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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What happens to Princess Elizabeth's mother when the princess is just a toddler?

2. According to some books on heraldry of the period, what do the colors Queen Elizabeth tells Don Guzman de Silva are hers represent?

3. What are pearls said to symbolize?

4. Who agrees to be the godmother to the infant son of Mary Stuart?

5. How long has Queen Elizabeth ruled England at 37 years-old?

Short Essay Questions

1. What signs are there that Queen Elizabeth is not as strongly influenced by the Earl of Essex as many of her advisors fear?

2. Why is Catherine Grey's pregnancy so upsetting to Queen Elizabeth?

3. Describe Queen Elizabeth's appearance at age 37, twelve years into her reign.

4. What is the order of succession for Henry VIII's three children after his death? What makes Elizabeth's legitimacy come into question?

5. Discuss Queen Elizabeth's attitude toward the persecution of Catholics in England.

6. Discuss the plot Spanish ambassador Don Gerau De Spies has to restore England to Catholicism.

7. Explain how Queen Elizabeth's payment of the debts owed the City of London by King Henry VIII and King Edward VI increase her popularity with her people.

8. Discuss Queen Elizabeth's coronation. How do the people of England accept her at the beginning of her reign?

9. What does the fact that she is playing the virginals when the Earl of Essex is executed indicate about Queen Elizabeth's feelings for Essex?

10. Discuss the Earl of Essex's relationship with Queen Elizabeth.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Queen Elizabeth's relationship with Lord Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester, from its beginning during her childhood to its end with the earl's death. Discuss Leicester's lingering influence on the queen after his death. Do you think the queen loves Leicester in the romantic sense or strictly as a friend? Do you think Leicester ever loves the queen in the romantic sense? Does he only use her to further his ambition? What factors keep them from marrying? Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the rivalry between Queen Elizabeth and Lettice Knollys. Are the two women rivals on other levels in addition to being rivals for Robert Dudley? Cite examples from the text to support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss England's relationship with France during Queen Elizabeth's reign. How would each country benefit if Elizabeth marries one of her French suitors? What factors make the two countries potential allies and what factors make the two countries potential enemies? How does their relationship change over the course of Elizabeth's long reign? What would an alliance between these two countries through the queen's marriage mean to each country's relationship with Spain? Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.

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