Herstory: 50 Women and Girls Who Shook Up the World

Elizabeth 1

Elizabeth was born in 1533 into a time of political and royal drama. She was the daughter of King Henry VIII of England and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Henry believed that only a man could rule a nation, and dramatically divorced his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, with whom he had a daughter, but no sons, so he could marry Anne. When Anne’s baby turned out to be a girl too, Henry was disappointed. Henry quickly found another new bride, Jane Seymour, and had Anne Boleyn executed as a traitor. But Jane soon died giving birth to Elizabeth’s younger brother, Edward. Elizabeth’s father next married Anne of Cleves, whom he divorced almost immediately. He then married his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, Anne Boleyn’s cousin. She too was executed by the impatient king, who finally married Katherine Parr before he died himself. Elizabeth was thirteen, and Edward was just nine when he took the throne.

Young Elizabeth watched all of this from afar and clearly learned her lesson: marriage was a dangerous thing for a woman. She was determined not to be ruled by any man in case she ended up like her mother and stepmothers- set aside, forgotten, or even killed. Luckily, her last stepmother, Katherine Parr, was a kind woman who ensured that the young princess was educated just as well as if she had been a prince.

When Edward, aged only fifteen, became ill and died, Elizabeth’s older sister, Mary, took the throne. Mary was a devout Catholic and Elizabeth was a Protestant, and because of this Mary declared Elizabeth to be her enemy, locking her up in the Tower of London.

When Mary died, Elizabeth inherited the throne at the age of twenty-five.