Why was Queen Elizabeth important?

5 Facts About England’s Elizabethan Era

WORLD HISTORY

In 1558, Elizabeth Tudor assumed the throne of England and Ireland and began her reign as Queen Elizabeth I. From the moment she was crowned, Elizabeth was an unconventional ruler. She was only the second queen in England’s history to reign as the sole head of state, which made her a rarity not only in her own country, but throughout Europe, in an era in which female monarchs were few and far between. Her lifelong refusal to marry also broke with tradition, and earned her the nickname “the Virgin Queen.”