UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DE PELOTAS

DEPARTAMENTO DE GRADUAÇÃO
CENTRO DE LETRAS E COMUNICAÇÃO

QUEEN ELIZABETH I – THE VIRGIN QUEEN

Ana Paula R. Legg

Disciplina: Cultura e Civilização Anglo-Americana

Professor: José Carlos Marques Volcato
Curso: Letras-Português/Inglês
 Pelotas, Janeiro de 2014.
This essay investigates the life of Queen Elizabeth I, in an
attempt to understand the reasons why she became such an
important icon to the British culture.

On September 1533, king Henry VIII and his second wife Anne
Boleyn were blessed with the birth of the last Tudor monarch –
Elizabeth I. She was born at Greenwich Palace. She lived for over 69
years.

Her possible succession to the was near to impossible by then,

bearing in mind that after her brother Edward was born, she was
third in line behind her Roman Catholic half-sister, Mary.

In fact, Roman Catholics had always considered Elizabeth

illegitimate because she had been born in a time when King Henry
was not considered legitimately married to Anne Boleyn.

She was determined, well-educated and intelligent, according to

the authors. She was fluent in six different languages.

Against all odds, Elizabeth succeeded to the throne in the event

of Mary’s death, in 1558. Her reign would later be seen as one of
conquest and accomplishment. The Queen was frequently called
'Gloriana', 'Good Queen Bess' and 'The Virgin Queen'.

She cultivated an image of expensive clothes and jewellery,

touring the country, often riding on horseback rather than by
carriage. Elizabeth made at least 25 progresses – the way these isits
were called - during her reign.

Her reign became prominent for its glory and an important part
of English history. It lasted 45 years. In the mean time, she was
responsible for establishing a secure Church of England and, in 1563,
its doctrines were laid down in the 39 Articles of Religion, which
would provide both Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches
somewhat of a compromise, searching for uniformity among religions.
She affirmed there was only one Jesus Christ, refusing to “make
windows into men’s souls”.

This particular event perhaps saved England from religious wars

in the vein of the ones suffered by other European countries in the
first half of the 16th century, the protestant Reformation. The
compromise of the 39 Articles was accepted as the foundation of their
faith by most of her subjects, which brought peace, at a certain level,
to her reign.

On the other hand, Elizabeth's reign suffered threats of invasion

from both Spain and France through Ireland and Scotland, having the
whole nation in constant fear of invasion, which cause northern
England to be in rebellion from a whole year. Never the less, in 1570,
she passed harsh laws against Roman Catholics after discovering
plots against her life.

It is said that Mary, Queen of Scots, was involved in one of the

plots against Elizabeth’s life. She had escaped to England once her
husband was made suspect of murdering her previous one, in 1568.
For that matter, Elizabeth held Mary prisoner for 19 years. The fact
that Mary was a probable successor to her throne is also a good and
likely reason for Elizabeth’s posture, regarding her cousin. Mary was
tried and executed in 1587, with the insistence and support of
Parliament.

In 1588, in the event of Mary’s death, Philip II, believing he had

a claim on the English throne because of his marriage to Elizabeth’s
sister, tries to invade England. King Phillip also wanted to re-establish
Roman Catholicism. The armada – around 130 ships - was defeated
by the English navy. However, the war against Spain was not very
successful after that and, it was very costly, along with other
campaigns, which later led the nation to an economic crisis.

As for Elizabeth’ administration, it consisted of her ministers

(Burghley, Secretary of State; Hatton, Lord Chancellor; Wasingham,
intelligence and also Secretary of State), about 600 officials in the
offices of the state, around the same amount, dealing with Crown
lands (founding the administrative costs), whereas social and
economic regulation and law and order were in the hands of the local
sheriffs.

Although well based, her administration did not prevent the

nation from suffering with high prices and a severe economic
depression during the 1590s, caused mainly by the war against Spain
and the expeditions. She left large debs to her successor, James.

As mention before, one of the main reasons for the debts left to
Elizabeth’s successor, was because of the expeditions. In terms of
voyages of discovery, Elizabeth's time in power had many. On the
other hand, among such expeditions, the one of Francis Drake,
Walter Raleigh and Humphrey Gilbert to the Americas, had the reign
prepared for the future age of colonization and expansion. Elizabeth
established then, in 1600, the East India Company.
 There is much speculation over the reasons why Elizabeth
chose not to marry. One of the most popular ones would be that
marring a foreign would put the reign at the mercy of foreign policies
whereas marring someone from England itself, could cause internal
instability with factions.
Another possible reason for her decision would be Robert
Dudley, a married men she met in prison, and by whom she fell in
love with in her adolescence. They could never marry because,
despites the fact that his wife died, even if in strange circumstances,
Elizabeth’s marriage to him would have been a disaster in terms of
politics – He was a man who could have had killed his previous wife.

I would risk to say though, that the real reason why she never
got married was that she wanted to rule her kingdom, and rule alone.
Having a king in a time where women meant little or almost nothing,
would certainly mean she would never rule - her husband would.
Taking that she and all her sisters only had a right to the throne after
Edward died, even though he was the youngest son of the King, could
be reason enough for Elizabeth to realize how fragile a woman’s
position in the society was by then.

Her childhood seeing her father, King Henry VIII, marring and
killing his wives might offer some food for thought there as well.
Whatever caused Elizabeth to make this choice, surely assured
her safety and granted her the ‘Virgin Queen’ status: 'There is no
jewel, be it of never so high a price, which I set before this jewel; I
mean your love.' – she addressed in her famous speech.

In general, Elizabeth's decisive and astute leadership was quite

successful in a phase when England faced internal danger and threats
of invasions. And for her attitude, she earned a national holiday that
lasted two hundred years - the date of her accession.
 She died on March 24 th, 1603 as a legend.
Different sources of information will paint Elizabeth either as a hero
or as a villain. Either perspective fails to remember she was human.
And I believe she was a bit of both. She seems to have been very
popular with the vast majority of her subjects.

Bibliografia

http://www.royal.gov.uk/historyofthemonarchy/kingsa
ndqueensofengland/thetudors/elizabethi.aspx