Did Queen Elizabeth I have good health? Or was she sick a lot?

Question

Did Queen Elizabeth I have good health? Or was she sick a lot?

Answer 1

She did pretty well and was able to ride when quite an old lady by the standards of her day (like our present monarch).  At the age of 55, for example, she rode from London to Tilbury to encourage the troops setting off to fight the Spanish Armada.  However, in October 1562, only four years into her reign, she alarmed everyone by nearly dying of smallpox.  The scars remained with her for the rest of her life, hence her need for heavy make-up.

Answer 2

She was robust and had a lot of energy, but did suffer some illnesses, the most serious of which was smallpox in 1562.  It was feared she would die, but she recovered with few signs of the pockmarks that most were left with.  (Hence white lead make-up to mask them.)  Her lady-in-waiting, Lady Mary Sidney, was not so lucky and was so badly scarred that she never appeared at court again.

I believe she also suffered from an attack from nephritis in her youth, but can't find the reference.

Her troubled adolescence had made her neurotic, and she suffered intermittent panic attacks, irrational fears and bouts of emotional paralysis along with feelings of terrible dread.  She couldn't tolerate loud noises, although she had a quick temper.

The queen made a speedy recovery from a bout of gastro-enteritis.

She suffered, like her father, from what was probably a varicose ulcer on her leg, first mentioned in 1569.  It didn't heal properly, but she still continued her duties; it healed by 1571.  Also like her father, she abhorred illness and could not bear people thinking that she was ill.

Toothache plagued her from time to time, and there is a famous story that when a tooth was paining her, doctors were too scared to suggest it be extracted.  All methods of relief failed until the heroic Bishop Aylmer of London demonstrated that it was not such a terrible process and had one of his own decayed teeth pulled out in her presence.  The queen finally agreed to the extraction.  After this, the subject of teeth became taboo with her, and she resolved to keep hers and suffer rather than have them out as they decayed.  This decision condemned her to years of intermittent pain from toothache, gum disease and resultant neuralgia in the face and neck.  A foreign observer who saw her in old age noticed that her remaining teeth were "very yellow and unequal, and many of them are missing".

Her generally robust health allowed her to exercise daily, and she could remain standing for hours, which discomfited her exhausted courtiers and foreign ambassadors.  She loved to ride and hunt.  Admitting to illness meant that people would think she was, to a degree, out of control; it meant giving in to human weakness, and Elizabeth enjoyed being regarded as more than human.  Illness also betokened advancing age, which she would never admit to, and it threatened the image of eternal youth so central to the cult of the Virgin Queen.

At the end of the 1500s, Elizabeth was beginning to show signs of ageing.  She was not riding out in the park so often, and after a mile or two would complain "of the uneasy going of her horse, and when she is taken down, her legs are so benumbed that she is unable to stand".  This did not deter her from trying to show that she was still hale and hearty, and roared at Lord Hunsdon when he ventured to suggest that it might not be wise for one of her years to ride horseback all the way from Hampton Court to Nonsuch.

After the Earl of Essex's (one of the queen's favourites) death in 1601, she was weary and sad, and suffered bouts of depression.  Her energy drained from her, and she grew careless and forgetful.

In August 1602 Elizabeth announced that she was in better health than for the past twelve years.  She exercised vigorously by riding and hunting, arriving home shattered, but took care to go for a long walk the next day in case her courtiers guessed she was exhausted.  However, there were signs that her memory was failing, and by the end of the year a deep depression descended on her.  It became obvious to all that time was running out.  By now, she had rheumatism, too.

Here is a description of her death:

http://www.elizabethi.org/uk/death/

Answer 3

...she was  fit n fine.....no issues with her health wealth or anything......u don't worry..take it easy

Answer 4

She reigned for 40 years so I'm guessing she was pretty strong. A feeble person or one suffering constantly from ill health could never have kept the reigns of power for so long in such a turbulent time. she made England the richest and most powerful country in Europe. Elizabeth The Golden Age has hit the theaters. Rent "Elizabeth" first (Cate Blanchette) before you see this one. It's very indicative of the times.