Who they were
Daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth settled the religious conflict with a moderate Protestant Church of England. She never married — using her hand as a diplomatic tool — executed her rival Mary, Queen of Scots in 1587, and saw off the Spanish Armada in 1588. Her reign backed the voyages of Drake and Raleigh and the theatre of Shakespeare and Marlowe.
What they did
She ruled through skilful management of Parliament and a cult of the ‘Virgin Queen’, keeping a fractious kingdom stable for 44 years.
Legacy
The Elizabethan age became a byword for national confidence and cultural achievement. Dying childless, she left the throne to the Stuart James I, uniting the English and Scottish crowns.