Elizabeth I Should Not Be In Power In England

Elizabeth I came to power in England after the death of her two siblings, Edward VI and Mary I. She was the last monarch of the Tudor Dynasty, the ruling monarchy since the War of Roses. At the time of her rule, the Renaissance was in full swing; her kingdom was one of the most powerful in terms of politics, art, and commerce at the time. The period was a time of individualism and religious reform, most often done by men rather than women. Elizabeth I ruled during a time where men were considered superior and more powerful in both the government and church. Because of this, part of the population was apprehensive to her rule and did not accept her as their ruler. Although many thought that the church illustrated that women couldn’t be in power,

Right off the bat, the Scottish Reformer presents that having women in power of any sort of land is against nature; he then goes on and uses the Holy Ghost to show that women cannot hold offices containing power (1). In this excerpt, John Know, a man supported by protestants during the reformation in 1588, addresses the people of Europe to illustrate that religion discourages the reign of a woman. Similarly, the archbishop of York, Nicholas Heath, argues that women have not been acknowledged to play any part in the church, and therefore, Elizabeth I shouldn’t hold the highest office in the church (2). Henry VIII of England, or the father of Elizabeth I, wanted to have a heir to the dynasty to rule over his kingdom. To do so, he would have to divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry Elizabeth I’s mother, Anne Boleyn. Because the Roman Catholic Church did not permit him from doing so, the Church of England broke from Rome, causing the monarch of England to be the in charge of ecclesiastical affairs. Consequently, Elizabeth I controlled the church when many people like Nicholas Heath believed that women should not be involved in church