Queen elizabeth virgin queen biography alexandria

She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history and culture, gave name to the Elizabethan era. When Elizabeth was two years old, her parents' marriage was annulled, her mother was executed, and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate.

Essay about queen elizabeth 1

Henry restored her to the line of succession when she was 10, via the Third Succession Act After Henry's death in , Elizabeth's younger half-brother Edward VI ruled until his own death in , bequeathing the crown to a Protestant cousin, Lady Jane Grey , and ignoring the claims of his two half-sisters, the Catholic Mary and the younger Elizabeth, in spite of statutes to the contrary.

Edward's will was set aside within weeks of his death and Mary became queen, deposing and executing Jane. During Mary's reign, Elizabeth was imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels. Upon her half-sister's death in , Elizabeth succeeded to the throne and set out to rule by good counsel. One of her first actions as queen was the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the supreme governor.

This arrangement, later named the Elizabethan Religious Settlement , would evolve into the Church of England. It was expected that Elizabeth would marry and produce an heir; however, despite numerous courtships, she never did. Because of this she is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".