Queen Elizabeth I

Reigned 1558-1603

Reign of Henry VIII1509: Becomes King and Marries Catherine of Aragon (his deceased brother’s widow)

1516: Catherine gives birth to Mary I

1533: HVII divorces Catherine and marries Anne Boleyn

1533: Elizabeth born

1536: Anne Executed

Religion under Henry VIIBeginnings of the Reformation in England

1517: Martin Luther Protests Catholic Church at Wittenberg

1533: Divorce causes rift with Rome

Henry declares himself Supreme Head of English Church

English Church becomes increasingly Protestant

Edward VI 1537-1547-1553

1537: Edward VI born to Jane Seymour

1547: HVIII dies; Protestant Edward takes throne at age 10

1549: Edward VI abolishes Purgatory and “cult of the dead”

Key differences between Catholics and Protestants in the 16th Century:

Catholics pledge allegiance to the Pope

Catholics believe in transubstantiation

Catholic faith in hierarchy and authority of the Roman Church

Highest spiritual authority in England is the Monarch

Protestants celebrate Lord’s Supper as symbolic

Protestants suspicious of spectacle, images, ritual, icons

1553: The Catholic Mary Tudor (daughter of Catherine of Aragon) comes into power

Called “Bloody Mary” for persecution of Protestants

Attempts to make England Catholic again

Marries Phillip II of Spain

1558: Queen Elizabeth (daughter of Anne Boleyn) takes the throne

Protestant

Persecutes Catholics for Allegiance

Institutes Common Prayer Book

QEI Perpetuates Image of “Virgin Queen”

Uses Suitors for Political Leverage

Anxiety of Heirless Realm

Challenges and Perpetuates Gender Roles

Queen Elizabeth broadens British “Empire”Britain enters into slave trade

1583: Charter for Colony of Virginia Granted

1588: England “defeats” Spanish Armada

Phillip II sends Spanish Armada (the superior naval force in Europe) to invade England

A storm destroys the Armada

This defeat is celebrated as an “act of God”

Back on the island, QEI is centralizing power in monarchy

“I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm; to which rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms.”

QEI addresses the troops at Tillbury in full armor

The Rainbow Portrait: 1600

Imagery:Fertility

SupremacySurveillance

Passion Checked by Reason

1601: Essex Rebellion

Essex fails to quell rebellion in Ireland

Attempts to overthrow the Queen

Stages Richard IIExecuted

1603: QEI dies heirless; Scottish James I comes into power

James I of Scotland comes to the Throne

King James I brings peace but not faith in the monarchy

Squanders funds

1611: Commissions King James Bible