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MINISTERUL EDUCAIEI NAIONALE

Colegiul Naional Costache Negri Targu-Ocna


the most famous queen of the world
ATESTAT LA LIMBA ENGLEZ

ndrumtor: Elev:
Prof. Blan Georgeta Carmen Spnu Doinia-Georgia

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Contents

Argument
I.Her life
I.1. Accession
I.2. Church settlement
I.3. Marriage question
II.Power and Government
III.Political aspects
IV.The Queens pastimes
V.The Queens wardrobe
VI.Elizabethan women
VII.The Queens death
VIII.Conclusion
Bibliography
Annexes









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Argument

The life of historical personalities has always interested me and made me understand
the past better. Watching a documentary about Queen Elizabeth on television I realized what a
remarkable woman she was and I wanted to find more about this great queen whose life was
entirely dedicated to the protection of her country from foreign rule and civil war.In my
paper,I intend to discuss both about her personal life and her achievements.
Queen Elizabeth I was the first woman to successfully occupy the English throne. Her
45 year reign is known as The Golden Age,a time that saw the birth of Shakespeare, the defeat
of the Spanish Armada and the emergence of England as a world of power.She led her
country with courage, intelligence and loyalty to her friends,qualities which helped her enjoy
enormous popularity during her life .Called Gloriana and Good Queen Bess,she achieved an
excellent reputation as a good and wise leader.
In the first chapter I wrote about her birth,her chilhood, her struggle to become the
queen of England and her asscession. I also mentioned her religious views and her opinion on
marriage.
The second chapter is dedicated to power and government, focusing on her exceptional
political skills which helped her lead the country to national triumph and cultural brilliance.
The next chapters deal with facts related to culture and civilasation during Queen
Elizabeths reign.





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Chapter I
Her life


Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 24 March 1603) was queen regnant of England and
Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called "The Virgin Queen",
"Gloriana" or "Good Queen Bess",Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor
dynasty. The daughter of Henry VIII, she was born into the royal succession, but her mother,
Anne Boleyn, was executed two and a half years after her birth, with Anne's marriage to
Henry VIII being annulled, and Elizabeth hence declared illegitimate.
Her half-brother, Edward VI, ruled as king until his death in 1553, whereupon he
bequeathed the crown to Lady Jane Grey, cutting his two half-sisters, Elizabeth and the
Roman Catholic Mary, out of the succession in spite of statute law to the contrary. His will
was set aside, Mary became queen, and Lady Jane Grey was executed. In 1558, Elizabeth
succeeded her half-sister, during whose reign she had been imprisoned for nearly a year on
suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels.

I.1. Accession

Elizabeth became queen at the age of 25, and declared her intentions to her Council
and other peers who had come to Hatfield to swear allegiance. As her triumphal progress
wound through the city on the eve of the coronation ceremony, she was welcomed
wholeheartedly by the citizens and greeted by orations and pageants, most with a strong
Protestant flavour. Elizabeth's open and gracious responses endeared her to the spectators,
who were "wonderfully ravished".
The following day, 15 January 1559, Elizabeth was crowned and anointed by Owen
Oglethorpe, the Catholic bishop of Carlisle, in Westminster Abbey. She was then presented
for the people's acceptance, amidst a deafening noise of organs, fifes, trumpets, drums, and
bells.



