"Things you (probably) didn’t know about Elizabeth I " Topic

"Elizabeth I is one of the most iconic figures in history. She was England's ‘Gloriana' – a virgin queen who saw herself as wedded to her country, and who brought almost half a century of stability after the turmoil of her siblings' short reigns.

Flame-haired, white-faced and always lavishly dressed, Elizabeth possessed the natural charisma of her father, Henry VIII, and was the darling of her people. Her finest hour came in 1588 when she defeated the Spanish Armada, catapulting her to legendary status.

Yet for everything we know about Elizabeth, here are a few facts that might surprise you…"
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She was ugly… but a man?

Amicalement
Armand

We holidayed in the village supposedly the source of the rumour (Bisley in Gloucestershire) and there is not even any proof that she visited the place, never mind died there.

The story seems to have started as a joke and just got constantly repeated until people started to take it seriously.

Interesting that the article left out the (considerably more plausible) idea that she had a child with Robert Dudley, gave him up for adoption, and expressed bitter regret for it in her later writings.

Yes, I agree she was ugly and a vile monarch who persecuted and slaughtered the Irish, destroyed the Gaelic families of Ulster stole their lands and gave them to English and Scottish Protestant settlers. Of course, when we talk about Elizabeth 1 the ethnic cleansing and 16thc genocide are rarely mentioned. Hardly surprising when you consider who her father was, another nut job.

Those facts are only surprising if you have never read a book or seen a TV programme about Elizabeth. She was typical of the Tudor, practical and brutal. But then again the same could be said of any monarch of the period, and the ethnic cleansing in Ireland would have been carried out in England had the Armada succeeded.

yes, vigilant I agree, the Spanish were experts in torture and persecution the inquisition and conquests of Latin America spring to mind. England didn't need the Spanish to persecute her people Henry 8th saved them the bother.

……and Scottish Protestant settlers.

No, I think you'll find that was James I/VI who did that.

Also worth remembering that the main reason the Pope gave Lordship over Ireland to the King of England was as restitution for the centuries of slave-raiding by us against them.

That said, the Reformation did Anglo_irish relations no good.