伊丽莎白一世英文介绍

1、In January 1559 Elizabeth I was crowned Queen of England. She was the last of the great Tudor dynasty, a bright star who dazzled both the nation and the world. Elizabeth s achievements has lasted for nearly four centuries and its easy to see why. She reigned for 45 tumultuous years. Her ships defeat

2、ed the Spanish Armada and sailed round the globe. In her time, Shakespeare wrote plays and Spenser wrote poems. The daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn, Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne in 1558 and ruled England for almost 45 years. Her reign is known as The Golden Age,

3、a time that saw the birth of Shakespeare, the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and the emergence of England as a world power.From the prison 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 of Aragon, beca

4、use she had not given him a son he had been long for, but now her replacement Ann Boleyn had failed her principal duty as royal breeding machine, for she had only one daughter - Elizabeth. Meanwhile, Henry had fallen in love with another woman-Jane Seymour. By the time when Elizabeth was only three,

5、 Ann was soon accused of multiple adultery and executed. And their marriage was decleared null and void. Elizabeth was now illegitimate and unable to inherit the throne. So instead of the Right High and Mighty Princess, the Lady Elizabeth, inheritrix of the crown of England, she became the Lady Eliz

6、abeth, the Kings second bastard daughter. Although was brought up in the country away from the royal court, she studies languages from the age of four. She became fluent in French, Italian, Latin and Greek. In 1544, Henry reinstated Elizabeth and Mary in the succession. No woman had ever sat on the

7、throne before. Now if Edward (Jane Seymour s son) died without a heir, first Mary and then 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 witnessed at first hand that an intelligent, well-e

8、ducated woman could rule effectively. In 1546, Elizabeths father, Henry VIII died, and little King Edward VI had stepped into his fathers shoes at the age of 9, while Elizabeth was only 13. In order to divorce Catherin of Aragon, Henry had broken away from Rome and made himself head of the church in

9、 England. The Catholic churches ,crosses and candles were being stripped everywhere. The new faith had the enthusiastic backing of Elizabeths brother, the young King Edward. But by 1553, the 15-year-old King was dying of tuberculosis. He was desperate to stop the religious reforms being undone by hi

10、s Catholic sister Mary, who would succed under the terms of their fathers will. So he excluded her from the succession because she was a bastard. But it couldnt stop Marys overwhelming support, for she was proclaimed Queen ,whose vision was to lead England back to the true Catholic faith. Mary had s

11、tamped Catholicism on England with extraordinary violence, burning at the stake over 300 Protestant men, women, and children. Elizabeths Protestantism marked her out as a potential enemy. In 1554, Elizabeth was sent to the tower for involving in a failed rebellion. However, Mary finally relented und

12、er pressure from her council to name Elizabeth as her successor. In 1559, Elizabeth was crowned as Queen of England. The Virgin QueenParliament petitioned the Queen asking her to pledge herself to a suitable international marriage. Three days later, she gave her responses. “Now the public care of go

13、verning the kingdom is laid upon me, to draw upon me also the cares of my marriage, may seem a point of inconsiderable folly. Yea, to satisfy you, I have already joined myself in marriage to an husband, namely the Kingdom of England. And for me it shall be a full satisfaction if, when I shall let my

14、 last breath, it may be engraven upon my marble tomb Here lieth Elizabeth, which reigned a virgin and died a virgin.”Elizabeth had finally got the parliament to restore Protestantism in England. Queen Elizabeth is Gods direct representative here on earth-church and state are one. Elizabeth had inher

15、ited from her sister Mary a nation that was bankrupt, military weak and hemmed in by enemies. In the parlance of the time, the country was a bone between two dogs - France and Spain. Elizabeth I - the last Tudor monarch - was born at Greenwich on 7 September 1533, the daughter of Henry VIII and his

16、second wife, Anne Boleyn.Her early life was full of uncertainties, and her chances of succeeding to the throne seemed very slight once her half-brother Edward was born in 1537. She was then third in line behind her Roman Catholic half-sister, Princess Mary. Roman Catholics, indeed, always considered

17、 her illegitimate and she only narrowly escaped execution in the wake of a failed rebellion against Queen Mary in 1554.Elizabeth succeeded to the throne on her half-sisters death in November 1558. She was very well-educated (fluent infive languages), and had inherited intelligence, determination and