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Elizabeth set out to rule by good counsel, and she depended heavily on a group of
trusted advisers led by William Cecil, Baron Burghley. One of her first moves as queen was
the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the Supreme
Governor. This Elizabethan Religious Settlement later evolved into today's Church of
England. It was expected that Elizabeth would marry and produce an heir so as to continue the
Tudor line. She never did, however, despite numerous courtships.
As she grew older, Elizabeth became famous for her virginity, and a cult grew up
around her which was celebrated in the portraits, pageants,and literature of the day.
In government, Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and half-siblings had beenOne
of her mottoes was "video et taceo" ("I see, and say nothing").
In religion she was relatively tolerant, avoiding systematic persecution. After 1570,
when the pope declared her illegitimate and released her subjects from obedience to her,
several conspiracies threatened her life. All plots were defeated, however, with the help of her
ministers' secret service. Elizabeth was cautious in foreign affairs, moving between the major
powers of France and Spain. She only half-heartedly supported a number of ineffective,
poorly resourced military campaigns in the Netherlands, France, and Ireland. In the mid-
1580s, war with Spain could no longer be avoided, and when Spain finally decided to attempt
to conquer England in 1588, the failure of the Spanish Armada associated her with one of the
greatest military victories in English history.
Elizabeth's reign is known as the Elizabethan era, famous above all for the flourishing
of English drama, led by playwrights such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe,
and for the seafaring prowess of English adventurers such as Francis Drake. Some historians
are more reserved in their assessment. They depict Elizabeth as a short-tempered, sometimes
indecisive ruler, who enjoyed more than her share of luck. Towards the end of her reign, a
series of economic and military problems weakened her popularity. Elizabeth is
acknowledged as a charismatic performer and a dogged survivor, in an age when government
was ramshackle and limited and when monarchs in neighbouring countries faced internal
problems that jeopardised their thrones. Such was the case with Elizabeth's rival, Mary,
Queen of Scots, whom she imprisoned in 1568 and eventually had executed in 1587.
After the short reigns of Elizabeth's half-siblings, her 44 years on the throne provided
welcome stability for the kingdom and helped forge a sense of national identity.



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I.2. Church settlement

She was a Protestant, but kept Catholic symbols (such as the crucifix), and
downplayed the role of sermons in defiance of a key Protestant belief. Elizabeth and her
advisors perceived the threat of a Catholic crusade against heretical England. Elizabeth
therefore sought a Protestant solution that would not offend Catholics too greatly while
addressing the desires of English Protestants; she would not tolerate the more radical Puritans
though, who were pushing for far-reaching reforms.As a result, the parliament of 1559 started
to legislate for a church based on the Protestant settlement of Edward VI, with the monarch as
its head, but with many Catholic elements, such as priestly vestments.
Elizabeth was forced to accept the title of Supreme Governor of the Church of
England rather than the more contentious title of Supreme Head, which many thought
unacceptable for a woman to bear. The new Act of Supremacy became law on 8 May 1559.
All public officials were to swear an oath of loyalty to the monarch as the supreme governor
or risk disqualification from office; the heresy laws were repealed, to avoid a repeat of the
persecution of dissenters practised by Mary.
I.3. Marriage question

From the start of Elizabeth's reign, it was expected that she would marry and the
question arose to whom. She never did, although she received many offers for her hand; the
reasons for this are not clear. Historians have speculated that Thomas Seymour had put her off
sexual relationships, or that she knew herself to be infertile. She considered several suitors
until she was about fifty. Her last courtship was with Francis, Duke of Anjou, 22 years her
junior. While risking possible loss of power like her sister, who played into the hands of King
Philip II of Spain, marriage offered the chance of an heir.However, the choice of a husband
might also provoke political instability or even insurrection.




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Chapter II
Power and Government

The England of Elizabeth I was a very structured place, and had a rather complicated
system of government. First there were the national bodies of government such as the Privy
Council and Parliament, then the regional bodies such as the Council of the Marches and the
North, and then county and community bodies.
These three bodies would work together to rule the country, make laws, raise money,
and decide upon matters of religion and national defense. The Privy Council was largely an
administrative body, but it could not oversee the administration and government of all
England and Wales, and so the Council of the North and the Council of the Marches helped.
The Council of the North, residing in York, was responsible for the North of England, and the
Council of the Marches was responsible for Wales and some of the English border counties.
During Elizabeth's reign, it became settled in Ludlow, which made it effectively the capital of
Wales, although it was in England. The Council of the North and the Council of the Marches
were also part of a more localized method of government, and in Tudor England, local
government was very important. To ensure that the Queen's commands and the laws of the
land were being obeyed, there were royal representatives in every county in the country. The
most important of these were the Justices of the Peace, the Sheriffs, and later the Lord
Lieutenants. Cities and towns even had their own hierarchy of government, and various
officials to oversee certain matters, the principal official being the mayor.
Also of great influence in Tudor and Elizabethan times were the nobility and gentry.
Land was power in the early modern period. Those who possessed it were wealthy, and
masters of the tenants on the land as well as those who worked for them. The Nobility and
Gentry were considered to be in a position of responsibility, and were meant to aid the
monarch in governing the lands over which they presided. People could take their grievances
to their lord, or to the lord of the manor. Some members of the nobility took their duties
seriously and were involved in establishing institutions of religion or education. The Earl of
Leicester, for example, established a hospital in Warwick. Tenants owed loyalty to their lord,
and if called upon, were expected to go to war for their master or mistress. One of the reasons
the Tudor monarchs feared the rebellion of one of their greatest noblemen, was because that



