Queen+Elizabeth

Madison brown May6,2008 **__ QUEEN ELIZABETH __** Born in 1533 AD, Queen Elizabeth had many other names: the Virgin Queen, Glorianna, the Faerie Queen, and Good Queen Bess. She was the fifth and final monarch of the Tudor family of rulers. Her father was King Henry VIII and she was raised without a mother. Her mother, Anne Boleyn, was executed when Elizabeth was just three years old. Elizabeth was declared illegitimate! When Elizabeth turned twenty-five her half-sister Mary, who had had Elizabeth imprisoned in the Tower of London for three months, died. Elizabeth’s leadership began then. When Elizabeth became Queen, England welcomed her. Elizabeth was a bright woman herself who surrounded herself with smart people. When she began her rule, England was weak. Both France and Spain wanted to rule England and were powerful enough to succeed. With Queen Elizabeth’s military decision-making skills, she led the English Navy to victory over the Spanish Armada. Even though the English ships were smaller, Spain lost most of their ships in the battle. One of Elizabeth’s first decisions as Queen was to change the religion of England back to being Protestant. When Mary had been Queen, she had turned England into a Catholic country. In fact, she had anyone who did not follow her religion killed. Elizabeth tried to compromise by keeping the Bishop and Archbishop and some services of the Catholic religion, but this did not please the English people. Later in her reign, the positive feelings of the English subjects had for Elizabeth disappeared. There were several reasons for this: the economy had weakened, crops had failed to grow, prices had increased and taxes were high. Most of the peasants were unhappy. There were also many scandals involving Elizabeth and her advisors. On the other hand, trade improved during her rule. If you were royalty, you wore very nice clothes. Queen Elizabeth wore beautiful clothes; in fact, she wore many unique dresses that had a lot of designs. Her gowns were always brightly colored because that was a sign of royalty or wealth. Queens would also wear a corset under their dresses to make their waists look skinny. She would also wear silk, a very fine fabric, which only the wealthy could afford. The ladies in Queen Elizabeth’s family would wear the same thing. Elizabeth never married. Many believed she wanted to keep all the power for herself. She died from a fever in 1603 at the age of sixty-nine. Her sister Mary’s son, James I, became ruler after she died. Elizabeth is considered one of the best Queens England ever had. During her reign Shakespeare wrote his plays. Many felt that during Elizabeth’s reign, she improved how foreign countries regarded England. For this reason, the people of England felt better about themselves as a country. Very importantly, and a bit unusual for a monarch, Elizabeth felt that she should rule using the advice and will of the people. Elizabeth’s reign became known in history as the Elizabethan Age.