Elizabeth Tudor

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Elizabeth 's Background
Elizabeth I was born September 7, 1533 at Greenwich Palace. She was the second daughter of King Henry VIII and Ann Boleyn. Elizabeth 's had an older half-sister Mary and a younger half-brother, Edward. Elizabeth had a remarkable intelligence from a very young age. She received an excellent education and learned many languages: Latin, Flemish, French, Greek, Italian, Spanish and some Welsh along with lessons in architecture, astronomy, geography, mathematics and in lighter subjects such as dancing, etiquette, horseback riding and sewing. King Henry died when Elizabeth was 14 years old, thus putting her ten-year-old brother and great friend, Edward VI on the throne. There were many plots against the young king and Elizabeth was named in one; however she was found not guilty. Edward survived the plots and ruled for six years until his early death at the age of 16 in 1553 from tuberculosis.
Her devout Catholic sister Mary became Queen of England. Mary hated her Protestant sister Elizabeth and imprisoned her half-sister Elizabeth in the Tower of London, suspecting her of plotting to overthrow her in 1554. Elizabeth survived her two months in the Tower by providing only "answerless answers" to her interrogators making it impossible for anyone to prove her guilty. She also wrote her Mary heart-felt letters, playing on her half-sister 's emotions so that Queen Mary could not bring herself to order the beheading of Elizabeth. When Mary’s pregnancy in fact turned out to be ovarian disease, Mary requested the Parliament to allow her husband Philip to rule which they denied. Upon Mary I death on November 17, 1558 and at 25 years old, Elizabeth ascended the throne of England.
Elizabeth 's coronation took place on January 15, 1559, was cause for great celebration for all of England. During her procession, Elizabeth regularly stopped to talk with commoners, a gesture which earned her much love. Elizabeth had a very regal presence, with an erect posture, pale skin, with long slender hands, golden-brown eyes and reddish-gold hair that reminded everyone of her father, Henry VIII. Her passions were horseback riding, dancing, fine clothing and jewelry. Elizabeth loved gifts, especially jewels. Many believe that this was due to the period of time as a child whereby she was deprived of nice things as a child. Regardless, Elizabeth was a miser when it came to spending her money or England 's money.
Elizabeth was an intelligent ruler whose first task of repairing England was by minimizing the Catholic-Protestant conflict in the country with passage of a religious settlement act in 1559. Her willingness and ability to make use of her talented advisors who would be willing to disagree with her when she was wrong such as, William Cecil and the spy-networks of Francis Walsingham, enabled Elizabeth to rule the country ably and initiate the revival of the English economy. As England prospered, so did the literature, poetry, drama, and learning in general. Many of her advisors wanted Elizabeth to marry right away to form a power alliance, but as the years past, they wished it only in hopes for an heir. In international affairs, Elizabeth manipulated the princes of Europe, using the prospect of marriage to her as a bargaining tool; indeed, preferring the power that came with her eligibility, but she constantly found way to evade marriage at the last minute.
Because Elizabeth lacked both husband and children, there were many plots against her; most involved replacing her with Mary Queen of Scots, a Catholic member of the Stuart line. After a foiled plot in 1586, Mary Queen of Scots was found guilty, arrested and executed. Soon after, Philip II of Spain, angry at Elizabeth for her continued denial of his marriage proposals and her backing of Sir Francis Drake 's constant plundering of his Spanish ships, decided it was time for an attack so that he could conquer and rule England. In 1588 he launched his ‘invincible’ Spanish Armada however England 's competent navy, helped by stormy weather and high winds, managed to defeat the Armada.
Elizabeth outlived all of her advisors and friends. Near the end of Elizabeth 's life, England 's economy started to go downhill and yet through it all, she continued to worry about the welfare of her people, maintaining a profound sense of duty. At 69-years of age, Elizabeth 's passing on March 24, 1603, was greeted with a period of great national mourning: the great Queen had ruled England with wisdom and skill for nearly half a century.
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Elizabeth’s Success and Failures
Under her rule reign for half a century, she contributed to the stability of English government, economic prosperity, encouraged the Arts in great literature by William Shakespeare and others along with support of explorers such as Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh. Through the passing of the Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity, Elizabeth was able to diminish the religious tensions and prevent a religious war. She was able to strengthen the Navy and hold her lands.
Some would say that Elizabeth was too cautious preferring in most cases to wait and see what happened, and decide what to do at the last moment. However this patience often gave England an advantage over European nations led by more hotheaded rulers. Others felt that she needed to provide more support to Protestants outside of England, but to make war due to religious differences did not appeal to Elizabeth. In fact, Elizabeth’s largest failure was that she never married and therefore left behind no Tudor heir.
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Elizabeth’s Legacy
The most important thing to Elizabeth was her people’s welfare. By keeping this front and center, Elizabeth’s legacy was bringing to England a period of stability, growth and peace by managing to avoid a religious crisis without the bloodshed seen in most other European countries.
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Elizabeth’s ‘A Great Leader’ - Why
Elizabeth was a great leader because she used her intelligence, ability and compassion to make England whole, regardless of being Protestant or Catholic, and ended up receiving the love of her people and the respect of Europe. She helped to establish that a woman could be strong and rule a country without a man by her side at a time that woman were considered inferior. Elizabeth the Great was a 21st century woman living in the 16th century and many of us aspire to be become half the woman she was.
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Bibliography
Greenblatt, Miriam. Elizabeth I and Tudor England. New York: Benchmark Books/ M. Cavendish, 2002.

Plowden, Alison. Elizabethan England: Life in an Age of Adventure. London: The Reader;’s Digest Association Limited, 1982.

SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Queen Elizabeth I.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2005. Web. 16 Nov. 2011.

Bibliography: Greenblatt, Miriam. Elizabeth I and Tudor England. New York: Benchmark Books/ M. Cavendish, 2002. Plowden, Alison. Elizabethan England: Life in an Age of Adventure. London: The Reader;’s Digest Association Limited, 1982. SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Queen Elizabeth I.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2005. Web. 16 Nov. 2011.