Red Rose Of England

On September 7, 1533, at Greenwich Palace in England Anne Bolyen lay about to give birth to a baby. This baby was, according to the soothsayers, a boy. Then, the baby came. It was a girl. King Henry VIII was furious. Even though, the baby became heir to the throne of England and Princess of Wales. At the christening the baby was named Elizabeth, Princess of Wales. This baby was to have a hard life. It began when she was less than three years old. On May 19, 1536 Anne Bolyen climbed the scaffold at Tower Green .French swordsman sliced her white and elegant neck. Eleven days later King Henry VIII married Jane Seymour, her mothers lady-in-waiting. Jane was only six years older than Elizabeth's older sister, about twenty from her father's previous marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Mary. When Elizabeth was four, Jane Seymour had a boy, Edward, Prince of Wales. Before Edward was even 2 weeks old Jane Seymour died, she had never recovered from child birth. In just over a year three of England's queens had died, as Mary's mother died in exile four months before Anne Bolyen died, and Mary, Elizabeth, and Edward were motherless. Katherine Champerowne, or Kat, was Elizabeth's governess, and became the closest thing to a mother Elizabeth had. In 1540, Elizabeth was seven, Henry received two new wives. The first was Anne of Cleves, which was purely for alliance with her father, a Flemish Duke. A divorce soon followed, but not in Anne Bolyen style. The second was Elizabeth's mother's cousin, her second cousin, Katherine Howard. In 1541 Katherine and Henry's marriage was annulled and Katherine, like Anne Bolyen was sent to the Tower and beheaded. In 1543, Elizabeth was ten, her father married his last wife. Her name was Catherine Parr, and by then Henry was humongesly fat and unhealthy. Catherine tried to heal the rift between Henry and his daughters. She convinced Henry to place them inline to the throne, thus making them no longer illigetement princesses. During Elizabeth's child and teen years she would be sent to "exile", or away from court by her father. The order of the throne put poor Elizabeth third behind Edward and Mary, Edward being first because he was male and, Henry still loved his mother. As Henry died in his canopied bed on January 27, 1547, Edward, on his instructions, became Edward VI, King of England. Edward was only nine. The news of King Henry VIII's death was devastating to all, including his two unmarried daughters. The father they feared and loved was dead. The in 1552 Edward contracted tuberculosis. There was a scheme going on, brewed by the Duke of Northumberland, Lord Protector of England. He arranged, as Edward lay delirious, for his daughter, Lady Jane Grey, to become next in line to the throne ahead of Mary and Elizabeth. On July 6, 1553 at Greenwich, King Edward VI died. He was sixteen, Elizabeth was 20. It was 6 years since Henry's death. Jane Grey was only Queen of England for nine days. The Duke of Northumberland invited Mary to Greenwich, planning to capture her, for Edward's death was kept secret. Mary took the throne. The a roar was heard from the crowd as Elizabeth rode through the streets of London on horseback. It had been years since her last public appearance and everyone marveled at how beautiful she was. Now Elizabeth, 19 years old, was heir to the throne. Now religion came forth with the problem. Mary, a devoted Roman Catholic, was determined to restore England to Catholicism from Protestantism. Elizabeth grew up with the "new faith", or Protestantism. During Edward's reign Protestantism was the state religion of England. Soon at Court Elizabeth realized she had fallen from favor, because she was seen as a threat to the throne. Elizabeth was called "the darling of the Protestants". To make sure Elizabeth never gained the throne, Mary had to marry and bear an heir. She chose Philip, son of the emperor of Spain, for her husband. This angered the people of England. Six months after Mary took throne there was a rebellion. Sir Thomas Wyatt and other noblemen lead the rebellion to put Elizabeth on the throne. They were captured and their severed heads put on spikes on gates and bridges. Elizabeth was summoned to Whitehall Palace in London to be questioned. On March 17, 1554 a group of courtiers surrounded the palace to take Elizabeth to the Tower. Elizabeth entered the Tower on a barge through the Traitor's Gate, where Anne Bolyen spent her final free moments. Elizabeth, Kat, and a few ladies were locked in Bell Tower, the highest tower. The next day some of Mary's officials came to question Elizabeth about her involvement in the rebellion. Elizabeth denied the charges. On May 19, eighteen years to the date of Anne Bolyen's, her mother's, execution on Tower Green below, Elizabeth was ordered to pack and be ready to travel. Elizabeth wondered if Mary planned to have her executed on the same day as her mother. She said, "This night I think to die." But Elizabeth was put on a royal barge and transported down the river Thames. People on the banks cheered, much to th4e displeasure of

Mary, when they realized Elizabeth was released. Elizabeth's new confinement place was Woodstock. It was damp, cold, and dank.