Elizabeth I 伊丽莎白一世

In January,1559, Elizabeth I was crowned Queen of England. She was the last of the Great Tudor dynasty, a bright star who dazzled both the nation and the world.

The achievement of most stars fades quickly. But Elizabeth's lasted for nearly 4 centuries and it's easy to see why. She reigned¹ for 45 tumultuous years. Her ships defeated the Spanish Armada and sailed round the globe. In her time, Shakespeare wrote plays and Spenser wrote poems. English noblemen and foreign princes wooed her. But she, the Virgin³ Queen, made love to that loyalest of audiences-- the English people.

Elizabeth was one of the daughters of King Henry VIII, but the right of women to succeed to the throne was still in doubt and her path there would be perilous⁴. Her father would kill her mother and she would be disinherited. Her sister would imprison⁵ her in the tower and threaten her with execution. Men would love her for her royal status and not for herself. She would be sexually abused by her own stepfather. Most monarchs⁶ are handed their crowns on a plate. Elizabeth got hers by cunning and courage.

Elizabeth's sex was a disappointment to Henry. Astrologers had assured him that the baby to be born in September 1533 would be a boy. He already had one daughter, the 17-year-old Mary. What he wanted was a son and heir. But although Elizabeth was a girl, the magnificent christening planned for the longed-for prince went ahead. Every detail had been seen to down to the brazier to warm the water in the font. She was even proclaimed princess, the title of the heir to the throne.

According to the French ambassador, the whole occasion was so perfect that nothing was lacking. Actually things were far from perfect at Elizabeth's baptism, because Elizabeth was the child of a 2nd marriage. And Henry's 2nd marriage like many 2nd marriages today aroused very strong feelings. For instance, the Imperial ambassador refused point-blank to attend the baptism. He even refused to recognize Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth's mother as Henry's wife. Instead, he sneeringly⁷ referred to her as the whore and as for little Elizabeth she was the bastard⁸. Even one of the officiating clergy⁹, when he was asked "Has the baby been baptised in hot water or in cold?", replied, "Hot but not hot enough."


tumultuous: (adj.) Characterized by tumult²; noisy and disorderly 骚乱的

Spanish Armada: (n.) 无敌舰队

Spenser: English poet known chiefly for his allegorical epic¹⁰ romance The Faerie Queene (1590-1596). His other works include the pastoral Shepeardes Calendar (1579) and the lyrical marriage poem Epithalamion (1595) 斯宾塞(英国诗人)

disinherit: (v.) To exclude from inheritance or the right to inherit. 剥夺的遗产；剥夺继承权

christening: (n.) The Christian¹¹ sacrament of baptizing and naming an infant. 洗礼命名

baptism: (n.) A religious sacrament marked by the symbolic¹² use of water and resulting in admission of the recipient¹³ into the community of Christians¹⁴. 洗礼

point-blank: (adv.) Without hesitation, deliberation, or equivocation 毫不犹豫地，无需考虑地，坦白地

1 reigned   

vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式）

参考例句：

• Silence reigned in the hall. 全场肃静。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Night was deep and dead silence reigned everywhere. 夜深人静，一片死寂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 tumult   

n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹

参考例句：

• The tumult in the streets awakened everyone in the house.街上的喧哗吵醒了屋子里的每一个人。
• His voice disappeared under growing tumult.他的声音消失在越来越响的喧哗声中。

3 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

4 perilous   

adj.危险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• The journey through the jungle was perilous.穿过丛林的旅行充满了危险。
• We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis.历经一连串危机，我们如今已安然无恙。

5 imprison   

vt.监禁，关押，限制，束缚

参考例句：

• The effect of this one is going to imprison you for life.而这件事的影响力则会让你被终身监禁。
• Dutch colonial authorities imprisoned him for his part in the independence movement.荷兰殖民当局因他参加独立运动而把他关押了起来。

6 monarchs   

君主，帝王( monarch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Monarchs ruled England for centuries. 世袭君主统治英格兰有许多世纪。
• Serving six monarchs of his native Great Britain, he has served all men's freedom and dignity. 他在大不列颠本国为六位君王服务，也为全人类的自由和尊严服务。 来自演讲部分

7 sneeringly   

嘲笑地，轻蔑地

参考例句：

• Guan and Zhang had nothing more to say, But they walked away sneeringly. 关羽、张飞无话，冷笑着走了。

8 bastard   

n.坏蛋，混蛋；私生子

参考例句：

• He was never concerned about being born a bastard.他从不介意自己是私生子。
• There was supposed to be no way to get at the bastard.据说没有办法买通那个混蛋。

9 clergy   

n.[总称]牧师，神职人员

参考例句：

• I could heartily wish that more of our country clergy would follow this example.我衷心希望，我国有更多的牧师效法这个榜样。
• All the local clergy attended the ceremony.当地所有的牧师出席了仪式。

10 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

11 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

12 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

13 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

14 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。