Elizabeth I Tudor (born September 7, 1533 - d. March 24, 1603) Queen of England, the last of the Tudor dynasty.
The British philosopher and statesman Francis Bacon once said: “Women's government has been rare at all times; successful rule is even more rare; successful and at the same time long reign is a unique phenomenon. This maxim applied to his contemporary, Queen Elizabeth Tudor, who ruled England for almost 45 years and was in many ways a truly extraordinary person. Therefore, only on the banks of the Thames since 1890, about 100 of her biographies have appeared, and there are no studies of various kinds and counts.
In the royal family, the birth of a daughter does not bring much joy. Elizabeth's father, Henry VIII, was waiting for the birth of an heir, for which he divorced his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, from whom he had a daughter, Maria, and married his mistress Anne Boleyn. The country lived in anticipation of magnificent festivities, because all astrologers, as one said, a boy would be born. But that was not the case: on September 7, 1533, a girl was taken out of the royal bedroom … In less than three years, the king decided to marry again. Anna was executed, and her daughter was declared "illegitimate."
True, all this played a good service in the upbringing of the future Queen of England. Removed from the courtyard, she was engaged in science, and did not observe the palace intrigues. She was taught by the best teachers from Cambridge, and the princess in a very short time mastered French, Italian, Latin and Greek. At the age of 10, she read the works of Plato and Seneca, Thomas More and Erasmus of Rotterdam, translated "Heptameron" by Margaret of Navarre. The princess's mother's fate was a good lesson. She early became circumspect, behaved intelligently, could skillfully demonstrate obedience and the absence of any claims to the crown.
The years passed. When Elizabeth was 14 years old, her father died, leaving on the throne his only son, given to him by his third wife. Six years later, he died and the throne passed to Henry's daughter, a convinced Catholic Mary Tudor, who earned the nickname "Bloody" for the cruel persecution of Protestants, among whom was her "illegitimate" sister.
Adhering to the canons of the Church of England, Elizabeth did not want to obey the queen and fell into disfavor, which turned into anger in early 1554, when Thomas Wyatt rebelled against the fanatical ruler. Although, apparently, Elizabeth had nothing to do with this, the rebels pinned great hopes on her name. Who, if not her, could defend the church recognized by the people? Unfortunately, the uprising was suppressed, and the princess was imprisoned for 2 months.
After the sudden death of Mary, 25-year-old Elizabeth Tudor became the sole heir to the throne and in November 1558 ascended the English throne. First of all, Elizabeth confirmed freedom of religion in the country: "I guarantee my royal word in the presence of God himself that no one will be harmed, no interrogations, no research of their secret thoughts in matters relating exclusively to faith …"
The Queen inherited a difficult legacy: the confrontation between Catholics and Protestants continued, which was fraught with serious internal strife; there were wars with foreign powers, leading to economic recession and inflation; the administration was weak, and the military was out of control. Gender and age also did not ease the position of the queen - this gave the courtiers a reason to call her "just a woman" and not be taken seriously.
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But Elizabeth Tudor was already ready to rule the state. She resolutely set about restoring order: replaced 2/3 of the Privy Council with her relatives and political associates; released from prison all the Protestants arrested by Maria; distributed generous promises to improve the situation of the poorest strata of the population, etc. The style of government of Elizabeth I from the very beginning was distinguished by extraordinary flexibility, the ability to manipulate people and subjugate them, and find compromises. She perfectly combined the features of a strong monarch and a "weak" woman.
One problem haunted the members of Parliament: Elizabeth remained unmarried, although there was no end to worthy candidates for her hand. However, the Queen understood that marriage with a foreign prince could infringe on the interests of Britain. The question of marriage was especially acute after she had been ill with smallpox and England almost lost her mistress. If she died, a fierce struggle for the throne would immediately begin. The petition of the Lords only angered Elizabeth: “Why are you rushing me! The folds on my face are not wrinkles, but traces of smallpox, I am not yet 30 years old, and the Lord, I am sure, will send me offspring …"
However, celibacy helped her skillfully maneuver at the forefront of European politics. The queen promised her heart to one or to another "august" than she smoothed out many international problems. True, this hindered the solution of domestic issues: once, to replenish the treasury, the queen wanted to introduce new taxes, but the parliament refused to approve this decision until she found a husband. Then Elizabeth Tudor threatened that she would leave England altogether if they did not stop interfering in her personal affairs. After this statement, the House of Lords immediately left attacks, and she simply intimidated the House of Commons, inviting deputies one by one who did not agree with its policy to the Privy Council. As a result, all taxes were approved unconditionally.
