By #PRIVATE, 8JB

#PRIVATE, 8JB i

Elizabeth I,Heart Of A

King

Contents

1. Introduction3. Religion And The Act Of Supremacy6. Marriage8. Mary Stuart11. The Spanish Armada

#PRIVATE, 8JB i

Introduction

Elizabeth the first, Queen of England. Daughter of Henry VIII, Sister of Mary I and Edward VI, and one of the most influential queens in the history of England. Who was she? What did she do? Why is she so important? These questions will all be answered. But first a little background.

Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Her father had already been married to Catherine of Aragon but divorced her after she gave birth to her older sister, Mary, in favor of a different wife. He thought the reason his wife had not had a son was because she had been married to his now dead brother, Arthur.

Henry needed an heir because he knew the War Of The Roses was caused simply because the king at the time (William II) did not have a son to take the throne after him, so a major dispute followed his death over who should be king, resulting in civil war. Henry VIII did not want to repeat history! So when his wife gave birth to a girl, naturally he was disappointed. He was convinced God was punishing him for marrying his brother’s wife, so he asked the Pope for a divorce. This is where religion comes in.

The woman Henry wanted to marry, Anne Boleyn, was Protestant. The Pope is always Catholic, more about Catholics and Protestants later. All you need to know now is that Catholics and Protestants are two different branches of Christianity. The problem is, divorce is not allowed in the Catholic Church. This could have been the reason why the Pope said no, but another reason could have been that since

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Anne Boleyn was Protestant, the Pope knew that if he let the king marry a Protestant, he might end up with less power in England. Either way he refused to give Henry a divorce.

Furious, Henry started thinking about why the pope gets to tell him what he can and cannot do. After all, we WAS the king! So, he started a church. Henry started The Church Of England, a Protestant church with the monarch at the head instead of the Pope. This not only allowed him to give himself a divorce, but he got all the land that formerly belonged to the Catholic church. This land he sold to various lords and dukes to fund his wars in Spain. This left the king with less land than the nobles, a big problem. Now back to the story. Henry divorced Catherine and married Anne, who promptly gave birth to a girl. That girl was Elizabeth I. Henry married six times, and only had one boy, but that was enough. He could rest knowing he had not caused a war. Or did he?

After Henry died, his only son, Edward VI, took the throne. Unlike his father, who changed religion for political reasons, and wasn’t truly Protestant, Edward was a true Protestant. He believed the religion; he didn’t exploit it for personal gain. He died however, aged 17. His sister Mary then donned the crown. Mary was Catholic, and believed that Protestants were heretics. She burned as many at the stake as she could. Even though she ruled for the shortest time (5 years), she executed nearly twice as many people as all the other Tudors put together! She tried to destroy two generations work, and bring Catholicism back to England. Poor Elizabeth had all these problems to deal with!She had to return the country back to being Protestant; the nobles had more land than her, therefore more power. In addition, being a woman, many people saw her as weak, and the common people may not treat her with respect because she is not a man. To this she said: “I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and I king of England too.”

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This is the position that Elizabeth is left in when she becomes queen, and it is not the best position to be in, especially if you are a woman.

Religion and the Act Of Supremacy

Elizabeth’s predecessors left her a large and hard to solve problem: Religion. Before we start, a little background: Catholicism was originally the only Christian church. The head of the Catholic Church was the Pope who was considered Gods holy messenger sent to earth. He lived in Vatican City, from where he conducted his the duties as leader of all Catholics. For a long time, nobody cared much, but then a German monk named Martin Luther said that the church was too corrupt! Here are some of the things he said:➡ The church had too much money‣ The church required that you pay a “tithe”, or one

tenth of your money, or else you wouldn’t go to heaven. Where did this money go? To the Pope’s luxury!

‣ Normal people could buy a “pardon” for their sins. If you buy one, all your sins are forgiven. Where did the money go? To more luxury for the Pope.

‣ All Catholic Churches were full of riches and luxury. Beautiful, expensive stained glass windows, gold leafed candle holders, silk robes, mahogany beams, all very expensive and made to awe the common people.

➡ The church encouraged superstition‣ For a fee (which goes to the Pope) you could see relics

of things like: The knucklebone of Saint Peter The breath of Jesus An angel’s feather

➡ The church was immoral and disobeyed the bible‣ Paintings have been found of monks (who pledged not to

marry, called the Vow of Chastity) engaging in intercourse with nuns (who also pledged no to marry)!

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This goes against the 10 Commandments (“Thou shalt not commit adultery”).

‣ Monks also used church money to buy drinks at bars, and getting very drunk as a result.

