The
Elizabethan era is the epoch in
English history marked by the reign of
Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the
golden age in English history. The symbol of
Britannia was first used in 1572, and often thereafter, to mark the Elizabethan age as a renaissance that inspired national pride through classical ideals, international expansion, and naval triumph over the Spanish — at the time, a rival kingdom much hated by the people of the land. In terms of the entire century, the historian
John Guy (1988) argues that "England was economically healthier, more expansive, and more optimistic under the
Tudors" than at any time in a thousand years.