1558    Elizabethan era begins: Queen Mary I of England dies and is succeeded by her half-sister Elizabeth I of England.

1559    Elizabeth I is crowned Queen of England in Westminster Abbey, London.

1568    Queen Elizabeth I of England orders the arrest of Mary, Queen of Scots.

1570    Pope Pius V excommunicates Queen Elizabeth I of England.

1586    Mary, Queen of Scots, goes on trial for conspiracy against Elizabeth I of England.

1597    William Shakespeare's ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' is first performed, with Queen Elizabeth I in attendance.