Today is the 464th anniversary of the coronation of Elizabeth I, the last Tudor Queen.
Elizabeth, the second child of Henry VIII, and the third to become Monarch. She inherited the crown from her elder sister, Mary I.
Following years of steadfast refusal, Mary, who died childless, nominated her half-sister Elizabeth her Presumed Heir only a few days before her own death. There was, unsurprisingly, a lot of animosity between the two half-sisters.
After some 25 years of marriage, Henry had discarded Mary’s mother, Catherine of Aragon, sending her to an isolated Catholic after splitting the Roman Catholic Church in order to marry Elizabeth’s mother. All of this in a desperate search to produce a male heir.
After a couple of years in which Anne had a couple of miscarriages, Henry got bored of her too, sending her to the Tower of London to be decapitaded.
Wife number three was already lined up, and Jane Seymour finally gave Henry the long awaited son. Elizabeth was demoted from Princess to Lady Elizabeth as she was now considered a bastard. Sadly, Jane died a few days after giving birth from childbirth complications.
The son inherited the crown at the young age of 9. Tragically, Edward VI died aged 13 and the Crown went to the eldest daughter, Mary.
Queen Mary I, who remained a Catholic throught these turbulent years, was on a mission to reinstaure the Catholic faith and sent countless of her Anglican subjects to their death, earning her the nickname Bloody Mary (delicious on a Sunday Brunch with loads of Tabasco sauce - oops different subject).
It was a tortuous path that brought Elizabeth to the throne. Nevertheless, Elizabeth, alongside her namesake, Elizabeth II, had one of the longest and most successful reigns in British history. The top three longest reigns in British history are all women:
Elizabeth I (45 years), Victoria (62 years) and the champion Elizabeth II (70 years).
1533 – Elizabeth is born at Greenwich Palace.
(to be born – when your mother delivers you to the world)
1536 – Elizabeth’s mother, Queen Anne Boleyn, is executed at The Tower of London.
(to be executed)
1537 – Elizabeth’s half-brother, Prince Edward, is born.
1547 – King Henry VIII dies and Prince Edward becomes King Edward VI.
(to die – when you stop being alive), (to become - to turn into something, or to be made into something)
1553 – King Edward VI dies and Elizabeth’s half-sister, Mary, becomes Queen Mary I.
1554 – Elizabeth is imprisoned in The Tower of London and then Woodstock Manor.
(to be imprisoned - to be put in prison)
1555 – Elizabeth is freed.
(to be allowed to leave prison)
1558 – Queen Mary I dies, and Elizabeth becomes Queen Elizabeth I.
1559 – Coronation of Queen Elizabeth I and Elizabethan Religious Settlement.
1562 – Elizabeth is seriously ill with smallpox at Hampton Court Palace.
(smallpox = variola)
1564 – William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe are born.
1567 – Mary, Queen of Scots, is forced to abdicate the throne.
(to abdicate – to give up a role or title, especially one that is yours by right)
1568 – Mary, Queen of Scots, is imprisoned in England after fleeing Scotland.
(to flee – to escape)
1570 – Elizabeth is excommunicated from the Catholic Church by the Pope.
1571 – Ridolfi Plot to assassinate Elizabeth. (to plot – to plan / a Plot – a plan)
1572 – Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, is executed for treason.
1574 – Richard Burbage opens the first theatre in England called The Theatre. (to open)
1577 – Francis Drake sets out on the first English voyager around the world.
(to set out – to leave, to go, to depart, to start)
1585 – Elizabeth takes The Netherlands under her protection, beginning the War with Spain.
(to begin = to start)
1586 – Babington Plot and trial of Mary, Queen of Scots, for treason.
(a trial – a process in a court of law to decide if someone did do the crime or not)
1587 – Mary, Queen of Scots, is executed at Fotheringay Castle.
1588 – Defeat of the Spanish Armada (to defeat someone: you win, they lose)
1597 – Second Spanish Armada defeated.
1599 – The Globe theatre is opened. (Shakespeare’s own theatre)
1601 – Essex Rebellion and Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Speech.
1603 – Death of Queen Elizabeth I and accession of King James I. (accession – elevation)
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