Elizabeth I (1533–1603)

In a contemporary portrait drawn as the frontispiece of a book of Christian prayers from 1569, Queen Elizabeth I of England is shown at prayer. Elizabeth had proved herself to be an accomplished scholar during childhood, and supported the Protestant cause against Catholicism.

Queen of England from 1558; the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Through her Religious Settlement of 1559 she enforced the Protestant religion by law. She had Mary Queen of Scots executed in 1587. Her conflict with Roman Catholic Spain led to the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. The Elizabethan age was expansionist in commerce and geographical exploration, and arts and literature flourished. The rulers of many European states made unsuccessful bids to marry Elizabeth, and she manipulated her suitors to strengthen England's position in Europe. She was succeeded by James I.

Her mother was Henry VIII's second wife, the woman for whom he started the Reformation. On the death of her Catholic half-sister Mary I, Elizabeth became queen. Mary Queen of Scots, also a Catholic, was her cousin. The colonization of the New World began during Elizabeth's reign. Although the courtiers Leicester, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Essex were favored, Elizabeth was known as the Virgin Queen and never married. She was astute, well educated, and shrewd in both personal and political affairs; she is considered one of England's greatest monarchs.