Queen Elizabeth I1533-1603

Gabriela Resendiz

Baby Elizabeth’s Birth:In the beginning, King Henry VIII was married to his first wife Catherine of Aragon and had one baby girl. During their marriage, the King fell in love with another woman named Anne Boleyn which was who he was having an affair with. He married her while being pregnant with King Henry’s child. They were certain that their child would be a boy, but when the baby was born they had a shocking surprise, Anne had given birth to a girl. The King was furious he had gone through so much to marry Anne just so that he can have a son with her, but no he got something he already had, a daughter! They named her Elizabeth.

Elizabeth’s Childhood:Elizabeth was always well taken care of by her mother. Although it was common for nannies to watch the royal babies, Anne made sure she had time to see her a lot. At the age of 2½, Anne died a painful death. Elizabeth’s life would never be the sameagain. She wasn’t cared for as much as she used to be and most of the time she was ignored. A couple of days after her death, the King married again to Anne’s maid of honor, Jane Seymour. Soon she was pregnant and gave birth to a son, Prince Edward. Elizabeth and Edward became very close; they had so much things in common. (Elizabeth liked her older sister Mary too, but they were never really close). They both enjoyed learning and were given a very impressive education. Elizabeth was an intelligent and talented little girl. She spent her time reading, writing, and learning to play instruments. She also learned needlework and art.

Marriage and Successions“Better beggar woman and single than Queen and married” -Queen Elizabeth I

After all the wives and affairs that the King had, Elizabeth at 8, told her daddy that she would never marry. This later became true. She never got married, therefore, she never had a child, so the question that everyone had was… who would take over the Queen’s place when she dies? This became a mystery. Men from all over the world asked for her hand in marriage and some were seriously taken in for consideration, but in the end, they were all nicely rejected.

There was a man that the Queen would maybe marry, but he already had a wife. His name was Lord Robert Dudley, her Master of Horse. There were rumors that Dudley would kill his wife and marry Elizabeth. Coincidentally, his wife was found dead at the bottom of a staircase with her neck broken. They believed that Lord Dudley was her murderer, but this was not true. After this incident, Elizabeth did not marry Dudley, for if she did, they would of thought that she was apart of the killing and the rumors would become true.

No one knew the real reason for why she would not get married but there were theories: Elizabeth thought that her husband might overpower her to become King, she never found anyone she liked, or maybe it was because she was troubled by her father’s unsuccessful marriages. Whatever the reason, it was final that the Queen would die unmarried and a virgin.

Wardrobe Queen Elizabeth was into fashion. In private, she preferred to wear simple gowns

and dresses, but in public, she dressed to impress! She dressed in all kinds of colors, but her favorites were black and white. Because they symbolized virginity and purity. No one was allowed to dress better than her; even though they couldn’t if they tried. Her gowns were the most unique. They were decorated with diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and all kinds of jewels.

Power and GovernmentEngland had a complicated system of government. It consisted of 3: Monarch, Privy Council, and Parliament.

Monarch:Queen Elizabeth was the most powerful person in England. Whatever she said went. She had the power to make other people powerful. No one could pass a law without her consent. She made all the major decisions herself. She didn’t need a man to help her, but she couldn’t do everything herself though. She had help from the Privy Counsel and Parliament. Everyone had to obey her. It was against the law for them not to. If they didn’t obey, they would have to suffer death.

Parliament: The parliament back then

wasn’t as important as it is today. They were only used when the Queen needed them which was hardly ever. In the whole time she reigned, there were only 10 parliaments total. Parliament were allowed to make laws, but if the Queen did not like them, she had the power to deny them. The queen was also allowed to make her own laws without anyone’s permission. Elections took place in the parliament for the commoners. Only men with a specific amount of income were allowed to vote.

Privy Council:The Privy Council was in charge of the general administration of the country. The Queen decided who would be apart of the council. She was the only one that could choose. There were only about 50 members. The job for one of the councilor was to advise the Queen when she needed the advice. They were involved in governmental areas, including religion, military matters, the Queen's security, economics, and the welfare of the people. They could be needed for not only the country’s conflicts, but also for individuals that lived in England.

Court LifeCourt took place wherever the Queen happened o be. There were usually over 1,000 people who attended it, so they had to be held in big places like in one of her palaces. The people that were surrounded by her, were the people who attended the court meetings, such as servants.

Whitehall Palace, London

Family

King Henry VIII (father):

Anne of Cleves (mother): Prince Edward VI (brother): Queen Mary I (sister):

Henry VII (grandfather): Elizabeth of York (grandmother):

The Queen’s Death

The older Queen Elizabeth got, the more bitter, depressed, and lonely she got. She hated being old, but who wouldn’t? All of her friends and family that she once loved were gone in heaven, which is where she wanted to be too. One day, she stepped out in the cold and got really sick. She could have been taken care of by doctors and nurses but refused to. She just laid in her death bed waiting to die. On the 24th of March, 1603, she was found early in the morning dead. James IV was made into a King and replaced Queen Elizabeth.

Works Cited

• http://www.elizabethi.org/us/

• http://www.room111heroes.com/elizabethI05.jpg

• http://englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/eliz1-rainbow.jpg

• http://images.easyart.com/i/prints/rw/lg/2/5/Nicholas-Hilliard-Queen-Elizabeth-I-25392.jpg

• http://www.oldlondonmaps.com/oldlondonmapimages/stow/Stow070a.jpg

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Henry_VIII_and_Anne_Boleyn.png

Books:

• Arnold, Janet. Queen Elizabeth's wardrobe unlocked. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

• Thomas, Jane R. Behind the mask. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

• Elizabeth- The Golden Age. N.p.: n.p., n.d. DVD-ROM.

• Eding, June. Who Was Queen Elizabeth? N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

• Neale, J. E. Queen Elizabeth I. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

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