England’s Relations with Others in the First Part of the Reign

When Elizabeth became Queen in 1558 she not only had to deal with religion and with balancing a religious settlement that throughout her reign was poised between Catholics and Puritans, but she also had to keep England safe and independent, a balance between the two powers on the Continent, France and Spain. Elizabeth’s reign was a watershed in Anglo-Continental relations. Throughout the Middle Ages France had been England’s traditional enemy, and since the reign of the first Tudor king, Henry VII, Spain had been the traditional ally. By the time Elizabeth’s reign ended, England was the uneasy ally of France and the enemy of, and at war with, Spain. England’s dealings with both these countries were further complicated by its relations within the British Isles with Scotland, made even more difficult because of Elizabeth’s cousin Mary Stuart, and with Ireland, which England was determined to control at all costs, no matter how brutal and expensive such an undertaking might be. One of England’s main strategic goals was to prevent foreign interference in both Scotland and Ireland, perceived as the gates to England.2