Coronation of Elizabeth I

The coronation of Elizabeth I as Queen of England and Ireland took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on 15 January 1559.^¹ Elizabeth I ascended the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her half-sister, Mary I, on 17 November 1558.^¹ Mary had reversed the Protestant Reformation which had been started by her two predecessors, so this was the last coronation in Great Britain to be conducted under the authority of the Catholic Church.^¹ Historians view Elizabeth's coronation as a statement of her intention to restore England to Protestantism, but to allow the continuation of some Catholic customs, a compromise known as the Elizabethan Settlement.^¹