Celibacy is celibacy, but there were many rumors among the people about the intimate life of the queen. It was rumored that her virginity was only a physical handicap. However, she had favorites, and many. Most ended their lives on the chopping block - Elizabeth did not forgive betrayal. By old age, she became a misogynist, could not tolerate rivals next to her and acquired the character of a typical old maid - picky, angry and unbalanced: she could easily slap a courtier or throw a shoe in the face.
As for ordinary subjects, the deification of the queen faded over the years, because the policy of landlessness of the peasants carried out by her led to their impoverishment. Neither the distribution of alms at the palace gates, nor the trips around the country, during which she listened to complaints and gave out gifts, did not help in raising the prestige of Elizabeth as a caring mother of her people. The queen was so tired of everyone that they were impatiently awaiting her death. And she herself was mortally tired of a life in which it was always necessary to play a role and be on the lookout, under the threat of constant intrigues, rebellions and conspiracies.
The struggle to achieve the Queen's favor was the norm at court. This led to the creation of groups and parties that often escalated to armed clashes and brought Britain to the brink of civil war. So, in 1571, a conspiracy was uncovered led by the most powerful tycoon in all of East Anglia, the Duke of Norfolk, who was captured and executed. At the same time, Elizabeth faced a difficult choice and acted in her own spirit: she twice canceled the execution when the crowd was already gathering around the scaffold, because Norfolk was a representative of the titled elite, to which the queen always favored. However, on the other hand, he posed a serious danger, because six months later she still approved the court's verdict.
The suppression of this rebellion taught Elizabeth Tudor a lot: she began to gradually reduce the number of court nobility, by the last decade of her reign she had four times reduced the number of members of the Privy Council, and she did not really consult with those who remained. Elizabeth I perceived Parliament as a dire necessity, therefore she convened sessions extremely rarely - only 13 times during all the years of her reign. She herself approved the laws, wrote her speeches and made it clear in every possible way that she was the chosen one of God, and her subjects should unquestioningly fulfill her will. As a rule, no one objected, because the queen solved all issues in preliminary personal conversations with the right people and achieved her goal only by the methods known to her.
One of the most tragic pages in the history of the British aristocracy, the life and death of Mary Stuart, is associated with the name Elizabeth Tudor. The Scottish queen, by her grandfather - the heiress of the English throne, in the pursuit of power, it seems, did not stop at anything, even before the murder of her own husband. As a result of the outbreak of a conflict with her entourage, Mary was forced to seek refuge in Britain, with the reigning sister, whose throne she had dreamed of quite recently.
It should be noted that Mary was not limited to her dreams: more than once in the north of England, uprisings broke out under her leadership. But despite the fact that all the evidence of the Catholic sister's guilt was there, the queen was in no hurry with retribution. Stewart tried to contact the Spanish court, with the Vatican, but all her letters invariably ended up on the table of Elizabeth I. Why did the queen hesitate - after all, her hands were already stained with the blood of many favorites who fell out of favor?.. It seemed that she was waiting for the natural death of Mary, in whom was in very poor health.
… Mary Stuart spent 20 years in prison. During one of the next political crises, on February 8, 1587, she was still executed. It should be noted that until the last moment Elizabeth tried to shift the responsibility for her sister's death onto someone else's shoulders. Having already signed the verdict, she dreamed that Maria would be killed "from around the corner", that they would be poisoned unnoticed. Nobody agreed to such an atrocity. When the news of the execution reached the queen, she simply fell into hysterics: “I signed Mary's death warrant only to eliminate the danger that threatened me and handed over this paper … not for execution, but for storage, because everything that happened was done without my knowledge and consent …"
1603 Spring - Elizabeth I Tudor fell ill, refused treatment, and on March 24, the Virgin Queen died. The day before, she named the name of the heir to the throne, who became King James I of Scotland, the son of the executed Mary Stuart.
For 400 years, Elizabeth 1 has remained the most extraordinary personality of the ever reigning monarch. The significance of this woman in the history of England is very great. Thanks to her, the Anglican Church was restored, which saved the country from the religious wars that are so rich in European history in the 16th century; she defeated Spain and colonized Ireland. Under her, a powerful fleet was created, the greatest geographical discoveries were made, and England became the first among the European powers. The reign of Elizabeth Tudor is the "golden age" of English literature. Not every male ruler was able to leave such a mark in history.
V. Miroshnikova