Samantha Wilson

13-11504

ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE

In England, on 1558, after the death of Queen Mary I, Elizabeth I assumed the throne as the illegitimate
daughter of king Henry VIII and that is why some of her subject did not considered her the rightful heir
to the throne. There for, she was considered a bastard and she wasn´t recognize as a true daughter of
king Henry VIII cause the accusations, of being with multiple men among others, that her mother faced
when she was only three years old. Some of the catholic people of England believed that the true
queen must have been Mary, queen of scots, a devout catholic and cousin of Elizabeth.
Despite everything, Elizabeth still ruled and by the time that she inherit the throne, England was the
only country that was not following the church of Catholicism and in consequence it was against the
great empire of Spain, ruled by Philip II. At the time, England was under a protestant reign and it
continued that way with queen Elizabeth’s reign.
In that way, England being one of the few countries with a non-Catholic church gain many enemies
and most of them plot against the queen to see her kingdom fall. Her enemy was mainly the country of
Spain, but also Mary Stuart, queen of scots, who calls herself the right queen to be on the throne. As
she was catholic she was ruling the few Catholics of England and tried to do an alliance with the empire
of Spain to kill the queen and finally rule England.
In another matter, during Elizabeth I reign, she was also known as The Virgin Queen, and upon many
other names, but this one in particularity gave her a reputation which made her a woman to follow for
an example. On the other hand, her advisers wanted her to get married and to have a child so Mary
Stuart, next in line to inherit the throne, couldn´t be the next queen. Most of her suitors were kings and
princes of other countries. And of course, the other regions saw this opportunity as way to strengthen
their kingdoms.
To solve this issue, Mary Stuart remained prisoner of queen Elizabeth under no harm, so she couldn’t
be a reason for Catholics to go against her as a rebellion. After Mary was discovered to be plotting
against the queen, the royal advisor convinced the queen to execute her.
If we look to the image that this reign wanted to give, it can be notice how the queen and all people
involved with royalty were dressed, at the time, very different that how common people were dressed.
Elizabeth dressed very exuberant with big dresses, nice jewelry, big wigs, expensive cloth and more
to show richness and prosperity but the people were dressed less nice which expressed the reality of
the country.
THE IRISH QUESTION
Words Meaning

1. Plight 5.to ban or prevent somebody from doing something

2. Serf 7.a lack of food during a long period of time in a region

3. to besiege 11.very near to the moment when something happens

4. to subdue 14.to kill someone, especially as a legal punishment

5. to bar 3.to surround a building, city etc., with soldiers until the people inside are forced to let
you in

6. Uprising 15.abbreviation for ‘member of parliament’

7. Famine 10.a written suggestion for a new law that is presented to a country’s parliament so
that its members can discuss it
8. to blame 9.to try or plan to achieve something

9. to aim at 16.to spread very quickly

10. Bill 1.a difficult and sad situation

11. on the verge 2.a person who was forced to live and work on land that belonged to a landowner
whom they had to obey
12. Outbreak 6. rebellion, revolt

13. to seize 8.to think or say that someone is responsible for something that has happened

14. to execute 13.to take control of a place or situation, often suddenly and violently

15. MP 12.the sudden start of something unpleasant, especially violence or disease

16. to rage 4.to bring someone or something under control, by force, if necessary
2. Now answer these questions.

1. Was religion the only cause of the Irish conflict?

The religion was a big reason, mainly because the Irish were Catholics and British were protestants
and always Britain wanted to colonize Ireland and in some region, they got to do it. But also, the Irish
conflict goes back to 13th century when British controlled Ireland introducing feudalism and making the
natives serfs.

2. What did Williams of Orange do?

William of Orange defeated the Irish after one year of being besieged in Londonderry by the Catholics.
Also, William wanted to deny the right to vote and the benefit of owning land to the Catholics. Because
of William, in this period, the protestants were known as Orangemen.

3. What was the potato famine?

The potato famine occurred in Ireland and it happened because a year of bad cropping of potatoes,
this led to a famine and a lot of people died and other emigrated to America.

4. What did the Sinn Fein party want?

They wanted to create an Irish Republic but failed because the protestants of Ulster opposed violently,
to keep the union with Britain.

5. What was the ‘Easter Rising’ and when did it take place?
In 1916, a group of extreme nationalists, members of the Irish Republican party Sinn Fein decided to
break the truce between the Catholics and Protestants and attempted to take power in Dublin. This
movement was called the Easter Rising and were oppressed by the army of Britain and the rebellions
were executed.

6. Why did a civil war break out after the treaty signed in 1921?
Because the assembly in Dublin did not accept the treaty, which established that Ireland was divided
into two parts, led to a civil war from 1922 to 1923, in that period 4000 of people were killed. Finally,
the Irish Republican Army surrendered the war but not the intentions to created a republic for all Ireland.