Elizabeth was a master of political science. She inherited her father's supremacist view of the monarchy, but showed great wisdom by refusing to directly antagonize Parliament. She acquired undying devotion from her advisement council, who were constantly perplexed by her habit of waiting to the last minute to make decisions (this was not a deficiency in her makeup, but a tactic that she used to advantage). She used the various factions (instead of being used by them), playing one off another until the exhausted combatants came to her for resolution of their grievances. Few English monarchs enjoyed such political power, while still maintaining the devotion of the whole of English society (Elizabeth I (1558-1603 AD) a Queen with the Heart of a King). From there, she remained a perfect leader during her time period and even in today's society, people only remember her successes and not failures, which makes her the great leader of all time

Opposition

Unfortunately, Queen Elizabeth did not please everyone during her reign, which led to her downfalls. When the Catholics decided not to support her anymore, it led to more downfalls for her and the country.

The first decade of Elizabeth's reign found the Catholics relatively quiet and content. They were settled mainly in the north and west of England, and accepted the 1559 religious settlement. They believed Elizabeth to be illegitimate and thus ineligible to be queen, but neither Pope Paul IV or his successor, Pius IV, seriously challenged her title. She was not even excommunicated until 1570. The two greatest European powers, Spain (the Hapsburg Empire) and France, were cautious but friendly. England had long been a balance between their competing interests. And as mentioned earlier, Philip II of Spain had even sought to marry Elizabeth. For her part, the queen took care not to disturb calm waters.

It seems that her decision not to marry did not make Queen Elizabeth the best leader. When she decided this, it led to her having a lot of people against, people that could affect her reign. It may be believable that since her reign was calm, it appeared too calm by she had to chose sides, which indicated trouble was hidden very well.

Europe was caught in bloody religious turmoil. There was a Protestant rebellion in the Netherlands and Philip II sent the duke of Alva to crush it. There was now a massive military power directly across the Channel from England. Elizabeth's council could only wonder - once Alva's force completed its bloody business there, would he then look to England? And that same year, Mary Stuart fled her disastrous reign in Scotland to seek Elizabeth's help. She needed an army to recover her throne from Protestant rebels who had forced her abdication and imprisoned her. Elizabeth and her councilors were aghast. Mary was the true queen of England in the eyes of Catholic Europe, as well as some Catholic Englishmen. And she was now in England, on her way to becoming the greatest quandary of Elizabeth's reign. Just as Elizabeth had been the inevitable focus of conspiracies and plots against Mary I's rule, Mary queen of Scots would be the focus of discontent against Elizabeth. And if Elizabeth should die, naturally or otherwise, Mary had the strongest claim to the English throne. All of the Protestant councilors were terrified

This is because a balance cannot be maintained in a such manner.
For the queen, her cherished and precarious balance, successfully maintained for a decade, was falling to pieces. She took the precaution of imprisoning Mary queen of Scots in a variety of secure castles. At first, this 'imprisonment' was little more than an inconvenience since Mary wished to return home. She sincerely believed Elizabeth would help her, as a fellow queen and cousin. She never recognized the political danger she brought to bear upon her 'sweet sister'. Elizabeth was told by the Protestant lords in Scotland that Mary was unwelcome; she faced certain death if she returned. Her infant son (whose birth caused Elizabeth to exclaim, 'Alack, the Queen of Scots is lighter of a bonny son, and I am but of barren stock!') was now king. The Scots also plied Elizabeth's council with evidence of Mary's complicity in her second husband's murder. Would the queen of England lend her support to such a woman? It was indeed a vexing problem. Elizabeth settled upon appointing a commission to investigate the charges against Mar (Elizabeth 1).

Even though she tried to keep the peace within the country, she did not keep the peace within her family. If she was a good leadership, she would have kept the peace with her cousin and live by example.

Elizabeth was always of two minds regarding her cousin. She recognized the danger which Mary represented, but she was acutely conscious of Mary's status as a sovereign queen unlawfully deposed by her subjects. She could not impugn her cousin's dignity without risking damage to the ideal of royal prerogative. The trick was to deprive Mary of her standing as a sovereign. Mary's own behavior, in Scotland and England, gave Elizabeth a distinct advantage. Even staunch Catholic allies were troubled by Mary's reported crimes. Perhaps she was innocent of complicity in her second husband's murder, but she had married James Hepburn, the earl of Bothwell in a Protestant ceremony. And the evidence of the 'Casket Letters' (now believed to be false) supported the theory that Mary and Bothwell had an adulterous affair and then plotted Darnley's murder. This erosion of Mary's reputation necessarily alienated her moderate supporters. But for the extremists, such flaws could be overlooked for the greater good of overthrowing the heretic Elizabeth (Queen Elizabeth a good leader).

Conclusion

Despite her downfalls, she was an excellent leader, which makes her very remembered. 'Proud and haughty, as although she knows she was born of such a mother, she nevertheless does not consider herself of inferior degree to the Queen, whom she equals in self-esteem; nor does she believe herself less legitimate than her Majesty, alleging in her own favour that her mother would never cohabit with the King unless by way of marriage, with the authority of the Church.

She prides herself on her father and glories in him; everybody saying that she also resembles him more than the Queen does and he therefore always liked her and had her brought up in the same way as the Queen.' The Venetian ambassador Giovanni Michiel describes Elizabeth; spring 1557" "