| 1558 |
Elizabeth becomes Queen on the death of her half-sister, Mary. |
| 1559 |
Elizabeth is crowned Queen of England at Westminster Abbey in January. |
| 1559 |
Mary Queen of Scots in Paris declares herself Queen of France, Scotland and England when her husband Francis becomes King of France. He dies a year later and Mary returns to Scotland. |
| 1559 |
Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity restore the Protestant Church in England and make Elizabeth Head of the Church of England. |
| 1559 |
The Revised Prayer Book of Elizabeth I is issued. It is less extreme than its predecessors |
| 1560 |
Elizabeth founds Westminster School |
| 1562 |
Hawkins and Drake make first slave-trading voyage to America. |
| 1562 |
Elizabeth gives aid to the Protestant Huguenots in the French Wars of Religion. English troops occupy Dieppe and Le Havre. |
| 1563 |
John Foxe’s The Book of Martyrs, the story of religious persecution, is published in England. |
| 1563 |
-1564 17,000 die of the Plague in London which is believed to have been brought back by troops returning from Le Havre. |
| 1564 |
Peace made between England and France at Troyes. |
| 1565 |
Sir Walter Raleigh brings potatoes and tobacco from the New World |
| 1566 |
Elizabeth forbids Parliament to discuss her marriage prospects. |
| 1568 |
Mary Queen of Scots, flees to England from Scotland and is imprisoned by Elizabeth. |
| 1569 |
Elizabeth I approves Sunday sports |
| 1570 |
Pope Pius V excommunicates Queen Elizabeth from the Catholic Church. |
| 1577 |
– 1580 Francis Drake sails around the world in the Golden Hind. |
| 1579 |
Francis, Duke of Alencon, secretly comes to England to try and marry Elizabeth. |
| 1581 |
Francis Drake knighted by Queen Elizabeth on the deck of The Golden Hind. |
| 1584 |
Sir Walter Raleigh founds the first American colony and names it Virginia after Elizabeth the Virgin Queen |
| 1584 |
Oakham School founded by Archdeacon Robert Johnson |
| 1585 |
William Shakespeare leaves Stratford for London to become an aspiring playwright |
| 1586 |
Babington Catholic plot to assassinate Elizabeth I |
| 1586 |
Mary Queen of Scots, who had fled from Scotland to England, is implicated in the Babington plot and is sent to trial. |
| 1587 |
Mary, Queen of Scots, is executed at Fotheringhay Castle on charges of treason. |
| 1587 |
Drake attacks the Spanish fleet in Cadiz. |
| 1587 |
Raleigh’s second expedition to New World lands in North Carolina. Drake destroys the Spanish fleet at Cadiz. |
| 1588 |
Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and a favourite of Elizabeth, dies. |
| 1588 |
A Spanish Armada of 130 ships sailing against England is defeated by bad weather and the English fleet under Admiral Drake and John Hawkins using fireships. Many were wrecked trying to return by sailing round the north of the British Isles. The English dominance of the sea leaves the way open for English trade and colonisation of America and India. |
| 1588 |
Earl of Essex leads an expedition to Ireland. |
| 1589 |
John Harrington invents the first flushing water closet at his house at Kelston, Bath. He calls it ‘Ajax’ a pun on the Elizabethan slang word ‘Jakes’ for a privy. Elizabeth I orders a Harrington WC to be installed at Richmond Palace. |
| 1590 |
Shakespeare writes Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. |
| 1593 |
15,000 Londoners die of the Plague. All theatres are closed for one year. Playwright Christopher Marlow is murdered. |
| 1595 |
Sir Walter Raleigh makes his first expedition to the South American continent. He explores 300 miles of the Orinoco searching for El Dorado. |
| 1599 |
Earl of Tyrone leads a rebellion against the English in Ireland. |
| 1599 |
The Globe Theatre is opened in London. |
| 1600 |
East India Company founded |
| 1601 |
Earl of Essex is executed for leading a revolt against Elizabeth. |
| 1601 |
Poor Law is passed introducing a poor relief rate on property owners. |
| 1601 |
First performance of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. |
| 1603 |
Elizabeth I dies at Richmond Palace, Surrey. |
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