Elizabeth I
The Tudors and the Stuarts1485 to 1714
England's defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 cemented support for Elizabeth I, since the fleet had been sent to conquer the country and force a return to Catholic rule. Beating back that invasion turned a moment of danger into one of the defining triumphs of her reign, remembered ever since as proof of England's strength at sea. Scotland underwent a similar break with Rome slightly earlier: in 1560, its Parliament stripped the pope of his authority there, part of the same wider turn away from Rome that was reshaping Britain.
Sir Francis Drake commanded ships in that same fight against the Armada, and he is remembered for another feat besides: his vessel, the Golden Hind, became one of the first ships to sail all the way around the world. Visitors to London today can step inside the Globe Theatre, a modern rebuilding of the playhouses of the period, built to recreate the venues where Shakespeare's own plays were first staged for Elizabethan audiences.
What to remember
 The defeat of the Spanish Armada | 1588 Defeated in the reign of Elizabeth I. |
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 The abolition of the Pope's authority in Scotland | 1560 The Scottish Parliament broke with Rome and banned the Catholic Mass in the same year. |
| The Globe Theatre | London It recreates the Elizabethan theatres where Shakespeare's plays were first performed. |
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| The circumnavigation of the world in the Golden Hind | Sir Francis Drake Drake's ship became one of the first to sail all the way around the world. |
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| William Shakespeare | a great influence on the English language, inventing many words still common today Playwright and poet, born in Stratford-upon-Avon; his lines are still quoted. |
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| Was one of the founders of England's naval tradition | Sir Francis Drake A commander against the Armada, and the captain of the Golden Hind round the world. |
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