4.+Elizabethan+England+2

Queen Elizabeth the first was born September 7th 1533, at Greenwich Palace. Her parents was Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, who’s death meant that Elizabeth became Queen, which happened in November 1558, when Elizabeth was 25 years old. She was crowned about 2 months later, in January 1559. Her period og reign lasted for just about 44 years until her death in March 1603, at the age of 69. Elizabeth was considered to be a good catch, one of the best matches of her day. There were a lot of people who wanted to marry her, and not just in England but in all of Europe. Despite of her popularity Elizabeth stayed single and childless throughout her life. She was never once married, but in spite of that she was still suspected of having a lot of intimate relationships with mostly younger men. Although Elizabeth was surrounded by a lot of men, she is still remenbers as "The Virgin Queen". Elizabeth was a successful Queen. She was cultivated and very well educated in Latin, Italian and French. In the light of the latter she was able to receive foreign ambassadors by her alone, which is a good quality to have when being a ruler, and especially when being a female ruler. Being a woman was to Elizabeth’s disadvantage at the beginning, and it was expected that she would be overruled by the parliamentary council, and that there wouldn’t be a problem with it. But Elizabeth took matter into her own hands, and confronted each and every councilor because she would not accept to be overruled by a large group of men. However, she listened to what the men had to say, and then made her decisions, which were carried out after woods. Elizabeth’s successor became James I, who was Elizabeth’s third cousin.
 * Queen Elizabeth I **
 * Court life **

The court was all of those who surrounded the Queen: From servants to the courtiers1 themselves. Over a thousand people generally attended the court. Therefore, the larger the palace, the easier it was to accommodate this number of people. The Queen stayed at the Whitehall Castle more than any other castle, because it was the largerst. Actually the largerst en Europe spanning an incredible 23 acres. It was important that the court moved after a few weeks as the palaces needed to be “aired and sweetened”2. When the court was not in residence, the palaces would be cared for by a Keeper and resident staff and they were expected to have things ready so that the Queen and the court could arrive at a momentøs notice.

 Everyone who was permitted to court had access to the “Presence Chamber”3, access to other parts of the palace depended on status and personal relations with the Queen. Security was very very tight, because with so many people daily visitin gthe court there was always the danger that an assassin could target the Queen. Elizabeth was well guarded and access to her private chambers was strictly controlled by her Gentleman Usher4.

 The Queen had two private rooms, the Privy Chamber and the Bedchamber, although she was rarely alone in either. Not only were her six maids of honour5 often present, but there were also ladies of the bedchamber, ladies and grooms of the Privy Chamber, aswell as the Gentleman Usher. In the Queens Privy Chamber she would also entertain government officials or Ambassadors.

 Dinner was usually served around noon and courtiers would gernerally eat together in the Presence Chamber, although some would have food delivered to them privately in their quarters. Elizabeth tended to take her meals in her Privy Chamber and ate only in the Presence Chamber on special occasions. When she ate in her Privy Chamber she could spare public scrutiny and could eat har meals without too much ceremony. After supper the entertainment would be provided in the Presence Chamber. The entertainment would be playes, masques, balls or musical concerts.. Sometimes the Queen would attend, but most of the times she would stay in her private rooms continue reading. Most of the palaces had hunting parks where the Queen and her courtiers would hunt deers. This was one of the Queen's favourite pastimes. Tennis was another courtly pastime, as was jousting6, and major jousting tournaments was held. Signe og Thea