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Queen Elizabeth I was born to King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn at Greenwich Palace on September 7, 1533. The official letters sent out to celebrate her death were corrected at the very last minute, changing 'prince' to 'princess'. -
Elizabeth was still only 2 when her mother, Anne Boleyn, was executed for supposed treason and, gasp cheating on King Henry VII. Of course, since this meant Elizabeth was illegitimate, she was removed from the line of succession. -
After Henry VIII married Katherine Parr, hr soon realized his health was failing and, in an attempt at reconciliation, added both both Mary, Elizabeth's half-sister, and she, back to the court. -
This time period was, at the very least, a positive one for Elizabeth. Henry's 6th and final wife, Katherine Parr, encouraged Elizabeth greatly and furthered the princess's education. It even continued past Henry's death, when Katherine welcomed her into her home, Sudeley Castle. Sadly, it ended when Katherine died in childbirth.
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Despite her supposed illegitimacy, King Henry VIII appointed various tutors to educate Elizabeth. By the age of 13, Elizabeth was already well-learned in languages, speaking 5 foreign ones fluently. -
Elizabeth was sent away from Sudeley Castle in the spring of this year, not long after, and probably because of, Thomas Seymour. He was Jane Seymour's brother and Katherine Parr's new husband. After Katherine supposedly found Thomas alone in Elizabeth's room, his arms around her, we can assume this was the cause of Elizabeth's being sent away. -
After Edward's death, Mary and Elizabeth rode into London together to celebrate Mary's coronation. -
For some people, this time period meant the possibility of death if you were a Protestant. For Elizabeth, it meant being under house arrest. In fact, Elizabeth spent the majority of her half-sister's reign locked up in a palace. Towards the beginning of Mary's rule, she was locked up in the Tower of London, in the very same rooms her mother was in while she awaited her death.
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On March 17, 1554, Elizabeth was arrested and sent to the Tower of London. She was practically put under house arrest after Thomas Wyatt's rebellion against Queen Mary indicated her involvement.
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As tradition stated, Elizabeth was seated under an ancient oak tree when she received the news that her half-sister, Mary, had died.
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Elizabeth arrived at the Tower of London the day before her coronation. Almost immediately after she got there, she began her ceremonial procession. The next day, she was crowned the new Queen of England. Both of these events were performances of sorts, meant to remind the people of her right to rule over the country. After all, the reason Elizabeth was excluded from the line of succession at first was because of her supposed illegitimacy. -
Plans for Elizabeth's marriage began almost immediately after she took the throne. However, there weren't many proper suitors in the area. Catholic royalty was considered out of the question, after the disaster that was Mary's almost-marriage with Phillip II of Spain.
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From 1568 to 1569, Mary, Queen of Scots, became a possible way for priests and citizens to get a Catholic Queen on the throne once again, after she fled Scotland in 1568. However, rebellions, protests, and schemes were quelled in 1569 by Queen Elizabeth's armies.
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By the 1570s, it became clear that marriage was not going to happen for the Queen of England. At that point, she was in her late 40s, and the only possible good match was a Duke from France, which turned out to be an unpopular idea. -
On August 8, 1588, after a long rivalry and war, the Spanish Armada was finally defeated by England's armies, under Elizabeth's command. This was also when she delivered her famed speech at Tilbury, encouraging the armies of her queendom against the Armada. -
On March 24, 1603, after a long and renowned rule, Queen Elizabeth I died. Her funeral procession is the first known recorded funeral procession of an English monarch.