Historical Memoires on the Reigns of Queen Elizabeth and King James

1658

De Beer Eb 1658 O

London: Printed by J. Grismond and are to be sold by T. Robinson

Elizabeth I (1533-1603) was declared illegitimate after her father, King Henry VIII, had her mother, Anne Boleyn, executed in 1536. Despite this, and after the death of her half-brother and sister, Elizabeth became Queen of England in 1558. Elizabeth has been described as a ‘canny and utterly ruthless’ leader – she led England out of troubled times, and was a religiously tolerant monarch. Elizabeth never married, claiming in a speech to Parliament that she had married England and its people were her children. She gave her name to the Elizabethan Age, and ruled for 45 years. The literature on Elizabeth’s life and times is abundant. Here is Francis Osborne’s Historical Memoires, in which he describes her moderate and stable rule.