Queen Elizabeth Research Paper

First Last
Ewing
English IV Honors
29 April 2013
A Feminine Ruler
Queen Elizabeth I is argued to be one of the best rulers of England. She was different from many of the rulers before her in many ways. Elizabeth was able to show the world that a woman was more than capable of ruling over a country; she was capable of changing one. Queen Elizabeth was intellectual, witty, and used her feminine beauty to get her way. Using her developed talents, Elizabeth was able to overcome many obstacles in her life, making her an extraordinary powerhouse. The birth of Elizabeth was indeed not celebrated; instead when Elizabeth’s mother failed to provide her father with a son, King Henry VIII was bitterly disappointed and did not even go to the
She treated the princess as if she were her own blood and made sure of Elizabeth’s return to court. Alexandra Briscoe from BBC News said, that Katherine “took a keen interest in the young Elizabeth and made sure that she was educated to the highest standards.” These standards included an extremely wide variety of subjects; “her studies included languages, grammar, theology, history, rhetoric, logic, philosophy, arithmetic, logic, literature, geometry, and music” (Alchin). Due to the fact that Princess Elizabeth was able to share the tutors of her half-brother, Edward IV, her early education was greatly advanced. All of her tutors were impressed by the young Elizabeth’s love for education and her impressive aptitude to learn quickly. By the time Elizabeth was eleven years of age, she was fluent in six languages. Due to her linguistic ability, Elizabeth did not have to rely on the aid of translators to do business with foreign ambassadors
She was able to use it to bring victory to England on the battlefield. Elizabeth was also “taught the art of public speaking, unheard of for women at the time. But the ability to address a large number of people, from ministers in Parliament to troops on the battlefield, stood Elizabeth in good stead for the future. She learnt how to turn the tide of opinion in her favour, and this became one of her most effective weapons” (Briscoe). This became valuable in the 1580s when the war between England and Spain became apparently inevitable. The Spanish Armada was a fleet of 130 ships that King Phillip of Spain planned to sail into the English Channel to meet with an army coming from the Netherlands and simultaneously invade England. However, Elizabeth’s men were maintaining a close watch on the shores of England for the Armada, and when the first ship was spotted fighting erupted. As English soldiers and sailors were fighting for England’s independence, the Queen was headed for Tilbury. “She was not going to sit trembling inside a guarded Palace while her people fought, but was going to go to the coast of the battle and ‘live or die’ with them” (Thomas, “The Spanish Armada”). Here, she made what could be her most famous speech, the Tilbury Speech, where she stated, “I know I have the body of a meek and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a King,