18、 shrewdness from both parents.Her 45-year reign is generally considered one of the most glorious in English history. During it a secure Church of England was established. Its doctrines were laid down in the 39 Articles of 1563, a compromise between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.Elizabeth herse

19、lf 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 uniformity.Most of her subjects accepted the compromise as the basis of their faith, and her church settlement probably saved England from religious wars like

20、 those which France suffered in the second half of the 16th century.Although autocratic and capricious, Elizabeth had astute political judgement and chose her ministers well; these includedWilliam Cecil, later LordBurghley (Secretary of State), Sir ChristopherHatton (Lord Chancellor) and Sir Francis

21、 Walsingham (in charge of intelligence and also a Secretary of State).Overall, Elizabeths administration consisted of some 600 officials administering the great offices of state, and a similar number dealing with the Crown lands (which funded the administrative costs). Social and economic regulation

22、 and law and order remained in the hands of the sheriffs at local level, supported by unpaid justices of the peace.Elizabeths reign also saw many brave voyages of discovery, including those of Francis Drake, Walter Raleigh and Humphrey Gilbert, particularly to the Americas. These expeditions prepare

23、d England for an age of colonisation and trade expansion, which Elizabeth herself recognised by establishing the East India Company in at the very end of 1599.The arts flourished during Elizabeths reign. Country houses such as Longleat and Hardwick Hall were built, miniature painting reached its hig

24、h point, theatres thrived - the Queen attended the first performance of Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream. Composers such as William Byrd and Thomas Tallis worked in Elizabeths court and at the Chapel Royal, St. Jamess Palace.The image of Elizabeths reign is one of triumph and success. The Queen

25、 herself was often called Gloriana, Good Queen Bess and The Virgin Queen.Investing in expensive clothes and jewellery (to look the part, like all contemporary sovereigns), she cultivated this image by touring the country in regional visits known as progresses, often riding on horseback rather than b

26、y carriage. Elizabeth made at least 25 progresses during her reign.However, Elizabeths reign was one of considerable danger and difficulty for many, with threats of invasion from Spain through Ireland, and from France through Scotland. Much of northern England was in rebellion in 1569-70. A papal bu

27、ll of 1570 specifically released Elizabeths subjects from their allegiance, and she passed harsh laws against Roman Catholics after plots against her life were discovered.One such plot involved Mary, Queen of Scots, who had fled to England in 1568 after her second husband, Henry, Lord Darnleys, murd

28、er and her subsequent marriage to a man believed to have been involved in his murder, James, Earl of Bothwell.As a likely successor to Elizabeth, Mary spent 19 years as Elizabeths prisoner because Mary was the focus for rebellion and possible assassination plots, such as the Babington Plot of 1586.M

29、ary was also a temptation for potential invaders such as Philip II. In a letter of 1586 to Mary, Elizabeth wrote, You have planned . to take my life and ruin my kingdom . I never proceeded so harshly against you. Despite Elizabeths reluctance to take drastic action, on the insistence of Parliament a

30、nd her advisers, Mary was tried, found guilty and executed in 1587.In 1588, aided by bad weather, the English navy scored a great victory over the Spanish invasion fleet of around 130 ships - the Armada. The SpanishArmada was intended to overthrow the Queen and re-establish Roman Catholicism by conq

31、uest, as Philip II believed he had a claim to the English throne through his marriage to Mary.During Elizabeths long reign, the nation also suffered from high prices and severe economic depression, especially in the countryside, during the 1590s. The war against Spain was not very successful after t

32、he Armada had been beaten and, together with other campaigns, it was very costly.Though she kept a tight rein on government expenditure, Elizabeth left large debts to her successor. Wars during Elizabeths reign are estimated to have cost over 5 million (at the prices of the time) which Crown revenue

33、s could not match - in 1588, for example, Elizabeths total annual revenue amounted to some 392,000.Despite the combination of financial strains and prolonged war after 1588, Parliament was not summoned more often. There were only 16 sittings of the Commons during Elizabeths reign, five of which were in the period 1588-1601. Although Elizabeth freely used her power to veto legislation, she avoided confrontation and did not attempt to define Parliaments constitutional position and