The Tudor Dynasty ruled England for more than a century with many powerful leaders. Queen Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen, was the most successful and powerful of the Tudors, and also a strong female monarch. Elizabeth was born on September 7, 1533 to King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. As a child, Elizabeth lived apart from her parents at the Royal Palace of Hatfield, where she was exposed to education and politics at a young age. When she was only two years old, her mother was executed on erroneous charges of witchcraft, adultery, and incest. Throughout her childhood, her father married four more times, each marriage (except the last) ending bitterly through divorce or execution. After Henry VIII’s death in 1547, Elizabeth became third in line to the throne after her half-siblings Edward VI and Mary I. After their relatively brief reigns, she took the throne and ruled diligently until her death in 1603 (Sharnette). Throughout her reign, Elizabeth strengthened the British empire by creating a more stable religious environment in England through toleration, advancing England’s economy, fortifying England’s foreign policy, and expanding the empire through exploration. Crowned queen of England in 1558, Elizabeth inherited a religiously chaotic country. Religion in the Tudor Dynasty was full of conflict due to the constant change of rulers and their views on religion. King Henry VIII, Elizabeth’s father, married Catherine of Aragon in 1509 in order to strengthen ties between Spain and England. However, he was frustrated due to the lack of a male heir and decided to remarry. To divorce Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII needed approval from the Roman Catholic Church. However, the Pope denied his request, as divorce was not supported by the Church. Henry VIII created a new church separate from the Roman Catholic Church, known as the Church of England. The marriage was then annulled through the word of the Protestant Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. As a result, Henry VIII was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. This drastic change in opinion and in religion affected his family, most notably Mary I, who chose Catholicism over Henry VIII’s Protestantism and created later disputes (British Library). Henry VIII’s successor, young Edward VI (and his Regency Council), contributed to King Henry VIII’s Protestant nation, seen through his
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She worked to balance the religious situation of England through her long reign and neutral policies. The short reigns of her predecessors meant that England’s policies had been inconsistent, as they changed frequently with every new monarch. However, Elizabeth’s long reign supported a more stable religious environment, as the views of the Church of England were consistent. She also took a more tolerant approach to her religious policies than her predecessors; for example, she created a religious settlement ensuring that neither Protestants nor Catholics would be discriminated against by law. This religious settlement consisted of the Acts of Uniformity and Supremacy, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Thirty-Nine Articles. The Act of Uniformity of 1559 stated that Protestantism was the official faith of England, and it included the Book of Common Prayer, which outlined standards for service and worship. The Thirty-Nine Articles followed in 1563, defining the ideology of the Church (Sommerville). The clear statement from the Church delivered in these documents provided an unambiguous declaration of religious
She worked to balance the religious situation of England through her long reign and neutral policies. The short reigns of her predecessors meant that England’s policies had been inconsistent, as they changed frequently with every new monarch. However, Elizabeth’s long reign supported a more stable religious environment, as the views of the Church of England were consistent. She also took a more tolerant approach to her religious policies than her predecessors; for example, she created a religious settlement ensuring that neither Protestants nor Catholics would be discriminated against by law. This religious settlement consisted of the Acts of Uniformity and Supremacy, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Thirty-Nine Articles. The Act of Uniformity of 1559 stated that Protestantism was the official faith of England, and it included the Book of Common Prayer, which outlined standards for service and worship. The Thirty-Nine Articles followed in 1563, defining the ideology of the Church (Sommerville). The clear statement from the Church delivered in these documents provided an unambiguous declaration of religious