Sixteenth episode of Siggie, presenting her take on the history of the monarchs of England in the context of her favorite topic….herself. This episode finishes the dramatic, turbulent, and (of course) violent story of the Tudor Dynasty. Queen Elizabeth I, “The Virgin Queen,” was one of the longest reigning and important monarchs in English history. The episode highlights aspects of her rule, such as overseeing the English Renaissance and defeating the Spanish Armada, and her personal life.

Queen Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen. She’s the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne

Boleyn. She’s the younger half-sister of Queen Mary I or Bloody Mary.

Elizabeth ascended the throne in 1558 after the death of her sister Mary. She

was the Queen of England and Ireland. I never knew that… until her death in 1603,

She had a few bumps in the road during her lifetime. Her mother was beheaded

when Elizabeth was only two years old. Elizabeth was imprisoned for almost a

year when her sister, a devout Catholic… her sister Mary… was queen, as Elizabeth

was suspected of supporting Protestant rebels. Gotta love the sisterly love.

She was also chased around for some slap and tickle by the hubby

of her stepmother, Catherine Parr. This guy was Thomas Seymour. He was banished

from the home when they were caught in an embrace. She was pretty much responsible,

although it was reluctantly, for getting her cousin Mary Queen of

Scots locked away and eventually executed. Interestingly

Elizabeth was succeeded by the son of Mary Queen of Scots, King James VI

of Scotland. So weird the way these family members treat each other. And then you

know, this one, this one is really horrible to this person, but but they’ll

adopt the son, you know, and then the son will go on the throne. But you know

despite all of these little, I guess you could call them missteps, Elizabeth was

overall regarded as a great queen.

One of the things that she did was establish an English Protestant church.

She proclaimed herself married to the country of England and she never married,

actually married, and never produced an heir. The Elizabethan era is noted for the

works of William Shakespeare and the defeat of the Spanish Armada. Let’s talk

a little bit about the Spanish Armada. All right. This all traces back to Philip II.

Queen Mary’s popularity with the people declined sharply when she was determined to marry

the very Catholic Philip II. He was the son of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. In

1554, Wyatt’s Rebellion broke out. This was an unsuccessful uprising in England

led by Sir Thomas Wyatt that occurred due to Queen Mary’s decision to marry

Philip II and make Catholicism the main religion of England. Elizabeth was

suspected to play a role in this uprising and she was imprisoned in the

Tower of London, despite her saying no no! I didn’t do anything! I want nothing to do with this!

No no no! Anyway, Mary was finally convinced to spare her sister’s life due

to pretty much a lack of evidence. Anyway, getting back to Philip II. He appointed

this dude, the Duke of Medina Sedonia. He had absolutely no naval experience

at all, and he was chosen to command a Spanish fleet called the

Spanish Armada. The plan was to use this fleet  to invade England and overthrow Elizabeth I

to reinstate Catholicism in England and also to prevent attacks by

the English and the Dutch, the privateers, against Spanish interests in the

Americas. Needless to say, this whole plan failed. Elizabeth defeated the Spanish

Armada. This is one of the things that she is known for. Elizabeth actually

turned down the hand of Philip. She turned down the hand of pretty much, well,

everybody during her reign. There was supposedly one love of her life, the

childhood friend, Robert Dudley. Dudley was married, though. His wife, Amy Dudley, 

died from a fall down a flight of stairs. Now many believe that this was no

accident and that Dudley was actually behind this because he wanted to marry Queen

Elizabeth. This idea of him marrying her, even though she was like kind of into it,

it was met with extreme disapproval on the part of nobility. Dudley died soon

after the defeat of the Spanish Armada. So, Elizabeth ruled for a whopping 44

years, which contrasted sharply with the very brief reigns of her half siblings,

King Edward VI and Queen Mary I. She was generally regarded as short tempered. Gee, I wonder

where she inherited that one from. She was considered at times

indecisive and her popularity was diminished toward the end of her reign

by various economic and military issues. Still, despite that she’s basically known

throughout history as having been a very successful queen.

(Stay tuned for our next blog post about Ivan “the Terrible” of Russia)