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| Death Elizabeth,
before the arrival of the Armada,
met the Earl of Essex, Dudley’s stepson. He became in a short time
Elizabeth’s new favourite, and her constant companion: they played cards, went
hunting, riding and danced together.
But actually, Essex was very ambitious and greedy: he tried to condition
the Queen about his position and decisions favouring himself. But when he
attempted to make the queen give an enemy of his the post of Lord Protector of
Ireland, an office that was one of failure and destruction, Elizabeth refused
and, during an argument between the two, she slapped him in the face. He reached
his sword but he was subdued by the council members; in fact drawing arms in the
presence of the queen or king, was
considered treason. Elizabeth
sent him in Ireland to the post of Lord Protector. After a short time, he wrote
to her for permission to return to England; she refused but he returned anyway
and when he went to her without invitation, she had him placed under house
arrest. He
escaped and led a rebellion against Elizabeth to gain control of her, but the
uprising failed because of lack of supporters. He was captured and executed for
treason in 1601. Now,
all her enemies, suitors, friends had died: in fact the major enemy, Philip of
Spain, had died a few years before, the last suitor had died in Netherlands
fighting for her, and Dudley had been dead for years. Elizabeth, arrived now at
the end of her life, had to name an heir and the only option was James of
Scotland. She named him in a letters but she didn’t designate him formally
because she didn’t want to create a rival court around her heir. Elizabeth
spent her final days on a bed and died on March 23, 1603, after ruling England
for 45 years. |
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