Editing Elizabeth I (section)

===East India Company===
Following successful privateering against Spanish and Portuguese vessels, English voyagers travelled the globe in search of riches. As a result, London merchants presented a petition to Elizabeth with the aim of delivering a decisive blow to the Spanish and Portuguese monopoly of far-eastern trade.{{sfn|Wernham|1994|pp=333–334}} On 31 December 1600 the merchants received its charter from Elizabeth, and the [[East India Company]] was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region and China. [[James Lancaster]] commanded the first expedition the following year which was a success establishing its first [[Factory (trading post)|factory]] at [[Banten (town)|Bantum]] on [[Java]] in 1602. For a period of 15 years, the company was awarded a monopoly on English trade with all countries east of the [[Cape of Good Hope]] and west of the [[Straits of Magellan]]. The Company eventually controlled half of world trade and substantial territory in India in the 18th and 19th centuries.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Foster, Sir William |title=England's Quest of Eastern Trade |date=1998 |publisher=A. & C. Black |isbn=978-0-4151-5518-2 |location=London |pages=155–157 |orig-date=1933}}</ref>