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nobleman was likely to command the loyalty of a significant proportion of the people over
who he presided. Indeed, the political or religious views of an aristocrat was very important as
it could and did influence the views of his tenants and subjects.
Also important to the government of the country were the courts of the land. The most
important courts were probably the Great Session (or Assizes), held twice a year in each
county, and the Quarter Sessions Court, held four times a year. Between them, these courts
dealt with most crimes, such as theft, witchcraft, recusancy, murder, and assault. The Assizes
in particular had the power to inflict harsh punishments. For not so important crimes, there
were other courts such as the Petty Sessions, Manor courts, or even town courts. For civil
cases, there were various courts to choose from, but choice was probably limited by a person's
wealth. For the wealthy, there was Star Chamber, one on the highest profile courts as it
largely consisted of Privy Councilors; there was the Court of Chancery, a court that could also
judge criminal cases; there was the Exchequer of Pleas, especially expedient in dealing with
financial suits, and for those lacking wealth, there was the Court of Requests, popularly
known for this reason as "The court of poor man's causes". The Church Courts were important
in dealing with religious or moral affairs. There were also other courts with particular
functions such as the court of Admiralty for naval matters. High Treason was usually dealt
with by the Queen and her ministers and carried a death sentence. For other serious crimes,
such as murder, a person was also put to death. Lesser crimes were punished by imprisonment
or the stocks, or sometimes both.


Chapter III
Political aspects

Francis, Duke of Anjou, by Nicholas Hilliard. Elizabeth called the duke her "frog",
finding him "not so deformed" as she had been led to expect.



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Marriage negotiations constituted a key element in Elizabeth's foreign policy. She
turned down Philip II's own hand in 1559, and negotiated for several years to marry his cousin
Archduke Charles of Austria. By 1569, relations with the Habsburgs had deteriorated, and
Elizabeth considered marriage to two French Valois princes in turn, first Henry, Duke of
Anjou, and later, from 1572 to 1581, his brother Francis, Duke of Anjou, formerly Duke of
Alenon. This last proposal was tied to a planned alliance against Spanish control of the
Southern Netherlands. Elizabeth seems to have taken the courtship seriously for a time, and
wore a frog-shaped earring that Anjou had sent her.
In 1563, Elizabeth told an imperial envoy: "If I follow the inclination of my nature, it
is this: beggar-woman and single, far rather than queen and married". Later in the year,
following Elizabeth's illness with smallpox, the succession question became a heated issue in
Parliament. They urged the queen to marry or nominate an heir, to prevent a civil war upon
her death. She refused to do either. In April she prorogued the Parliament, which did not
reconvene until she needed its support to raise taxes in 1566. Having promised to marry
previously, she told an unruly House:
I will never break the word of a prince spoken in public place, for my honour's sake.
And therefore I say again, I will marry as soon as I can conveniently, if God take not him
away with whom I mind to marry, or myself, or else some other great let happen.
By 1570, senior figures in the government privately accepted that Elizabeth would
never marry or name a successor. William Cecil was already seeking solutions to the
succession problem. For her failure to marry, Elizabeth was often accused of irresponsibility.
Her silence, however, strengthened her own political security: she knew that if she named an
heir, her throne would be vulnerable to a coup; she remembered that the way "a second
person, as I have been" had been used as the focus of plots against her predecessor.
The "Hampden" portrait, by Steven van der Meulen, ca. 1563. This is the earliest full-
length portrait of the queen, made before the emergence of symbolic portraits representing the
iconography of the "Virgin Queen"
Elizabeth's unmarried status inspired a cult of virginity. In poetry and portraiture, she
was depicted as a virgin or a goddess or both, not as a normal woman. At first, only Elizabeth
made a virtue of her virginity: in 1559, she told the Commons, "And, in the end, this shall be
for me sufficient, that a marble stone shall declare that a queen, having reigned such a time,



