Queen Elizabeth I

Queen Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I ruled as the queen of England from 1533 to 1603. Although she is not mentioned in the masterpiece known as The Prince by Machiavelli because she is of the female gender she nonetheless had a marvelous, successful, and illustrious reign that has earned a permanent place in European history. Even though she was a female ruler that ruled single handedly and without a king by her side (the first of her kind) she ruled England delicately but with an iron fist and turned out to be a most praised and note-worthy ruler in English history to date. Her rise to power and her methods of controlling her kingdom are properly noted with some variation within the 26 lessons of The Prince.

Queen Elizabeth rose to power through England's Act of Succession (1543) but was initially looked over when her original time to rise to the throne arrived since she was born through an affair of her father King Henry VIII. Her claim to England is described in the second lesson of the book entitled "Hereditary Principalities" which is what Queen Elizabeth had gained after her half sister Queen Mary Tudor had passed.

As noted in Lesson XXII titled "A Prince's Personal staff" Elizabeth's chief advisors were Sir William Cecil and Sir Nicholas Bacon who remained completely loyal to her, especially after she passed her Act of Supremacy (1559). It required all of her public officials to recognize her ultimate sovereignty over matters of the country. She was completely independent in all her decision making and required little advice from her officials and advisors. One of her methods of independence were refraining from getting involved in matters of love and marriage until her rule was firmly established, that way she wouldn't have to share or give up her claim to England or her inheritance from her father.

The Queen did face many hardships during her rule but she was nonetheless beloved by her people. In Lesson XXVII of The Prince the issue of being loved or feared by