The mother of Queen Elizabeth the First was beheaded when the queen was two years of age. After the turmoil her father caused after beheading multiple queens for failing to produce male heirs, the future queen survived the reign of her half brother, as well as her time imprisoned in a tower during the reign of Queen Mary I.
At the age of 25, Queen Elizabeth the First began to rule at a time of the golden age. The Spanish Armada was defeated, Shakespearean literature was produced and attempts to create the Newfoundland and the Roanoke settlements were made during her reign. While Sir Humphrey Gilbert failed to make Newfoundland a permanent settlement, it was the first attempt at establishing the Colony of the Virginia.
