Queen Elizabeth I: The Most Influence Of Queen Elizabeth I

Queen Elizabeth I was one of the only women to ever rule England in her own right, and was arguably the most successful at it. The daughter of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, she inherited the throne from her half-sister Mary I after decades of turmoil and corruption and reigned from 1558 to 1603. However, Queen Elizabeth I spent her reign picking up the pieces the monarchs before her had left behind. Whether it be her father’s marathon of matrimonies, her own tricky love life, religious and power struggles against her cousins, or competing with the rest of Europe during the age of imperialism, Queen Elizabeth I did it all and more during her forty five year reign of England. Born to King Henry VIII and his previous mistress and present wife in 1533, Queen Elizabeth was widely viewed to be illegitimate in the eyes of many in England. Hence, when Henry VIII died, the crown went first to his son Edward VI, and then to Mary I, the daughter of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon as they were older than Elizabeth I and therefore would inherit the crown above before her. Despite this, Elizabeth “grew up in a period in which the humanist …show more content…
She inherited the throne after decades of religious and political turmoil and managed to put most of the pieces back together. She carefully balanced the love and different forces at court, whether it was with her lovers or the cousins vying for her throne. Many have asked, “what is a queen without her king?” In the case of Queen Elizabeth I of England, the answer is better. As historian William Camden said, “No oblivion shall smother her glory: For her most happy memory liveth, and so shall live in men’s mind to all posterity.” This is certainly true, as almost five hundred years later, she is still well-loved and