Elizabeth I was the last of the five monarchs of the House of Tudor.

Elizabeth was often called 'Gloriana', 'Good Queen Bess' and 'The Virgin Queen'.

Her mother was Henry VIII's second wife, Anne Boleyn.

Elizabeth was just two years old when her mother was beheaded on 19 May 1536. Elizabeth was declared illegitimate and deprived of her place in the royal succession. Eleven days after Anne Boleyn's execution, Henry married Jane Seymour, who died shortly after the birth of their son, Edward, in 1537. From his birth, Edward was undisputed heir apparent to the throne. Elizabeth was placed in his household and carried the chrisom, or baptismal cloth, at his christening.

During her five-year reign, Mary had over 280 religious dissenters burned at the stake, which led to her denunciation as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents.

Discontent spread rapidly through the country after Mary took power, and many looked to Elizabeth as a focus for their opposition to Mary's religious policies. In January and February 1554, Wyatt's rebellion broke out, and though it was quickly suppressed, Elizabeth was brought to court and interrogated regarding her role in the rebellion. On March 18, 1554, she was imprisoned in the Tower of London.

On 17 November 1558, Mary died and Elizabeth succeeded to the throne.

By the mid-1580s, England could no longer avoid war with Spain. England's victory against the Spanish Armada in 1588 gave Elizabeth one of the greatest military victories in English history.

In a rousing speech at Tilbury in 1588, right before her men set out to meet the Spanish Armada, Elizabeth declared: "I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and a king of England, too, and think foul scorn that ... any prince of Europe should dare to invade the borders of my realm."

On 10th October 1562, Queen Elizabeth I was taken ill at Hampton Court Palace, with what was thought to be a bad cold. However, the cold developed into a violent fever, and it became clear that the young queen had smallpox. Following this diagnosis, the succession became a heated issue in Parliament. Members urged the queen to marry or nominate an heir, to prevent a civil war upon her death, but she refused to do either.