A queen of England in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries; a brilliant and crafty ruler who presided over the Renaissance in England. Her reign, the Elizabethan period, was a time of notable triumphs in literature (William Shakespeare rose to prominence while she was queen) and war (the defeat of the Spanish Armada). The daughter of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth never married. She is called the “Virgin Queen” and “Good Queen Bess.”
Note: The state of Virginia is named after the “Virgin Queen.”