Tuesday, September 7, 2010

God Save the Queen

Born September 7th, 1533 Elizabeth Tudor was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.  When Elizabeth was three, her mother was beheaded and she was declared a bastard by Act of Parliament.  Seriously, you cannot write this stuff.  From this shaky start, Elizabeth became queen at the age of 25.  Upon hearing of her accession to the throne, she is reputed to have quoted Psalm 118, in Latin: "A Dominum factum est illud, et est mirabile in oculis notris" - "It is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes."  Indeed, Elizabeth's reign from 1558 to 1603 is considered the golden age in English history.  During her reign, art, theatre and literature flourished.  William Shakespeare, Francis Drake, Francis Bacon and Sir Walter Raleigh were all products of Renaissance England.  It was an age of exploration, expansion, peace and my second favorite English era of all time.

What did Henry VIII do besides kill all his wives and write Greensleeves?



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