BCE 200's Queen Martia Proba of a Celtic Tribe (United Kingdom)

Her seat of power was in London, and she was holding the reins of government so wisely as to receive the surname of Proba, the Just. She especially devoted herself to the enactment of just laws for her subjects, the first principles of the common law tracing back to her; the celebrated laws of Alfred, and of Edward the Confessor, being in great degree restorations and compilations from the laws of Martia, which were known as the "Martian Statutes".

Around 60 Military Leader Queen Aife of Alba in Scotland (United Kingdom)

In Celtic mythology she was a female warrior from Alba. She gave her lover, Cuchulainn, his spear, Gae Bulg. They had one son, Connla.

11... Politically Influential Countess Gertruda of Guines in Wales (United Kingdom)

She was a Welsh revolutionary who raised an army to rebel against the oppressive regime of King John. She was captured on the battlefield and died as his prisoner.

1216-18 Hereditary Sheriff Lady Nicola de la Hay of Lincolnshire and Constable of Lincoln Castle (United Kingdom)

Succeeded father during the reign of Prince John and King Henry III together with Phillip Mar of Nottingham. She defended her territory against attacking forces during the War of the Roses. She was married to Gerad de Camville and lived (ca. 1160-ca.1218).

1234-90 Lady Devorguilla MacDowall of Galloway in Scotland (United Kingdom of Great Britain)

Her father, Lord Alan FitzRoland of Galloway, was the last of the MacFergus dynasty of quasi-independent Lords of Galloway in the southwest of Scotland. He was also hereditary Constable of Scotland. When he died his possessions were divided between her and her two surviving sisters. She passed the Lordship of Galloway and heirship of the crown to her son John I Balliol, King of Scotland (1992-96), by her husband, John, 5th Baron de Balliol and her son John Balliol was king of Scotland for four years. Devorguilla endowed a college for the poor, which later became Balliol College. Her mother was Margaret of Huntingdon, the daughter of David of Scotland, 8th Earl of Huntingdon, grand-son of the Scottish king David I. She lived (ca. 1210-90).

1282-1337 Hereditary Princess Gwenllian of Wales, Gwynedd and the royal family of Aberffraw (United Kingdom)

The last trueborn Princess of Wales was the daughter of Llywelyn the Last and his cousin Eleanor de Montfort, daughter of Simon de Montfort. Her mother died in childbirth at the palace of Pen-y-Bryn, in Abergwyngregyn near Bangor, Gwynedd on 12 June 1282, and her father was killed at Irfon Bridge a few weeks later, becoming therefore the only child of the marriage. There were no sons to inherit the title of Prince of Wales, but as the daughter of Prince Llywelyn, she was the heiress of the Princes of Gwynedd and the royal family of Aberffraw. She thereby was the Princess of Wales and as a result represented considerable danger to the king of England. Were it not for their close family ties it is likely that the king would have arranged for her too to be killed. Instead, the king, Edward I, had her hauled off to Sempringham Convent in Lincolnshire, where she spent over 50 years incarcerated. Edward kept the title of 'Prince of Wales' for the crown, bestowing it upon his son Edward who was crowned in Caernarfon in 1301 aged 17 years. Hence the title passed as a grace title bestowable by the English monarchy. She lived (1282-1337).

1286-90 Queen Regnant Margaret of Scotland and The Orkney Islands (United Kingdom)

With the sudden death of Alexander III, Scotland was left without an obvious heir to the throne. At first, Margaret's step-grandmother Yolande declared that she was pregnant with a legitimate heir, countering the claims of two powerful nobles, Robert Bruce (grandfather of the future Robert I of Scotland) and John Balliol, each of whom wanted the throne for himself. When it was discovered that Yolande was not really pregnant, it was decided that Alexander's only surviving descendant, his three-year-old granddaughter Margaret, would ascend to the throne under a regency of six nobles. She was the daughter of Eric II of Norway and his wife Margaret, daughter of Alexander III, who died in childbirth. Fearing that a young and powerless queen would invite civil war between the rival claimants to the throne, the Scottish nobles appealed to Edward I of England to intervene. Eager to extend his own influence in Scotland, Edward arranged the Treaty of Birgham in 1290, by which Margaret was betrothed to his son the Prince of Wales (later Edward II of England), in return for an assurance of Scottish independence though he would serve as ward for the young queen. She set sail from Norway to her new realm in the autumn of 1290, but took ill during the stormy voyage and died soon after reaching the Orkney Islands around September 26. With her death, the House of Dunkeld came to an end. Her corpse was taken to Bergen and buried beside her mother in the stonewall, on the north side of the choir, in Christ's Kirk at Bergen. In the two years that followed, Scotland was left with 14 claimants to the throne. Once again, Edward was asked to intercede. His efforts to exert his own authority over the country eventually led to the First Scottish War of Independence. Also known as "The Maid of Norway", she lived (1283-90).

