The “Golden Age” Begins

At the start of Elizabeth’s reign, England had no overseas possessions. In contrast, Spain was acquiring great wealth from vast territories it conquered in North, Central, and South America. England wanted a share of the action. So, enterprising adventurers set sail across oceans seeking fame, fortune, and new trade routes to China and the Far East. Sir Francis Drake became the first sea captain to sail his own ship around the world, plundering Spanish treasure ships as he navigated up the west coast of South and North America. Challenging Spain’s monopoly of the New World, Sir Walter Raleigh sponsored attempts to found a colony on the East Coast of North America. The territory that he claimed there he named Virginia in honor of England’s Virgin Queen. Although those early colonizing attempts failed, they awakened England’s interest in future ventures. When Spain’s “Invincible Armada” was defeated, England grew in maritime confidence and Elizabeth supported new trading enterprises on the other side of the world in southeast Asia. The stage was set for the foundation of a British Empire that would eventually encircle the globe.c

Elizabeth’s reputation even increased toward the end of the 19th century when she was credited with the birth of the British Empire, which by then covered a quarter of the world.

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JOHN DEE AND THE BRITISH EMPIRE

Elizabeth called John Dee (1527-1608/9) her philosopher. A respected mathematician, geographer, and astronomer, he was also deeply interested in astrology and the occult. He advised the queen on the most propitious day for her coronation and practiced his arts in her court. Credited with popularizing the term “British Empire,” he encouraged Elizabeth to view herself as empress of a future empire to be gained by controlling the oceans and colonizing new lands. To this end he tutored explorers in navigation, particularly in their search for Northeast and Northwest passages to the Orient, and he backed schemes to colonize the North American continent.

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Photograph taken by courtesy of the British Museum