Life and Times of Elizabeth I: Kings and Queens of England

Elizabeth I was England's first really successful female monarch. She defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588, promoted religious tolerance, and united England and Scotland at her death in 1603.She was the daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife Anne Boleyn, and was known as the Virgin Queen and Gloriana. Her reign was known as a Golden Age. She used her sex as a strength not a weakness, and claimed she was married to England.