Reconstruction in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Eliz´abethan Architecture, a style of architecture which prevailed in England during the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. It succeeded to the Tudor style, properly so called, with which it is sometimes confounded. The Elizabethan is a mixture of inferior Gothic and debased Italian, producing a singular heterogeneousness in detail, with, however, wonderful picturesqueness in general effect, and domestic accommodation more in accordance with the wants of an advancing civilization than was afforded by the styles which preceded it. The chief characteristics of Elizabethan architecture are: windows of great size both in the plane of the wall and deeply embayed, ceilings very richly decorated in relief, galleries of great length, very tall and highly-decorated chimneys, as well as a profuse use of ornamental strapwork in the parapets, window-heads, &c. The Elizabethan style is the last stage of the Tudor or Perpendicular, and from its corresponding in point of period with the Renaissance of the Continent has sometimes been called the English Renaissance. The epithet Jacobean has sometimes been given to the very latest stage of the Elizabethan, differing from the Elizabethan proper in showing a greater admixture of debased Italian forms. The princely houses which arose during the reign of Elizabeth are numerous, and many even yet remain to attest the splendour of the time. Of these may be mentioned Burghley House, Hardwick Hall, and Bramhall Hall.—Cf. Gotch and Brown, Architecture of the Renaissance in England.
Elizabeth Farnese (fa˙r-nā´zā), Queen of Spain, daughter of Edward II, Prince of Parma, born 1692, died in 1776. On becoming the second wife of Philip V she surprised those who had counselled the marriage by assuming the practical headship of the kingdom, and her ambition and that of her minister Alberoni disturbed the whole of Europe. Carlyle calls her a "termagant tenacious woman".
Elizabethgrad, a town of the Ukraine, on the Ingul, with an imperial palace, a theatre, manufactures of soap and candles, and several great fairs. Pop. 75,800.
Elizabeth Islands, a group of sixteen American islands south of Cape Cod, with a permanent population of about 150.
Elizabeth of Valois, or Isabella, Queen of Spain, was born in 1545, died in 1568. She was the daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici. By the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis she was destined to be the wife of the Infante, Don Carlos, but his father, Philip II, being left a widower, became fascinated and married her himself. The stories of a romantic relationship existing between Elizabeth and Don Carlos are entirely groundless, but have furnished tragic subjects to Otway, Campistron, Chénier, Schiller, and Alfieri.
Elizabeth Petrovna, Empress of Russia, daughter of Peter the Great and Catherine, born in 1709 or 1710, died in 1762. She ascended the throne on 7th Dec., 1741, as the result of a conspiracy, in which Ivan VI, a minor, was deposed. Elizabeth is said to have rivalled her mother in beauty, and to have surpassed her in her love of pleasure, and her government was largely conducted by favourites. She was a patron of literature, founded the University of Moscow, and corresponded with Voltaire. A war with Sweden, in 1743, was advantageously concluded by the peace of Åbo. In 1748 she sent an army to assist Maria Theresa in the War of the Succession, and joined in the Seven Years' War against Prussia. She died before this war was concluded.—Bibliography: Nisbet Bain. The Daughter of Peter the Great; A. S. Rappoport, The Fair Ladies of the Winter Palace.
Elizabethpol, a town of Russia, in the
Caucasus, capital of the government of same name, covering a great space of ground from the gardens and open areas it contains, but very unhealthy. Pop. 18,505.—The government has an area of 17,000 sq. miles, a pop. of 636,310. It is partly mountainous, partly steppes, and produces grain, cotton, tobacco, and wine.