ELIZABETH I

(1558-1603)

THE EXECUTION OF MARY (1587) ANGERED

CATHOLICS IN EUROPE. THE POPE
ENCOURAGED KING PHILIP II OF SPAIN TO
THE SPANISH ARMADA INVADE ENGLAND, REMOVE ELIZABETH AND
MAKE THE COUNTRY CATHOLIC AGAIN. In 1588,
Philip sent a fleet of 130 ships, known as the Spanish
Armada, to England. The English fleet met the Armada in
the English Channel, and sent burning ships into the midst
of the Spanish ships, forcing them to split up and scatter.
The Spanish retreated, intending to sail around the British
Isles and back to Spain. But a terrible storm wrecked
WH many of the ships off Scotland and Ireland – a storm that
YD
ID S King Philip II would later refer to as the ‘Protestant
HE wind‘.
NEV
ER
ELIZABETH AS A YOUNG PRINCESS MA This was a great triumph for Elizabeth – she even
RRY commissioned a portrait of her celebrating the victory
? The Armada Portrait, which Elizabeth I had painted (above). The English believed that this showed that God
after her victory over the Spanish. The wrecked Spanish approved of the Queen. However, the war against Spain
fleet can be seen in the window behind her. was far from over, and would last for another 19 years.

WHO WAS SHE? WHAT WAS SHE

LIKE?

-Queen of England and ADVISORS

Ireland
-daughter of Henry
VIII & Anne of Boleyn

NEEDED A
HUSBAND TO
HEIR TO
SUPPORT HER SUCCEED HER
TOUGH
UPRINGING

1566- PARLIAMENT TO FORCE HER

AT AGE 2 HER ELIZABETH IN HER CORONATION ROBE Elizabeth I sits on her throne in Parliament. HAND BY REFUSING TO GIVE HER
MOTHER WAS
ANY MORE MONEY UNTIL SHE
BEHEADED
MARRIED

DIFFERENT TO SOUGHT TO RETURN THE COUNTRY FROM CATHOLICISM TO

REMOVED FROM TITLE OLDER HALF-SISTER
PROTESTANTISM (MORE TOLERANT, MAKE ENGLAND A FAIRER PLACE) SHE REUSED TO BACK DOWN:
LINE OF ("BLOODY MARY") VIRGIN
DOWNGRADED “I am already bound unto a
SUCCESSION (RIGHT
TO INHERIT THRONE) TO "LADY" husband which is the Kingdom of QUEEN
England”

NEGLECTED BY FATHER HENRY

DESPERATE
FOR MALE HEIR
HER REASONS

HENRY-CATHERINE
PARR (6th wife) MARRIAGE

IF SHE MARRIED IF SHE

A FOREIGN MARRIED AN
ELIZABETH WELCOMED PRINCE.... ENGLISHMAN.....
BACK TO FAMILY
QUEEN BLOODY MARY
Protestants being burnt at the stake during the Reign of
MANY YEARS UNTIL THRONE Queen Mary I.
LESS CONFLICT
POWERFUL BETWEEN HER
EDWARD MARY I
SURROUNDED HERSELF WITH MINISTERS
ELIZABETH'S CLEVER, QUICK-WITTED
VI
RULER & FAMED GREAT CAREFULLY-CHOSEN
REIGN
SKILLS OF PERSUASION MINISTERS

REPUTATION FOR
LEAVING IMPORTANT
DECISIONS TO THE
VERY LAST MINUTE

WEAKNESS FOR
FLATTERY (BÓK), THE BABINGTON PLOT sought to overthrow Queen Elizabeth and place
Elizabeth I was always seen dressed in fabulous
Her coronation on 15th January 1559 at Westminster Abbey outfits that reflected her wealth and status. VAIN (HIÚ ) Mary, Queen of Scots on the throne.

By the early 1600s, Elizabeth’s health had been failing for

some time. Frail and melancholy over the deaths of many of
SUCCESSION her close friends and advisors, she would stand for hours,
GOLDEN AGE refusing to rest. She was balding, had bad breath due to her
rotting teeth and spent a lot of her time expressing regret
over decisions she’d made during her reign – especially the
execution of Mary, Queen of Scots.
Elizabeth’s reign is looked back on as a ‘Golden Age‘ in
British history. It was a time of great exploration by men
On 24th March 1603 Elizabeth I died, having reigned for 44
such as Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh, who
discovered new lands and set up new colonies overseas. years as a very popular queen. As she had no children, and
Poetry, music and literature flourished, and London therefore no direct heir to the throne, she was the last Tudor
opened its first theatres. Playwrights such as William monarch. Following her death, Mary, Queen of Scots’ son –
Shakespeare were hugely popular, especially with the James VI of Scotland – was named King James I of
Queen, who attended the first performance of
Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’.
England.

In 1601, near the end of her reign, Elizabeth gave what is The cause of her death was never determined. But whilst no
known as the ‘Golden Speech‘ to her politicians. In it she theory has been proven, many people think Elizabeth may
expressed her love for her country and subjects, and said, have had blood poisoning from the make-up she wore.
“There is no jewel, be it of never so high a price, which I
set before this jewel; I mean your love.”
Make-up in the Tudor era was full of toxic ingredients such
King James VI of Scotland. as lead – and Elizabeth famously wore a lot of it!

Elizabeth I knights the explorer Sir Francis Drake.