TR025 Queen ElizabethⅠ, ‘The Virgin Queen’

     Elizabeth 1 (1533-1603) was Queen of England & Ireland from 1558 until her death in 1603.
     She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor.  Her eventful reign and its effect on history and culture gave her name to the first ‘Elizabethan Era’.
     Elizabeth was the only surviving child of Henry Ⅷ  and his second wife, Anne Boleyn.
     During her long reign she accomplished many great successes including the defeat of the Spanish Amada and the expansion of England’s overseas colonies and trade through exploration and… piracy.
     Simultaneously, she established the Church of England as a moderate Protestant institution striking a balance that curbed religious persecution and brought a degree of stability to a deeply divided nation.
     In addition the ’Virgin Queen’ ushered in an ‘Elizabethan Golden Age’ where culture and literature bloomed and play rights such as Shakespeare and Marlowe revolutionized English theatre for the benefit of the entire world.