HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE ELIZABETHAN AGE

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE ELIZABETHAN AGE

Queen Elizabeth (reigned 1558-1603) was the daughter of King Henry VIII by his second wife, Anne Boleyn. She came to the throne at the age of 25 at a very difficult time in the history of England. For instance, England was at war with France, the treasury was empty (and taxes were too much for the English citizen), the two religious parties (Catholics and Protestants) were quarrelling severely, work was not available and a great deal of poverty and misery clouded England. Moreover, bands of thieves robbed travellers on the highways and terrorized the countryside, forcing villages and small towns to feed them for free.
The first of Queen Elizabeth I’s clever steps was making peace with France. Winning that gave her and her prime minister, Sir William Cecil, time to concentrate on settling troubles at home.
In religious matters, she allied herself with the protestant party in England, but she kept a middle course in order to unite the English people within one church. The extreme Protestants and the conservative Catholics would not agree to that settlement, but the people did. Therefore, the Papal authority in England was abolished and the Queen was declared to be Supreme Governor in all matters, whether religious or otherwise.
Elizabeth I allowed protestant refugees (about 100.000 of them) from all over Europe to settle in England and carry on their trades: papermaking, silk weaving, and the manufacture of lace were introduced accordingly. She insisted on each foreign settler taking and teaching two English apprentices.
She encouraged sea voyages to find new lands. This increased commerce and opened out careers for many English men. Fortunately for the English, these voyages resulted in the exploitation of foreign lands as they domineered weaker nations (what is known now as imperialism). Prosperity and industry and content prevailed in England though at the expense of other nations.
Partly on religious and partly on commercial grounds, England under Elizabeth estranged itself from Spain. The two countries were soon engaged in a life-and-death struggle. The Spanish Armada, consisting of 134 ships and 30.000 men sailed against England in 1588. The English navy, numbering 36 small ships followed the Spanish galleons (large ships) as they sailed up the channel. The harassing attacks and the fire-ships of the English threw the Spanish into such confusion that they decided to return to Spain by sailing around Scotland. Very few of the Spanish ships ever reached home as many were wrecked by the violent storms off Scotland and Ireland. The victory over the Spanish Armada removed all danger to England from Spain and secured for the English trade with Spanish America. It also marked the final decline of Spain as the most powerful country in Europe leaving that honour to be England’s.
Elizabeth’s reign was long (from 1558 to 1603), so in her younger days, she had gathered around her a brilliant circle of courtiers but as she grew older, she lost her old friends by death and steadily became more lonely. However, Elizabeth I was the best of the Tudors. In her reign, farming improved, trade and manufactures grew, the poor were better looked after, there was more money and food than ever before. England became “Merrie England” indeed.