Elisabeth I

Queen Elizabeth I, Henry VIII 's younger daughter, became Queen of England in 1558. She ruled over the country for 45 years and her reign was a period of prosperity and expansion. Elizabeth never married and had no children (she was called the Virgin Queen).
Elizabeth encouraged the arts and literature at her court, William Shakespeare the greatest English poet and playwright, lived in that time and his theatre company enjoyed the Queen's protection.
The theatre was one of the favourite forms of entertainment in Elizabethan times. Plays were performed in special building called ''playhouse'' like the Globe, The Swan or the Rose in London.
The Elizabethan Age was also famous for marine and naval victories, especially the defeat of the Invincible Spanish Armada in the English Channel in 1588.