Queen Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth I was born September 7, 1533 at Greenwich Palace. She was the only surviving child of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Henry and Anne were both disappointed at the gender of their new child, but coped with it nonetheless. As Elizabeth grew up, her mother placed the young girl ahead of Mary (first child of Henry, step-sister to Elizabeth), who was 16 years older than Elizabeth was, in the line for the throne. Three years prior to this announcement, Elizabeth’s mother, Anne Boleyn, was beheaded for her thoughts on the revolt from Rome. Thus, Elizabeth lost all hereditary title to the throne until Jane Seymour, Elizabeth’s stepmother, died of a fever after Edward was born. Parliament then placed Elizabeth in front of Mary, being the daughter of the much-hated Catherine of Aragon, who was the daughter of the much hated, Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. The English Parliament disliked Ferdinand and Isabella because they represented Spain in becoming the first nation to set foot on the New World. Simply put, the Northern European countries wanted to do this first. Although Elizabeth was now in front of Mary, Edward, being a male, had ultimate dominion. All of the children lived happily in their Greenwich home. In 1544, Mary was sent to study abroad while Edward and Elizabeth continued schooling at the Old Hatfield House.

When Henry VIII died on January 28, 1547, Edward VI became king at just age 9. Also at this time, Mary I, the sister of Edward and Elizabeth, started to persecute many Protestants within the Protestant-Catholic conflict. As Edward grew older, he grew power hungry and paranoid that he would be overthrown. He had both his uncles executed and put his sister up for trial several times just wanting to please the people. During this period of Edward in power and Mary persecuting the Protestants, Elizabeth was back in quiet Greenwich being taken care of by Catherine Parr. For the rest of Edward’s reign Elizabeth’s life was less emotional. When Edward died in 1553, Mary came to power and continued to persecute the Protestants. Elizabeth sat in the shadow of Mary, out of sight and safe for some time. However, after Elizabeth declined the request to participate in the Spanish marriage project, the Spaniards cried loud for her execution. She was tried in court several times over the course of several years. She eventually escaped to Hatfield, where she lived peacefully under the reign of her sister, studied, and planted trees. Mary I died on November 17, 1558 and in the months following her death, Spaniards rejoiced, as did Catholics. Thus, Elizabeth came to power. With Elizabeth in the throne, the persecution of Protestants ended and many other things began to change.