|
Elizabeth's
reign was one of glamour and the start of a change
in society. New brick houses were being built and
a new emphasis was being placed on the arts. The
theatre became popular, especially with the building
of the Globe in 1599.
During
the 1500s England built up her sea power. During
the reign of Elizabeth I there were more and more
voyages into unknown areas. Sea captains like
Drake and Hawkins took every opportunity to capture
the ships of other countries especially those
of Spain and Portugal. These men were seen as
pirates or profiteers, depending which side you
were on. The Queen did little to stop them.
So
when the idea of a company trading with the East
was first put to Elizabeth I she hesitated. She
knew what her seamen were like and thought they
might attack traders from other countries especially
the Portuguese and Dutch who were England's main
rivals. On 31 December 1600 she gave a charter
to The Company of Merchants in the City of London
which gave them a monopoly to trade between the
Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn. That covered
all the Indian and Pacific Oceans. This meant
that no other English company or people were allowed
to trade in that area.
When the first voyage of the East India Company
embarked in 1601, it took with it a letter written
by Elizabeth to the Sumatran Sultan
Alauddin Shah.
|
