In her days every man shall eat in safety
Under his own vine what he plants; and sing
The merry songs of peace to all his neighbours.
God shall be truly known; and those about her
From her shall read the perfect ways of honour,
And by those claim their greatness, not by blood.

Shakespeare on the infant Elizabeth,
The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eighth, V, iv.

Presiding over one of the amazing reigns in British history half a millennium ago, one "frail and feeble" woman helped recreate a nation that produced Shakespeare, the British Navy, the English-speaking New World, and legend. This is an introduction to the remarkable life and times of the first Elizabeth of England, 1533-1603.

[List Sites] [Random] [Join]

Site published January 26, 2003. Updated and resited June 24, 2006

Portrait of Elizabeth ("The Phoenix Portrait") by Nicholas Hilliard, c. 1575.
So called from the image of the Phoenix, reborn from the ashes, on the Queen's pendant.

Music by Thomas Tallis, composer to the Chapel Royal, d. 1585

The Author's other online history sites:

Julius Caesar: The Last Dictator

Princeps: the Life of Caesar Augustus

Feminae Romanae: The Women of Ancient Rome

Undying Glory: The Pursuit of Alexander