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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 reigned 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 Virgin 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 perilous. Her father would kill her mother and she would be disinherited. Her sister would imprison 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 monarchs 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 sneeringly referred to her as the whore and as for little Elizabeth she was the bastard. Even one of the officiating clergy, 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 tumult; noisy and disorderly 骚乱的
Spanish Armada: (n.) 无敌舰队
Spenser: English poet known chiefly for his allegorical epic 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 Christian sacrament of baptizing and naming an infant. 洗礼命名
baptism: (n.) A religious sacrament marked by the symbolic use of water and resulting in admission of the recipient into the community of Christians. 洗礼
point-blank: (adv.) Without hesitation, deliberation, or equivocation 毫不犹豫地，无需考虑地，坦白地
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