Argumentative text - The reign of Elisabeth I

Elisabeth I was born in 1533. She was Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn's daughter. In 1558, at age 25, she became queen of a divided nation over religion. Elizabeth I is considered one of the country's most successful and popular monarchs. Clever, enigmatic and flirtatious, she rewrote the rules of being Queen. She had received an excellent education and could speak many foreign languages like French, Italian and Latin that was the language of the science.

She had a strong personality and was a polical genius of the first order. It follows that she faced the multiple problems of the nation like the religious division, the problems of marriage and succession. She also faced an other important problem that were the foreign threats because many of them were catholic.The reign of Elizabeth I is often thought of as a Golden Age beacuse she brought back the balance of the nation. She firmly restored the country to Prostantism but she did something very clever. She was tollerant toward the Catholics because she granted Catholics freedom of worship. In this way she broke her link with Spain because it was one of the most powerful Catholic nation of the continent. It follows that she recognised Spain as her main trade rival and enemy.

She was unmarried and the people accepted this idea and began to make a cult of their "Virgin Queen". She repeated that the Queen was married to her people. That is not to say that Elizabeth didn't enjoy the company of men. She used this as a political weapon encouraging the hopes of European princes with whom it was important to keep on good terms. In fact she thrived on the adoration of her ministers and knew that flirtation was often the easiest way to get things done. In the political arena she encouraged the attentions of Henry, Duke of Anjou, and later his brother Francis, Duke of Alençon, which could form a useful alliance with France against Spain.

Previously I talked about the fact that the reign of Elisabeth I was called the Golden Age. This sense of well-being was embodied by Queen Elizabeth who liked to wear sumptuous costumes and jewellery. She had numerous portraits painted. She did this to impress her subjects. The intelligent reader can understand that this was a form of propaganda.

She defeated England's enemies at home and abroad. In 1588 The Spanish decided to invade England and sent a great armada of galleons to the English Channel. English defeated the Spanish Armada. This was a Europian turning point because England's successful resistance showed that Spain was not "invicible".