LONG
LIVE
THE
QUEEN

Isabella was a Spanish queen who helped unite Spain. Isabella’s father died when she was young, and she spent much of her childhood with her mother away from court. Her half-brother was King Henry IV of Castile. King Henry IV brought Isabella to his court to finish her education and made her his heir. This meant that she would become queen if he died. In return, Isabella promised to ask his permission when she decided to marry, and Henry pledged not to force her into a marriage she did not want. As it was likely that Isabella would become queen, many men wanted to marry her. Isabella, however, did not want to marry any of the men Henry chose for her. Instead, she decided to marry Ferdinand II of Aragon. When Henry died, and she became queen, Isabella and Ferdinand worked to unite the country’s regions under Catholicism. They were the first to rule a united Spain. Their motto was the phrase “Tanto monta, monta tanto,” meaning that the couple equally shared power. This was a very unusual agreement. During this time, queens often did not have any real power and, instead, their husbands ruled. Like many monarchs of the time, Isabella and Ferdinand did not like those who practiced religions that were different than their own. They worked together to push the Moors, who were Muslim, out of southern Spain and unite the country. Isabella was very interested in war, and she even lived at the front with the soldiers for a while, bringing her youngest daughter, Catherine, with her. Her reign is often remembered for its violence, and with Ferdinand, she established the Spanish Inquisition. After uniting Spain, Isabella and Ferdinand wanted to expand their empire. They decided to pay for the three ships Christopher Columbus used for his voyage. Columbus landed in the West Indies and claimed them for Spain, paving the way for European’s to conquer the New World.

Following her husband’s death, Catherine married Arthur’s younger brother, the newly appointed King of England, Henry VIII. The couple had numerous children, but only one of their children, Mary, survived into childhood. Many years later, this child would become Queen of England. During her time as queen, Catherine worked hard to improve the education of women. She even commissioned a book on the topic. The book argued that all women should be educated regardless of their social class and financial situation. Catherine also developed a program to help the poor and often passed out money and clothes to those in need. The people loved her for her generosity. Catherine was never able to give Henry VIII a male heir, so he divorced her and married Anne Boleyn. He also banished Catherine from the court, and she lived out her final years at Kimbolton Castle as the Dowager Princess of Wales, a title she kept from her first marriage to Arthur. Despite the divorce, the English people loved Catherine, and her death caused great sadness throughout the country.

Henry VIII. When Catherine was not able to produce a male heir, Henry VIII turned his attention to Anne. As soon as he was able to divorce Catherine, Henry married Anne and made her Queen of England. Soon, Anne gave birth to a child, but it was not the son that Henry wanted. Their daughter was named Elizabeth. Although Anne tried, she was never able to provide Henry with a male heir. Henry lost interest in Anne, just as he had lost interest in Catherine. He began seeing another woman, Jane Seymour. To get out of his marriage to Anne so that he could remarry, Henry had Anne investigated for treason and locked in the Tower of London. At her trial, the jury found Anne guilty, and four days later, she was beheaded. Most historians believe the charges against her were false and that she unjustly executed.

As a young man, however, Edward became very sick. He knew that if Mary
became queen upon his death, she would return England to Catholicism. He did not
want this to happen, so he tried to keep her  from the throne by removing both Mary and his other half-sister, Elizabeth, from his will. Instead, he named one of his distant cousins, a woman named Lady Jane Grey, as his heir. After Edward’s death, Mary gathered her supporters and forced Jane to abandon the throne after only nine short days as queen. She charged Jane with treason, imprisoned her, and, later, had her executed. Mary took the throne and immediately made Catholicism the official religion of England. She had almost 300 Protestants burned at stake, a common punishment for heresy at the time. Mary was not the first or the last English monarch to have people killed for their faith, though this is what she is often remembered for. After her death, her Protestant sister, Elizabeth I, took the throne, and Mary was nicknamed “Bloody Mary.” Although Mary I’s reign was violent, she holds another important place in England’s history: she was the first queen to rule the country in her own right. This means that she ruled without a husband. Eventually, Mary wed Philip of Spain, who became the King of Spain a few years later. The two were never able to have children, and when Mary died, her younger half-sister became Queen of England.

He died shortly after marrying his sixth and final wife, Catherine Parr. Through her father’s relationships, Elizabeth learned that entering into a marriage could be dangerous—it could get you killed. When she was 13, Henry died, and her 9-year-old half-brother, Edward, took the throne. As a young woman, she received an excellent education and was treated well by Henry’s sixth wife, her stepmother. When Edward died at the age of 15, Elizabeth’s half-sister, Mary took the throne from Lady Jane Grey. The newly crowned Mary I was Catholic, and Elizabeth was Protestant. Mary feared her sister would return England to a Protestant country and had her locked in the Tower of London. When Elizabeth was 25, Mary died, and she became queen. During this time, the country was bitterly divided between Catholics and Protestants. Queen Elizabeth restored England to Protestantism. She was more tolerant than many previous rulers and allowed people to practice their faith rather than force them to convert. Like her sister, Mary I, Elizabeth ruled the country in her own right. She never married and refused many proposals. Instead, she showed the world that a female monarch could rule just as well as a man. She sent ships to explore the globe and built a vast empire. A knight, Sir Walter Raleigh, founded the colony of Virginia in her honor. Elizabeth I also helped to foster a love of literature and the arts in England. She is often remembered as a cunning queen who worked to unite England and create peace.