“I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and a king of England too!”(elizabethi.org. Queen Elizabeth’s Tilbury Speech page). Queen Elizabeth I said this in her speech at Tilbury while she was inspecting her soldiers before they were going out to battle against the Spanish Armada (elizabethi.org. The Spanish Armada page). This event is a true testament of who Elizabeth really is because she did not want to stay did not want to stay safe in the palace while her subjects fought for her. Elizabeth changed the way people looked at the monarch because she was a woman and used that to her advantage. Although there were still many times when she was unable to do things because she was a woman. …show more content…
Elizabeth marrying would mean that there would be another heir to the throne and no uncertainty about the future state of England. Children in Elizabethan times were seen as blessings from God and having children was considered a great honor. Elizabeth did not necessarily have any interest in marrying someone. If she married, then the man would have a say in the governing of England. Elizabeth often used her singleness to her favor. Elizabeth would use her availability to bring her enemies closer to her or to threaten to marry her enemy’s adversary. Elizabeth never married and requested that on her grave it was written “ A queen having lived and reigned such and such a time, lived and died a virgin”, and would later be known as the Virgin Queen (elizabethi.org. Marriage and Succession page 4). Although Elizabeth died on March 24, 1603, her legacy lives on today. Queen Elizabeth I impacted both America, without even being an American citizen, by sending Walter Raleigh on an expedition to the New World and founding Roanoke there. She challenged gender roles by using her femininity to promote respect from her male-dominated court. She brought England back to Protestantism after Queen Mary had turned it away towards Catholicism. Queen Elizabeth I ruled for forty-four years and her rule is known as the Golden Age because of her impact she had during her