Queen Elizabeth I: Life and Legacy of the Virgin Queen

The forty-four-year reign of Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry VIII and the last Tudor monarch, was a golden age. It saw the emergence of great playwrights, the exploits of Sir Francis Drake, and the establishment of England as a maritime power. This book explores Elizabeth's life through artefacts, buildings, documents, and institutions that survive to this day, including her birthplace, childhood homes, prison, palaces, fortifications, and final resting place. It also includes books she presented to her father and step-mother, her clothes, letters, coronation chair, coat of arms, and signature signing the death warrant of her cousin.

Format: Hardback
Length: 216 pages
Publication date: 30 September 2022
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books Ltd

The forty-four-year reign of Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry VIII and the last Tudor monarch, was considered a golden age. It saw the emergence of great playwrights such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, while the exploits of Sir Francis Drake and other sea-dogs helped establish England's position among the great maritime powers. This book looks at Elizabeth's life through some of the many artefacts, buildings, documents, and institutions that survive to this day. From the execution of her mother, Ann Boleyn, when she was just two-and-a-half-years-old, to her imprisonment on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels, Elizabeth's early life was a turbulent one, but her accession to the throne ushered in a period of stability. During her reign, England's wealth and prestige grew through her patronage of seafaring privateers such as Drake, John Hawkins, and Walter Raleigh. She encouraged the exploration and colonialization of North America, marking the birth of the British Empire and the establishment of British trade routes. Elizabeth was responsible for expanding the English Navy, its defeat of the Spanish Armada being considered one of England's greatest military victories. In this magnificently illustrated book, we see her birthplace at Greenwich Palace, her childhood homes, her prison in the Tower of London, the palaces she lived in, ruins of stately homes she visited, such as Gorhambury House, Kenilworth House, Upnor Castle, and the Elizabethan town walls at Berwick, the many fortifications built during her reign to defend her realm, through to her final resting place in Westminster Abbey. Also found in this fascinating volume are books that she presented to her father and stepmother, Katherine Parr, with the binding embroidered by Elizabeth, her clothes, letters she wrote, and other personal items that provide a glimpse into her life and times.

Weight: 776g
Dimension: 165 x 242 x 28 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781399018357