Cromwell had boasted that he would make Henry VIII the richest prince in Christendom; and the monasteries, with their direct dependence on the pope and their cosmopolitan organizations, were obstacles to that absolute authority of the national state. ... He negotiated the king's marriage to Anne of Cleves as a means of securing the North German princes as allies against the Catholic Holy Roman emperor Charles V. ...
Elizabeth faced many problems on her accession to the throne in 1558. Her country was bitterly divided between Catholics and Protestants, she faced war Scotland and France, potential civil unrest from the common people, her treasury was nearly bankrupt and on top of all this most people in England ...
Her parents were immediately disappointed with the sex of Elizabeth, because they both expected the child to be a prince, and the heir apparent.2 Elizabeth was named after both of her grandmothers; Henry's mother Elizabeth of York, and Anne's mother Elizabeth Howard.3 Elizabeth's name affirmed the union of Henry and Anne, and the princess' royal descent.4 Elizabeth spent little time with her parents, and was raised mostly by the nurse or governess, Lady Margaret Bryan, and later Katherine Champernowne.5 As a child, Elizabeth received an excellent education, and proved very ...
