Born in September 1533, Elizabeth I was a
queen of Ireland and England. She ruled the two countries from November 1558
until her death in March 1603. She is also remembered with the names of Good
Queen Bess, Gloriana and The Virgin Queen. Elizabeth was the last of the five
monarchs of the House of Tudor. She was born to Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII;
Anne was Henry’s second wife, and their marriage was declared invalid. For many
years, Elizabeth could not get her identity as she was called illegitimate.
After the death of her step-brother, Edward VI, the crown was shifted to Lady
Jane Grey, ignoring The Roman Catholic Mary and Elizabeth. Later on, the will
of Edward was set aside, and The Roman Catholic Mary got a chance to become the
queen (Duckett 65). During her reign, Elizabeth was put behind bars for several
months due to the suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels.
Her ascension to the throne required a great
deal of good luck. It was after the death of Mary in 1558 when Elizabeth was
allowed to wear the crown and to rule England and Ireland. Prior to this, the
crown was given to her step-siblings, and Elizabeth had to wait for many years
for her turn to become the Queen of Ireland, Wales, and England. In simple
words, it can be said that Elizabeth was kept in a long queue before she could
get a chance to dominate certain parts of Europe (Scott 25).
Before she could become a queen, Elizabeth
was a political prisoner, as she was imprisoned in 1554. In those days, it was
considered that Elizabeth was trying to go against Queen Mary I, which is why
she was given the punishment for nearly one year, and it was not easy for
Elizabeth to spend her days in the jail.
It’s safe to say that Elizabeth is remembered
for her high-end outfits and gorgeous personality. It would be surprising to
know that her wardrobe was one of the most expensive in the world. According to
Victoria Duckett, Elizabeth owned clothes worth $200 million. In addition, she
had up to two thousand pairs of gloves and nearly five thousand pairs of socks
(Duckett 12). It is a common observation that actors and actresses these days
spend thousands of dollars on a single outfit. All of them seem to have a craze
for being fashionable and for looking prominent and best. However, in the past,
only a few people had the sense to spend this much on their outfits, footwear
and beauty products, Elizabeth being one of them. She was habitual of buying
new clothes almost daily, and she always wanted to look better than others.
There are only a handful of rulers in the
history who believed in astrology. Queen Elizabeth was one of those very few
individuals who trusted luck blindly. She had kept a personal astrologer called
John Dee. He was not only an astrologer but also a chemist and mathematician.
John Dee was basically responsible for telling the queen what to do, where to
go, and how to take the decisions. It is said that Elizabeth had increased her
dependence on Dee’s advice and counsel in the scheduling of urgent events, and
some say that she was in regular touch with her astrologist when she decided to
defeat death.
There was a cult surrounding Elizabeth right
after her claim of the throne. A team of advisors encouraged Elizabeth to wear
glittering outfits. With time, her depictions in both written and visual media
started incorporating likenesses of classical goddesses. For example, she was
compared to Diana (the Greek deity), Astraea and Venus. Today, a significant
number of paintings and written works can be seen in which Elizabeth is
discussed, and her photographs are present in almost all art galleries and
museums in the world. This trend of work is called the Cult of the Virgin Queen
or the Cult of Elizabeth. There is no information on whether she had an
interest in getting herself painted by an artist or she was urged to do so by
her legal advisors, in order to build the people’s confidence in the way she
ruled England and Ireland.
Queen Elizabeth I is one of those very few
female rulers who paid utmost attention to providing the poor with healthy food
and proper medical assistance. For this purpose, she pioneered legislation and
implemented certain strategies that were meant to facilitate both the rich and
the poor, especially low-income families. Amazingly, none of her policies
caused propaganda; in fact, Elizabeth’s administration did a lot of good things
for the people. For instance, she oversaw the nation’s attempt at poverty
relief: a gradual accumulation of rulings such as essential taxation towards
the end, which had culminated with the Elizabethan Poor Law in 1601.
It’s true that Elizabeth was born and raised
in the Western environment and she could speak English fluently. However, only
a few people know that she knew how to speak Latin, Italian and French. In
fact, Elizabeth had translated collections of texts into these languages. The
queen could also speak Welsh, Spanish, Flemish, Greek, Irish, and the now
tongue of Cornish.
In the past, several rumors tied Elizabeth to
Shakespeare. She was a woman with a creative mind, and her mission was to
remain in power while serving humanity. She also emphasized the need to advance
the theatrical arts, and her devotion and love for art and stage led to an
assortment of musings about Elizabeth’s relationship with William Shakespeare.
It is also said that the playwright had a personal relationship with the queen,
and both of them were often blamed for having physical relationships.
