Elizabeth Was The Unwanted Daughter Of King Henry VIII, The King Who K

Elizabeth was the unwanted daughter of King Henry VIII, the king who killed her mother, because she did not bear a son. Elizabeth grew up in a country at war with it self in the wake of King Henry's religious reforms. Through no fault of her own, Elizabeth was cast aside by her own father; resulting in a lonely childhood and adolescence. While her half sister Mary I was queen, as a young women Elizabeth lived quietly, waiting for her opportunity to succeed. On November. 17, 1558, Mary died and Elizabeth began her reign. During her years as a queen, Elizabeth influenced England greatly, with which to this day the Elizabethan age is most often associated. Education was one of Elizabeth's greatest influences on England. Perhaps her influence on the importance of education as a young girl and her longed desire to learn helped her strive for this particular goal. Children in those days began their studies really early in the morning. They were expected to work long hours with out getting distracted. Over the years her tutors wrote glowing reports on her excellent progress. At ten years old, Elizabeth was excellent at Latin, and she could speak Italian pretty well. She was also taught ancient and modern languages, religion, history, geography, mathematics, science, and music. She kept up her studies even when she became queen.(Zamoyska 10-11) Queen Elizabeth introduced to her country the seeds of freedom, which English men now took for granted. The growing number of printing presses made books more readily available, because an increasing amount of people, both men and women began to read. (Bush 93) As a Protestant, Elizabeth influenced her country's religious decisions. According to Zamoyska: While Mary was still queen of England, Elizabeth did not want to risk her greatest opportunity of being next in line. She had a difficult task of having to conform openly to the Catholics, while still keeping support for the Protestants and the younger generation that "looked up to her." (19) "Elizabeth's first decisions bore on the religious issues. She turned the situation back to the state of things during the last years of Edward VI, allowing the repatriation of the Protestant leaders who had been driven out underMary.She didn't, however encourage further changes, and essentially supported the Church of England ..." (Rachum 162) Moderate Protestantism had been practiced under Henry VIII , and under Edward VI even more radical Protestant programs were implemented.. Mary in the other hand, had restored the Roman Catholic faith. Elizabeth herself was a moderate Protestant, and her settlement excluded papal authority, and brought back the Book of Common Prayer. This however did not recognize the demands of the extreme Puritans. During her reign a lot of pressure continued, but she resisted. Eventually the Puritans were driven underground. One of her greatest fears was that an alliance of Catholic powers might force her out of the throne, and introduce again a Catholic monarch. Eventually Elizabeth send English forces to fight on the Protestant side: In the war of religion in France and the revolt of the Dutch against Spanish rule. (Academic American Encyclopedia 141) The Spanish Armada was perhaps the greatest threat to Elizabeth. Intending this fleet to secure the deposition of Elizabeth in favor of himself, Philip II of Spain-Thus restoring Catholicism. The Naval battle in the English Channel devasted the Spanish flotilla. The use of the fire ships, English seaman ship and the "Protestant Wind" as the English call it, were responsible for the English victory that turned out to be so famous. (Academic American Encyclopedia 142) Before the war, Queen Elizabeth made a dramatic speech to her troops at Tulbury. She assured them that she had "...the heart and stomach of a king" and she promised that "...we shall shortly have a famous victory over these enemies of my God, my kingdom, and my people." She wore a gleaming silver armor and a white velvet dress. She was not about to barricade herself into one of her castles in this time of danger, but she was intending to show her country what a queen could be. The war was declared an English victory. Thus the defeat of the Armada strengthened Elizabeth's position as a figure of Protestantism. She was the one who in spite of everything, seemed "invincible." (Bush 87-90) Queen Elizabeth was the most important patron of Elizabethan theater. "Her influence was essential protecting the theatrical profession from puritan inspired prohibitions, and her court provided an important source of income and prestige for leading London acting companies..." (Boyce