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lived and died a virgin".Later on, poets and writers took up the theme and turned it into an
iconography that exalted Elizabeth. Public tributes to the Virgin by 1578 acted as a coded
assertion of opposition to the queen's marriage negotiations with the Duke of Alenon.
Putting a positive spin on her marital status, Elizabeth insisted she was married to her
kingdom and subjects, under divine protection. In 1599, she spoke of "all my husbands, my
good people".




Chapter IV
The Queens pastimes

The Elizabethan age is celebrated for its literary and dramatic culture, its music and
chivalry. The Elizabethan nobility loved to have a good time, and knew just how to have it.
The wealthy of the land would entertain each other with great banquets of rich foods, wine,
music and dancing. They would play games against each other, play sports such as tennis or
bowls, and they would ride and hunt. Women too would participate in some of these sports,
aswell as play musical instruments, draw, sew and embroider.
When Queen Elizabeth was not busy with matters of state, she too would enjoy some
of these pleasures. Evenings at court were full of entertainments often dedicated to the Queen,
and often there would be public performances conducted especially for her, but the Queen
also enjoyed less public activities.
Elizabeth loved to horse ride. She would spend many an hour riding fast through the
Palace grounds. Her love for the sport terrified her Councilors, who feared that she would
seriously injure, or even kill herself, from a fall. But Elizabeth was undaunted, and continued
to ride long distances and at great speed until the end of her life. Even in her sixties she could
ride a distance of ten miles, which she once proved to a courtier who advised the aging Queen
to take the carriage. Elizabeth would tire out her ladies by riding hard, and early in her reign,



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Robert Dudley, her Master of Horse, had to bring over some new horses from Ireland, as the
Queen's own horses were not fast or strong enough for her.
Elizabeth also loved to hawk and to hunt. She would hunt deer and stags with her
courtiers, and when the unfortunate animal was caught, she would be invited to cut its throat.
In 1575, the French Ambassador reported that she had killed six does with her cross bow.
Hunting was quite an event, and would take several hours, so the Queen and her courtiers
would often have a picnic in the forest.
The Elizabethans had no concept of animal cruelty, and enjoyed a whole manner of
violent animal sports, such as bear baiting, cock-fighting, and dog fighting. Elizabeth was
particularly fond of bear baiting. However, animals were also kept as much loved pets, and
pets were well looked after. Elizabeth's horses were well cared for, and in all likelihood,
Elizabeth had her favorite horses that meant a lot to her. She also had a little dog (perhaps
several over the course of her long reign) that she loved very much, and who went everywhere
with her.
As well as participating in sports, the Queen also enjoyed watching them. She would
occasionally watch a game of tennis, especially if one of her favorite courtiers was playing,
and once she even dressed up as one of her ladies so that she could secretly watch Robert
Dudley compete in a shooting match, and afterwards surprised him by revealing her identity.
Sometimes tournaments would be held, and from 1572 onwards, a very grand tilt tournament
was held to celebrate the Queen's accession day.
Elizabeth loved the outdoors, and was especially fond of taking long walks in her
beautifully ornate gardens. In one of her many palaces, she even had a terrace built so that she
could walk away from prying eyes.
The Elizabethans loved music, and Elizabeth was no exception. She was a skilled
musician and played the virginals and the lute. She enjoyed musical entertainments,
encouraged musicians and composers, and was especially fond of dancing. She would dance
the difficult and demanding dance, The Galliard, every morning to keep herself fit. She also
loved to dance with her courtiers, and was fond of The Volta. In this dance, the ladies
elegantly jumped high in the air, although not everyone believed it was elegant, as some
people thought it was disgraceful as the women showed their knees. Robert Dudley also loved
to dance, and he and Elizabeth danced as well together as they rode. A dance was even named



