Universal Encyclopedia
Who was Elizabeth I?
Elizabeth I (1533–1603) was Queen of England from 1558 to 1603, whose forty-five-year reign — the Elizabethan Age — stabilized a religiously torn country, defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588, and presided over an explosion of English literature, theater and sea power.
Last updated: October 2026
Daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, declared illegitimate and nearly executed under her Catholic sister Mary, she survived by political cunning alone — then ruled as a master of image, balance and delay, never marrying and leaving no heir, which ended the Tudor dynasty with her.