Elizabeth I

‘Anger makes dull men witty, but it keeps them poor.’ Elizabeth 1 was Queen of England and Ireland from 1558 until her death. The daughter of Henry VIII, she was born a princess, but her mother, Anne Boleyn, was executed and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate. Her half-brother, Edward VI, bequeathed the crown to Lady Jane Grey, cutting his sisters out of the succession. His will was set aside, Lady Jane Grey was executed, and in 1558 Elizabeth succeeded the Catholic Mary I, during whose reign she had been imprisoned for nearly a year. Elizabeth set out to rule by good counsel, and she depended heavily on a group of trusted advisers led by William Cecil, Baron Burghley. In government, Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and siblings. One of her mottoes was “video et taceo” (“I see, and say nothing”) This strategy, viewed with impatience by her counsellors, often saved her from political and marital misalliances. Elizabeth was the first Tudor to recognise that a monarch ruled by popular consent. Within 20 years of her death, she was celebrated as the ruler of a golden age, an image that retains its hold on the English people. Elizabeth is acknowledged as a charismatic performer and a dogged survivor, in an age when government was ramshackle and limited and when monarchs in neighbouring countries faced internal problems that jeopardised their thrones. After the short reigns of Elizabeth’s brother and sister, her 44 years on the throne provided welcome stability for the kingdom and helped forge a sense of national identity. Elizabeth’s reign became idealised as a time when crown, church and parliament had worked in constitutional balance.