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- Queen of England. She was a strong, healthy child and escaped the taint of congenital syphilis which afflicted Henry VIII's other surviving children. Her mother Anne Boleyn's disgrace and execution led to Elizabeth being declared illegitimat e by Act of Parliament and deprived of her place in the succession before she was three years old. A later Act reinstated her and the kindness of her stepmother Queen Catherine brought her back to court where she shared the tutors of her half-brot her Edward, becoming proficient in Latin, French, Italian and some Greek. She also had some leanings towards the Protestant faith, although by no means committed at this time. She was the last of the Tudor rulers of England. Her reign: 1558-1603 ; At the death of her half-sister, Mary I, in 1558 Elizabeth became Queen, beginning one of the greatest reigns in English history. From the beginning of her reign, Elizabeth's marital status was a political concern because there was no English he ir to the throne. Parliament insistently petitioned her to marry, but she replied with the statement that she intended to live and die a virgin. She became known as the Virgin Queen. Her statement did not prevent her from toying constantly with th e idea of marriage. She was besieged by royal suitors, each of whom she favored when it was in her political interest to do so. Her affections, however, were bestowed on a succession of favorites, notably Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, Si r Walter Raleigh and Robert Devereux, 2d Earl of Essex.
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