‣ Statues of saints were kept in the Churches. Luther said that this went against the 10 commandments as well (“thou shalt not worship idols”)

‣ The church told the common people only what they wanted them to hear‣ Martin Luther thought that this was one of the biggest

problems with the church. Before Martin Luther, the medieval Bible had always been in Latin. The vast majority of people couldn’t read English, let alone Latin. This stopped

them from reading the Bible for themselves, and the only way they could hear it was from a bishop or priest reading it to them (all clergy were fluent in Latin). This allowed the church to control the common people’s views of life, God, heaven, and what is right or wrong by reading

them only certain parts of the Bible. People’s interpretation of God was only what the Pope wanted it to be, they couldn’t choose.

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A Catholic Church: Notice the stained glass windows, and rich decorations.

A modern Protestant church: very simple.

‣ Martin Luther felt that everyone should be able to hear God’s word for themselves, and that people they should decide, not the Pope, if and how they believe in God.

Martin wrote these complaints and many more (95 to be exact) on a piece of paper, and nailed the paper to the door of the All Saints Castle Church in Whittenberg. These were called Martin Luther’s 95 theses. Martin was excommunicated from the Catholic Church for heresy (preaching things other than what the Pope preaches) but his ideas were the start of a new sect of Christianity: Protestantism. Protestantism (derived from protesting i.e. protesting against the Catholic religion), is based on all the complaints against the Catholics by Martin Luther. Protestant Churches are simple and have no riches, no stained glass windows, no statues of saints, and are the opposite of Catholic churches. Sermons and bible readings are given in English, tithe paying is voluntary and Protestants believe that to get into heaven, all you need is faith in Jesus. As said before, Elizabeth’s father, Henry, was Protestant. But he was using it as a way to divorce. Her brother, Edward, was Protestant because he truly believed in it. Her sister, Mary, was Catholic and burned hundreds of Protestants at the stake. Poor Elizabeth had all this trouble to clean up! She had to return the country to Protestantism, because according to the Pope, her father never divorced, which means she is illegitimate in the Catholic Church. Therefore, if she keeps England catholic, she will have to give up the throne immediately, because she would be born outside of marriage. But Elizabeth found an answer to this problem in the form of THE ACT OF SUPREMACY. The Act of Supremacy was instituted in 1559, and was Elizabeth’s way of solving religious differences with minimal burning-at-the-stakes and making (nearly) everyone happy. When combined with the Act Of Uniformity, it forms the Elizabethan Religious Settlement. This stated that all

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religions were tolerated. You didn’t HAVE to be Protestant, or HAVE to be Catholic, but you still had to go to Protestant church. If you wanted to have a Catholic service, you could, but in your home. You wouldn’t be burned at the stake for not being Protestant, as long as you don’t go burning Protestants yourself. Even though this settled a lot of differences, not everyone was happy. Extreme Protestants, known as the Puritans, didn’t just want a settlement; they wanted all the Catholics out, out, out! Elizabeth kept a close watch on these Puritans, in case they tried something big. Meanwhile, in Rome, the Pope was furious! The queen of England, a Protestant! He sent out a decree to all the Catholic churches saying that whomever killed Elizabeth would not only not go to hell, but also would go straight to heaven! Catholic missionaries known as Jesuits traveled to England and attempted to assassinate Elizabeth, According to her, this was stepping over the line. But Elizabeth had learned from her sister, and knew if she called them heretics, she would be seen as another Mary. So she called them traitors instead. They were executed for attempting to kill the monarch. So Elizabeth was able to settle the religious problems in England, and make the majority of people happy, with minimal stake burning.

Marriage

During the time of her reign, Elizabeth was under a lot of pressure to marry. Her advisors all wanted her to find a husband to help her rule, and to have an heir. Yet again, nobody wanted to repeat history and start another Rose War. Another reason for the pressure is that then, women were seen as weak. They had very few rights. They were expected to grow up, marry, take care of the house, have kids, and support their husband. They were NOT expected to don a crown and run a country all by themselves! Without a husband, all the other countries would think Elizabeth was weak, and

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therefore England was weak as well, and they would attack, or at least not do business with her. But with a man on the throne, England would have more respect. And maybe, if Elizabeth married a foreign king, like Francis, duke of Alençon, from France, his country and England might form an alliance! Finding a man to marry is no problem. Elizabeth had over 20 suitors!

