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Elizabeth I – Queen of England |
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Queen of England and Ireland (1558–1603), the daughter of Henry VIII by his second wife, Anne Boleyn, born in Greenwich, London, England. Ascending the throne on the death of her sister Mary, she steered a skilful course in foreign affairs with the two leading Catholic powers of Spain and France, and presided over the judicious settlement of the Church of England (1559). She made peace with France and Scotland, and strengthened her position by secretly helping Protestants in these countries. From 1594 to 1603 her severe policies in Ireland led to a series of rebellions. She sent Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, to restore order, but he failed ignominiously. The countryside was devastated, and the eventual victory in 1603 of the English under Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy, led to the extension of the Anglican Church's power over Ireland. Following Mary, Queen of Scots' flight to England (1568) and imprisonment, Elizabeth became a target of successive conspiracies hatched by English Catholics. After the Babington plot was discovered (1586), she was reluctantly persuaded to approve Mary's execution (1587). When Philip of Spain attempted an invasion of England, sending his ‘invincible armada’ (1588), her fleet under Howard of Effingham managed to repel the attack, and the weather completed its destruction. Elizabeth had a number of favourites, but she never married, and died childless. |