Queen Elizabeth I - Research Essay

When she became queen, Elizabeth had many men wanting to marry her. But she never got married. This might be because of the way her father treated her mom and his other wives. Or because the man she really loved, Robert Dudley, was married.

Elizabeth's reign: Difficulties
1- Threat of Mary Queen of Scots, who had a strong and legitimate claim to the throne of England. Elizabeth knew Mary was a threat. Eventually, Elizabeth signed her death warrant; executed on 1587.

James VI of Scotland reigned after Elizabeth. It's possible that Elizabeth never named James her heir in writing. But she pointed at James indicating that he was the one to succeed her (she was not able to speak). And he did indeed. In 1603, Scotland and England were united.

Katherine Parr, Henry’s last wife, paid private tutors for Elizabeth's education.
- 1st succession Act: declared Mary illegitimate and Elizabeth a valid heir
- 2nd Succession Act: both illegitimate
- 3rd Succession Act: all valid
Succession to the throne: Edward, then Mary, and finally Elizabeth.

Cecil- Elizabeth renamed him Lord Burleigh and moved him to the position of Lord Treasurer. He was her greatest advisor.
1. Insisted her to get married to secure the throne. Knowingly she didn't want to, he still kept her suitors chasing her.
2. Forced Elizabeth to take action quickly, instead of slow and careful.

Cecil -
3. Helped create the Treaty off Edinburgh, (peace between France and England).
Mary of Scots did not approve the treaty.
4. Hurried the execution of Mary of Scots, (threat to Elizabeth’s throne), to save Elizabeth from emotional anxiety.

Cecil -
5. Created the Bond of Association: secured and protected Elizabeth.

6. Helped Elizabeth organize an invasion in France; however, England was defeated.

Mary -
1. She was a threat to Elizabeth and her throne. Elizabeth feared that Mary would overtake the English throne. Mary could indeed do that. She had a right to the throne, since Henry VIII, Elizabeth's father, was Mary's great uncle.

Mary -
2. Considered herself, in a way, the true Queen of England.
Numerous Catholics in England didn’t support Elizabeth’s rule, saying she was unauthorized, so they sided with Mary.

Mary -
3. After Mary's 1st husband died she married Lord Henry Darnley, who had relations to the English throne. Elizabeth was afraid that them both together would be able to achieve the throne. However they failed at that.

Mary -
4. Later Mary escaped her country and ran to England, expecting Elizabeth to take her in with open arms. Elizabeth did so, but discovered she was involved in many plots that endangered Elizabeth. So she put Mary to execution.

Francis Walsingham -
1. One of Elizabeth’s main advisors.
He was loyal to England and that made him highly trustworthy, honorable and responsible.
1572 - Walshingham became the new Secretary of State (rather than Cecil).

Francis Walsingham -
2. Created a spy system, which informed Elizabeth of unsafe and threatening plots. With that, he was able to discover Mary’s secret arrival into Scotland, and her contact with the Babington Plot. But most importantly, her desire to kill Elizabeth.

Francis Walsingham -
3. Being a passionate Protestant, he over and over, debated Elizabeth’s decisions associated with religion, and recommended alliances with more Protestant countries.

Francis Walsingham -
4. He attempted to organize a marriage between Elizabeth and the Duke of Anjou, so that a bond between England and France would be formed. However, like always, Elizabeth turned down the idea.

Sir Francis Drake -

Queen Elizabeth financially supported his expeditions, which would't have happened otherwise. With that he achieved tremendous goals.

Sir Francis Drake - Achievements:
1. 1st English to sail through the narrow passage of water of Magellan
2. 1st to sail all around the world.
3. 1st to sail the Western Coast of America to the highest point.
4. 1581 - Knighted by Queen Elizabeth.

Robert Dudley -
1. Elizabeth’s lover
2. Used the connection he had with her to achieve a high position in court.
3. She appointed him ‘Master of the Horse’. 4. In 1562, he was chosen to be her private and secret counselor
5. Then he was made Lord Steward of the Royal Household.

Robert Dudley -
1. One of the biggest landowners (due to royal financial aid)
2. Appointed Earl of Leicester in 1564.
3. His wife suddenly died by falling down some stairs.
4. Rumors: he had planed all that out so he could marry Elizabeth.

Edmund Spenser -
1. Elizabeth’s reign = Golden Age for literature.
2. Elizabeth influenced writers of that time.
3. Ex.: Spenser’s Faerie Queen, Gloriana.
4. She is honest, confident, and popular, just like Elizabeth.

Edmund Spenser -
1. Britomart (also in the Faerie Queen) resembles Elizabeth.
2. She desguises as a man in order to  go to war.
3. Similar to Elizabeth, since she must rule her country like a traditional male.

William Shakespeare -
1. Elizabeth encouraged him and influenced quite a few of his plays.
2. Ex.: Female roles like Rosaline, Voila, and Katherine, who represented Queen Elizabeth.

William Shakespeare -
3. Like Rosalind: she acts like a male (by being the single ruler of her country).
4. Like Viola: different paths: do what is best for her country (marry) , or what is best for herself (freedom).
5. Like Katherine: manipulates and brainwashes people (her suitors) in order to be given what she wants.

Elizabeth's personality -

1. She interrupts men when they are speaking to her, mainly when they say something not satisfying.
2. As a result of that she misunderstands what they say and misreports it to her Council.

Elizabeth's personality -

3. She thinks she is extraordinary, and underestimates her servants and Council, since she is wiser than them.

Elizabeth's personality -

4. She wouldn't have done anything bad, had no been for her council/ministers.
They allowed Elizabeth to kill a woman disgracefully.

Reign -
1554 - Sir Thomas Wyatt led a revolt protesting Queen Mary's marriage to Philip II of Spain. He wanted to put Princess Elizabeth on the throne.
Elizabeth is imprisoned because they supposed she was involved in this plot.

Reign -
1558 - Queen Mary I of England dies.

January 15, 1559 - Elizabeth I comes to the English throne at Westminster Abbey to succeed Mary, since she had no children.

Reign - Plots against her
1569 - Thomas Percy, 7th earl of Northumberland, and Charles Neville, 6th earl of Westmoreland, led a rebellion in England against her.
- Were against her Protestant policies and her dependence upon Sir William Cecil,
- Wanted Mary Stuart's on the throne.
1570 - Pope Pius V excommunicates Elizabeth

Reign - Plots against her

1572 - Thomas Howard, 4th duke of Norfolk, is executed due to his support in a plot to overthrow Queen Elizabeth so her cousin, Mary Stuart, can take the throne. The Ridolfi plot

Reign - Plots against her
1584 - Queen Elizabeth I fights Spain.
- Sends an army to the Netherlands to fight representing the Protestants.
- Sends Sir Francis Drake to the West Indies to throw into disorder Spanish shipping.
- Sends colonists to Roanoke Island to set up a harbor for ships.

Reign - Plots against her
1587 - Mary Stuart beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle for attempting to kill Elizabeth.

1601 - Robert Devereux, 2nd earl of Essex, is beheaded for leading a revolt against Elizabeth in London.