When we hear the words the virgin queen, many will
automatically think of the Tudor queen, Elizabeth I.
The greatest monarch of the time and certainly one who changed the face of history.
She was the second daughter of king henry viii and her mother was Anne Boleyn, the wife
whom Henry had executed for adultery, treason and incest.
Elizabeth spent her childhood being past from pillar from post, from legitimacy, to illegitimacy
and then back again and also loosing her mother at just the young age of three.
But Elizabeth , even though she was in-fact a queen, found her path to be full of heartache,
betrayal and abuse.
Elizabeth I was a very troubled monarch, and as a princess she suffered greatly, but what
is the story of the disgusting abuse of the virgin queen?
One of the most troubling events that occurred throughout Elizabeth’s entire life was the
execution and killing of her mother.
Anne Boleyn gave birth to the Queen to be on the 7th September 1533, and despite Henry
VIII enjoying his daughter Elizabeth to begin with, he could not look past the fact she
was a daughter and not a son which he greatly wished for.
Anne Boleyn continued to have problems with pregnancy and giving birth, and it was this
which saw her fall from grace.
She struggled to give Henry the son he wanted, as before there were simply no Queens who
ruled, just Kings.
Anne its believed was pregnant with a son, however this pregnancy resulted in a miscarriage
following a very painful accident the King had on the tiltyard in which it was believed
he may have been killed.
Henry VIII was out cold for hours, and this worried Anne greatly, and following this she
miscarried a final child.
With this, the Imperial Ambassador to the Roman Emperor stated, ‘She has miscarried
her saviour,’ and it was this final straw that broke the royal marriage.
Thomas Cromwell was tasked with finding the King a way out of his marriage to Anne Boleyn,
and he came up with a list of charges in which Anne was accused of adultery, incest and treason.
Along with her, 5 men including her brother were executed.
Anne’s fall from grace was very public, and she was then taken to the Tower of London
by barge.
She was held a prisoner inside of the Tower, all whilst her daughter Elizabeth was away
inside of the royal nursery.
Elizabeth was around 2 at this time, and Anne was then tried inside of the Tower.
Following her trial, she was sentenced to death, and was then executed by a French swordsman
inside the Tower’s walls on Tower Green.
It was said that, ‘She gracefully addressed the people from the scaffold with a voice
somewhat overcome by weakness, but which gathered strength as she went on.
She begged her hearers to forgive her if she had not used them all with becoming gentleness,
and asked for their prayers.
It was needless, she said, to relate why she was there, but she prayed the Judge of all
the world to have compassion on those who had condemned her, and she begged them to
pray for the king, in whom she had always found great kindness, fear of God, and love
of his subjects.
The spectators could not refrain from tears.’
In one swing Elizabeth I’s mother’s head was taken off, and the impact of Anne Boleyn’s
death would haunt Elizabeth for years to come.
Elizabeth was only 2 years and 8 months old when her mother was beheaded, and she was
then following this declared illegitimate and the impact of this was that she was removed
from her place in the royal succession.
This meant that at the time Princess Elizabeth would have never looked like a future monarch,
but she was then placed in her half brother Edward’s household following the birth of
the future Edward VI.
Elizabeth was considered a gentle child, but her mother’s death and how she was viewed
by courtiers would have had a significant impact on her reputation.
Despite the fact she was educated brilliantly, probably Henry VIII hoped to marry her off
to a European prince to secure an alliance for England, he never believed she would have
been a King.
It was believed Edward VI and his children would continue the Tudor line, however following
Henry VIII’s death in 1547, Elizabeth then joined the household of Catherine Parr, the
King’s widow and sixth wife.
She soon married Thomas Seymour, and it was within this household that Elizabeth experienced
a significant amount of abuse at the hands of Thomas Seymour.
Thomas Seymour was the power hungry uncle of Edward VI, who was obsessed with gaining
more power for himself.
Whilst she was held inside of Catherine Parr and Seymour’s household, Elizabeth had an
emotional crisis and seemed to have some form of episode that many believe haunted her for
her life.
But Thomas Seymour’s behaviour towards the 14 year old Princess Elizabeth was nothing
short of inappropriate, disgusting and abusive.
He acted terribly towards her, and he would grab the 14 year old princess and slap her
on her bum, and Elizabeth clearly did not like this.
She would get up early, and she then surrounded herself with maids and her governess to ensure
Seymour did not act inappropriately towards her in this manner.
He also would grab her, and hug and kiss her, and during one incident it was said that Seymour
cut her black gown ‘into a thousand pieces.’
He would tickle Elizabeth constantly, and it’s believed he did this as he found her
attractive, and this would later be backed up as he sought to marry the young Princess
after the death of Catherine Parr.
Seymour’s behaviour also disgusted Elizabeth’s governess Kat Ashley and she reported it to
Catherine Parr.
But Parr just dismissed it as horseplay, and she often joined in with her husband’s actions.
During the summer of 1548, it was believed that Elizabeth was very sick with jaundice,
migraines and digestive issues, however Catherine Parr at the time was pregnant.
She would give birth to a daughter, but died following complications from Childbirth.
Following this, Thomas Seymour then pursued Elizabeth further, and he wanted to take her
as his new wife, and Elizabeth was now 15 years old.
But he later tried to seize control of the King, and with this would be sent to the Tower
of London and accused of 33 charges of treason.
Elizabeth was also questioned in this episode, and she admitted nothing incriminating, and
with this was released from her interrogation.
During the reign of her half sister Mary I, Elizabeth encountered further problems.
Mary’s initial popularity waned quickly as she sought to restore Catholicism in the
nation, and Elizabeth was seen as a symbol of possible resistance and defiance for Protestants,
as Elizabeth was protestant.
Elizabeth was accused of being involved in Wyatt’s rebellion against the Queen, and
because of this was imprisoned at the Tower of London.
It was said that she refused greatly to be taken through traitors gate, and the Tower
for her was a symbol of death as her mother had been executed there years before.
Elizabeth it’s claimed was sat outside the Tower on a wall and was constantly refusing
to enter the walls of the fortress, and did not want to go in.
She argued constantly but then was forced in, and despite initially being house in relative
comfort she was questioned and interrogated yet again.
But after Mary I’s issues with having a child, she was made the successor of her half
sister.
Elizabeth I came onto the throne at the age of 25, and there were concerns at the time
about the fact she was a woman on the throne.
Mary’s reign was incredibly unpopular, and she was seen as a weak monarch, and Elizabeth
needed to convince many across the land that she would be fit enough to rule.
She attempted to solve many problems across England, but throughout her reign she suffered
from a number of plots which aimed to take her life.
Catholics in the country did not like her, and wanted to replace her with Mary Queen
of Scots, and Elizabeth had to deal with plots to kill her and place Mary on the English
throne.
Because of this she developed a spy network, but she faced much worry during her reign
because of the animosity she suffered from.
But Elizabeth suffered greatly throughout her life with a number of different things
to deal with.
She had been ill and later suffered from smallpox, but every hurdle she encountered she seem
to rise above it.
She was one of the greatest monarch’s that England ever had.
She had to deal with abuse from Thomas Seymour, being outcasted and being referred to as illegitimate,
having her right to rule stripped from her as she was removed from the succession, and
all of this had a big impact on her.
Thanks for watching
To support our channel please make sure to subscribe.