November 17:

1558 : Elizabethan Age begins

Queen Mary I, the monarch of England and Ireland since
1553, dies and is succeeded by her 25-year-old
half-sister, Elizabeth.

The two half-sisters, both daughters of King Henry
VIII, had a stormy relationship during Mary's
five-year reign. Mary, who was brought up as a
Catholic, enacted pro-Catholic legislation and made
efforts to restore the pope to supremacy in England. A
Protestant rebellion ensued, and Queen Mary imprisoned
Elizabeth, a Protestant, in the Tower of London on
suspicion of complicity. After Mary's death, Elizabeth
survived several Catholic plots against her; though
her ascension was greeted with approval by most of
England's lords, who were largely Protestant and hoped
for greater religious tolerance under a Protestant
queen. Under the early guidance of Secretary of State
Sir William Cecil, Elizabeth repealed Mary's
pro-Catholic legislation, established a permanent
Protestant Church of England, and encouraged the
Calvinist reformers in Scotland.

In foreign affairs, Elizabeth practiced a policy of
strengthening England's Protestant allies and dividing
her foes. Elizabeth was opposed by the pope, who
refused to recognize her legitimacy, and by Spain, a
Catholic nation that was at the height of its power.
In 1588, English-Spanish rivalry led to an abortive
Spanish invasion of England in which the Spanish
Armada, the greatest naval force in the world at the
time, was destroyed by storms and a determined English
navy.

With increasing English domination at sea, Elizabeth
encouraged voyages of discovery, such as Sir Francis
Drake's circumnavigation of the world and Sir Walter
Raleigh's expeditions to the North American coast.

The long reign of Elizabeth, who became known as the
"Virgin Queen" for her reluctance to endanger her
authority through marriage, coincided with the
flowering of the English Renaissance, associated with
such renowned authors as William Shakespeare. By her
death in 1603, England had become a major world power
in every respect, and Queen Elizabeth I passed into
history as one of England's greatest monarchs.

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