elizabethan era elizabethan era the elizabethan era is the epoch in the tudor period of the history of england during the reign of queen elizabeth i (1558–1603). historians often depict it as the golden age in english history. the symbol of britannia (a female personification of great britain) 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 spain. elizabethan era1558–1603monarch(s)elizabeth ileader(s) elizabeth i william cecil, 1st baron burghley thomas radclyffe, 3rd earl of sussex francis walsingham robert dudley, 1st earl of leicester francis knollys the elder see others at list of ministers to queen elizabeth i. ← preceded bytudor period followed by →jacobean era periods in english history prehistoric britainuntil c. 43 adbritish iron agec. 800 bcroman britainc. 43–410sub-roman britainc. 400s – late 500sanglo-saxonc. 500–1066norman1066–1154plantagenet1154–1485tudor1485–1603 elizabethan1558–1603stuart1603–1714 jacobean1603–1625caroline1625–1649(interregnum)1649–1660restoration1660–1714georgian era1714–1837 regency era1811–1820victorian era1837–1901edwardian era1901–1914first world war1914–1918interwar britain1919–1939second world war1939–1945postwar britain (political)1945–1979postwar britain (social)1945–1979