1295-1307 Princess Joan of Acre, Lady of Glamorgan and Wales (United Kingdom)

She was born in Acre (Akko) in Palestine as daughter of King Edward I of England (d. 1307) and Leonor of Castilla and Leonwhile her parents were travelling to the Middle East on the Ninth Crusade. At least part of her childhood she spent in France with her maternal grandmother, Jeanne de Dammartin, Countess of Ponthieu. She was betrothed as a child to Hartman, son of King Rudolph I of Germany, but he died in 1282 after drowning in the Rhine. She then married Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Hertford, and was mother of Eleanor de Clare (1292-1337), who became Lady of G. and W. in 1314. After Gilbert's death, she clandestinely married Ralph de Monthermer, 1st Baron Monthermer, a knight in her household, in 1297. Her father was enraged by this lowly second marriage, and her husband was thrown in prison but was released in 1297, and allowed to hold the title of Earl of Gloucester and Hereford during her lifetime. Princess Joan had 8 surviving children with her 2 husbands and died while giving birth to a stillborn child, after having lived (1272-1307).

1306-26 Military Leader Lady Christian Bruce in Scotland

During the Wars of Independence and the reign of Edward I, Lady Bruce defended Kildrummy Castle when it was besieged by David of Strathbogie, who served English interests. Strathbogie fell in battle, and it was left to his widow to defend (for seven months) the island fortress of Lochindorb against three thousand vengeful Scots." (Information given by Geoff Cook). Christian was the sister of King Robert I and her sisters Marjory Bruce and Mary Bruce were also warlike, as was the Bruce supporter Isobel, Countess of Buchan.

1306 "Enthroner" Lady Isabel Macduff in Scotland (United Kingdom)

She exercised the right of her house, and brought the sanction of ancient usage to the ceremony, by leading King Robert the Bruce to the place of coronation. Her brother, Duncan, Earl of Fife, was an allie of the English and was married to Mary de Monthermer, niece of Edward I. of England. She was later captured by the English and placed in a cage on the walls of Berwick, while her brother and his wife were captured by Bruce and imprisoned in the castle of Kildrummie in Aberdeenshire, where the Earl died in 1336. Isabel was married to John Comyn, Earl of Buchan, was an ardent Scottish patriot. After four years she was rescued by Bruce's forces.

1314-17 Lady Eleanore de Clare of Glamorgan and Wales (United Kingdom)

She was daughter of Princess Joan of England, who was Lady of the two territories until 1307. Eleanore lived (1292-1337).

1333-63 Countess Elizabeth de Burgh of Ulster (United Kingdom)

Succeeded her father, William de Burgh. Her husband, Lionel Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, (1347-68), was Earl of Ulster 1352-68. He was succeeded by their daughter, Philippa. 

1334 Military Leader Countess Agnes Randolph of March and Dunbar in Scotland (United Kingdom)

Also known as Black Agnes, she was married to Patrick, fourth Earl of Dunbar and second Earl of March. In her youth she fought for the Bruce, but is better remembered for the later defence of her castle. In 1334 she successfully held her castle at Dunbar against the besieging forces of England's Earl of Salisbury for over five months, despite the unusual number of engineers and elaborate equipment brought against her. After each assault on her fortress, her maids dusted the merlins and crenels, treating her foes and the dreadful siege as a tiresome jest. She was daughter of the great Randolf, 1st Earl of Moray and in 1346 she inherited from her brother the Earldom of Moray and the Lordships of Annandale and the Isle of Man and lived (Ca. 1300-ca.69).

