Queen Elizabeth I, born in 1533, was the fifth and last member of the Tudor Dynasty, and ruled over England from 1558 to 1603. The reign of Elizabeth I, which lasted over 40 years, entered history as an “Elizabethan golden age”. Both art and culture in Britain achieved new heights under Elizabeth I: the composer John Dowland set new standards in music with his madrigals and lute compositions, Francis Bacon became the founding father of empiricism with his philosophical writings.
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Above all, however, it was drama that flourished under Elizabeth I, who even created her own theatre ensemble, “Queen Elizabeth’s Men”. To bring art and culture closer to the common people, Elizabeth I regularly sent this ensemble on guest tours through the towns and villages of England. In this way, she turned the art of drama into a cultural spectacle that drew the whole of Britain under its spell.
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The outstanding figure of Elizabethan drama, the playwright William Shakespeare, was one of the declared favourites of the theatre-loving Queen – at the first performances of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “A Comedy of Errors”, she sat among her people in the audience. When Elizabeth I died in 1603, although she did not leave any physical heir to the throne, she left a new England with a prosperous economy and a flourishing cultural life, ready to take its place as an empire that would span the world.
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