Elizabethan Age Begins

The Elizabethan Age began in November 1558 with the death of Queen Mary I and the accession of her half-sister Elizabeth I to the English throne. Elizabeth was the daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Her path to the crown had been precarious, having been declared illegitimate as a child and imprisoned for a time under Mary's Catholic reign.

Mary's reign had been marked by efforts to restore Roman Catholicism and by the burning of Protestants, earning her lasting unpopularity. Elizabeth, by contrast, pursued a religious settlement that re-established a moderate Protestant Church of England, seeking to ease the bitter divisions that had torn the country. Her long rule brought a measure of stability after decades of dynastic and religious upheaval.

Elizabeth's reign of more than four decades came to be regarded as a golden age in English history. It witnessed the flourishing of literature and drama associated with figures such as William Shakespeare, the expansion of English seafaring and exploration, and the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. The era helped forge a stronger sense of English national identity and laid groundwork for England's later rise as a maritime power.