Reign – Early Years

15th January 1559 – The coronation of Elizabeth I of England at Westminster Abbey. England becomes officially protestant once again.

May 1559 – Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity passed and the heresy laws were repealed.

10th May – John Knox and the Scottish Lords of the Congregation rise up against the regency of Scotland, held by Mary Queen of Scots’ mother, and seek support from Elizabeth.

10th July 1559 – Henry II of France dies days after being injured in a jousting accident. His son Francis becomes King Francis II of France and Francis’ wife, Mary Queen of Scots, declares herself to be Queen of England.

21st October 1559 – Mary Queen of Scots’ mother, Mary of Guise, is deposed in Scotland by the Scottish Lords.

18th December 1559 – Elizabeth I supports the Scottish Lords by sending aid via land and sea.

6th July 1560 – Treaty of Edinburgh is made between Scotland, France and England, and Mary Queen of Scots´claims to the English throne are annulled. Mary herself refuses to ratify the treaty.

8th September – Amy Robsart, wife of Robert Dudley, dies in mysterious cirumstances. Amy is found dead at the foot of a staircase at Cumnor House, Oxford, the Dudley’s home, and it is rumoured that her husband murdered her.

5th December 1560 – Death of Francis II of France

August 1561 – Mary Queen of Scots returns to Scotland

1561/1562 – Elizabeth I supports the French Huguenots with secret treaties, meanwhile Shane O’Neill leads rebellions in Ireland.

October 1562 – Elizabeth I falls ill with smallpox and nearly dies.

1563 – The Anglican Church is formed with The Thirty Nine Articles, John Foxe’s “Book of Martyrs” (“Acts and Monuments”) is published and the Bubonic Plague or Black Death breaks out in London.

29th July 1565 – Mary Queen of Scots marries her cousin  Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley.

9th March 1566 – Murder of David Rizzio, secretary of Mary Queen of Scots.

19th June 1566 – Birth of James (James VI of Scotland and James I of England), Mary Queen of Scots’ son.

10th February 1567 – Murder of Mary Queen of Scots’ husband, Lord Darnley.

24th April 1567 – Mary Queen of Scots is kidnapped by James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell.

15th May 1567 – Mary Queen of Scotts marries Bothwell.

24th July 1567 – Mary Queen of Scots abdicates and her son, James, is declared King James VI of Scotland.

1568 – Mary Queen is imprisoned at Fotheringay Castle by Elizabeth I who sees her as a threat to the English throne.

1569 – The Rising of the North – The northern Percys of Northumberland and the Nevilles of Durham plot to overthrow Elizabeth but are quickly defeated.

1570 – A Papal Bull excommunicates Elizabeth I from the Catholic Church.

1571 – Sir William Cecil is made Lord Burghley. Ridolfi Plot to assassinate the Queen.

1572 – St Bartholomew’s Day massacre in France.

2nd June 1572 – Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, is executed for treason after conspiring to kill the Queen in the Ridolfi Plot.

1573 – Sir Francis Drake captures a shipment of silver heading for Spain.

14th November 1575 declines the sovereignty of the Netherlands.

13th December 1577 – Sir Francis Drake sets off on his voyage around the world.

21st September 1578 – Elizabeth’s favourite Robert Dudley marries Lady Lettice Knollys in secret, causing a furious outburst from Elizabeth when she found out a few months later.