FAYE MOSS: Hello, and welcome to Superstars in History. I'm your host, Faye Moss. Today's guest knows better than most people that it's not easy being a queen! Her reign is viewed now as a golden age, but her path to the crown was surprising—and sometimes even dangerous. Please give a royal welcome to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I of England and Ireland!
QUEEN ELIZABETH I: Thank you, child, for inviting me to your court.
FAYE MOSS: Of course, Your Majesty. You were born in 1533. Through most of your childhood, it seemed unlikely that you would become queen. And then you did! Please tell us how you got there.
QUEEN ELIZABETH I: I was the first child of King Henry VIII of England and Anne Boleyn. As their daughter, I was a princess and heir to the throne, but no one thought I would ever become queen—England had never crowned a queen before! In fact, my father had divorced his first wife because she hadn't given birth to a son. Their only child was a daughter, my half sister, Mary.
FAYE MOSS: It sounds like your father really wanted a son!
QUEEN ELIZABETH I: Yes, my father was desperate to have a male heir who would succeed him one day. Alas, he was married to my mother for only a few years. I was just two when she became the victim of a political plot and was jailed and beheaded.
FAYE MOSS: That's awful!
QUEEN ELIZABETH I: Indeed it was, Faye. However, my father loved me and treated me well. I was given an excellent education and learned several languages. I received the kind of education a male heir to the throne would have had.
A male heir was finally born to my father and his third wife, Jane Seymour, who died shortly after Prince Edward was born. My father married three more times in the hope of having more sons, but it was not meant to be. When he died in 1547, nine-year-old Edward became King Edward VI. After less than seven years on the throne, Edward fell ill and died. Mary then became queen.
FAYE MOSS: That made you next in line to the throne. What were those years like for you?
QUEEN ELIZABETH I: They were dangerous! To divorce his first wife, my father had separated England from the Roman Catholic Church. This created a lot of religious tension at court and in the country. Mary had remained a Catholic and returned England to the Catholic Church when she became queen. In addition she married Prince Philip of Spain, also a Catholic, and hoped to have a son.
Since I had a claim to the throne but wasn't thought to be a Catholic, Mary was suspicious of me. After a rebellion, in which I played no part, I was kept under arrest. Eventually, when she thought she was pregnant and would have an heir, I was released. However, her child never came.
FAYE MOSS: Those must have been difficult years for you.
QUEEN ELIZABETH I: I privately opposed my sister's religious policy but had to be careful to always show my loyalty to her. I developed a lot of diplomatic skill during these years that served me well later. I learned that it is often best to keep silent. And when one does speak, it's prudent not to say everything that one is thinking.
In the fourth year of her reign, Mary thought she was pregnant again, but no child came, and it was clear that she was in poor health. In 1558 she died, and I became Queen of England and Ireland. I was 25 years old.
FAYE MOSS: Unlike Queen Mary, you never married.
QUEEN ELIZABETH I: Marriage and having children was important, but it came with risks, especially for a woman. I would have had to share my power with my husband, to whom I was expected to be obedient. My sister's marriage to a foreign royal had been unpopular. But choosing one Englishman could have created resentment among them all. Rather than marry a man, I was married to my country. As you can see, I wear my coronation ring on my wedding finger.
FAYE MOSS: I guess your decision helped keep England stable during your reign.
QUEEN ELIZABETH I: Ensuring stability was the most important task I faced as queen. For many years England had suffered a series of power struggles and civil wars. I was able to bring a moderation to the country that kept factions from tearing us in two. I firmly established the Church of England, but unlike Mary, I made changes gradually, and with the love and support of the people. Not only did I seek to prevent wars at home, but it was also my aim to avoid foreign wars.
FAYE MOSS: Yes, but you had a close call with Spain.
QUEEN ELIZABETH I: In 1588 Spain sent a great fleet of warships, the Spanish Armada, to overthrow me and return England to the Catholic Church. Some feared that because I was a woman—a queen and not a king—I was too weak to lead the country through this crisis. I proved them wrong. I spoke to the troops, encouraged them to protect our shores, and assured them that they would be rewarded for doing so. The English navy defended our shores, then the heavens sent a storm to finish off the Armada.
FAYE MOSS: That victory is remembered as one of the greatest accomplishments of your reign. Your reign also saw the beginnings of what would become a huge empire.
QUEEN ELIZABETH I: Under my rule Sir Francis Drake became the second man to circumnavigate the globe. And Sir Walter Raleigh went to the New World and claimed a huge part of it for England. Spain had been the most powerful country in the world until the brave sailors of my realm challenged Spanish dominance of the seas and the New World. England established itself as a naval power.
FAYE MOSS: England also saw a flowering of arts and culture. You were even a writer yourself.
QUEEN ELIZABETH I: I translated many works throughout my life, and from time to time, I drafted poems. But my more important role was to inspire other writers and artists. We were blessed with gifted composers, painters, playwrights, and poets—including the talented Mr. Shakespeare, whose plays I adored. My tender care of my people gave them the conditions necessary to create art.
FAYE MOSS: Thank you so much for being with us today, Your Majesty. I'll let you get back to history now.
QUEEN ELIZABETH I: Thank you, Faye.
FAYE MOSS: Queen Elizabeth reigned for over 44 years—one of the longest reigns of an English monarch at the time. She died in 1603 at the age of 69. Her relative King James VI of Scotland succeeded her, becoming James I of England and uniting the two kingdoms. The period of her reign, known as the Elizabethan Age, is still remembered for English expansion and as a golden age of English culture.
That's all for today. Join me next week when I'll speak with another of history's superstars.