1338-77 Lord Marshall of England Margaret Plantagenet of Norfolk
1338-99 Territorial Duchess of Norfolk (United Kingdom)

Jointly with the Lord High Constable she headed the College of Arms, the body concerned with all matters of genealogy and heraldry, although the Earl Marshall's connection with heraldry came about almost accidentally. In conjunction with the Lord High Constable he had held a court, known as the Court of Chivalry, for the administration of justice in accordance with the law of arms, which was concerned with many subjects relating to military matters, such as ransom, booty and soldiers' wages, and including the misuse of armorial bearings. The Marshall, as eighth Officer of State, has to organise coronations and the State Opening of Parliament. Norfolk was an autonomous fiefdom from the Norman conquest She was daughter of Thomas "Brotherton" and Alice de Hales. Married to John de Segrave and mother of  (d. 1353) and mother of Elizabeth de Segrave (1338-75), and held the duchy jointly with her grandson, Thomas II de Mowbray (1366-97-99), the father of Margaret Mowbray, Duchess of Norfolk. Margaret Plantagenet lived (ca. 1122-99).

1368-82 Territorial Countess Philippa Plantagenet of Ulster (United Kingdom)

Daughter of Countess Elisabeth de Burg of Ulster and Lionel Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence. Married to Edmond Mortimer, Earl of March and Ulster (1368-81). 

1377-ca. 88 Territorial Countess Margaret Mormaer of Mar, Lady  Garioch, Chief of the Clan of Mar in Scotland (United Kingdom of Great Britain)

Succeeded her brother, Thomas Mormaer, 9th Earl of Mar (ca. 1330-1377). She had married William, first Earl of Douglas, who was succeeded by their son, James. 2. Earl of Douglas and Earl of Mar and Garioch in right of his mother, and when he fell, leading the Scots at the battle of Otterburn. She was succeeded by her daughter, Isabel, who became owner of the Earldom of Mar and the Lordship of the Garioch and became the owner the unentailed lands of the House of Douglas.

1377-85 Politically Influential Dowager Princess Joan of Kent of Wales in England, Hereditary Countess of Kent, Baroness Wake de Lydell (United Kingdom)

Her husband, Edward, Prince of Wales died in 1376, and the following year her son succeeded as King Richard II, who reigned under Council of Regency until he came of age in 1390. Joan was daughter of Edmund of Woodstock, earl of Kent, youngest son of Edward I, and Margaret de Wake, 3rd. Baroness Wake of Lydell, whom she succeeded upon her death of the plague in 1973. Joan early gained wide note for her beauty and charm and became known as the Fair Maid of Kent. Her marriage to the earl of Salisbury was annulled on the grounds of a precontract with Sir Thomas Holland, whom she then married and became mother of four children. Upon the death of her brother in 1353 she became Countess of Kent in her own right. In 1361, after Holland's death, she married Edward the Black Prince, by whom she had two sons, Edward (1365–70) and Richard. In 1378 she was instrumental in halting proceedings against John Wyclif, though there is insufficient evidence to determine if she accepted his doctrines. As long as she lived, she was probably the principal influence on her son Richard II. She lived (1328–85).

Ca. 1388-1408 Territorial Countess Isabel Douglas of Mar, Lady Garioch, Chief of the Clan of Mar in Scotland (United Kingdom of Great Britain)

In 1390, Robert III. granted to his brother-in-law, Sir Malcolm Drummond, Lord of Mar in right of his wife, the 11th Countess, a licence to erect a tower on the lands of the Castletown of Braemar. The King, in 1393, granted to Sir Malcolm by charter, forty pounds sterling per annum from the great custom of Aberdeen, until the King shall give him forty pounds worth of lands. In 1402 he was murdered by Alexander Stewart. In the summer of 1404 Alexander Stewart captured her castle and forced her to sign a charter on August 12, 1404. She revoked the charter later that year, but on marrying him, she gave him the earldom for life; the King confirmed her last action the next year. She lived (c. 1360-1408)

1390-1401 Politically Influential Queen Anabella Drummond of Scotland (United Kingdom)

She was very powerful during the reign of her husband, Robert Johan Stuart of Kyle, who was partly paralyzed. In 1398 she had her son, David, Duke of Rothsay appointed regent. Her husband was succeeded by second son, James I. She lived (1350-1401).

