伊丽莎白一世英文介绍

1、In January 1559 Elizabeth I was crow ned Quee n of En gla nd. She was the last of the great Tudor dyn asty, a bright star who dazzled both the n ati on and the world.Elizabeth s achieveme nts has lasted for n early four cen turies and its easy to see why. She reigned for 45 tumultuous years. Her shi

2、ps defeated the Spanish Armada and sailed round the globe. In her time, Shakespeare wrote plays and Spen ser wrote poems.The daughter of Ki ng Henry VIII and his sec ond wife, Anne Bole yn, Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne in 1558 and ruled England for almost 45 years. Her reign is known as The

3、Golden Age, a time that saw the birth of Shakespeare, the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and the emerge nee of En gla nd as a world power.From the pris on to the palaceElizabeth s father was Henry VIII ,one of the most famous kings in England for his six wives. Henry divorced his first wife, Catherin

4、 of Aragon, because she had not give n him a son he had bee n long for, but now her replaceme nt Ann Bole yn had failed her prin cipal duty as royal breed ing mach ine, for she had only one daughter - Elizabeth. Mean while, Henry had falle n in love with ano ther woma n-Jane Seymour. By the time whe

5、 nElizabeth was only three, Ann was soon accused of multiple adultery and executed. And their marriage was decleared n ull and void. Elizabeth was now illegitimate and un able to in herit the throne. So in stead of the Right High and Mighty Prin cess, the Lady Elizabeth, in heritrix of the crow n of

6、 England, she became the Lady Elizabeth, the King s second bastard daughter. Although was brought up in the country away from the royal court, she studies Ian guages from the age of four. She became flue nt in French, Italian, Latin and Greek.In 1544, Henry rein stated Elizabeth and Mary in the succ

7、essi on. No woma n had ever sat on the thro ne before. Now if Edward (Ja ne Seymour s son) died without a heir, first Mary and the n Elizabeth would become queen. Henry then sailed for France to fight a war, leaving his wife Katherine Parr, as regent in charge of the kingdom. Elizabeth now wit nesse

8、d at first hand that an in tellige nt, well-educated woma n could rule effectively.In 1546, Elizabeth s father, Henry VIII died, and little King Edward VI had stepped into his father s shoes at the age of 9, while Elizabeth was only 13.In order to divorce Catheri n of Arago n, Henry had broke n away

9、 fromRome and made himself head of the church in England. The Catholic churches ,crosses and can dles were being stripped everywhere. The new faith had the enthusiastic backing of Elizabeth s brother, the young KingEdward. But by 1553, the 15-year-old King was dying of tuberculosis. Hewas desperate

10、to stop the religious reforms being undone by his Catholic sister Mary, who would succed under the terms of their father s will. Sohe excluded her from the successi on because she was a bastard. But it couldn t stop Mary s overwhelming support, for she was proclaimed Queen ,whose vision was to lead

11、England back to the true Catholic faith.Mary had stamped Catholicism on En gla nd with extraord inary viole nee, burning at the stake over 300 Protesta nt men, wome n, and childre n. Elizabeth s Protestantism marked her out as a potential enemy. In 1554, Elizabeth was sent to the tower for involving

12、 in a failed rebellion. However,Mary fin ally rele nted un der pressure from her council to n ame Elizabeth as her successor. I n 1559, Elizabeth was crow ned as Quee n of En gla nd.The Virgin Quee nParliament petitionedthe Queen asking her to pledge herself to asuitable international marriage. Thre

13、e days later, she gave her responses.“ Now the public care of governing the kingdom is laid upon me, to drawupon me also the cares of my marriage, may seem a point of incon siderable folly. Yea, to satisfy you, I have already joined myself in marriage to an husba nd, n amely the Kin gdom of En gla n

14、d. And for me it shall be a full satisfaction if, when I shall let my last breath, it may be engraven upon my marble tomb Here lieth Elizabeth, which reigned a virgin and died a virginElizabeth had fin ally got the parliame nt to restore Protesta ntism in England. Queen Elizabeth is God s direct rep

15、resentative here on earthchurch and state are one.Elizabeth had inherited from her sister Mary a nation that was bankrupt, military weak and hemmed in by enemies. In the parlanee of the time, the country was a bone betwee n two dogs - France and Spain.Elizabeth I - the last Tudor mon arch - was born

16、 at Gree nwich on 7 September 1533, the daughter of Henry VIII and his sec ond wife, Anne Bole yn.Her early life was full of un certa in ties, and her cha nces of succeed ing to the throne seemed very slight once her halfbrother Edward was born in 1537. She was the n third in line behind her Roman C

17、atholic half-sister, Princess Mary. Roman Catholics, in deed, always con sidered her illegitimate and she only n arrowly escaped executi on in the wake of a failed rebellio n aga inst Quee n Mary in 1554.Elizabeth succeeded to the throne on her half-sisters death in November 1558. She was very well-

