Born to Henry the VIII and Anne Boleyn
(killed 2 1/2 years after Liz's birth)
Due to the execution and the fact that
Henry VIII divorced his first wife
Elizabeth was declared illegitimate
She was 25 when she became queen
Due to the religious settlement (which
she created) she became the Supreme
Governor of the English protestant church
Problems
Inherited
Problems
Her illegitimacy was a massive problem for her if she
wanted to keep the throne as Mary Queen of Scots
had as much of a claim to the throne as she did and
the backing of the pope.
Mary I left her with the debt of £277,000
She was able to pay lots of it off by
selling off the crown's lands but
this weakened her power over the
English land owners
Elizabeth was born a Woman
which wasn't great because many
people at the time said that
women were not fit to lead and
were weaker than men
As a woman Elizabeth was
expected to marry a
nobleman and have an Heir,
however she would lose most,
if not all of her power if she
did
Also without a
child to call her
heir she had to
name a relative
or other
nobleman to
rule if she died
The Religious settlement
The problem of which religion England would become was massive,
Henry VIII had made it protestant but Many catholic policies still
remained, then Edward VI made it completely protestant. But then
Mary I had England rejoin the Catholic church. This put Elizabeth in a
difficult position
Elizabeth decided to try and appease all
religions (Catholic, Protestant and Puritan) She
removed the Pope as the head of the English
church and called herself the Supreme
Governor .
The threat of invasion from
France and Spain
Due to the religious Settlement and the
insult it caused to the catholic faith they
had a cause and reason to invade
England and take the throne.
Phillip of Spain also
proposed to Elizabeth and
was rejected which
angered him
The Spanish Armada
Mary Queen of Scots
Mary Queen of Scots was one of Elizabeth's greatest threats!
This was because she was Elizabeth's cousin through blood,
a Catholic, the pope supported her and she was married to
Francis II of France, a french king.
Her marriage to Francis meant that she may have the
support of France as she was well beloved by the people
and had married into the family. This gave her the
power to take the throne if she called for aid