Today, Nov. 17th, marks the anniversary of the ascension of Lady Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, to the throne of England upon the death of her step-sister, Mary I, whose mother was Catherine of Aragon. The relationship between Elizabeth, a Protestant, and Mary, a Catholic, was troublesome. Elizabeth had been imprisoned in the Tower of London during part of Mary's reign due to suspicion of complicity in a rebellion against her step-sister's efforts to restore the power of the Catholic Church in England. As Queen, Elizabeth created a permanent Protestant Church of England and repealed the laws enacted by Mary that favored Catholicism.
England became one of the world's great powers during the reign of Elizabeth - which ran parallel to the English Renaissance - through her foreign policies. She became known as the "Virgin Queen" because she refused to risk loss of her power though marriage. The American colony and later state of Virginia was named in her honor.
See http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=VideoArticle&id=5529 for more information.
