Queen Anne

(*1665 - † 1714)

Biography

Anne was the daughter of James II and his first wife Anne Hyde (the daughter of Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon). Anne was a Protestant and married to George, Prince of Denmark. Even though she was pregnant 17 times she only gave birth to five children, none of them survived to inherit the throne. One of the reasons for the passing of the Act of Settlement in 1701.

In 1702 Anne succeeded her brother in law William III to the throne. She died in 1714 and passed the throne on to her cousin from Hanover, Georg Ludwig. [1]

Reign (1702-1714)

The reign of Queen Anne was dominated by war and political and religious changes.

The War of Spanish Succession was an alliance between England, Scotland, the Netherlands and Portugal to fight against Louis XIV of France and his allies Spain and Bavaria (Maurer 240). England was very successful, thanks to John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough (amongst others, he won the battle of Höchstädt, or, as it is known in English-speaking countries, the Battle of Blenheim - for which the Queen rewarded him with Blenheim Palace). In 1713 the Treaty of Utrecht was signed in which Louis XIV had to acknowledge Anne’s title and to exile her half-brother James Francis Edward Stuart (Maurer 240). With this, Britain positioned itself as new world-power: “Unter Anna erreichte die englische Armee eine Stärke von durchschnittlich 120.000 Mann. Auch die englische Flotte wurde in den Jahrzehnten kontinuierlich ausgebaut. Sie galt 1714 bereits als stärkste der Welt“ (Maurer 239).

The Anglican Church and its political influence were an important issue during the time of Queen Anne. Religion and political powers were strongly connected. There was the division of the church between the High Church and the Low Church. Both churches were supported by a political party. The Tories supported the High Church, the Whigs the Low Church. The connection of politics and religion resulted in the different opinions of how much influence the church should have. Supporters of the High Church wanted a close connection between the state and the church, while the supporters of the Low Church tried to divide the State from the church in terms of political power. The final decision was made after Queen Anne I died (Maurer 237-238): “Als dann die Hannoveraner auf dem Thron waren, stützten sie sich hauptsächlich auf die Whigs, die sie auf diesen Thron gebracht hatten“ (Maurer 238).

Literature

Maurer, Michael. Kleine Geschichte Englands. Reclam: Stuttgart 1997.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/anne_queen.shtml

http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/KingsandQueensoftheUnitedKingdom/TheStuarts/Anne.aspx