Elizabeth I:
The First Great Queen of England
By Victoria de Nevell

A 5th Grade Social Studies Report

Have you ever wanted a parade? Have you wanted to wear rich dresses and jewels? Do you want to have balls and parties in your honor? Well, all this and more can be yours when you become Queen of England! Elizabeth, Good Queen Bess, The Virgin Queen, these are just some nicknames of Queen Elizabeth I. Some people like her half-sister Mary just plain hated her, but as Queen most people loved her. There are lots of good things that can happen when you are Queen.

Elizabeth I was born on September 7, 1533 at Greenwich Palace in the city of London. [4] She was born a princess and her parents’ names were King Henry VIII and his second wife, Queen Anne Boleyn. [2] Her parents thought she would be a boy because the court astrologers checked every thing to make sure she would be a boy.[6] Her birth was to be announced with scrolls saying that a prince was born and King Henry was going to have a jousting torment. When they found out that Elizabeth was a girl and not a boy her parents had to add two s‘s into the scrolls and in his disappointment King Henry canceled the tournament. Her father thought it was fine that he had another girl but he really wanted a boy. When King Henry found out that the baby was a girl he decided not to go to the Christening.

Young Princess Elizabeth lived in Hertfordshire, England at Hatfield house. This was just one of her father’s many houses. Elizabeth had one half brother who was named Edward VI and Elizabeth adored him. She also had a half sister named Mary who did not like Elizabeth because their father forced her to be a lady–in-waiting to the baby princess. A lady-in-waiting is a servant who helps take care of royal women. “When Elizabeth was 4 months old he visited her at Hatfield in Hertfordshire. He played with her, but did not visit Mary who was confined to her room at the top of the house.” [7] Mary felt like Elizabeth stole her father and could never forgive her.

As a child, Elizabeth learned to sew, dance, sing and speak 7 languages, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Flemish, Latin, and a little Welsh. She had a tutor who said that she was “the brightest star”. [6] She had many different interests thru out her life like “fresh flowers, fire works, the theater, vanilla (she put it on everything), pearls, silk stockings, archery, fantastical cloth, vigorous dancing, bathing, and the colors black, white, gold, ginger. Unlike other Elizabethans she hated unwashed bodies and bad smells.” [3]

Elizabeth became Queen of England after her half-sister Mary died in1558. People rejoiced that Mary (also known as Bloody Mary) was not Queen any longer. Elizabeth was twenty-five years old; she was tall with long red hair. Her coronation was one the most important events of her life. Her coronation was held at Westminster Abbey. One of the gifts she got from her coronation was that she could wear a royal crown. Elizabeth had a grand parade with performers along the route. Many people lined the streets to see Elizabeth I and she got many flowers. “The procession of one thousand horses took more than one hour to pass. People whose houses over looked the route invited guests or sold window space” [6]

At her Coronation Elizabeth wore a beautiful dress that was “gold and the cape she wore was made of crimson velvet lined with ermine. A gold crown set atop a crimson cap embroidered in gold and pearls her hair hung down on her shoulders the way maidens do at their marriages.” [6] Elizabeth’s love for nice clothes started a style of clothes that would soon be named after her.

A basic Elizabethan dress consists of a chemise, hoop, corset, bodice, petticoat and sometimes a small hat. They can be in many different, beautiful colors like gold, green and red, but that is not all of the dress colors that you could get. Girls with parents that were in the upper noble class wore the same style dresses as their mothers did and their mother’s all wanted to look like Elizabeth. The picture on the right shows me wearing a handmade Elizabethan style gown it has all the parts except the corset. “Queen Elizabeth I is reported to have used imitation pearls to supplement real ones among the thousands of pearls that covered her dresses.”[1]


 

One of the cool things about being Queen is that you can give out medallions and awards. This medallion  was given out by Queen Elizabeth I during her reign. She might have given this medallion to a courtier or to an ally. A courtier is someone who would hang out with or advise the queen. An ally would be someone from a country that England was united in friendship with. I saw the following gold medallion on display at the Field Museum in Chicago when it was on loan from the British Museum in London.

“Elizabeth died on March 24, 1603 at about 3:00.a.m.” [9] The mourners who wore black carried the heraldic banners of all the Queen’s ancestors. There was a cart that held the casket that she was in and horses pulled the cart. The horses wore a black cloth with her heraldry on it the mourners walked around the cart. On top of the lid of her casket there was an effigy of her. An effigy is a stone carving of that person and it is set on top of the lid of the casket. Elizabeth was sixty-nine years old and after a reign of forty-five years she was buried at Westminster Abbey. King James VI of Scotland became king of England after Elizabeth passed on in 1603.

I think Queen Elizabeth I would be a wonderful person to meet because it would be interesting to talk to her and learn more about what it is like to be Queen and to have so many step-parents. Near the end of her long reign she said “Though god has raised me high, yet this I count the glory of my crown that I have reined with your loves. I do not so much rejoice that god has made me a queen, as to be queen over so thank full people.” [3] Because of her compassion and the good fortune that Elizabeth gained for England her people loved her a lot and gave her name to the entire era.


Bibliography

1. “Pearls: A Natural History”, Copyright 2001, Neil H Landsman, page 47
2. “The Royal Diaries: Elizabeth I”, Kathryn Lasky, Copyright 1999
3. “Uppity Women of Medieval Times”, Vicki Leon , Copyright 1997, pages 228-229
4. “New Standard Encyclopedia: Volt 6, DE”, Copyright 1996, page 137-138
5. “ELIZABETH I, the Word of a Prince A Life from Contemporary Documents”, Maria Perry, Copyright 1990, pp. 130-136.
6. “Behind the Mask: The Life of Queen Elizabeth I”, Jane Resh Thomas, Copyright 1998
7. “The Tudor Age”, Jasper Ridley, Copyright 1988
8. “The Complete Book of Heraldry”, Stephan Slater, Copyright 2003
9. “All the Queen’s Men: Elizabeth I and Her Courtiers”, Neville Williams, Copyright 1972