Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I (1533–1603) Queen of England (1558–1603), daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. During the reigns of Edward VI and Mary I, her half-brother and half-sister, she avoided political disputes. Once crowned, she reestablished Protestantism. The Elizabethan Settlement saw the Church of England adopt the 39 Articles (1571). Various plots to murder Elizabeth and place the Catholic Mary on the throne resulted in Mary's imprisonment and execution (1587), and increasing discrimation against Catholics. Elizabeth adhered to a small group of advisers, such as Lord Burghley and Sir Francis Walsingham. For most of her reign, England was at peace, and commerce and industry prospered. The expansion of the navy saw the development of the first British empire. The hostility of Catholic Spain eventually resulted in war and the defeat of the Spanish Armada (1588). Despite pressure to marry, Elizabeth remained single. Her favourites included Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, who later attempted to overthrow her. Elizabeth was the last of the Tudors, and the throne passed to the James I, a Stuart.