Elizabeth l The early years 1533-1558 .

Elizabeth lThe early years 1533-1558

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Elizabeth was born at GreenwichPalace on the 7th September 1533 between 3 and 4 pm.Henry did not attend the Christening

Elizabeth’s birth announcement

Elizabeth’s godfather was Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury

When Elizabeth was three months old she was given her own household at Hatfield Palace in Hertfordshire.The seventeen year old Princess Marywas compelled to act as Elizabeth’s Lady-in-Waiting

In March 1534 an Act of Succession was passedDeclaring that Henry and Anne’s children were to be his only legal heirs.

On 2nd May 1536 Queen Anne was arrested.On the 17th May 1536 her marriage to Henry was pronounced null and void.Anne was executed on the 19th May 1536

By the end of June 1536 Elizabeth’s household was rearranged and she had 32 servants. Mary was not one of them. She had finally submitted to her father’s wish and recognised him as Supreme Head of the Church in England, renouncing the Pope and admitting that her mother’s marriage had been unlawful. Mary’s situation improved immediately.

A new Act of Succession stated that Henry’s children by Jane Seymour were to be his only legitimate heirs.At 2pm on the 12th October 1537 Jane gave birth to a son, Edward.Jane died on the 24th October 1537 of puerperal sepsis.

Jane Seymour

When Elizabeth was eight she was described as being ‘ as grave as a woman of forty’.On 12th July 1543 Henry married Katherine Parr who took a great interest in Henry’s three children.

Katherine Parr

On the 28th January 1547 Henry died leaving the nine year old Edward his throne. The new king’s uncle Edward , the Earl of Hertford quickly saw his advantage and declared himself the Lord Protector of England.His brother, Thomas Seymour was the Lord High Admiral and four months after Henry’s death he married Katherine Parr. His brother Edward the Lord Protector was furious at his overt ambitions. Thomas Seymour

Thomas Seymour was boisterous and overly familiar with Elizabeth, coming into her bed chamber uninvited. KatherineParr often joined in the fun and Kate Ashley was usually always present. But Kate’s husband John Ashley worried , “that the Lady Elizabeth did bear some affection to My Lord Admiral”.Katherine Parr endeavoured to have Elizabeth discretely removed when her own pregnancy began.

John and Kate Ashley

Katherine gave birth to a daughter on the 30th August 1548, but she died five days later of puerperal fever, the baby may have survivedKate Ashley was now hopeful that Elizabeth might marry the now free Thomas Seymour.

Katherine Parr’s tomb

Elizabeth aged 15,was staying at Hatfield Palace whenher household, John Parry and the Ashleys, was interrogated. Lord Thomas Seymour was in the Tower accused of treason and of intending to marry Elizabeth.Elizabeth and her household were eventually found innocent but Seymour was executed.This was a close call for the young Elizabeth. She had learned that self-preservation was paramount

In May 1553 King Edward and the Duke of Northumberland devised a plan to prevent his Catholic sister Mary ascending the throne, he would leave the throne to his Protestant cousin, Lady Jane Grey. Mary and Elizabeth were to be excluded on the grounds of their illegitimacy.Edward died on the 7th July 1553 and Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen. But the claim failed and Mary ascended the throne. Elizabeth speedily pledged her allegiance.Elizabeth was nineteen and Mary was thirty seven years old.

At first Mary and Elizabeth seemed reconciled but the inevitable division grew. The history between their mothers and their differing religions was insurmountable. Elizabeth was declared illegitimate.Mary realised she must provide an heir. Her cousin, CharlesV of Spain, offered her his own son Philip. Her advisers were against the match. They did not wish to be drawn into a war with France.Meanwhile a rebellious group gathered around Elizabeth under Sir Thomas Wyatt.

Thomas Wyatt

Mary had Jane Grey executed on the 12th February 1554.Mary summoned Elizabeth to London, but she was ill with nephritis. Elizabeth felt panic stricken. Her mother, Katherine Howard, Jane Grey and Thomas Seymour had all been executed.She wrote to Mary who promptly sent her to the Tower. Lord Robert Dudley was also a prisoner in the Tower.Wyatt was beheaded on the 11th April 1554. Elizabeth’s protection was that she was the heir.

Elizabeth was imprisoned in the countryside under Sir Henry Bedingfield.On the 19th July Philip ll of Spain arrived on board the ‘Holy Ghost’ to marry Queen Mary. He supported Elizabeth in case she inherited the throne.Mary announced her pregnancy and that the child was due in June 1555. By August it was clear there was no baby. Philip left the country and did not return until March 1557.

Mary became more unpopular, especially when she began burning heretics against all advice including that of her husband. Archbishop Cranmer, Elizabeth’s godfather was martyred. Nearly 300 people were burned.Mary also lost England’s last toehold in France, Calais.Mary died on the 17th November 1558. When Elizabeth heard the news she said, “This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.”

Elizabeth appointed William Cecil as her Secretary of State. He was thirty eight years old and had foresight, devotion to the crown and a great capacity for detailed hard work. She reappointed thirteen of Mary’s councillors and nine of her own including Cecil’s brother-in-law Sir Nicholas Bacon. Cecil was the youngest the rest were over fifty.She dismissed Mary’s ladies and appointed her own.Elizabeth entered London on the 23rd of November 1588 with an entourage of over a thousand attendants.

William Cecil

The End Elizabeth the early years 1533-1558

Bibliography: Elizabeth l by Rosalind K. Marshall, Stemmer House, London 1991

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