427 years ago today, in 1588 Elizabeth I rode out like a pure badass, and in front of her army at Tilbury, delivered her famous speech which went like this:
“I know I have the body of a weak, feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm; to which rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field.”
Might not seem like much now but for a woman to say this (especially the queen), was pure hardcore. She gave NO shits about King Phillip of Spain’s plans to take over Britain and convert it back to Catholicism. This prick was married to her mental sister, Mary Tudor (the same one who burned all the Protestants at the steak), and upon her death proposed to Elizabeth so he could keep his slimey hooks on the English throne. Liz knew he was a complete twonk and was prepared to go all out to fuck him up.
The armada came and went and the Spanish were defeated at sea (despite having a much bigger and more experienced army), with a little help from a storm. The sheer fact that Liz had the balls to face her troops and be prepared to fight soldered her place with her people as a fucking awesome ruler.
Go Liz eh

side note – this is just how the tale goes, but is not an eyewitness account and speculated to be somewhat embellished. Elizabeth actually met her troops when the armada was defeated. If you are interested in this, you may also like the Tudorial about Francis Drake. click here to see it.

(Oh PS look at this pic painted after the defeat of the Spanish, clues everywhere about her role in the armada. I like how she’s holding the world. Think she would’ve quite liked it too)