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There have been two ruling Queens of England called [[Elizabeth]] - though only one of Scotland.

=====Elizabeth I=====

Born 1533; succeeded her half-sister [[Mary#Mary I|Mary]] 1558; never married; died 1603.

::In this great monarch's long reign, England was highly successful. The Protestant [[Reformation]] was firmly established; the great victory over the [[Spanish Armada]] (1588) was achieved; and the arts, most particularly literature, flourished. [[Shakespeare]]'s career was launched in her reign, along with many of the greatest English playwrights like [[Marlowe]], Ben [[Jonson]] and Thomas [[Kyd]], and great poets such as John [[Donne]], Edmund [[Spenser]] and Philip [[Sidney]]. Elizabeth I was known by several respectful, indeed flattering [[nickname]]s: '''Good Queen [[Bess]]''' to succeeding generations; '''Gloriana''' (one of the names by which she is known in Edmund [[Spenser]]'s  ''The Faerie Queene'' - which may be considered an [[allegory|allegorical]] representation of her - and other contemporary works); '''Cynthia''' (an allusion to the goddess of the moon) and '''Astraea''' (another reference to a heavenly body). The state of Virginia in the USA was named after her, in reference to her unmarried state, by her courtier Sir Walter Raleigh on its first colonization in 1584, and later in 1587, when he left a settlement at Roanoke Island, whose fate is a mystery. Elizabeth's handling of government, and especially her parliaments and with them the taxation of the realm, is regarded as highly successful. Her refusal of all marriages had much to do with this, as she was never inextricably linked to any of the foreign powers, nor to any individual subject. Among those mentioned in this context were Philip II of Spain (her brother-in-law), Archduke Charles of Austria, the French François, Duke of Anjou (her "frog") and Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester (1532-1588).

=====Elizabeth II=====

Born 1926; married HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, 1947; succeeded her father, [[King George#George VI|George VI]] 1952; died 2022.

The Head of State of the [[United Kingdom]] from 1952 to 2022 is customarily described as '''Elizabeth II''', although she was the second Queen Elizabeth of England, Wales and [Northern] Ireland only. She was the first ruling Queen Elizabeth of Scotland, and thus the first Elizabeth to have ruled the [[United Kingdom]]. Her reign from 1952 to 2022 is the longest recorded in the British Isles.

::There have been attempts to use the [[adjective]] '''Elizabethan''' to describe the reign of Elizabeth II (1952-2022),  monarch of England (though only the first Elizabeth of Scotland, and thus of the [[United Kingdom]]) - notably in a move, at her accession, to call the second half of the twentieth century the "New Elizabethan" age. This proposal did not catch on.

[[category:UK culture]]
[[category:UK history]]
[[category:British monarchs]]