Throughout history, there have been strong and powerful leaders. More importantly, some of these leaders were women. These women were ahead of their time by today’s standards and one of the most significant leaders from history, let alone one of the most powerful female leaders, was Queen Elizabeth I. Queen Elizabeth gained control of the throne of Great Britain at one of the most controversial times in the country. The unofficial war between the Catholics and Protestants led to many deaths before Elizabeth’s coronation. This war, along with other struggles after her ascension to the throne, showed Queen Elizabeth’s dedication to her people and her ability to lead with the use of situational, trait, and charismatic leadership.
Before becoming the queen of England, Elizabeth’s half sister Mary reigned. Mary, being a Catholic, made Catholicism the official religion of England once again, after her father had broken ties with the church so he could have a divorce. With a division throughout the country between Catholics and Protestants, Mary made it clear that she supported any act that was for the benefit of the Catholic faith. Protestants were burned as heretics in the name of the Church and were persecuted throughout England. Elizabeth also felt persecution once Mary and her council began to suspect Elizabeth was Protestant. Mary was ill and it was feared that if Elizabeth took the throne that she would break the bond between England and the Church. To render this impossible, Mary had her council imprison Elizabeth in the Tower of London. Elizabeth was eventually released when it became evident that she must succeed her half sister’s throne.
The Essay on How serious a threat was Mary Queen of Scots to Elizabeth’s rule?
... was centred on Mary Queen of Scots is debateable. Whilst she was undoubtedly a figurehead for Catholic opposition to Elizabeth’s rule and was the ... it was felt that Mary’s claim to the throne would be stronger than Elizabeth’s if she were married. The occurrence of the ... England to favour a more credible and reliable Catholic leader (such as Philip II of Spain). The fact that the ...
Once she ascended to the throne and within her first meeting with Parliament, Elizabeth was able to successfully break England’s ties with the Church and rename herself head of the Church of England. Although she met heavy opposition, Elizabeth used a combination of situational, trait, and charismatic leadership to accomplish her goal. She saw that the situation could not persist and she looked for a way to end it. She was clever in her methods and employed obvious traits to her advantage. Since parliament was all men, Elizabeth was able to use her feminine wiles to compel the members to listen and agree with her. In addition, through her powerful and intelligent speech, Elizabeth mesmerized the parliament and she won the vote by a small amount whereas it seemed impossible to win before.
