l marriage, she avoided execution and was released.
elizabeth queen england sovereign
3. Elizabeth I becomes Queen
died on November 17 1558, and Elizabeth inherited the throne, the third and final of Henry VIII s children to do so. Her procession into London and coronation were masterpieces of political statement and planning, and her accession was treated warmly by many in England who hoped for greater religious toleration. Elizabeth quickly assembled a Privy Council, albeit one smaller than Mary s, and promoted a number of key advisors: one, William Cecil (later Lord Burghley), was appointed on November 17th and remained in her service for forty years.
. The Marriage Question and Elizabeth I s Image
of the first challenges to face Elizabeth was marriage. Advisors, government and the people were keen for her to marry and produce a Protestant heir, and to solve what was commonly considered a need for male guidance; Elizabeth, it appears, was not keen, preferring to maintain her single identity in order to retain her power as Queen and maintain her neutrality in European and factional English affairs. To this end, although she entertained offers of marriage from many European aristocrats to further diplomacy, and had romantic attachments to some British subjects, mainly Dudley, all were eventually turned down.attacked the perceived problem of a woman ruling, one which had not been solved by Mary, by a carefully maintained display of royal power which built a new style of regal lordship in England. She partly relied on the old theory of the body politic, but partly created the image of herself as the Virgin Queen wedded to her kingdom, and her speeches made great use of romantic language, such as love , in defining her role. The campaign was entirely successful, cultivating and maintaining Elizabeth as one of England s best loved monarchs.
5. Religion
s reign marked a change from Mary s Catholicism and a return to the policies of Henry VIII, whereby the English monarch was head of a, largely Protestant, English church. The Act of Supremacy in 1559 began a process of gradual reform, effectively creating the Church of England. While all had to outwardly obey the new church, Elizabeth ensured a measure of relative toleration across the nation by allowing people to behave as they wished internally. This wasn t enough for more extreme Protestants, and Elizabeth faced criticism from them.
6. Mary, Queen of Scots and Catholic Intrigue
s decision to ado...