1415-31 Lady Philippa de Mohun of the Isle of Wright (United Kingdom)

1437-39 Regent Dowager Queen Joan Beaufort of Scotland (United Kingdom of Great Britain)

After her husband, James I, was murdered, she reigned on behalf of their seven-year-old son James II. Despite her efforts he became the pawn of two unscrupulous Scottish lords, Sir William Crichton and Lord Livingstone. The Black Douglas entered the fray and succeeded in defeating and executing Livingstone. Crichton, in turn, manipulated James into killing the Black Douglas. Eventually, James II defeated the Douglas family at the battle of Arkinholm. Daughter of John Beaufort and Margaret Holland, she had eight children by James I of Scotland and one with her second husband, James Stewart, the Black Knight of Lorn (ca. 1383-ca. 1451)  John Stewart, 1st Earl of Atholl. (d. 1445).

1445-49 15th Territorial Countess Anne de Beauchamp of Warwick, Lady of Glamorgan and Wales (United Kingdom)
1447-49 Lady of the Isles (Dependency of the English Crown)

As the only daughter of Henry de Beauchamp, 1st Duke of Warwick and 14th Earl of Warwick, she was heir to the Warwick and the Despenser lands, the latter trough her grandmother, Isabel Depenser. When she died in January 1449, aged only five, her heir was her aunt Anne Neville, her father's only sister in the full blood. His half-sisters were barred from any claim through common law to her estates. None the less a royal license dated 12 July 1449 described Margaret, Eleanor, Elizabeth and Anne as joint heiresses of Richard Beauchamp, but on July 23 of the same year, the king granted the title of Earl of Warwick to Richard and Anne Neville, declaring she was Henry Beauchamp's heir. Anne de Beauchamp lived (1443-49). 

1449-50 Territorial Hereditary Countess Anne de Beauchamp Neville of Warwick, Lady of Glamorgan and Wales (United Kingdom)
1471-87 Lady of the Isles (Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Brechou, Herm, Jethou and Sark) (Dependencies of the English Crown)

1460-63 (†) Regent Dowager Queen Mary of Guelders of Scotland (United Kingdom)

After the death of her husband, of James II, she was regent for her son, James III, and her adviser, James Kennedy, bishop of St. Andrews. After their deaths, James was seized (1466) by the Boyd family, who ruled Scotland until 1469. In that year James married Margaret, daughter of the Danish king, and began to rule personally. Maria de Gelders was daughter of Duke Arnold Gelders and Catherine of Cleves and lived (1432-63).

1464-83 Politically Influential Queen Elizabeth Woodville of England (United Kingdom)
1475 "Guardian of the Keeper of the Realm"

In 1464 she was married privately to King Edward IV, who reigned (1461-70 and 1471-83). Apparently she was a greedy, unscrupulous woman who insisted on the King showering lands and wealth on all her relations. In 1470 her husband was in exile and she had to take sanctuary at Westminster. In 1475 her infant old son, the later Edward V, was appointed "Keeper of the Realm" and she was named his guardian during her husband's absence from the country. When her husband died she attempted to play a part in the regency but instead her marriage was declared invalid and she took sanctuary again. The most extraordinary point in her career was reached when the wily Richard III tempted her to come to his Court again and she went through some sort of reconciliation with him. Henry VII never trusted her and, in 1487, she went to reside in the nunnery at Bermondsey on a pension. She was daughter of Sir Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers, and Jacquetta, Duchess of Bedford, of the house of Luxemburg, and had first been married Sir John Grey of Groby, a Lancastrian, who fell at St. Albans in 1461. By him she had two sons. With Edward she had 10 children, among whom was Elizabeth of York, who married Henry VII and the "Princes in the Tower", Edward V and his brother, Richard, Duke of York, who were murdered, apparently, by their uncle, Richard III. She lived (1437-65).

1476-81 Territorial Countess Anne Mowbray of Norfolk (United Kingdom of Great Britain)

Norfolk was an autonomous fiefdom from the Norman conquest. She was the only child of John Mowbray, 4th. Duke of Norfolk. She was only three years of age when her father died, leaving her heiress to the vast Mowbray estates. At the age of three she was married to king Edward IVs younger son Prince Richard, Duke of York. (1473-83). She died of the plague and died in 19 November 1481 a month before her ninth birthday and two years before the disappearance of the Princes. She lived (ca. 1472-81).

