The Life of Queen Elizabeth I

The Life of Queen Elizabeth I

Queen Elizabeth was born in Greenwich Palace on September 7, 1533.

She died on March 24, 1603, of natural causes. Her father was Henry VII.

His second wife, Anne Boleyn was Elizabeth's mother. King Henry wanted a

son, but received a daughter, instead, from his second wife. Before

Elizabeth's third birthday, Henry had her mother beheaded on charges of

adultery and treason.

Elizabeth was brought up in a separate household at Hatfield (not

known). King Henry's third wife gave birth to a son. This boy was named

Edward. Edward was declared first in line for King Henry's throne, while

Mary (Daughter of Henry's first wife) was declared second, and Elizabeth

was declared third and last in line for the throne.

Elizabeth received a thorough education that was normally reserved for

men. She was taught by special tutors of whom, the most known, was a

Cambridge humanist by the name of Roger Ascham. Roger Ascham wrote about

Elizabeth, "Her mind has no womanly weakness. Her perseverance is equal to

that of a man and her memory long keeps what it quickly picks up. With the

help of these tutors, she was not only fluent in two languages, but in four

languages. She was fluent in the languages of Greek, Latin, French, and

Italian.

When Henry died in 1547, her brother, Edward, took over the throne at

ten years of age. Edward, with a short reign on the throne, died in 1553,

and Elizabeth's half, older sister, Mary took the throne. Mary, like

Edward, died on November 17, 1558, after a short time on the throne.In

October 1562, Queen Elizabeth almost died of small pox.

In 1584, Europe's other major protestant leader, William of Orange,

was assassinat...

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...ious, and economic forces and over her representation of

herself began to show severe strains.

Bad harvests, continued inflation, and unemployment caused strain and

a loss of public morale. Charge of corruption and greed led to widespread

popular hatred of the Queen's favourite, to whom she had given large and

much-resented monopolies.

Queen Elizabeth continued to make brilliant speeches, to exercise her

authority. But she suffered from bouts of melancholy, ill health, and

showed signs of increasing debility. As Sir Walter Raleigh remarked, "a

lady surprised by time."

On march 24, 1603, having reportedly indicated JAMES VI as her

successor, Queen Elizabeth died quietly. The nation accepted the new King

quite enthusiastically.

But long before her death, she had transformed herself into a powerful

image of female authority.