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after him, The Leicester Dance. As she got older and could not dance as much as she used
to, Elizabeth enjoyed watching her ladies dance. Elizabeth also liked to sing and reputedly
sang well.
Elizabeth was also a patron of arts and literature, and loved watching plays, masques,
and other dramatic performances. She had her own company of actors, called The Queen's
Players, and these would often perform plays for her and her courtiers. Robert Dudley also
had his own company, and he would pay them to perform before the Queen.
Elizabeth was also an incredibly gifted scholar, and loved learning. She reputedly
would often study for two or three hours a day, and was well read in the Classics, as well as
having a very extensive knowledge of history. Her skill for languages meant that she could
read books in Latin or French, and especially as she grew older, she loved to translate Classic
works into English. She also liked to write poetry, and a few of her poems still survive.



Chapter V
The Queens wardrobe

Queen Elizabeth was a great follower of fashion. While in private she preferred to
wear simple gowns, and would reputedly wear the same plain gown for two or three days,
when she was in public, she dressed to impress. Clothes were an important status symbol to
the Elizabethans, and a person had to dress in accordance with their social status. It was thus
in keeping that the Queen dressed more magnificent than everyone else. No one was allowed
to rival the Queen's appearance, and one unfortunate maid of honour was reprimanded for
wearing a gown that was too sumptuous for her. The maids were meant to complement the
Queen's appearance, not to outshine her. In the later years of the reign, the maids wore gowns
of plain colours such as white or silver. The Queen had dresses of all colours, but white and
black were her favourite colours as they symbolized virginity and purity, and more often than
not she wore a gown of these colours. The Queen's gowns would be gorgeously hand



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embroidered with all sorts of coloured thread, and decorated with diamonds, rubies, sapphires,
and all kinds of jewels. A book entitled Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlocked, details some
of the jewels that fell off the Queen's gowns when she wore them. Like all aristocratic
Elizabethan women, the Queen would typically wear a chemise, a corset stiffened with wood
or iron, a petticoat, a fathingale, stockings, a gown, sleeves, and a neck ruff and wrist ruffs.
With the discovery of starch, ruffs became even more elaborate.
To complete her appearance, the Queen would wear accessories such as a fan, a
pomander to ward of foul smells and it was thought infection, earrings, a diamond or pearl
necklace, a brooch and a watch. Robert Dudley gave her a watch encased in a bracelet, the
first known wrist watch in England. Like other women, she would also often wear a miniature
Prayer Book attached to her girdle.
For the outdoors, the Queen would wear rich velvet cloaks, gloves of cloth or leather,
and in warm weather, she would wear hats to shelter her pale face from the sun. For riding or
hunting she would wear special riding outfits that gave easier movement. She would also wear
boots such as these.
The Queen was never fully dressed without her make-up. In the early years she wore
little, but following her attack of the smallpox in 1562, she would wear quite a lot to cover up
the scars left on her face. She would paint her face with white lead and vinegar, put rouge on
her lips, and paint her cheeks with red dye and egg white. This make-up was very bad for her
health, particularly the white lead, as it slowly poisoned the body. While the Elizabethan tried
very hard to take care of their teeth, and knew that to keep them clean was to keep them
healthy, they did not have very sophisticated dental care, and teeth rotted. As a consequence,
Elizabeth had to have several teeth removed as she grew older. To prevent the appearance of
hollow cheeks, she would stuff rags into her mouth. It was very fashionable to wear a wig,
and the Queen did so from a young age.
The Queen had a substantial influence on the fashion of her time, and encouraged her
courtiers to dress well.





