Perhaps not many a woman is regarded to be as remarkable and as compelling as Queen Elizabeth I of England. She is considered as one of the most loved, admired, and popular rulers of all time and her reign is often referred to as the “Golden Age” of English history. Her works, achievements, and colorful life had indeed made her a legend.
Only a few of the history books account for this queen's true character and personality. This might be attributed to the fact that Elizabeth had been a mysterious person during her time. She was an enigma even to her own people. As noted by the historian G.M. Trevelyan(1942), Elizabeth loved to hide her real thoughts and purpose in clouds of vain and deceitful words.(p.234) Nevertheless, her pastimes, decisions, and the way she ran her country shed some light on qualities that she possessed.
Born on September 7, 1533 at Greenwich Palace, Elizabeth's birth is probably her father's greatest disappointment. King Henry VIII had not divorced his first wife, Katherine of Aragon, and changed the religion of the country in the process, only to have another daughter. He had wanted a son to succeed him as King but what he had were two unwanted daughters, Mary and Elizabeth. Having failed to provide the king with a male heir, Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth's mother was executed on false charges of incest and adultery on May 19, 1536. Anne's Marriage to the king was declared null and void and Elizabeth, like her half-sister Mary was declared illegitimate and deprived of her place in the line of succession(Thomas, 2005).
The next eight years of Elizabeth's life saw a quick succession of stepmothers. After Anne Boleyn, King Henry married Jane Seymour who died while giving birth to his longed for son, Edward. Henry was afterwards three times married. Two of the three successive wives, Anne of Cleves, and Catherine Howard,who was beheaded, he divorced and the sixth, Catherine Parr, outlived him.
As a child, Elizabeth was very gifted and intelligent. She had received an impressive education for it had been the trend of the nobility to educate daughters as well as sons. She could read, write, and speak Latin, French, Italian, some Greek, as well as remarkably vigorous English. She had a natural flare for languages(Thomas, 2005).
When King Henry reinstated Mary's and Elizabeth's succession to the throne, Elizabeth became a vulnerable political pawn. After King Henry VIII died, Edward, his successor was not yet of legitimate age to be the king so Edward Seymour, Edward's uncle, took over as Protector of England for the meantime. Seymour's younger brother, Thomas was jealous of his position so he hatched a scheme which involved kidnapping the Boy King but he was immediately caught and thereby executed. However, prior to the said event, Thomas Seymour made his desire to marry Elizabeth no secret so the young girl was thought of as a co-conspirator to the said plot(Thomas,2005). Elizabeth was made to prove her innocence and this event manifested the strength, and courage that would be indispensable to her through the years of her reign.
Elizabeth's adulthood was no easier than her childhood. After Edward died in the summer of 1554, Elizabeth found herself again implicated in an evil plot that she did not participate in. Her half-sister Mary Tudor had succeeded Edward, and having been a devout catholic, she made decisive and often cruel policies concerning her non-catholic subjects. Because Elizabeth was a protestant, Queen Mary had been suspicious of her and when the Wyatt Rebellion broke out, Elizabeth was accused of conspiracy, and was afterwards sent to the Tower of London for imprisonment. After two months Elizabeth was transferred to Woodstock Manor in Oxfordshire and there she suffered as captive for a year. Her situation there was no better than in the tower of London for she was treated as a prisoner.
“The house itself was uninhabitable so she had to be lodged in the gatehouse with her servants. It was only at the behest of the Queen's husband, Philip of Spain, that she was allowed to return to her childhood home of Hatfield in Hertfordshire. Philip was aware of the Queen's poor health and wanted to gain the friendship of Elizabeth to ensure peaceable relations between England and Spain should his wife die and Elizabeth succeed to the throne. ” (Thomas,2005).
After Mary died in 1558, Elizabeth became the new Queen of England. This succession was greatly rejoiced for by the people for Mary had not been a popular Queen. As Cheyney(1960) wrote”...and all England again looked with hope to the beginning of a new and better age under the third child of Henry VIII, Mary's sister, Elizabeth.”(p.327).