1485-1509 Politically influential Lady Margaret Beaufort in England (United Kingdom)

She was influential during the reign of her son, Henry VII Tudor, who inherited the throne through her - and his wife, Elizabeth of York. Margaret was the daughter of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset and Margaret Beauchamp, and was married at the age of about 7 to John De La Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk, but the union was later dissolved. Henry VI, who had no children always looked upon the Beauforts as possible heirs and, in 1455, married the 12-year-old Margaret to his own maternal half-brother, Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, who died 1556, the same year their son was born. She, soon afterward, married Henry Stafford, the second son of the Duke of Buckingham, and submitted to the Yorkist rule; but, after the Battle of Tewkesbury, she was obliged to send her son, Henry to seek refuge in Bretagne. Margaret's fourth husband was a pronounced Yorkist, Thomas, Lord Stanley, afterwards Earl of Derby; but his final defection from Richard III on the field of Bosworth secured the victory to his stepson, Henry VII. Margaret, though she seldom appeared at her son's court, remained his constant correspondent and one of his wisest advisers. She took vows of religion in 1504, but continued to live out of a nunnery. Also a very learned person, she lived (1441-1509).

1513-14 Regent Dowager Queen Margaret Tudor of Scotland (United Kingdom of Great Britain)

After her husband, James IV of Scotland, was killed, she became regent for her infant son, James V, but her marriage in 1514 to Archibald Douglas, 6th earl of Angus, led to the loss of the regency to John Stuart, duke of Albany, who soon obtained custody of the king, and Margaret fled to England. She returned in 1517, during Albany’s absence, and shortly thereafter she became estranged from Angus. James was proclaimed king in 1524 but was for several years virtually a prisoner of Angus. In 1527, Margaret obtained a divorce from Angus and soon married Henry Stuart, later Lord Methven. The following year James escaped from Angus and joined his mother and Methven, and they were for a time his chief advisers. A plan of Margaret’s for a meeting between her brother Henry VIII of England and her son led James to accuse her of betrayal in 1534. They were further estranged by James’s refusal to allow her to divorce Methven. She lived (1489–1541).

1513 Governor of the Realm and Captain General of the King's Forces Queen Catherine of Aragón of England, Wales and Ireland

Following the death of her first husband, Prince Arthur of England, she married his brother Henry VIII. When he went to France on warfare she was appointed regent and led the English troops against the invading Scots at the Battle of Flodden (in Northumberland) and, afterwards, sent over to her husband, in Flanders, a grim reminder of her achievements there: the blood-stained tunic of dead James IV of Scots. In 1520, however, the she went to France alongside Henry and was present at the great meeting of the 'Field of the Cloth of Gold'. Of her four children only the later Queen Mary I survived. In 1533 Henry divorced her and broke with the Catholic church, she was deprived of her titles as Queen of England and was forced to revert to 'Princess Dowager of Wales'. She was kept in confinement but never remained long in one place, for she enjoyed great popularity throughout a Country and there were fears of an uprising in her favour.  She was daughter of Queen Isabel I of Castilla and Ferdinand of Aragón and initially heir to her father, but her sister, Juana La Loca, inherited both Countries. Catherine lived (1485-1536).

1529-35 Politically Influential Queen Anne Boleyn of England

1544 Governor of the Realm Queen Katherine Parr of England (United Kingdom)

She was very learned and inclined towards the reformed doctrines and successfully interceded for many so-called 'heretics,' who would otherwise have suffered death. She also induced Henry VII, her third husband, to restore, to Royal rank, the Princesses Mary and Elizabeth whose legitimacy his remarkable matrimonial arrangements had left in doubt. Henry named Catherine as Regent when he designed an expedition to France in 1544. Her main functions, in the last two years of her husband’s reign, were those of his nurse as he suffered agonies of pain from an ulcer in his leg. After his death in 1547, she married Thomas Seymour, Lord Sudley, and died giving birth her first child, named Mary, the year after. She lived (1512-48).

1545 Military Leader Lilliard in Scotland (United Kingdom)

She led the Scots at the Battle of Ancrum in one of their last victories over the English forces. She killed the English commander but lost her own life later in the battle.

1552-67 HM Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots
1558-87 Titular Duchess of Touraine (France)

She became Queen of Scotland when she was just six days old. At age five she was sent to France to be brought up in the French court, and eventually married King Francis II, who died the next year, where after Mary returned to Scotland where a series of politically unwise love affairs and her continued adherence to Catholicism in a Protestant country led to trouble and a revolt against her. Forced to flee to England for refuge, she now faced the fears of Queen Elizabeth I who saw her as a rival to her throne. Elizabeth kept Mary under a form of imprisonment for the next 19 years. Watched closely, she was implicated in a series of conspiracies against Queen Elizabeth, and was executed, but her son, Jacob later succeeded as king of England. Mary lived (1552-87).

