Elizabeth I 'Tudor' Queen of ENGLAND

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• Fact: 15 Jan 1559, Queen of England

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Despite a traumatic early life, Elizabeth displayed strength and prudence as Queen, choosing loyal and able advisers. Throughout her 45-year reign, the 'Virgin Queen', showed considerable political acumen in defying a largely Catholic Europe intent on overturning the Protestant faith, while presiding over a period of adventure that saw a vast expansion of English trade and prosperity and significant developments in the arts.

Elizabeth spent her life surrounded by suitors including Philip II of Spain, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and Francis, Duke of Alencon, yet she never married. A shrewd observer commented : 'the Queen would like everyone to be in love with her but I doubt whether she will ever be in love with anyone enough to marry him.'

In 1588, 130 Spanish ships set sail to invade England. The English ships attacked the vastly superior Spanish force as it sailed up the Channel and anchored off Calais. The English then sent in fireships to break up the Spanish fleet, forcing it back into the Channel off Gravelines, where the decisive action was fought on 9 August. Battered by English guns, the Spanish retreated northwards, where severe Atlantic gales and the rocky coastline wrecked the majority of the surviving ships.