On this day in UK history – 15th January

On this day in UK history:

15^th January 1559 - Queen Elizabeth I (Elizabeth Tudor) was crowned in Westminster Abbey.

Elizabeth I (born: 7 September 1533 – died: 24 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes she was called "The Virgin Queen" / "Gloriana" or "Good Queen Bess". Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty.

As the daughter of Henry VIII she was born into the royal succession. However her mother Anne Boleyn was executed two and a half years after her birth and with Anne's marriage to Henry VIII being annulled Elizabeth was therefore declared illegitimate.

Her half-brother Edward VI ruled as King until his death in 1553 – in his Will he bequeathed the crown to Lady Jane Grey cutting his two half-sisters Elizabeth and the Roman Catholic Mary out of the succession in spite of statute law to the contrary. With his Will being set aside Mary became Queen and Lady Jane Grey was executed. In 1558 Elizabeth succeeded her half-sister - during whose reign she had been imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels.

Elizabeth set out to rule the country by good counsel and she depended heavily on a group of trusted advisers that was led by William Cecil, Baron Burghley (whose home was Burghley House in Stamford). One of her first moves as Queen was the establishment of an English Protestant Church of which she became the Supreme Governor. This Elizabethan Religious Settlement later evolved into today's Church of England. It was expected that Elizabeth would marry and produce an heir so as to continue the Tudor line. She never did though there (allegedly) numerous courtships. As she grew older Elizabeth became famous for her virginity and a cult grew up around her which was celebrated in the portraits / pageants and literature of the day.

In government Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and half-siblings had been. One of her mottoes was "video et taceo" ("I see and say nothing"). In religion she was relatively tolerant avoiding systematic persecution.

After 1570 - the Pope declared her illegitimate and released her subjects from obedience to her. This led to several conspiracies threatening her life however all the plots were defeated with the help of her ministers' secret service. Elizabeth was cautious in foreign affairs - moving between the major powers of France and Spain. She only half-heartedly supported a number of ineffective / poorly resourced military campaigns in the Netherlands / France and Ireland.

In the mid-1580’s war with Spain could no longer be avoided and when Spain finally decided to attempt to conquer England in 1588 the failure of the Spanish Armada associated her with one of the greatest military victories in English history.

Elizabeth's reign is known as the Elizabethan era famous above all for the flourishing English drama led by playwrights such as Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare and also for the seafaring prowess of English adventurers such as Francis Drake.

Some historians are more reserved in their assessment. They depict Elizabeth as a short-tempered sometimes indecisive ruler who enjoyed more than her share of luck. Towards the end of her reign a series of economic and military problems weakened her popularity.

Elizabeth is acknowledged as a very charismatic and dogged survivor in an age when government was ramshackle and limited and when monarchs in neighbouring countries faced internal problems that jeopardised their thrones. Such was the case with Elizabeth's rival Mary, Queen of Scots who she imprisoned in 1568 and eventually had executed in 1587.

After the short reigns of Elizabeth's half-siblings her 44 years on the throne provided welcome stability for the Kingdom and helped forge a sense of national identity.