Coronation of Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England in her coronation robes; a miniature of circa 1600, after a lost original
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| Date | 15 January 1559 |
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| Location | Westminster Abbey, London, England |
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The coronation of Queen Elizabeth I as queen regnant of England took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on 15 January 1559. Queen Elizabeth I had ascended the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her half-sister, Queen Mary I, on 17 November 1558. Mary had reversed the Protestant Reformation which had been started by her two predecessors, so this was the last British coronation to be conducted under the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. Historians view Elizabeth's coronation as a statement of her intention restore England to Protestantism, but to allow the continuation of some Catholic customs, a compromise known as the Elizabethan Settlement.
Henry VIII was the second Tudor king of England and his reign from 1509 to 1547 was one of great political and social change. Religious upheaval in Continental Europe and Henry's dispute with the Pope over his intended divorce from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, led Henry to break from the Roman Catholic Church and to establish the Church of England. Henry VIII was succeeded by his nine-year-old son from his marriage to Jane Seymour, Edward VI, who reigned under the governance of a Council of Regency appointed by Henry, which continued the Protestant reforms. However, Edward's early death in 1553 at the age of 15 precipitated a succession crisis. Edward's will excluded both his half-sisters, Mary (the daughter of Catherine of Aragon) and Elizabeth (the daughter of Anne Boleyn), from the succession, and instead declared his cousin, Lady Jane Grey, as his heir. Jane's reign lasted only nine days; with popular support, Mary deposed her and declared herself the lawful monarch.
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