Queen Elizabeth I (part 1)

Have you ever fantasized about what it was like to be a princess in the sixteenth century? Well you might want to re-take back that thought. It was not a glamorous as you might think. Let’s consider the life of Queen Elizabeth I. Elizabeth I, is the only surviving child of King Henry VIII by his second wife, Anne Boleyn.

King Henry VIII had been married to Catherine or Aragon for 17 years, she had had six children, but only one survived, Mary the oldest out of the six children. After Catherine had the sixth child, it was obvious to Henry that she would not bear a male son. Henry had asked permission from the pope to divorce Catherine, but the permission was declined. The Pope had said that Henry and Catherine had been married too long. Henry then decided to over throw the Catholic Church and make his own Church of England, after he had done all of that he himself granted himself permission to divorce Catherine.

He then married Anne Boleyn who was already pregnant, hoping that she would bear him a male son. That was not to happen. On September 7, 1533 at Greenwich Palace, Anne gave birth to their daughter, Elizabeth.

From the moment Anne bore Elizabeth, Henry was very displeased, and did not even go to her christening. Anne’s marriage to Henry was short. Henry claimed that Anne was a witch and beheaded her on the Tower Green on May 19, 1536 Elizabeth was not even three years old. After Anne was beheaded Elizabeth was sent away from her father, for she was a reminder to Henry of Anne.

While all of this was happening to Elizabeth, Henry decided to marry Jane Seymore hoping the child she was caring would be a son. To Henry’s delight, his son Edward was born, but also to his sorrow Jane died a few day’s later.

There will be a part 2 to this essay!
Katie