Before My Accent to the Throne

     I was born September 7 1533. My father was Henry VIII. My mother was Anne Boleyn, his second wife. Henry VIII wrongly accused my mother of adultery because he had grown tired of her and she wouldn’t produce a son. Anne Boleyn was beheaded when I was just three years old and I was declared illegitimate. Even though my official status was just an illegitimate child of Henry VIII, I was raised as part of the royal family. I was granted an excellent education. I excelled in music and was fluent in Greek, Latin, French, Italian and Spanish. When my father died, I was third in line for the throne, my sickly brother Edward first, then Mary and finally myself.  I moved in with my step mother Catherine Parr. Tomas Seymour asked me to marry him but I said no because I wanted to wait until I was older, if I ever married at all. He married Catherine instead. It bothered me to have Mr. Seymour living in the same house as me. He harassed me and would come into my chambers early in the morning uninvited.

     Edward died of a sickness shortly after assuming the throne. Mary took over and tried to change the religion of England completely into Catholicism. There were several plots to dislodge Mary from the throne and place me on instead. In 1554, Sir Thomas Wyatt attempted to overthrow Mary. My sister suspected incorrectly that Sir Thomas was working with me against her. And I was put in the tower of London. He was caught and executed. Sir Thomas made an official statement before his death clearing my name of the treason suspected against me. Mary couldn’t prove that I had done anything wrong, but still was suspicious of me. I was put under genteel confinement at Woodstock House, where I stayed until Mary died November 17 1558 of an unknown sickness.

As Queen of England

       On November 17 1558, I rode into London ready for my coronation. That evening, I became Queen of England and Ireland. Mary had left quite a mess to clean up. England was at war with France. This war was using the little money the country had, so there were drastic economic problems. I was 25 years old and feeling a little overwhelmed. I made my good friend William Cecil first secretary and my closest advisor. After ending the war with France, I set to fixing England. Encouraging the arts and politics was important to me. Parliament was created. England was spilt into 32 different sections. Two representatives from each section could be nominated to sit in parliament and speak for their section. I also limited nobles’ power over towns and cities, allowing the people to grow and flourish by selling charters to them. Charters were documents that stated how much a town could govern itself. The charters also stated what taxes and tolls the city would be allowed to collect. In 1580, London’s population was expanding at huge rates and bursting through the seams of the city. To help solve this problem, I put in place a law. This limit on growth directed that no new buildings could be built in the city of London unless a building was occupying the lot previously.  This worked well and soon the city had deflated to a manageable size again.  After ruling for 45 years, the longest rein of my time, I died on March 24 1603. The throne was passed peacefully on to James I. He was the son of Mary Queen of Scots. James was smart and continued the path I started for England. I am glad he was able to continue England’s prosperous era.

The Religious Tolerance

     Immediately after I ascended the throne, the Protestant religion became the official religion of England. However, I didn’t really care what faith my people practiced in private as long as it didn’t affect my politics. So I reached a religious settlement. The religious settlement made all heads of Church swear to the Act of Supremacy and the Act of Uniformity. The Act of Supremacy made me the Supreme governor of the Church. If a priest refused to swear the Act of Supremacy, their title would be revoked. Do not pass go. Do not collect 200 dollars. Elizabeth released revised prayer books that incorporated both Protestant and Catholic faiths into one book. The Act of Uniformity ordered these books to be used in all churches. The new prayer books were good enough for most Protestants and Catholics. It was only the Puritans (extreme Protestants) and Recusants (extreme Catholics) who expressed discontent. The Act of Uniformity also changed some of the rules of religion. Priests could now marry and Bibles were allowed in homes for the first time. When people found some of the Bible’s content confusing, I ordered sermons during church services to explain sections of the Bible to the congregation. People who didn’t go to church were fined. What religion English people practiced on their own time wasn’t my business as long as they followed the religious settlement.

      This religious tolerance remained until Pope Pius V recommended to catholic people and catholic countries to attack Protestant England. Nothing came of the order from the Vatican, but the seed had been planted. I immediately enforced fines against Catholic practisers and toured again with the Act of Supremacy.  This time each priest was asked “the bloody question”. If England were invaded by Catholics, I asked, would you fight with England or against her? Those who answered wrong (that they would fight with the Catholics) were killed. This regime worked well and by my death in 1603, the majority of English men and woman were Protestant.

Reaching Out To My People

      Every year I made a trip around England. I visited the nobles (sometimes it was more of a check-up than a visit) and travelled through small villages and the countryside. The commoners loved being close to me as I rode through. They would come from all over to see me and my procession go past. It is nice I can please them with something as simple as riding though their town.

England’s Attitude under My Rein

      England loved me. The date of my coronation became a national holiday where people sang and danced in the streets. Because of my support in art, literature, music and drama, the English renaissance finally took off. We may have been late bloomers but England was a power house once she got started. There was more money because of the increase in manufacturing. The trade levels also went up. People were so proud of their country, especially after the defeat of the Spanish Armada, citizens cooperated with the law. Under my ruling, England flourished. Even at the time the people realised it was a special era and now those years are called England’s golden age.

England’s Relations With Other Countries

         For the most part, England stayed friendly with other countries under my rule. When I ascended the throne, England was at war with France. This was quickly ended under good terms in 1559. Once the country became more stable, I looked to make English colonies. Explores were sent out to America and Africa. This did not please the Spanish as they had already explored in these parts and established colonies. The Spanish captured our boats and told me not to invade their colonies again. I said that it wouldn’t happen again, but I secretly encouraged English pirate ships to continue exploring and to take as many Spanish boats as possible. Very soon I became very rich but this also signalled the end to the peace between England and Spain. In 1588, Spain sent the Spanish Armada. The Spanish Armada was 150 of Spain’s best boats. They wanted to invade England. I prepped my navy and army and we met them head on. Luck was on our side and England won before the Armada landed.

Marriage? An heir? Never!

Though throughout my rein counsellors pressured me to get married and produce an heir, it was a demand I always refused. I am not sure why marriage why such a disgusting idea for me. It might have been the way my father treated his wives, including my mother. Also having a man control me, and through me, my country, was a disgusting idea. It is easier to know why having an heir never interested me. I never wanted anyone to outshine me the way I outshined my sister. I wanted complete power over the monarchy until my death. Even now, I am still called the Virgin Queen. Did you know the state Virginia is named after me?