<u>Queen Elizabeth I succeeded Queen Mary I to the throne</u>, her half-sister from Henry VIII, who had ruled England and Ireland from 1553. Elizabeth I became Queen when her half-sister died in 1558. During her reign, Elizabeth did not follow her sister's policies of re-establishment of Roman Catholicism and elimination of Protestant reforms, instead, she vehemently supported and promoted the English Protestant church, of which she eventualy became the leader.
