On this day: November 17th - The Age of Queen Elizabeth Begins

Elizabeth, the half-sister of Queen Mary I takes over as the monarch of the England and Ireland after she dies. They were both the daughters of Henry VIII . The two half sisters had a history of conflict because Mary was a staunch Catholic and Elizabeth was a Protestant. Queen Mary enacted much legislation that reflected her Catholic beliefs. At one point in time Queen Mary placed Elizabeth in prison for being Protestant. Once Elizabeth became queen she spent much of her time reversing Catholic legislation that was put in place by Queen Mary. Many of her reforms were inspired by Calvinism and Protestantism. The Pope did not recognize her as the queen because of her strong Protestantism. Spain also was troubled by her religious views. This created a strong rivalry between England and Spain. Queen Elizabeth sent many men on voyages to discover new land. During her time as Queen, she made in the land into a major world power force. Many historians credit to Queen Elizabeth as being a hot tempered and indecisive leader had many times during her rulership . During the later times of her leadership , many people began to dislike her . She did manage to sustained England and Ireland better than other countries surrounding them. She served 44 years as the queen of all Ireland and England before she passed away. She died in the year 1603 and was later buried in Westminster Abbey. She left behind her a great legacy and a strong monarch that she helped to form.