WRITE AN ESSAY ON THE ROLE OF ELISABETH I IN RENAISSANCE ENGLAND.

Elizabeth I was Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII’s daughter. She came to the throne in 1558 after the reign of Mary Tudor, which was ill-governed and dependent on Spain because of the marriage between the Catholic queen Mary Tudor and the king Philip II of Spain.

The Elizabethan Age was an age of peace and stability and religious tolerance. Indeed, she adopted a policy of compromise in the religious field to establish religious unity after years of persecutions of Catholics and Protestants. She re-established the Anglican Church and in 1559 with the Second Act of Supremacy she restated the independence of the Church of England and with the Act of Uniformity the use of the Book of Common Prayer became compulsory.

During the Elizabethan reign wealth and commercial power increased. England began to change from an agricultural into a commercial and industrial country. New industries were created and private enterprise was encouraged. After the discovery of America, the queen also supported new explorations thanks to the creation of a powerful fleet known as the Royal Navy and new Merchant Companies were chartered. The famous East India Company, founded in 1600, exploited the overseas trade and for this reason England had to face Spain and other States that wanted to exploit foreign commerce.

Elizabeth had to deal with an internal threat: her cousin Mary Stuart, Catholic Queen of Scotland, took refuge in England because of a Protestant revolt against the corruption of the catholic clergy. On one hand English Catholics wanted to restore Catholicism but on the other hand the Commons wanted her execution. Mary Stuart was kept virtually prisoner for nineteen years by the queen, but in the end she was executed. This happening gave birth to a war between England and Spain. In 1588 Philip II of Spain tried to invade England with a huge fleet called ‘Invincible Armada’. The England’s victory saved her independence and increased her prestige in Europe.

After the death of Elizabeth I, James VI of Scotland, son of Mary Stuart, went to the throne of both Scotland and England that became a single state, the United Kingdom of Great Britain, only in 1707. During his reign the religious tolerance and the enthusiasm of the Elizabethan Age were replaced by dissatisfaction and disappointment.