Elizabeth I Rainbow Portrait

Elizabeth I Rainbow PortraitOn September 7, 1533 Greenwich Palace, London, England. Princess Elizabeth daughter of Henry VIII king of England and his second wife Anne Boleyn was born. Elizabeth was the second daughter of Henry and she was the younger sister of the Lady Mary (future Mary 1) who was the daughter of Henry and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Henry divorced Catherine in order to marry Anne hoping that Anne would give him the son and heir that Catherine could not give him, but Elizabeth was the only child of Anne. When Elizabeth was the three years old her father ordered the execution of Anne on false charges of adultery with five gentlemen of the king’s chamber and incest with her own brother, all the accused were found guilty and Anne was executed on May 19th on Tower Hill. After Anne’s death Elizabeth was stripped of her title of princess and was to known as the Lady Elizabeth. Since Elizabeth was declared illegitimate many believed that she would never become queen of England, but fate would have it differently for Elizabeth as she would go down in history as the Virgin Queen.

Elizabeth was a great person and queen. As a young teenager after her father’s death when she was thirteen Elizabeth was in great danger of losing her place in the line of succession and of coming close to losing her own life. After her father’s death Elizabeth went to live with her stepmother Dowager Queen Catherine Parr, but little did anyone know that when Elizabeth entered Catherine’s home her world would be turned upside down.

What I find so interesting about Elizabeth is that after her fathers death when Thomas Seymour asked for her hand in marriage she was smart enough to tell him no unless he received the permission from her brother’s council first, and after when Thomas’s wife Catherine Parr died she still told him no even after all he had done when she was still living with him. When Elizabeth found out that Seymour was arrested for treason she hardly showed any emotion towards her former guardian, after he was arrested a couple of men from King Edward’s court came to Hatfield to question Elizabeth to see if she was involved with Seymour. During the time Elizabeth was questioned one of her interrogators Sir Robert Tyrwhitt he kept pushing her to confess to being in league with Seymour but she kept denying that she was involved with Seymour until Tyrwhitt gave up. For Elizabeth it must have been hard for her during the time she was questioned to be accused of something she never did yet after all that time of being pressured by Tyrwhitt to confess she remained firm and still would not confess. In many ways you have to admire Elizabeth for her bravery and her dedication for standing up to Tyrwhitt and bravely denying any wrong doing.

The other thing that I admire about Elizabeth is her bravery. During her sister Mary’s reign when Thomas Wyatt revolted against Mary to her marriage to Prince Philip of Spain, Wyatt asked Elizabeth to join him but she bravely refused. Upon the collapse of the rebellion Elizabeth was brought to London to be questioned about her involvement with Wyatt, she bravely denied of being in league with Wyatt, when she was told that she was going to the Tower she tried so hard to buy time and to try to convince Mary that she was innocent but to no avail. While in the Tower she thought she would end up like her mother and even though she was afraid of being falsely accused of treason she bravely stood up to her interrogators and kept denying any treason against Mary. During other later rebellions Elizabeth refused any involvement in any of the rebellions and she bravely told Mary she was not involved.

During her own reign Elizabeth had to bravely stand up to rebellions that threatened her throne and her life. The most serious threat was her Catholic cousin Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary Stuart had a claim to the throne of England as she was a great- granddaughter of Henry VII she had a finger in many of the rebellions that threatened the English queen, but Elizabeth came through every rebellion and Mary was executed.

So in all Elizabeth in my mind was one of England greatest monarchs. She never married, ruling England as its only monarch, she bravely stood up for her beliefs, survived the Thomas Seymour scandal, and she survived the tragic reign of her sister. Elizabeth lived and ruled longer than her grandfather, father, brother and sister she showed the world that a women could be the only monarch of a country without being married. Elizabeth once a princess then declared illegitimate by her own father then a queen showed the world that she Elizabeth Tudor daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn was a strong women and a virgin queen.