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Chapter VI
Elizabethan women

Even though there was an unmarried woman on the throne in Elizabethan England,
the roles of women in society were very limited. The Elizabethans had very clear expectations
of men and women, and in general men were expected to be the breadwinners and women to
be housewives and mothers. On average, a woman gave birth to a child every two years, but
as a lot of babies and children died from sickness, families were not always large.
Childbearing was considered a great honour to women, as children were seen as blessings
from God, and Tudor women took great pride in being mothers.
Elizabethan society was patriarchal, meaning that men were considered to be the
leaders and women their inferiors. Women were regarded as "the weaker sex", not just in
terms of physical strength, but emotionally too. It was believed that women always needed
someone to look after them. If they were married, their husband was expected to look after
them. If they were single, then their father, brother or another male relative was expected to
take care of them.
Many women in this period were highly educated, like the Queen herself, Mildred
Cecil (wife of William Cecil) and Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke. Women were not
allowed to go to school or to university, but they could be educated at home by private tutors.
Elizabeth was tutored by the famous Elizabethan scholar Roger Ascham.
Women were not allowed to enter the professions i.e law, medicine, politics, but they
could work in domestic service as cooks, maids etc, and a female painter, Levina Teerlinc,
was employed by Henry VIII and later by Mary and Elizabeth respectively. Women were also
allowed to write works of literature, providing the subject was suitable for women: mainly
translations or religious works. Women were not allowed to act on the public stage or write
for the public stage. Acting was considered dishonourable for women and women did not



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appear on the stage in England until the seventeenth century. In Shakespeare's plays, the roles
of women were often played by young boys.
Women, regardless of social position, were not allowed to vote (however, only men of
a certain social position were allowed to vote). Neither could women inherit their father's
titles. All titles would pass from father to son or brother to brother, depending on the
circumstances. The only exception was, of course, the crown. The crown could pass to a
daughter, and that daughter would be invested with all the power and Majesty of any king.
This allowed Mary, and then Elizabeth, to reign. In some cases women could not inherit
estates, but women could be heiresses to property, and some women, especially if they were
the only child of a great noble man, could be very affluent heiresses indeed. Robert Dudley's
first wife, Amy Robsart, was Sir John Robsart's only child, and inherited two estates he
owned in Norfolk. It was not always clear what happened to these estates when the woman
married i.e. whether the estates became the property of her husband or not.
The laws of inheritance meant that fathers were anxious to have a son, but that does
not mean that daughters were unloved and unwanted. The attitude of Henry VIII to his
daughters was unusual, and was probably the result of his obsession with providing the
country with a male heir and subsequent ruler. Parents did love their daughters and saw them
as precious gifts from God. Of all the children Thomas More had, his daughter Margaret was
his favourite, and William Cecil was a devoted father to all his children, male and female.
Queen Elizabeth would write letters of condolence on the death of daughters as well as on the
death of sons.
A man was considered to be the head of a marriage, and he had the legal right to
chastise his wife. However, it is important to understand what this "headship" meant. It did
not mean, as if often supposed, that the husband was able to command his wife to do anything
he pleased, in other words, be a petty tyrant. He was expected to take care of her, make sure
she had everything she needed, and most importantly to love her and be a good father to any
children they had. If a husband felt the need to chastise his wife, then he was not allowed to
be cruel or inflict bodily harm. If he did abuse his wife, then he could be prosecuted or
prevented from living with her. There was no divorce (as we know it) in Elizabethan times.
Marriage generally lasted as long as the couple both lived. If a couple did want to separate,
then they needed to obtain an annulment, which, if granted, meant that their marriage had



