Elizabeth I was the Queen of England and Ireland from November 17, 1558 till she died in 1603. She was also known as the Virgin Queen and was the last of the five monarchs of the House of Tudor. She was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, who was executed when Elizabeth was two and half years old.
The marriage between Anne and Henry was annuled and Elizabeth was declared an illegitimate child. Her stepbrother Edward VI was king until he died in 1553, passing the crown to Lady Jane Grey and ignoring the claims of his two stepsisters, the Roman Catholic Mary and younger Elizabeth, in spite of the law of the country.
The will of Edward was set aside and Mary became queen, deposing Lady Jane Grey. Elizabeth was imprisoned for almost a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels. She ascended the throne in 1558 after her sister's death and ruled with good counsel. When she became queen, it was
expected she would marry and even though she received many marriage offers, she never got married and remained childless. The reasons for this was never clear but many historian's have speculated that
Thomas Seymour had put her off sekzual relationships. She considered many suitors until the age of fifty and her last courtship was with Francis, Duke of Anjou who was twenty-two years her junior.
Her unmarried status inspired a cult of virginity related to that of the Virgin Mary. She was portrayed as a goddess and a virgin in poetry and portraiture but not as a normal woman. Queen Elizabeth insisted she was married to her kingdom and subjects, under
divine protection. But Catholics did not accept her claim of virginity and accused her of engaging in “filthy lust" that symbolically defiled the nation along with her body. She was praised as a heroine by the Protestant cause and the ruler of a golden age.
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