Editing House of Tudor (section)

=== Last hopes for a Tudor heir ===

{{Unreferenced section|date=March 2021}}

Despite the uncertainty of Elizabeth's – and therefore the Tudors' – hold on England, she never married. The closest she came to marriage was between 1579 and 1581, when she was courted by [[Francis, Duke of Anjou]], the son of [[Henry II of France]] and [[Catherine de' Medici]]. Despite Elizabeth's government constantly begging her to marry in the early years of her reign, it was now persuading Elizabeth not to marry the French prince, for his mother, Catherine de' Medici, was suspected of ordering the [[St Bartholomew's Day massacre]] of tens of thousands of French Protestant [[Huguenot]]s in 1572. Elizabeth bowed to public feeling against the marriage, learning from the mistake her sister, [[Mary I]], made when she married [[Philip II of Spain]], and sent the Duke of Anjou away. Elizabeth knew that the continuation of the Tudor line was now impossible; she was forty-eight in 1581, and too old to bear children.

[[File:Loutherbourg-Spanish Armada.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Defeat of the Spanish Armada]]'' by [[Philip James de Loutherbourg]]. [[Spanish Armada|The Spanish Armada]]: Catholic Spain's attempt to depose Elizabeth and take control of England in 1588]]

By far the most dangerous threat to the Tudor line during Elizabeth's reign was the [[Spanish Armada]] of 1588, launched by Elizabeth's old suitor Philip II of Spain and commanded by [[Alonso de Guzmán El Bueno, 7th Duke of Medina Sidonia]]. The Spanish invasion fleet outnumbered the English fleet's 22 [[galleons]] and 108 armed merchant ships. The Spanish lost, however, as a result of bad weather on the [[English Channel]], poor planning and logistics, and the skills of [[Francis Drake]] and [[Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham|Charles Howard, 2nd Baron Howard of Effingham]].

While Elizabeth declined physically with age, her running of the country continued to benefit her people. In response to famine across England due to bad harvests in the 1590s, Elizabeth introduced the [[poor law]], allowing peasants who were too ill to work a certain amount of money from the state. All the money Elizabeth had borrowed from Parliament in 12 of the 13 parliamentary sessions was paid back; by the time of her death, Elizabeth not only had no debts, but was in credit. Elizabeth died childless at [[Richmond Palace]] on 24 March 1603. She left behind a legacy and monarchy worth noting. She had pursued her goals of being well endowed with every aspect of ruling her kingdom, and of knowing everything necessary to be an effective monarch. She took part in law, economics, politics and governmental issues both domestic and abroad. Realms that had once been strictly forbidden to the female gender had now been ruled by one.

Elizabeth never named a successor. However, her chief minister [[William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley|William Cecil]] had corresponded with the Protestant [[King James VI of Scotland]], great-grandson of [[Margaret Tudor]], and James's succession to the English throne was unopposed. There has been discussion over the selected heir. It has been argued that Elizabeth would have selected James because she felt guilty about what happened to his mother, her cousin. Whether this is true is unknown for certain, for Elizabeth did her best to never show emotion nor give in to claims. Elizabeth was strong and hard-headed and kept her primary goal in sight: providing the best for her people and proving those wrong who doubted her while maintaining a straight composure.

The House of Tudor survives through the female line, first with the [[House of Stuart]], which occupied the English throne for most of the following century, and then the [[House of Hanover]], via James' granddaughter [[Sophia, Electress of Hanover|Sophia]]. King [[Charles III]], a member of the [[House of Windsor]], is a direct descendant of Henry VII.