18、educated (flue nt in five Ian guages), and had in herited in tellige nee, determ in ati on and shrewd ness from both pare nts.Her 45-year reig n is gen erally con sidered one of the most glorious in En glish history. During it a secure Church of En gla nd was established. Its doctrines were laid dow

19、n in the 39 Articles of 1563, a compromise betwee n Roma n Catholicism and Protesta ntism.Elizabeth herself refused to make windows into mens souls . there is only one Jesus Christ and all the rest is a dispute over trifles; she asked for outward uni formity.Most of her subjects accepted the comprom

20、ise as the basis of their faith, and her church settleme nt probably saved En gla nd from religious wars like those which France suffered in the sec ond half of the 16th ce ntury. Although autocratic and capricious, Elizabeth had astute political judgeme nt and chose her min isters well; these in cl

21、uded William Cecil, later Lord Burghley (Secretary of State), SirChristopher Hatt on (Lord Chan cellor) and Sir Fran cis Walsi ngham (in charge of in tellige nee and also a Secretary of State).Overall, Elizabeths administration consisted of some 600 officials adm ini steri ng the great offices of st

22、ate, and a similar nu mber deali ng with the Crow n lands (which fun ded the adm ini strative costs). Social and economic regulation and law and order rema ined in the hands of the sheriffs at local level, supported by un paid justices of the peace.Elizabeths reig n also saw many brave voyages of di

23、scovery, in clud ing those of Francis Drake, Walter Raleigh and Humphrey Gilbert, particularly to the Americas. These expeditions prepared En gla nd for an age of coloni satio n and trade expa nsion, which Elizabeth herself recog ni sed by establish ing the East In dia Compa ny in at the very end of

24、 1599.The arts flourished duri ng Elizabeths reig n. Country houses such as Lon gleat and Hardwick Hall were built, mini ature pain ti ng reached its high point, theatres thrived - the Queen attended the first performa nee of Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream. Composers such as William Byrd and

25、Thomas Tallis worked in Elizabeths court and at the Chapel Royal, St. Jamess Palace.The image of Elizabeths reig n is one of triumph and success. The Quee n herself was ofte n called Gloria na, Good Quee n Bess and The Virgin Quee n.Investing in expensive clothes and jewellery (to look the part, lik

26、e all con temporary sovereig ns), she cultivated this image by touri ng the country in regional visits known as progresses, often riding on horseback rather tha n by carriage. Elizabeth made at least 25 progresses duri ng her reig n.However, Elizabeths reig n was one of con siderable dan ger and dif

27、ficulty for many, with threats of invasion from Spain through Irela nd, and from France through Scotla nd. Much of n orther n En gla nd was in rebellio n in 1569-70. A papal bull of 1570 specifically released Elizabeths subjects from their allegia nee, and she passed harsh laws aga inst Roma n Catho

28、lics after plots aga inst her life were discovered.One such plot invo Ived Mary, Quee n of Scots, who had fled to En gla nd in 1568 after her sec ond husba nd, Henry, Lord Darnl eys, murder and her subseque nt marriage to a man believed to have bee n invo Ived in his murder, James, Earl of Bothwell.

29、As a likely successor to Elizabeth, Mary spe nt 19 years as Elizabeths pris oner because Mary was the focus for rebellio n and possible assass in ati on plots, such as the Bab ington Plot of 1586.Mary was also a temptation for potential invaders such as PhilipII. In a letter of 1586 to Mary, Elizabe

30、th wrote, You have pla nned . to take my life and rui n my kin gdom . I n ever proceeded so harshly aga inst you. Despite Elizabeths relucta nee to take drastic action, on the insistence of Parliament and her advisers, Mary was tried, found guilty and executed in 1587.In 1588, aided by bad weather,

31、the En glish n avy scored a great victory over the Spanish inv asi on fleet of around 130 ships - the Armada. The Spanish Armada was inten ded to overthrow the Quee n and re-establish Roma n Catholicism by conq uest, as Philip II believed he had a claim to the En glish throne through his marriage to

32、 Mary.During Elizabeths long reig n, the n ati on also suffered from high prices and severe econo mic depressi on, especially in the countryside, during the 1590s. The war against Spain was not very successful after the Armada had bee n beate n and, together with other campaig ns, it was very costly

33、. 5 million (atThough she kept a tight rein on government expenditure, Elizabeth left large debts to her successor. Wars duri ng Elizabeths reig n are estimated to have cost over the prices of the time) which Crow n reve nues could not match - in 1588, for example, Elizabeths total annual revenue am

34、ounted to some 392,000.Despite the comb in ati on of finan cial stra ins and prolon ged war after 1588, Parliame nt was not sum moned more ofte n. There were only 16 sitt ings of the Commons duri ng Elizabeths reig n, five of which were in the period 1588-1601. Although Elizabeth freely used her power to veto legislati on, she avoided confrontation and did not attempt to define Parliaments constitutional position and rights