 “Bloody Mary,” daughter of Henry VIII, reigned 5 years, during which time her government sentenced 300 people to death.
On October 16, 1555, facing their execution, Bishop Hugh Latimer exhorted Nicholas Ridley:
 “Play the man, Master Ridley. We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.”
When Mary died, NOVEMBER 17, 1558, her half-sister Elizabeth became Queen. Elizabeth, the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, replied at her Coronation in 1558, when questioned as to the presence of Christ in the Sacrament:
Elizabeth continued the Church of England begun when her father, Henry VIII, separated from Rome. “Puritans” objected that the Anglican Church did not separate enough.
During Elizabeth’s 45 year reign:
Shakespeare wrote plays;
Francis Bacon began the scientific revolution;
and Sir Walter Raleigh began a colony he named Virginia, in honor of the “Virgin Queen Elizabeth.”
Virginia’s Charter, 1584, stated: “Elizabeth, by the Grace of God of England… Defender of the Faith… grant to our trusty and well beloved servant Walter Raleigh…to discover…barbarous lands…not actually possessed of any Christian Prince, nor inhabited by Christian People…”
Virginia’s Charter continued: “Upon…finding…such remote lands…it shall be necessary for the safety of all men…to live together in Christian peace… Ordinances…agreeable to…the laws…of England, and also so as they be not against the true Christian faith.”
In 1588, the Invincible Spanish Armada sailed to invade England.
The Spanish Armada consisted of 130 ships, 1,000 iron guns, 1,500 brass guns, 7,000 sailors, 18,000 soldiers, plus 30,000 soldiers from the Spanish Netherlands.
“Let tyrants fear… I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that…Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm… I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general… Your valour…shall shortly have a famous victory over those enemies of my God, of my kingdom, and of my people.”
The smaller, more maneuverable English vessels proved difficult for the Spanish to catch. At midnight, July 28, 1588, Sir Francis Drake set eight English ships on fire and floated them downwind to the closely anchored Spanish ships.
In a panic, the Spanish ships cut anchor, and then were hit by a hurricane. With Spain’s Armada destroyed, its monopoly of the seas ended, England was established as a major European power, and Holland, Sweden, and France joined in founding colonies in America.
Queen Elizabeth, the last Tudor monarch, stated in 1566: “I am your Queen. I will never be by violence constrained to do anything. I thank God I am endued with such qualities that if I were turned out of the Realm in my petticoat I were able to live in any place in Christendom.”
Queen Elizabeth told the House of Commons in The Golden Speech, November 30, 1601: “Though God hath raised me high, yet this I count the glory of my Crown, that I have reigned with your loves… I do not so much rejoice that God hath made me to be a Queen, as to be a Queen over so thankful a people… The title of a King is a glorious title, but…we well know…that we also are to yield an account of our actions before the Great Judge.”
When rumors arose of a plot to assassinate her, Elizabeth executed dozens, including her cousin who was under her protection, Mary Queen of Scots – the mother of England’s next monarch, King James I.
Of her epitaph, Elizabeth said: “I am no lover of pompous title, but only desire that my name may be recorded in a line or two, which shall express my name, my virginity, the years of my reign, and the reformation of religion under it.” For God’s Glory Alone Ministries thanks Bill Federer and www.AmericanMinute.com
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