Elizabeth was born in AD 1533, the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, and came to the throne in 1558 after two reigns of religious turmoil. Edward VI (reigned 1547-53) had promoted radical Protestantism, while Mary (reigned 1553-8) tried to bring the country back to Catholicism. Elizabeth maintained a policy of moderate Protestantism throughout her reign, in spite of Catholic plots and Puritan pressure for reform.

She had an excellent councillor in William Cecil, Lord Burghley, but she also had her father’s iron will. She resisted constant pressure to marry, to the despair of her advisors. Foreign suitors courted her because England was seen as a useful ally by Catholic Spain and France as well as by smaller Protestant countries. She had noble ‘favourites’, like the Earl of Leicester, at her brilliant court, but to marry one was to alienate others. Instead she developed her image as the ‘Virgin Queen’.

Elizabeth’s reign is remembered for dramatic events like the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, and the execution of Mary Queen of Scots. She presided over an artistic Renaissance crowned by the plays of Shakespeare. Her reluctance to take action, however, meant that problems like the war with Spain and the antiquated royal finances dragged on and were inherited by her successor.