Of course, there are cons to marriage as well. Whoever she married, she would immediately make enemies of all the 19+ men who also had their eyes on her. The man she chooses may be too powerful, and take over, leaving her powerless. A foreign husband may try to make England a colony of his own country, whereas an English one would cause quarreling and jealousy. And the man has to be Protestant as well, if he was Catholic, like Philip of Spain, a very anti-Protestant, that may stir up some religious conflicts. He also had to be rich, and own a lot of land, not like Eric,

king of Sweden who was poor, despite being a king. The list for the right husband was long, specific and contradictory. And do any of these requirements have anything to do with Elizabeth’s personal preference? Whether or not she thinks he is handsome? No. In fact, the only man that she may have actually loved was Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. They were once childhood lovers, and Elizabeth herself gave him his title. But since he was English, and all his wealth originally came from her, marrying him would give no alliance or extra wealth. And Robert’s family was known traitors; they had tried to put the Lady Jane Grey on the throne in 1553. One evening, Robert's wife, Amy Robsart, was found dead, at the bottom of the stairs. Conveniently enough, this allowed him to court Elizabeth. Did she fall? Or was she pushed?

What Elizabeth finally decided to do surprised everybody. She proclaimed that she was married to England.

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King Philip of Spain, one of many suitors.

This metaphor meant that, like a wife, she would support her country and care for it.

I think that this choice was a profitable one short term, but the long term results were bad. Short term, she was allowed her full control, and she wouldn’t have to share her power. She could make decisions herself. And no enemies would be made of other suitors. But in the long term, the lack of an heir made her first cousin, once removed, James I of England (a Catholic) the next in line. It looks as if Mary won after all!

Mary Stuart

A very important thing to remember throughout this chapter is that there were 2 Marys: Mary Tudor and Mary Stuart. They were 2 very different people. Do not get them confused. Mary Stuart was Elizabeth’s second cousin, and a Catholic, and was also known as Mary Queen Of Scots (because she was the queen of the Scots). For the rest of this section, she will be referred to as Mary. Mary was the only living legitimate child of King James V of Scotland. She was only 6 days old when her father died. This left her as the heir to the scottish throne. This ends up a little awkward when you’ve only been around 6 days. Luckily, her mother, Mary Of Guise assumed regency and took care of things for her until she was old enough. Then she became a problem.

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King James I of England, Elizabeth’s first cousin, once removed.

Mary had the best claim to the throne after Elizabeth, and because she was Catholic, this was not good. When Elizabeth died, Mary Queen Of Scots would become Mary Queen Of Scots And Englishes. This was good for the Pope, because England would be Catholic, But bad for Elizabeth, not only because when she died, England would be Catholic, but also because while Mary was alive, Jesuits would constantly be trying to assasinate her to put Mary on the throne earlier.

When it came to marriage, Mary wasn’t much better than Henry VIII. She married 3 times! The first was Francis, Dauphin Of France, in 1558. A year into their marriage, Francis became king of France. Mary was now the queen of 2 countries! But this didn’t last for long. Francis died in 1560. Mary returned to Scotland shortly afterwards and, after 4

years, married her own cousin! His name was Henry Stuart, also known as Lord Darnley. Darnley was a Catholic. However, this marriage wasn’t her decision: Darnley forced her to marry him in a way I will not describe. This outraged Mary, but she married him anyways. She never would have if he had just asked her, though. Darnley was violent, immature, and a drunkard as well. He was 3 years Mary’s younger, and highly demanding. Despite all this, Mary ended up getting pregnant. 9 months, her son was born, James VI Of Scotland. In 1567, Darnley’s house blew up. Darnley escaped but was strangled in his own garden. Mary married the Earl of Bothwell, who many suspect planned Darnley’s assassination. Mary’s marriage with Darnley was a major problem for Elizabeth. This is because she had a son, James VI of Scotland. Not only that, but her son was Catholic! James had the best claim to the throne after she died, and if James ever did become king, England would be Catholic again. Back to Mary. The barons and lords in scotland rebelled against Mary and Bothwell and raised an army. The rebel

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Mary with her husband, Lord Darnley.

