Tough People Trivia: Elizabeth I | 10 Questions

Answer: September 7,1533, Greenwich Palace

Elizabeth was born on September 7, 1533. She was born on a Sunday at around 3.00 pm. She was the daughter of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII. It is said that Henry VIII was so enraged that Elizabeth was a girl that he did not attend her christening, although his non-attendance may have been merely a matter of royal protocol.

Answer: On Monsieur's Departure

"On Monsieur's Departure" is believed by many to have been written on the departure of the Queen's last political suitor, Francis, Duke of Alencon although no evidence has been found to prove this correct. The poem:

On Monsieur's Departure

I grieve and dare not show my discontent,
I love and yet am forced to seem to hate,
I do, yet dare not say I ever meant,
I seem stark mute but inwardly do prate.
I am and not, I freeze and yet am burned,
Since from myself another self I turned.
My care is like my shadow in the sun,
Follows me flying, flies when I pursue it,
Stands and lies by me, doth what I have done.
His too familiar care doth make me rue it.
No means I find to rid him from my breast,
Till be end of things it can be supprest.
Some gentler passion slide into my mind,
For I am soft and made of melting snow;
Or be more cruel, love, and so be kind.
Let me or float or sink, be high or low.
Or let me live with some more sweet content,
Or die and so forget what love ere meant.

Answer: 25

Elizabeth became Queen of England on November 17, 1558 upon the death of her half-sister Mary I. It was a Thursday when she became Queen. Elizabeth II was also 25 upon her accession to the throne. I find it very interesting that the only two English Queens to be 25 when they became Queen also share the same first name and many of the same interests.

Answer: That valiant woman. If Elizabeth and I could marry, our children would rule the world.

The Pope made this remark to the messenger who brought him the news. Of course the Pope and Elizabeth could not marry because Elizabeth had been proclaimed a heretic by the Church.

Answer: Richmond Palace, 44 years 4 months

Elizabeth died on a Thursday on March 24, 1603 in Richmond Palace. She was 69 years old when she died. During Elizabeth's reign Britain still used the Julian calender and March 24 was the last day of the year on that calender. Many people said that it was fitting that the last Tudor monarch should die on the last day of the old year. March 24 was also Lady Day which is for the Virgin Mary. People also said that it was fitting that the Virgin Queen had died on Lady Day. Also using the Julian calender meant that each year a holiday was on a different day because they had to change days to make the calender work. So during 1603, Lady Day happened to fall on March 24.

Answer: Fotheringay Castle

Mary was executed on February 8, 1587 in Fotheringay Castle. For a long time Elizabeth would hear nothing about having her cousin executed. After Mary was executed Philip of Spain could attack England and declare it a Holy War. Mary was a Catholic queen and she had been killed by a heretic to the Roman Catholic Church. During the 1570s Elizabeth had been proclaimed a heretic by the Pope.

Answer: She promised her hand in marriage to the Duke of Alencon but refused to marry him.

Back in Elizabethan times if you promised your hand in marriage it was as good as actually getting married. Many rulers in Europe believed that Elizabeth had finally gotten married because of this. Elizabeth even received notes of congratulations from other rulers in Europe.

When Elizabeth told the Duke of Alencon that she would not marry him, he and his family were upset. When the Duke died, Elizabeth put her entire court into mourning for thirty days.

Answer: 2,000

Two thousand dresses were found upon Elizabeth's death. All of them had many different jewels on them and gold thread. When Queen Victoria was told that Elizabeth I had had two thousand dresses she thought that Elizabeth had been very vain and decided that she no longer admired her.

Answer: Semper Eadem

Elizabeth's motto, "Semper Eadem", means "Always the Same." This motto is on Elizabeth's coat of arms. Another motto sometimes found on Elizabeth's coat of arms is "Dieu et mon Droit" which is French for "God and my right". This motto is a more standard royal motto than Semper Eadem.

Answer: The Virgin Queen, Good Queen Bess, and Gloriana

Elizabeth was called the Virgin Queen because she never married. She became known as Gloriana after the defeat of the Spanish Armada. Good Queen Bess was a nickname given to her early in her reign.