- January 1559 Elizabeth I was crowned Queen of England
- She was the last of the Tudor dynasty and dazzled the nation and the world
- Elizabeth reigned for 45 years and her ships sailed round the world and defeated the Armada, Shakespeare wrote plays and Spenser wrote poems
- English noblemen and foreign princes wooed her
- Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII
- The right of women to succeed to the throne was still in doubt
- Her father would kill her mother and she would be disinherited.
- Her sister would imprison her in the Tower and threaten to execute her
- She would be molested by her own stepfather
- Most monarch have their crowns handed to them on a plate, but Elizabeth would get hers by cunning and courage
- Elizabeth’s sex was a disappointment to Henry VIII when she was born in September 1533
- Henry already had a daughter, Mary, aged 17
- Elizabeth had a magnificent christening with every detail seen to
- She was declared princess as heir to the throne
- According to the French ambassador the occasion was perfect, and nothing was lacking
- But things were far from perfect as Elizabeth was the child of a second marriage
- The Imperial ambassador refused to attend the baptism and refused to recognise Anne Boleyn as Henry VIII’s wife – referring to Anne as whore and Elizabeth as bastard
- “Hot but not hot enough” – one ambassador when asked if the baby Elizabeth had been baptised in hot or cold water
- Henry VIII divorced his first wife Katherine of Aragon because she didn’t give him a son
- Anne had a stillborn baby boy after 2 miscarriages
- Anne had failed in her principle duty and Henry had fallen in love with another woman
- Anne was accused of multiple adultery with 4 men and incest with her brother
- Anne was executed on Tower Green on 19 May 1536 with a single stroke of a sword rather than an axe
- Elizabeth was only aged 3 when her mother was executed
- Elizabeth seems to have airbrushed her mother from her memory and her father filled her world instead
- Henry and Anne’s marriage was declared null and void
- Elizabeth was made illegitimate and unable to inherit the throne
- She became Lady Elizabeth, second bastard daughter of the king
- Elizabeth’s governess didn’t know what to do and wrote to Cromwell for guidance on Elizabeth’s treatment and clothes
- No one could forget that Elizabeth was Anne’s daughter and it was to marry Anne that Henry had broken with Rome
- The monasteries had fallen victim to Henry’s desire to marry Anne – assets were seized, and the buildings destroyed
- Glastonbury Abbey was one of those that fell
- There was also spiritual damage – out of the ruins would form a new faith which would divide his country and his family
- Just over a year after his marriage to Jane Seymour she gave him a son and heir – Edward
- Elizabeth and Mary were minor royals
- Elizabeth also lost her governess, Lady Bryan, who was transferred to look after the new baby prince
- Kat Ashley replaced Lady Bryan and she became close to Elizabeth
- Her father rarely saw her as she was brought up away from the court
Tudor Blogger 