army, headed by the nobles, and the royal army, headed by Mary met on Carberry hill. The moment Mary saw the massive rebel army, she surrendered. There was no fight. Mary was taken captive and imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle. About a year later, she escaped, raised an army again, was beaten again, and fled to England, thinking her second cousin Elizabeth would offer her some shelter. Instead, Elizabeth placed her under house arrest! Mary was a threat to Elizabeth’s rule, but Elizabeth didn’t know what to do with her! Should she execute her, or let her live and send her back to Scotland? As long as Mary, the next in line to the throne, and a Catholic, was alive, the Pope and his Jesuits would be attempting to assassinate Elizabeth and make Mary Queen. Because Mary was a Catholic, if she was on the throne, the pope would have more power over England. But if Elizabeth killed her, who knows who she might anger? Spain was a great supporter of Mary, so killing her might make an excuse for a war. Basically, Elizabeth didn’t know which choice would cause the most trouble, because both would. What to do? In October 1586 in Fotheringhay Castle, Mary was tried in a court of 40 nobles for involvement in a plot to assassinate Elizabeth. She denied that she ever was part of this plot, but she was found guilty and was required to be executed. However, Elizabeth didn’t want to kill her! After all, Mary was her second cousin. In fact she asked for Mary to simply be murdered, so she wouldn’t be blamed for it. That didn’t work out, so Mary had to be beheaded. Elizabeth successfully ran screaming after the scribe after signing the death warrant and ripping it into small bits 3 times! The third time, she felt horrible and

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Mary Stuart’s execution

dressed in black and mourned for many days. She had no idea what the consequences of her actions were. Would God Almighty strike her down with fire from heaven for killing a queen? Would the Catholic rise up in fury and rebel? Would the people of England hate her, or would they love her? When Mary was brought up to the execution block, they took off her dress to show a blood red chemise. Red was the color that Catholic martyrs wore! It took three tries to decapitate Mary, the first time the axe it her in the back of the head, and the second time cut through almost the whole neck, except for one small sinew, which the executioner cut through using the axe as a saw. Then the executioner picked up the head by the hair to show to the crowd, but he was left holding a wig, as the bald head rolled across the platform! It is said that her lips moved for 15 minutes after being decapitated. The outcome of Elizabeth’s decision in a nutshell is this: Mary Queen Of Scots, who was next in line for the throne, is now dead. While she was alive, Catholic Jesuits were trying to kill Elizabeth to make Mary queen. Now Mary’s son, James VI, is the next in line for the throne. Killing Mary may make Catholic countries, such as Spain, angry.

I think that Elizabeth made a good choice in killing Mary, because if she hadn’t, the Catholics may have succeeded in killing her and making England Catholic. In fact, Elizabeth did anger Spain by killing Mary, but that will be discussed in the next section.

The Spanish Armada

When Elizabeth killed Mary Stuart, she had been afraid of angering Catholics around the world, because Mary had been a Catholic and the next in line for the English throne. If Mary had not been killed, when she became queen England would turn to Catholicism again. Elizabeth was right to worry! In killing Mary, King Philip II of Spain (a Catholic)

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found the final straw. Philip already had a grudge against Elizabeth for refusing marriage (he had been a suitor), and now he had another, better reason. On top of that, the reward the Pope would give to anybody who killed Elizabeth was still unclaimed. These reasons added up to: WAR. Philip sent out the Spanish fleet to attack england! The fleet was called the Spanish Armada. When the Armada set out for England in 1588, it was 130 galleons (large ships) strong. Galleons were not made for battle, they were used for crossing oceans and for storage of foot soldiers. They had armored sterns to protect the men inside. As the ships came closer, they were spotted, and signal beacons were used to spread the news. When the English naval commander, Lord Howard, heard about it in Plymouth, he sent out the English Navy to fight! The 2 fleets met in the English channel, and fought for an entire week! The English ships were lighter and more maneuverable, but the Spanish formed themselves into a crescent shape that was very hard to attack. Despite that, the English eventually pushed the Armada out of the channel. After they left, the Armada

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dropped anchor in a port in the Netherlands to recuperate and to pick up more troops. And then, during the Spanish’s weakest moment, the English attacked! They sent burning ships adrift towards the anchored Spanish galleons, full of gunpowder and tar. When the Spanish saw these floating bombs, they were so scared they abandoned their anchors and fled. This broke their easily defended crescent shape, causing them to be more easily attacked. The English took advantage of this and started to ravage the Armada. At the end of the battle, it was quite apparent who the victor was. Nearly all the Spanish ships were battered and ruined. They knew they were beat, so they headed home, back to Spain. The problem with that was that the English navy was blocking the short route through the English channel, so the only option was to go all the way around Britain. They did so, and many of the Galleons ended up wrecked on the coast of Ireland. Out of the 130 Ships that made up the Armada, 67 returned to Spain. I believe that the major reason that the Armada lost was lack of planning. The Galleons they used were not built for ocean battles. They were troop carriers, and used for long sea voyages. When the smaller, lighter English ships came along, the Spanish were no match. The second reason was the English’s tactic of the burning ships. That was definitely what won the battle. It caused the Armada to lose their anchors, making it harder to maintain their crescent formation because they couldn’t stay in one place. In conclusion, I think that the English won because of superior tactics, and the Spanish’s unpreparedness.

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