between the time of Elizabeth’s mothers death and 1537 Henry married yet again. The woman was named Jane Seymour and she cared greatly for Elizabeth. She forced Henry to take Elizabeth back into the house, as it was, Elizabeth had been sent away for schooling and whatnot. In 1537 Elizabeth’s new stepmother, Jane Seymour, gave birth to a son, the birth of this son however brought about the death of Jane from bed fever. The child was named Edward.

Once Edward had been born Elizabeth faded into the background, everyday receiving less and less attention. From the time Edward was born Elizabeth spent a lot of time with him. Growing up they were very close, they spent all of their spare time together. The only real time that the two of them were apart was when it came to schooling. She received her education under the famous scholar and humanist Roger Ascham. Under his guidance, Elizabeth studied Greek and Roman classics, read history and theology, and learned both classical and modern languages. She was considered extremely intelligent, and records say that, in her youth, she spoke six languages. In 1547 He...

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...izabeth’s favorites, to whom she had given lucrative and much resented monopolies. By the turn of the century, even her admirers, such as Sir Walter Raleigh, said she was "a lady surprised by time". Queen Elizabeth had never married and had never born any children this brought about the nicknames such as Good Queen Bess, and The Virgin Queen. Oftentimes poets compared her to the Moon Goddess, to a Virgin and Fertility Goddess, the bringer of justice, and the cornerstone of the Empire. Painters portrayed her in impossible magnificence and with the symbols of peace, virtue, majesty, and truth. During Elizabeth’s reign there was a boom of the arts that would be impossible for almost any other period of English history to match. Edmund Spencer, Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare, and Ben Johnson are great names not only in English literature, but also in World literature. The English Renaissance was a highlight that appeared bloody, dark, and dreary. Elizabeth’s reign was and still is sometimes referred to as the Elizabethan Period. Shortly before Queen Elizabeth died on March 24, 1603, she designated James VI of Scotland as her successor.