Queen Elizabeth I was born, in 1533, to King Henry VIII and his second wife Anne Boleyn. She was known as the Virgin Queen of England because she never married. She was the last Tudor Monarch and the last Queen of England. After her death, England came to be known as the United Kingdom. These are some important dates in the reign of Queen Elizabeth the first.
- 1533 – On September 7, 1533, Elizabeth the First was born at Greenwich palace, to King Henry VIII and his second wife Anne Boleyn.
- 1536 – On May 2nd 1536, Elizabeth’s mother Anne Boleyn was arrested and locked in the Tower. On May 15th, she was tried for adultery, incest and treason in the Great Hall of the Tower of London. Following the trial, Elizabeth’s mother was executed on May 19th and buried in an unmarked grave in the Chapel of St. Peter. 24 hrs later, Henry VIII formally betrothed Jane Seymour and on 30th of May he was married to her.
- 1537 – On October 12, Jane Seymour died in childbirth after delivering her son Edward VI, the future King of England. Princess Elizabeth was declared illegitimate. Thereafter, she spent her childhood in Hatfield House, Hertfordshire.
- 1540 – King Henry VIII marriage to Anne of Cleves was annulled. On July 28, he married the nineteen-year-old Catherine Howard, cousin of Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth I’s mother.
- 1542 – Catherine Howard was executed for adultery on February 13. The nine-year-old Elizabeth was affected by this incident as Catherine Howard was kind to her.
- 1547 – King Henry VIII, father of Queen Elizabeth died and Edward VI became the new King of England. Princess Elizabeth was living with Katherine Parr, the sixth wife of King Henry VIII, and her new husband Thomas Seymour, at the time.
- 1548 – 1551 – Princess Elizabeth left the household of Katherine Parr due to rumours of a love affair with Thomas Seymour. She returned to the court of the young King Edward.
- 1553 – King Edward VI died on July 6, of tuberculosis. He had left the throne to the Lady Jane and her male heirs. Lady Jane was proclaimed the Queen of England, on 10th July. However, she was dethroned on nine days later and Elizabeth’s half-sister Mary I was declared as the Queen of England. Queen Mary I was a fanatic Catholic who executed more 300 Protestants, earning the name “Bloody Mary”.
- 1558 – Queen Mary I died November 17th and Elizabeth I was declared as the next Queen of England, on the same day.
- 1559 – On January 13, Elizabeth I was crowned as the Queen of England. She re-established the Protestant-Anglican Church. The Elizabethan Prayer book was introduced for the first time on June 24, 1559.
- 1560 – On July 6, the Queen of England signed the Treaty of Edinburgh between England, France and Scotland.
- 1561 – Queen Elizabeth the First signed a Treaty at Hampton Court promising to support the French Huguenots.
- 1562 – Queen Elizabeth cancelled the meeting with Mary, Queen of Scots on July 15, the reason – the Queen of Scots attacked French Protestants. Queen Elizabeth I became gravely ill after being infected by small pox.
- 1563 – Elizabeth the First established the Anglican Church once the Thirty-nine Articles was established. The Queen moved her court to Windsor Castle. She had erected gallows there. “Black Death” or bubonic plague affected London. As per her order, anyone who came from London was to be hanged.
- 1564 – 1568 – Queen of England demanded the share of profit of slave trade from John Hawkins. Elizabeth I imprisoned Mary, the Catholic Queen of Scots, at Fotheringay Castle in 1568.
- 1568 – 1572 – A conspiracy against Elizabeth the First by the Nevilles and Percys of Northumberland, was discovered. Queen of England, Elizabeth I exonerated the Queen of Scots from the charges made against her. Queen Elizabeth I was excommunicated by the Catholic Church in 1570. On January 2, 1571, marriage was negotiated between Elizabeth the First and Henry, Duke of Anjou. The same year Sir William Cecil was made the Lord of Burghley.
- 1573 – 1581 – Queen Elizabeth I appointed Sir Francis Walsingham as Secretary of State and chief spymaster of England in 1573. On November 14, 1575, Elizabeth declined the approval and acceptance the Sovereignty of Netherlands. She formed an alliance between England and Netherlands. On October 7, 1579 the Privy Council failed to support Queen Elizabeth I in the marriage treaty with the Duke of Anjou. However, on November 7, 1581, the marriage treaty was signed.
- 1585 – On August 14, Queen Elizabeth the First declined the offers of Dutch commission for sovereignty of the Low Countries. However, she brought Netherlands under the protection of the crown.
- 1586 – July 1, Queen of England and King James VI of Scotland signed the Treaty of Berwick. The same year on October 25, Mary, Queen of Scots was convicted for her participation in a conspiracy against Elizabeth I.
- 1600 – 1601 – The Queen of England, Elizabeth I granted charter to East India Company. The crown implemented Elizabethan Poor Law. As per this Law, parish registers for poor were introduced to help the needy. On February 25th, Queen Elizabeth the First ordered the execution of Earl of Essex on the basis of treachery.
- 1603 – On March 24, Queen of England, Elizabeth the First died of blood poisoning.
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