"The Virgin Queen"The Life and Times ofQueen ElizabethOn September 7, 1533, a child was born to Henry VIII, the present King of England. This child, Elizabeth, was the result of Henry's seven-year affair with Anne Boleyn. During Anne's pregnancy, Henry chose to divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne and legitimize his child. However, the Pope denied his petition for divorce, consequently Henry broke from the Catholic Church and refused to accept its authority over himself and his people. This action led to the formation of the Episcopalian faith and several other offshoots of this religion.This child was the main factor in Henry's plan to insure the safety of his dynasty, ...view middle of the document...
Most likely Elizabeth had been taught that her mother deserved her fate because she was an adulteress who betrayed her beloved father. Due to her knowledge of her mother's death, Elizabeth had a hard time sending people to be executed on the block and only in instances where her life or throne were jeopardy did she sign the death warrants.Elizabeth was sent to a royal household in which professional nurses cared for her. When Henry's third wife, Jane Seymour, was pregnant she was able to convince Henry to take Elizabeth back and care for her. Jane Seymour sadly died while giving birth to Henry's son Edmund. Elizabeth and Edmund were raised together in the royal nursery for a short time, during which Henry married twice. Henry divorced his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves because he found her to be utterly repulsive but he still allowed her to remained in the royal house and she became known as the king's sister. Henry's fifth marriage was to Katherine Howard, a cousin of Anne Boleyn. She was executed for the betrayal of the king, just as her cousin was. Elizabeth was once again sent from the court due to her family relation to Henry's wife.Catherine Parr, Henry's fifth wife, was the only one that became his widow. Catherine was the most educated of all his wives, and it was her influence that allowed Elizabeth to be educated as well as her half-brother, Edmund. Elizabeth became fluent in Latin, Greek, French and Italian, which later would become extremely useful to her. This allowed Elizabeth to speak to foreign ambassadors without a translator, when she eventually became Queen.In 1547, King Henry died from complications from gout and other illnesses. There are some speculations that he died form syphilis, but it has never actually been physically proven. Shortly after his father's death, Edmund became the new King of England. Five years later, in 1553, Edmund died of an unknown illness and left the throne to Lady Jane Grey, successor. The young girl ruled for only nine days before the rightful heir, Mary Tudor, overthrew her.In 1553, Mary became Queen of England, which made Elizabeth very unhappy. Elizabeth lived in constant fear of execution, under the rule of her half-sister, Mary. Mary was raised under the Catholic Church, and her views about government and society were opposite those of Elizabeth and Edward. Elizabeth was forced to hide her true nature and live the life, which her sister chose for her. She did and said nothing that could possibly put her life in danger.Mary chose to marry King Philip of Spain, which frightened the people of England. "A man named Wyatt led a short rebellion in Elizabeth's name to put her on the throne. It failed and landed Elizabeth in the Tower." Although Elizabeth knew nothing about the plot, she was still imprisoned so that the Queen could watch her more closely.Mary's marriage to Philip upset the people of England, who were not in favor of being ruled by a foreign king. Parliament refused to allow Philip...
