Queen Elizabeth<o
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Imagine trying to uphold the throne of 15th century England, sending soldiers to fight in miraculous bloody battles, and dealing with your greedy cousin who would soon kill you as look at you so she could become queen of your country. Well, Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603) endured all of this and a great deal more. Elizabeth inherited the throne to England, had problems holding to that throne because of her cousin Mary, and because she and her kingdom remained victorious throughout the battle of the Spanish Armada she inspired many writers to write. In today’s world Queen Elizabeth may have been considered some sort of a feminist for her independent achievements.
Some consider Elizabeth to have been the most successful and brilliant monarch in recorded history. Elizabeth inherited a kingdom that had basically been destroyed by religious battles. She felt it was her duty to restore decree to the kingdom as well as to put everything back into perspective. Elizabeth was excommunicated from the church at the pope’s discretion for declining his authority. This caused her to reestablish the Church of England. Her fight to restore religious order was a hard and strong one, especially being excommunicated by the pope. The Queen of England, excommunicated, it must have made some of her followers doubt her...for a while.
An exception to a previous statement is others believe Elizabeth was the reason why England got stuck with a washed up man for a King named James VI, her second cousin. Elizabeth had her own cousin, Mary Stuart, and would-be successor to the throne executed. She had distressed Elizabeth for decades. If Elizabeth would die Mary would get the throne, the key to England. She would have an entire country at her disposal. Elizabeth did everything in her power to stop such events from happening. Times changed in Scotland, and while Mary was the Catholic Queen of Scotland and the country was becoming more Protestant they threw her from her own kingdom. This caused Elizabeth to easily get a hold of her weakened cousin. Mary lived in royal exile in England under the watch of Elizabeth and was later beheaded.
On the other hand Elizabeth had not just been fighting Mary but had been getting ready to send out The English Royal Navy to fight in The Spanish Armada. The execution of Mary gave King Philip of Spain a ‘reason’ to invade England. So, yet again, Mary caused Elizabeth distress even in death. Again however, Elizabeth and The English Royal Navy were successful. Now England was assured independence, and the influence of Catholicism became minimal during the rest of her rein. Due to these events the people of England began to write of them and stories about them fervently. Imagine, a huge event taking place, of course the idea to capture its light will pop into many minds. Through Elizabeth’s successes she became beloved and known as a symbol of peace, security, and prosperity. Many poems, dramas, and fictional characters were based on her. Literary works that did not speak of her were often dedicated to her because the writer’s idea was influenced by her.
In the whole the memory of Elizabeth still lives on today and when many people think of ‘English tea at high noon’ they picture her. A woman inherited the throne to England by birth, faced tribulations with her cousin Mary, and through her success inspired many writers to put pencil to paper. After the death of Elizabeth, James VI took over because he was next in bloodline to the throne. He most definitely was not as palpable as Elizabeth; he was more of a procrastinator. Even in her death Elizabeth was more successful than James VI.<o ></o >
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