Iintroduction elizabeth i 1533-1603, queen of england and ireland 1558-1603, daughter of henry viii and his second wife, anne boleyn. elizabeth was the longest-reigning english monarch in nearly two centuries and the first woman to successfully occupy the english throne. called glorianna and good queen bess, elizabeth enjoyed enormous popularity during her life and became an even greater legend after her death.
elizabeths reign was marked by her effective use of parliament and the privy council, a small advisory body of the important state officials, and by the development of legal institutions in the english counties. elizabeth firmly established protestantism in england, encouraged english enterprise and commerce, and defended the nation against the powerful spanish naval force known as the spanish armada. her reign was noted for the english renaissance, an outpouring of poetry and drama led by william shakespeare, edmund spenser, and christopher marlowe that remains unsurpasse...