Free Response Midterm #2

Compare and contrast the religious policies of TWO of the following:

Elizabeth I of England

Catherine de Medicis of France

Isabella I of Spain

Outline

I. Elizabeth I of Spain

A. Protestant

B. Never married

C. Politique

D. Considered to have had a successful reign as Queen

II. Isabella I of Spain

A. Married to Ferdinand

B. Catholic Spain

C. Spanish Armada

Elizabeth I of England and Isabella I of Spain had both similarities and differences in the way they reigned. Both of these two rulers were women and were popular in their respective country that the ruled. They had different religions themselves, and their countries had different religions. During the period that they reigned, England had more success than Spain did. The way Elizabeth I of England ruled compared to Isabella I of Spain allowed England to be more successful because its ruler gave all of her focus to the well being of the country, making her a better ruler than Isabella.

Elizabeth I of England ruled in a way that not many rulers take. She never married because she wanted to have her undivided attention turned to England. She is a great example of a politique, someone who does everything for the well being of the State. She was loved by her people and had a long reign as Queen. She was successful against the attack of the Spanish Armada which gave England power over a recovering Spain. She was a Protestant Queen who turned England back to a Protestant nation after her sister Mary had tried to make it Catholic. This was an advantage for England because of the Protestant Reformation that was taking place throughout all of Europe.

On the other had, Isabella I of Spain differed in the way she ruled. She was married to Ferdinand of Spain. They ruled together as a monarchy of Spain. One of the major mistakes of her reign that lead to a decrease in Spain's power was the Spanish Armada. She sent a fleet of ships to invade England but bad weather and faster English ships left them in defeat. This gave England the best navy in the world during the time period of their reigns. She was a Catholic ruler of a Catholic country during a time where the Protestant Reformation was taking place. Her reign was not as successful as Elizabeth because of her religion, and the loss of its navel power to England.

The two Queens did have similarities in the way they ruled their respective countries. They both were the same religion as the countries they ruled. Both rulers were liked by their people, which is an advantage for their reign. Both had long reigns that were overall successful. Both were women which is an obvious way they were similar to each other. Women have different thought of politics and were viewed differently then men. Both were viewed as intelligent by their people even though Isabella may have made more mistakes that cost her country.

Both queens had similarities and differences in their political policies but during their time period, Elizabeth's policies made more sense. The major factor that lead to her success was her being a politique and never marrying. If Isabella would have given more focus to her country Spain may have had a large amount of gains and a smaller amount of losses. England was lucky the have a Protestant ruler during a time of Protestant Reformation. Elizabeth was overall the better queen because of the success of her reign, but the two Queens did not have a large disparity in their policies of political reign.