Accession and Early Reign of Elizabeth I, 1558–1560

The accession of Elizabeth I on 17 November 1558 began the Elizabethan Age within the wider Tudor Period. She inherited a kingdom divided by the religious changes of Edward VI and Mary I, still at war with France and uncertain about the future of the succession. Her youth, sex and refusal to name an heir made the security of the new regime a central political concern.

Elizabeth and her chief adviser William Cecil moved quickly to establish control. The coronation of January 1559 was followed by the Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity, which created a Protestant royal settlement while retaining some familiar forms of worship. The Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis ended the French war in 1559, although England permanently lost Calais. Court favour, patronage and the queen’s relationship with Robert Dudley became politically charged from the beginning.

The period supports historical novels about spies, succession plots, religious allegiance and the creation of a new court. It links the instability of 1553–1558 to the longer Elizabethan Age, showing how the government’s early choices shaped later conflict with Catholic powers and domestic rivals.