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never been lawful. Despite having been married six times, Henry VIII only regarded Jane
Seymour and Katherine Parr as his legal wives.
It is probably fair to say that, despite the limitations, women had more freedom in the
Elizabethan period than they had had previously and would have again for some time. The
Renaissance brought with it a new way of thinking. It was thought men and women could do
anything and be anything they wanted to be, that their capacity for knowledge was limitless.
Thus, noble women, as well as men, were given an impressive education in the classics,
mathematics, and all other academic subjects of the day. Elizabeth being on the throne also
encouraged noble men to educate their daughters, as they did not want them to look dim in the
presence of their very intelligent and highly educated queen.
Women who perhaps suffered most in this period were, ironically, those like the
Queen who did not wish to marry. Tudor society did not have many avenues open to single
women and, following the Reformation, those avenues were even less. Before, women were
able to become nuns and look forward to a rewarding life in convents, perhaps be a Mother
Superior one day. But with the Reformation, the convents were closed. Wealthy single
women (heiresses of property) could look forward to being mistress of their estates and wield
the power in the community this would bring, but for poor women, the only long-term
"career" really open to them was domestic service. It was not surprising, therefore, that most
women married. Marriage was seen as the desirable state for both men and women, and single
women were sometimes looked upon with suspicion. It was mainly single women who were
accused of being witches by their neighbours.


Chapter VII
The Queens death

"It is not my desire to live or to reign longer than my life and my reign shall be for
your good."
Elizabeth I to her Parliament 1601.



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Queen Elizabeth as Gloriana may have seemed to many to be immortal, but by the turn
of the seventeenth century, she was beginning to display very real human frailty. Life as a
monarch may have been glorious at times, but it was a difficult, demanding, and often very
lonely task, and Elizabeth was tired both physically and emotionally. She herself said:
To be a king and wear a crown, is a thing more glorious to them that see it, than it is
pleasant to them that bear it
She had always known that popularity was a fickle thing, and although she said
nothing, she knew that those around her were preparing for the time when her reign would be
over. She was old, and the illusion that she was not, was falling away rapidly. When visiting
the House of a courtier she had to have a stick to walk up the stairs, and during the opening of
Parliament she almost fell under the weight of her heavy robes. Elizabeth knew that an aged
queen could not long command the hearts of the young, who were waiting for the sun to rise
on a new world. Also, for some years the Queen had been suffering from some form of mental
instability, although at this distance in time it is impossible to diagnose what her condition
was. She was no longer quite the charming, witty, graceful, monarch that she had once been.
She was rather paranoid, and was increasingly bitter. She was also lonelier and lonelier as
more friends passed away. She had never doubted the justice of the execution of her once
favourite, Robert Devereux, but she grieved deeply at the death of the man she had loved and
nurtured since childhood. Sometimes she would sit in dark rooms, weeping at his young and
tragic end.
By the late winter of 1602/3 Elizabeth was feeling unwell. She had caught a chill after
walking out in the cold winter air, and complained of a sore throat as well as aches and pains.
She lay resignedly on her cushions in her private apartments, and could not be persuaded to
leave them for the comfort of her bed. I am not well she declared, but refused the
administrations of her doctors. It was the opinion of her contemporaries that she would have
recovered from this illness if she had fought against it, but she was did not want to. She was
old, she was tired, and she was lonely. She was ready to slip into the world where all those
she had loved had gone before her. As her condition deteriorated, Archbishop Whitgift (her
favourite of all her Archbishops of Canterbury) was called to her side, and the Queen clung
tight to his hand. When he spoke to her of getting better, she made no response, but when he
spoke to her of the joys of Heaven, she squeezed his hand contentedly. By this time she was



