When Elizabeth came into power England was a country filled with turmoil. Her half sister Mary had died while England was in a war against France, and the country was divided over religious differences. Elizabeth would later prove to be as great a monarch as her father Henry the Eight. The era that she ruled would become known as the Golden Age of England
One of Elizabeth's primary concerns dealt with the problems of the church. She had professed her faith to Catholicism in order to avoid execution from her half-sister Mary the First. Elizabeth was not a supporter of the Catholic faith, and within one year of her ascension to the throne she had the Church of England reinstated as the official church of England. Elizabeth then withdrew England from the war with France. England had already lost the island of Calais, and further involvement was impossible due to a period of economic difficulty in England. Elizabeth was now faced with the task of bringing England back as a major contender as a global power.
One of Elizabeth's greatest assets was her marital status. She was never married and used this to her advantage. Elizabeth was constantly being courted by those who thought a marriage to her would offer a powerful alliance. The list of suitors included royalty of both Catholic and Protestant faiths. Elizabeth attended whoever was most useful to her at the time. By doing this she kept England out of war for almost all of her reign.
Elizabeth did however involve England in a war with Spain. Spain was involved in a conflict with the Dutch over the Netherlands. Elizabeth supported the Protestant Dutch and sent military assistance to aide them in their fight. Spain at the time had its famous Armada which was the most powerful navy in the world at the time. Elizabeth offered England's shipping industry the prospect of becoming an English naval vessel. They could sail with the fleet or they could become commissioned as pirates. Those who chose to be pirates were known as "sea dogs".
Among the most famous of these sea dogs were Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh. Elizabeth's outright opposition to Spain was only one of the factors that led to war with Spain. The other event that led to war with Spain was Elizabeth's sentence to have her cousin Mary Stuart, the former queen of Scotland, executed. Mary Stuart had fled to England after being ousted by Protestant forces. Due to a claim to England's throne, and two riots by Catholic supporters who wanted to place her on the throne, Elizabeth had Mary Stuart executed.
These two events led to Spain declaring war on England, and it sent the Armada to invade England. England's ships were smaller, but faster and could maneuver better than the large Spanish ships. This, and the occurrence of a powerful storm greatly damaged Spain's Armada. It was this event that led to England's rise as the world's leading naval and colonizing power. Elizabeth financed several expeditions to North America, and saw the settlement of colonies that would later become great assets for England. The state of Virginia is named after Elizabeth.
Elizabeth like her father, Henry the Eight, instilled her subjects with national pride. She had brought peace to England, and opened up new economic opportunities for her country. Also, like her father, she had shown great interest in the arts. Some of the greatest literary authors in history wrote during Elizabeth's reign. These included Edmund Spencer, Francis Bacon, and William Shakespeare. Although it seemed like the best of times had arrived in England, it was actually the signal of a new era in England's history.
Towards the end of Elizabeth's reign she was faced with an Irish revolt which found England the loser. Elizabeth had outlived her most able officials, and had lost power to England's parliament. Unknown to her was that the seventeenth century is noted as being the beginning of modern England. The once powerful autocratic rule of the monarchy was slowly being diminished. Elizabeth however had done more for her country than most monarchs before her.
