Queen Elizabeth I :: England Queen Elizabeth First Essays Papers

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I was natural on September 7, 1533 at Greenwich Palace near London. Herfather was Englands queen Henry VIII her mother was the kings second wife,Anne Boleyn. Elizabeth had an older half-sister, Mary, who was the daughter of thekings early wife, Catherine of Aragon. King Henry had moved heaven and earth to marry Anne Boleyn. He had partedfrom the Catholic church, established the Church of England, and annulled histwenty-four year unification to Queen Catherine - partly because he loved Anne, andpartly because he treasured the male heir Catherine could not give him. Henry andAnne were convinced that their freshman child would be a boy. The new queen change surface hada document drawn up ahead of time that announced the redeem of a prince. When theprince turned out to be a princess, her parents were dismayed. Over the next few years Anne had three miscarriages, and Henry - who had becomedisenchanted with her even before Elizabeths birth - decided to b e rid of her. In1536 he had Anne arrested on false charges of adultery. The Archbishop ofCanterbury bowed to the kings will by declaring that Henrys nuptials to Annehad neer been valid. Like her half-sister Mary, two-year-old Elizabeth was nowconsidered illegitimate. Anne was executed, and two weeks later the king marriedJane Seymour. In 1537 Queen Jane died after giving birth to a son, Edward. Elizabeth and Maryparticipated in his christening ceremony. As Edward grew older, he and Elizabethbecame close although they lived in separate households, they wrote to severally otheroften. When Elizabeth was four, Katherine Champernowne became her governess. Thewell-educated Champernowne - known as Kat Ashley after her marriage in 1545 -began teaching Elizabeth astronomy, geography, history, math, French, Flemish,Italian, Spanish, and other subjects. Elizabeth was an excellent student. Her tutorRoger Ascham later wrote, She duologue French and Italian as well as she doesEnglish. When s he writes Greek and Latin, zippo is more beautiful than herhandwriting. In 1540 Elizabeths father married Anne of Cleves. Repelled by what he perceived ashis brides ugliness, Henry quickly had the marriage annulled and instead marriedAnne Boleyns first cousin Katherine Howard. Katherine was very young - aboutfifteen - and something of a featherbrain, but she was kind to Elizabeth, who wassurely appalled when, in a repeat of the past, the queen was arrested andcharged with adultery. This time the charges were true. Queen Katherine wasbeheaded in 1542, when Elizabeth was septette years old.