Historical Background
In 1557, King Philip II of Spain's second wife, Queen Mary I of England, died. They had wed in July 1554, a year after Mary's accession to the English throne, but the English Parliament had refused to grant him much real power as co-monarch of England. On Mary's death he had then tried unsuccessfully to persuade her sister and successor, Elizabeth I, to marry him, but she would not agree. Phillip decides to take revenge and launches the Spanish Armada, with the blessing of the Pope, to attack England, Protestantism, and Elizabeth herself. Sir Walter Raleigh, whom the Queen loves, marries a ward of her court after he learns she is carrying his child. Elizabeth I has both of them arrested.
Read more about this topic: Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Famous quotes containing the words historical and/or background:
“Among the virtues and vices that make up the British character, we have one vice, at least, that Americans ought to view with sympathy. For they appear to be the only people who share it with us. I mean our worship of the antique. I do not refer to beauty or even historical association. I refer to age, to a quantity of years.”
—William Golding (b. 1911)
“In the true sense one’s native land, with its background of tradition, early impressions, reminiscences and other things dear to one, is not enough to make sensitive human beings feel at home.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)