Queen Elizabeth ascends to the throne

On 17 November 1558 the British Queen, Queen Elizabeth I ascended to the throne following the death of her half-sister, Mary. The Queen of England, who was just 25 at accession, was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. In 1559 Her Majesty enforced the Protestant religion by law and in 1587 she had Mary Queen of Scots executed. The Queen’s conflict with Catholic Spain resulted in the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. Elizabeth was Queen at the time Britain was said to be experiencing the “English Renaissance”. This was the era of outstanding literary and artistic developments under the Tudor dynasty, the house from which Elizabeth was descendant. Among some of the literary luminaries of this period was William Shakespeare (1564 to 1616). There were calamities associated with Elizabethan England, the most devastating of which was the bubonic plague. The bubonic plague had been a feature of English society since the beginning of the 14th century. During Elizabeth I’s reign there was a major outbreak and in 1563, in London alone, over 20 000 people died of the disease. Queen Elizabeth I died on 24 March 1603 at Richmond Palace at an age 69. References: Britroyals.com (2011). ‘Queen Elizabeth 1’ from Royal Family History [online]. Available at www.britroyals.com [Accessed 25 October 2011] Toohey, S. (2004). ‘Elizabeth I: The Virgin Queen’ from SkyScript.co.uk [online]. Available at www.skyscript.co.za [Accessed 28 October 2011]