Elizabeth I 'Tudor' Queen of ENGLAND

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• Fact: 15 Jan 1559, Queen of England

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Despite a traumatic early life, Elizabeth displayed strength and prudence as Queen, choosing loyal and able advisers. Throughout her 45-year reign, the 'Virgin Queen', showed considerable political acumen in defying a largely Catholic Europe intent on overturning the Protestant faith, while presiding over a period of adventure that saw a vast expansion of English trade and prosperity and significant developments in the arts.

Elizabeth spent her life surrounded by suitors including Philip II of Spain, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and Francis, Duke of Alencon, yet she never married. A shrewd observer commented : 'the Queen would like everyone to be in love with her but I doubt whether she will ever be in love with anyone enough to marry him.'

In 1588, 130 Spanish ships set sail to invade England. The English ships attacked the vastly superior Spanish force as it sailed up the Channel and anchored off Calais. The English then sent in fireships to break up the Spanish fleet, forcing it back into the Channel off Gravelines, where the decisive action was fought on 9 August. Battered by English guns, the Spanish retreated northwards, where severe Atlantic gales and the rocky coastline wrecked the majority of the surviving ships.

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In the Early years of his reign, Henry was content to leave governing in the hands of his Chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey. However, Wolsey fell from power when he failed to secure a divorce for Henry from Catherine of Aragon. The King became increasingly autocratic and by his death he was much hated.

As a young man, Henry was tall and handsome. However, when older he became grossly overweight and was riddled with disease.

Although well-educated, Henry at first had no enthusiasm for statecraft or personal rule, preferring hunting, the tourney, games, mistresses, and music to governing the country. During the first two decades of his reign, Henry entrusted the business of government to his great minister, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. born in 1475, Wolsey was the son of an Ipswich butcher. He entered the church and became Archbishop of York in 1514. A year later he received his cardinal's hat and became the Chancellor of England. Cardinal Wolsey looked after England's affairs at home and abroad with great skill, presiding over a period of growing prosperity. However, Wolsey fell from grace in 1529 when he failed to secure Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon. he died that year before he could be brought to trial for treason.

After Henry VIII's break with Rome, Thomas Cromwell set up a commission to examine the state of every monastery and convent in England, with a view to possible closure and appropriation of its wealth by the Crown. Many were found to be racked with corruption. Henry, who urgently needed money to finance his extravagant lifestyle, ordered their dissolution. In 1537, the smaller monasteries were closed and their property confiscated. the remainder were similarly dealt with in 1539.

Henry married Anne BOLEYN on 25 Jan 1533. Anne (daughter of Sir Thomas BOLEYN and Elizabeth HOWARD) was born about 1507; died on 19 May 1536 in Beheaded on Tower Green for alleged adultery. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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Anne was already pregnant with the future Elizabeth I when she married Henry in 1533. The King soon lost interest in Anne and in 1536, she was beheaded.