It was common for queens and kings in the
past to have multiple romantic relationships. If the tabloids were present in
the 16th century, they would have covered the entire life of Queen Elizabeth I
in detail. She turned down various proposals, including the likes of French
brothers Francis and Henry II, Archduke Charles from Austria, King Philip II
from Spain, Dukes of Anjou and King Eric XIV from Sweden. The fact is that
throughout her life, the queen got various proposals for marriage and it became
too difficult for her to decide whom to trust for spending the whole life with.
Finally, her affair with her childhood friend
Robert Dudley caught the world’s attention, but he married with Amy Robsart,
and after this, Elizabeth could not fulfill her desire to tie the knot with
Robert. In 1560, after the sudden death of his wife, Elizabeth resisted
marrying Robert Dudley. Some years later, she came to know that he was looking
for a second wife, and then she came to know that Lettice Knollys was his
second wife. Amazingly, the scandals of Elizabeth were not limited to her
marriage proposals. She was in the spotlight due to her affair with high
profile men such as Sir Walter Raleigh, Aristocrat, Robert Devereux, Lord
Chancellor Christopher Hatton and 2nd Earl of Essex.
Despite the so many romantic scandals and
marriage proposals, Elizabeth did not marry. She was the only English queen who
decided to live alone. It is believed that she had high standards and wanted
her husband to be perfect at every single thing. Unfortunately, the adorable
queen could not get as perfect and handsome man as she dreamt of, which is why
she chose to live alone. There is no information on who urged her to stay
single, but it is said that Elizabeth did not want anyone to rule England and
Ireland along with her.
Besides being the last monarch to remain unmarried,
Elizabeth was the last person to rule England prior to its union with Scotland.
She died in 1603, and in the same year, the Treaty of Union took effect. Her
successor, James I, supervised the entire process right after Elizabeth’s
death. Furthermore, Elizabeth was one of those five final queens and kings who
ruled under the Tudor dynasty.
Her age was 69 at the time of her death.
Queen Elizabeth I is regarded as the oldest and one of the most proficient
monarchs of English history. She broke the record of nearly 250 years set by
67-year-old Edward I, who held this honor till 1754. It was when King George II
had hit a ripe old 67 while ruling over what is now called Great Britain (Orr
36).
Despite her great sense of fashion, Elizabeth
could not maintain her beauty and grace for long. In the 1560s, she suffered
from hair loss and skin problems, and after that, she lost her attraction and
began looking like an old lady. Later on, she got some medical treatments and
was able to keep up her appearance with a supply of gallant wigs and
applications of white makeup over her face.
The defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 was
one of England’s biggest and most prominent military achievements. In those
days, Queen Elizabeth delivered an impressive speech with an aim to motivate
her troops who were gathered at Tilbury Camp in order to defend the state
against the Spanish invasion. After the successful defense of the Kingdom,
Elizabeth came forward and encouraged everyone in a sense of nationalism and
pride. In her speech, she used remarkable words, saying “I have the body of a
feeble and weak woman, but my heart is of a king.” She further said that she
loved her people, especially the officers who were forefront during the
conflict. She tried her best to place the feelings of love, affection, and
strength in everyone’s heart. Amid the battle, she motivated her troops to
either fight with the courage to with the war or die as heroes.
For the colonization of Ireland, Queen
Elizabeth I addressed the heated religious tension and tried to reestablish the
Church of England as soon as possible. She announced that the war with France
had come to an end, and then she began avoiding clashes with Spain. By the
1580s, it became impossible for England to avoid a battle with Spain, and the
defeat of the Spanish Armada was associated with Elizabeth’s decision. She
favored those who were into spreading peace and harmony within the country, and
it took Elizabeth many years to make people understand that the colonization of
Ireland and North America was the only way to survive and to step toward a
successful and progressive tomorrow.
It’s safe to say that the Elizabethan era was
an age of exploration that gave rise to the Golden Age of Pirates and the
Famous Elizabethan Pirates. Many explorers in those days were regarded as
pirates because of their attacks on the treasure fleet of Spain as well as on
Spanish colonies. Most of her pirates were into bringing more and more wealth
to England, and they wanted Elizabeth to gain power in a short time. During
this journey, they encountered various problems, such as the raid of Spanish
ships.
In conclusion, Elizabeth was infamous for her
proclivity for vibrant language, a feature she is believed to have inherited
from King Henry VIII. She remained healthy till the autumn of 1602, when some
of her friends plunged her into depression, stress and anxiety. In February
1603, she lost her close friend Lady Knollys, and this death came as a surprise
to the queen. One month later, Elizabeth passed away, and she would be
remembered by the world forever.
References
Duckett, Victoria. “Queen Elizabeth.” University
of Illinois Press, 2017, doi:10.5406/illinois/9780252039669.003.0005.
Scott, David. “Elizabeth I, Queen of
England.” Oxford Music Online, 2001, doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.08717.
Orr, Michael T. “Hours of Elizabeth the
Queen.” Oxford Art Online, 2012,
doi:10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.t2226698.