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beyond speech and could only communicate with gestures. It was clear to all of those around
that the great Queen was dying.
There was still one matter that the Queen had left unresolved, the matter that had been
unresolved since the first day the young Lady Elizabeth had heard that she was now Queen of
all England; the succession to the throne. However, it was generally believed that James VI,
King of Scotland, was to succeed, and this question was put to the dying Queen. Elizabeth
may or may not responded, but for the sake of the peaceful transition of power, it was later
announced that she had gestured for the King of Scotland to succeed her.
It was getting late, and those in vigilance around the Queen's bed left her to the care of
her ladies. The Queen fell into a deep sleep, and died in the early hours of the 24th of March,
1603. It was a Thursday, the death day of her father, and her sister. It was the eve of the
annunciation of the Virgin Mary, perhaps an apt day for the Virgin Queen to die. The
Elizabethan calendar was also different to ours, as they still used the Julian calendar - the new
year beginning on the 25th of March. Thus the last day of the year 1602 also saw the last
hours of the last Tudor monarch. The new year would bring a new reign, that of King James I
(James VI of Scotland), a new ruling dynasty (the Stuarts), and a new era in British history.
It was with sadness that the Queen's death was announced on the streets of London the
following morning, and witnesses described the eerie silence of the stunned crowd. For almost
45 years they had been ruled by Elizabeth, and knew no other way of life.
As the Queen had wished, there was no post mortem. Her body was embalmed, and
placed in a lead coffin. A few days later, the Queen began her last journey. She was taken by
water to Whitehall, and laid in state, before being taken to Westminster Hall. There her body
was to remain until the new King gave orders for her funeral.
On the 28th of April 1603, the Queen was given a magnificent funeral. Her coffin,
covered in purple velvet, was drawn by four horses draped in black. An effigy of the great
Queen, dressed in the robes of state with a crown on her head and a sceptre in her hands, lay
on the coffin beneath a mighty canopy held by six knights. Behind the Queen came her
palfrey, led by her Master of Horse. The chief mourner, the Marchioness of Northampton, led
the peeresses of the realm all dressed in black, and behind them came all the important men of
the realm, as well as over two hundred poor folks. The streets were full of people, all come to
pay their last respects to the Queen who had ruled them so wisely and for so long as she made



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her way to her final resting place at Westminster Abbey. When they saw the life-like effigy of
the Queen, they wept. John Stow, who attended the funeral wrote:
Westminster was surcharged with multitudes of all sorts of people in their streets, houses,
windows, leads and gutters, that came to see the obsequy, and when they beheld her statue
lying upon the coffin, there was such a general sighing, groaning and weeping as the like hath
not been seen or known in the memory of man, neither doth any history mention any people,
time or state to make like lamentation for the death of their sovereign. The grief of the nation
was unprecedented, and was a tribute to the remarkable achievements of a remarkable
woman, Queen Elizabeth I.














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Conclusion
Elizabeth I was one the wisest and most brilliant female rulers of all times. Most
often referred to as the leader of the ,,Golden Age,Queen Elizabeth was very well
known..Her name still remains fresh in our memory even after 400 years. Up to today Queen
Elizabeth I continues to be one of the most beloved monarchs in all the nations and she is one
of the greatest and most admired rulers of all times.
She made history in her lifetime and was showered in fame because of her unthinkable
abilities and incredible achievements.
We do not know much about Elizabeth I herself as a woman,we know very little,but we
know her achievements as a queen. In this respect, she developed a compromise to please the
Roman-Catholic and Protestant churches, thus probably saving England from religious
wars.She funded voyages of discovery to America, expeditions which prepared England for
an age of colonization and expansion.The English navy defeated the Spanish Armada.The arts
flourished .All these triumphs demonstrate her exceptional mastery of political science,her
wisdom and a strong personal character. Few monarchs enjoyed such political power,while
still maintaining the devotion of the whole of English society.












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Bibliography
http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/accomplishments-of-
queen-elizabeth-i.htm
www.elizabethan-era.org.uk
http://www.elizabethfiles.com/elizabeth-is-main-
achievements/2465/
http://www.tenfactsabout.co.uk/0033elizabethi.htm
www.tenfactsabout.co.uk
http://unusualhistoricals.blogspot.ro/2008/07/famous-
people-queen-elizabeth-i.html
http://www.biography.com/people/queen-elizabeth-i-
9286133#awesm=~oAQzvEp8P1Yhz6
http://www.elizabethi.org/contents/pastimes/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_I_of_England
















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Annexes
Picture 1.

Picture 2.




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Picture 3.

Picture 4.