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Okla-homey
1/15/2007, 08:49 AM
look, we all know its MLK day -- this year, it actually falls on Dr King's birthday.
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The media will be full of stuff about King anyway, so, in your correspondents continuing effort to keep you informed on daily historical underpinnings and antecedents...

Jan 15, 1559: Elizabeth I crowned Queen of England

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Two months after the death of her half-sister, Queen Mary I of England, Elizabeth Tudor, the 25-year-old daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, is crowned Queen Elizabeth I at Westminster Abbey in London.

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Elizabeth I's pop, King Henry VIII

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Henry VIII's wives. Generations of British schoolkids memorized their fates with this little ditty: "Divorced-beheaded-died, divorced-beheaded-survived"

The two half-sisters Mary I and Elizabeth, both daughters of Henry VIII, had a stormy relationship during Mary's five-year reign. Mary, who was brought up as a Catholic, enacted pro-Catholic legislation and made efforts to restore papal supremacy in England.

A Protestant rebellion ensued, and Queen Mary imprisoned Elizabeth, a Protestant, in the Tower of London on suspicion of complicity. After Mary's death, Elizabeth survived several Catholic plots against her; although her ascension was greeted with approval by most of England's lords, who were largely Protestant and hoped for greater religious tolerance under a Protestant queen.

Under the early guidance of Secretary of State Sir William Cecil, Elizabeth repealed Mary's pro-Catholic legislation, established a permanent Protestant Church of England, and encouraged the Calvinist reformers in Scotland.

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Sir William Cecil. He played a huge role in cementing Elizabeth's power early in her reign.

In foreign affairs, Elizabeth practiced a policy of strengthening England's Protestant allies and dividing her foes. Elizabeth was opposed by the Pope, who refused to recognize her legitimacy, and by Spain, a Catholic nation that was at the height of its power.

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Queen Bess depicted with the Spanish Armada looming out the window behind her

In 1588, English-Spanish rivalry led to an abortive Spanish invasion of England in which the Spanish Armada, the greatest naval force in the world at the time, was destroyed by storms and a persistent Royal Navy.

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The Armada is crushed by the nimbler and better fought ships of the Royal Navy, thus saving Britian from invasion

With increasing English domination at sea, Elizabeth encouraged voyages of discovery, such as Sir Francis Drake's circumnavigation of the world and Sir Walter Raleigh's expeditions to the North American coast.

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The long reign of Elizabeth, who became known as the "Virgin Queen" for her reluctance to endanger her authority through marriage. See, in that period of history, if a female monarch married, that often created a king in her husband. The resulting king would naturally be in a position of dominance over his queen. "Good Queen Bess" had no interest in sharing, let alone losing, her sole power as the British monarch. As an aside, as you may know, Virginia is named in honor of the "Virgin Queen" HRH Elizabeth I.

The Virgin Queen moniker is kinda silly actually, and denies the truth, because historians generally agree, Queen Bess had many a romantic tryst and shared her bed with several suitors. She was careful never to get pregnant, or at least birth a child, which would have ruined her rep. as the Virgin Queen.

Her reign coincided with the flowering of the English Renaissance, associated with such renowned authors as William Shakespeare and the scientific advances of the father of modern inductive reasoning, Francis Bacon.

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Frank "Don't Call Me Francis" Bacon.

Under Elizabeth I, the small island nation rose to unprecedented international prominence.

On March 23, 1603, Elizabeth died. When she came to power England was an internationally insignificant country. When she died it was a major European power exerting its will over much of the world.

Elizabeth was the last legitimate decendant of Henry VIII. She was succeeded by James I (a/k/a James VI of Scotland), son of Mary Queen of Scots (who Elizabeth I beheaded) and Mary's second husband, Elizabeth's cousin, Lord Darnley.

As an aside, Elizabeth's successor James I/VI was the British monarch who ordered an English translation of the Holy Bible which was published in 1611. That's why its commonly known as the King James Bible.

You can keep track of the British crowned heads with this program:

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reevie
1/15/2007, 09:56 AM
Oh, come on. Give out some good stuff. Like how many layers of make-up she had on her face when she died.

Okla-homey
1/15/2007, 10:03 AM
Oh, come on. Give out some good stuff. Like how many layers of make-up she had on her face when she died.

The face powder she used had a lead base. There is no way to tell the effect of its daily use on her faculties, but it could not have been healthy.

Viking Kitten
1/15/2007, 11:36 AM
Two awesome reads: "Bloody Mary" and "The First Elizabeth" both by Carolly Erickson. England under the Tudors had it all: sex, murder, intrigue, romance. Erickson is known for being a very accurate and thorough historical biographer, but she also has a gift for writing exciting narrative that really pulls you into the storyline. Mary I's story, for example, is really heartbreaking and pathetic.

As an aside, one point of Tudor history I always thought was interesting is that the Pope was not personally all that opposed to Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon (Mary's mom). However, he could not grant the divorce for political reasons, as Catherine was the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, which was of course one of the most powerful countries in the world at the time, and allies of the Pope during the Reformation.

Another note: Henry fathered an illegitimate son with Anne Boleyn's sister. Then he pretty much tossed the sister aside. So when Henry started putting the moves on Anne, she was smart enough not to give him the milk for free. This drove him mad with lust, and that's when he started the whole divorce/allying with Protestants business. Because he wanted to boink Anne.

Seriously people, Tudor history rocks.

Xstnlsooner
1/15/2007, 11:52 AM
Just shows to go ya, people are pretty much the same, no matter what
time or location. All driven by the same basic instincts...

Okla-homey
1/15/2007, 01:05 PM
Just shows to go ya, people are pretty much the same, no matter what
time or location. All driven by the same basic instinct...

...sorry, to good to pass up.

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