Queen Elizabeth I

About Queen Elizabeth

Elizabeth I - the fifth and last Tudor Monarch - was born in Greenwich, England on September 7th 1533. She was the daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn, who was executed two and a half years after Elizabeth's birth.

 

When Queen Elizabeth I was still a child her life was uncertain and grim and her chances of succeeding the throne of England were very small after her half-brother Edward was born in 1537. She was then third in line behind her half-sister, Princess Mary so Elizabeth I rebelled against her along with other members and she barely escaped execution in 1554.

Queen Elizabeth I finally acceded to the throne after Queen Mary I death in November 1558. She was well-educated, fluent in six different languages, intelligent, determined and shrewd like her parents.  Queen Elizabeth I's 45-year reign is normally considered one of the most famous and most honoured reigns in English history. Many called her "The Virgin Queen" as she never married and the state of Virginia was named after her. The title inspired the name Virginia for generations of girls and women.