1554-60 Regent Dowager Queen Marie de Guise of Scotland (United Kingdom of Great Britain)

Married to James V of Scotland and regent for her daughter, Mary Queen of Scots. The daughter of Claude de Lorraine, duc de Guise, she was also known as Mary of Lorraine. Before her marriage to James V in 1538, she had been married to Louis d'Orléans, Duc de Longueville, who died in 1537. When James died in 1542, shortly after his daughter's birth, James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, became regent. By 1554, with French aid, Marie de Guise had replaced the ineffectual Arran as regent, and she made no secret of her desire to bring France and Scotland together. Meanwhile, Protestantism was spreading rapidly in Scotland, and Marie, though at first conciliatory toward the reformers, began a campaign of suppression. In 1559 the Protestants, exhorted by John Knox, rose against the regent and declared her deposed. She received French aid, but the Protestants, allied with the English, proved the stronger force. The civil war was concluded shortly after Marie's death by the Treaty of Edinburgh (1560), which ended the French domination of Scotland and opened the way for the establishment of the Protestant church. She lived (1515-60).

1553 Jane, Queen of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Supreme Head on Earth of the Church of England and Ireland

Known as Lady Jane Grey, she was the great-granddaughter of Henry VII through her mother, Lady Frances Brandon, daughter Mary, the younger of King Henry VIII's two sisters. On May 21, 1553, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, who exercised considerable power at that point in the minority of King Edward VI, joined with Jane’s father, Duke of Suffolk, in marrying her to his son, Lord Guildford Dudley. Edward VI accepted Jane as his heir and on his death she was proclaimed Queen on July 10 and the Council of the Realm recognized her claim. The rightful heir, Edward's sister, Mary Tudor, had the support of the populace, and on July 19 even Suffolk, who by now despaired of success in the plans for his daughter, attempted to retrieve his position by proclaiming Mary Queen. Jane was later beheaded (as was her husband) in 1554 having lived (1537-54).

1553-58 HM Mary I Tudor, Queen of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith (United Kingdom)
1553-54 Supreme Head on Earth of the Church of England and Ireland 

She was the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, and restored papal supremacy in England, abandoned the title of Supreme Head of the Church, reintroduced Roman Catholic bishops and began the slow reintroduction of monastic orders. She also revived the old heresy laws to secure the religious conversion of the country; heresy was regarded as a religious and civil offence amounting to treason. As a result, around 300 Protestant heretics were burnt in three years. Her decision to marry Philip, King of Spain from 1556, in 1554 was very unpopular; the protest from the Commons prompted her reply that Parliament was 'not accustomed to use such language to the Kings of England' and that in her marriage 'she would choose as God inspired her'. England suffered during her reign. The economy was in ruin, religious dissent reached a zenith and England lost her last continental territory. She possibly died from cancer, leaving the crown to her half-sister Elizabeth. Mary lived (1516-58).

1555 Member of Parliament for Gatton Lady Elizabeth Shelley in England (United Kingdom)

She was elected as successor to her husband Sir Roger Copley of Roughway, MP for Gatton Surrey, but her son Thomas took her seat. She lived (1534-84).

1558-1603 Elizabeth I Tudor, Queen of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Supreme Head on Earth of the Church of England and Ireland (United Kingdom)

Daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, succeeded her half-sister Mary. Elizabeth was very well educated (fluent in six languages). Her 45-year reign is generally considered one of the most glorious in English history. During it a secure Church of England was established. Its doctrines were laid down in the 39 Articles of 1563, a compromise between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. Although autocratic and capricious, she had astute political judgement and chose her ministers well. Her reign also saw many brave voyages of discovery, which prepared England for an age of colonisation and trade expansion, In 1588, aided by bad weather, the English navy scored a great victory over the Spanish invasion fleet of around 130 ships - the 'Armada' which was intended to overthrow the Queen and re-establish Roman Catholicism by conquest, as Philip II believed he had a claim to the English throne through his marriage to Mary I. She was succeeded by James VI of Scotland, and lived (1533-1603).