Many people were skeptical if Elizabeth I could overcome the problems that were inherent in becoming the new queen of England. However insurmountable the problems were, she was able to overcome them and establish a stable and secure government and was capable of achieving financial stability throughout the country. Queen Elizabeth was an extremely private person, keeping her own counsel and sharing secrets with no one- not even her closest, most trusted advisors. The reign of Queen Elizabeth I is considered to be one of the greatest periods in English history. During her reign of forty years she supported and attended many theatrical productions by famous authors such as Edmund Spencer, Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare. Their works portrayed the way in which people lived during the Renaissance.
             Queen Elizabeth I reigned form 1558 until her death in 1603. In those forty years she became a powerful image of female authority. Elizabeth's father, Henry VIII had been of royal Plantaganet stock, and had some Welsh blood from his father Henry VII. Her mother, Anne Boleyn, had been an English commoner whose ancestors had been Norfolk farmers and merchants. Her parents rose to prominence because of wealth and through a series of advantageous marriages with daughters of the nobility. After being married for seventeen years the Spanish Princess, Katherine of Argon, had only given birth to a daughter, Mary, but had failed to provide Henry with the male heir he so desperately needed. Henry, upset with Katherine, began to feel a passion for Anne Boleyn, but she had made it clear that she would not be his mistress. Henry had become involved in a serious controversy with the church over his divorcing Katherine, and eventually declared himself head of the Church of England. After having his marriage declared void he was able to marry Anne. He did this as soon as she became pregnant in 1533. Henry and Anne had anticipated t...