Elizabeth I problems with reign

• Elizabeth I was a Tudor monarch who ruled England from 1558 - 1603
• Despite her long reign, Elizabeth was never expected to become queen
• Elizabeth was last in line to the throne of all of Henry VIII's legitimate children
• After the execution of her mother, Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth's early life was full of danger, which helped shape the queen she became
• England experienced a great deal of change during Elizabeth's reign
• Elizabeth I


  Daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn
• Henry VIII created the Church of England, with himself as its head, removing power from the Pope in Rome
• Henry wanted a male heir to the throne, but he and Anne Boleyn only had Elizabeth
• In 1536, Anne Boleyn was executed on charges of treason, and within days Henry had married Jane Seymour
• Elizabeth's half-siblings


  • Mary (born 1516 to Henry and Catherine of Aragon)
  • Edward (born 1537 to Henry and Jane Seymour)
• When Henry VIII died in January 1547, Elizabeth was third in line to the throne
• After Anne Boleyn's execution, Henry declared Elizabeth to be illegitimate
• Elizabeth looked up to her father Henry VIII and often made reference to her likeness to him
• Elizabeth was highly educated, speaking fluent French, Italian, Welsh, Spanish, Latin and some Greek by the age of 14
• When Edward VI died, Elizabeth's older half-sister Mary seized the throne
• Mary was Catholic, and there was a Protestant uprising against her when she announced she would marry the Catholic King Philip II of Spain
• Tudor England was a patriarchal society, where women were perceived to be physically and emotionally inferior to men
• Everyone expected Elizabeth to marry as part of her duty as a woman, and to provide an heir to the kingdom
• Women


  Considered to be unfit to rule without a man's help, expected to marry as part of their duty as a woman
• Elizabeth's cousin Lady Jane Grey was forced to marry Guildford Dudley, then forced by her father-in-law to claim the throne of England, leading to her execution when Mary I took the throne
• Mary married King Philip II of Spain, which dragged Mary into disastrous wars against France and led to rebellions from people fearful of Philip seizing control of England
• Elizabeth chose to rule as a lone queen and used powerful speeches to warn Parliament and her councillors not to force her to wed
• Henry VIII broke from the Catholic Church in Rome to get his marriage annulled and have a male heir, not a definite move towards Protestantism
• Edward VI became a devout Protestant, Mary I restored Catholicism to England, and Elizabeth initially attempted to forge a 'middle way' for religion in England
• Elizabeth ended the war that Queen Mary and King Philip had begun with France, sought to build a positive relationship with Catholic Spain but this did not last
• Elizabeth provided support to Protestant rebels in the Netherlands against Catholic Philip's control, which angered Philip and led to him sending the Spanish Armada to invade England in 1588
• Elizabeth supported privateers who stole treasure from Spanish ships, some of whom were involved in trading enslaved people from West Africa
• Mary Queen of Scots fled to England in 1568 after being forced to flee Scotland, and became a focus of Catholic plots and rebellions against Elizabeth
• church services were in english
• bible book was in english
• priests could marry agan
• elizabeth was a protestant

  The Church taught that women were weaker than men as Eve had been tempted by the snake in the Garden of Eden. Power was traditionally held by men and people were used to being ruled by kings.  

  Elizabeth was often underestimated owing to her gender. As many believed she would be weak this increased the risk of invasion. Furthermore were Elizabeth to marry her power would go to her husband  
• elizabeth was seen to be illegimate by catholics


  Henry VIII had divorced his first wife Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn. In order to do this Henry had to break from the Catholic church in order to secure a divorce as this was against Catholic teachings. As a consequence many Catholics saw the marriage between Anne and Henry as invalid as Catherine of Aragon was still alive

  As Catholics believed Elizabeth was illegitimate many wanted to replace her with a legitimate heir to the throne, this was in the form of Mary Queen of Scots.