Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603), daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, was perhaps the greatest monarch in all of English history. Her long reign, from 1558–1603, is known as the Elizabethan Age. Elizabeth used her navy to explore and colonize foreign lands and sent Sir Walter Raleigh to establish the colony of "Virginia" in North America. With Elizabeth's secret support and blessing, the pirate, Sir Francis Drake, preyed on Spanish ships and colonies for treasure, helping to finance the growth of the greatest power in Europe. Elizabeth's reign was unprecedented in many respects: forty-five years of stable government and internal peace, the flourishing of English art, drama and literature, the exploration of the world by her adventurous nobles, and the domination of the seas by her much feared navy. Not least was the fact that she commanded such power and respect and ruled so capably as a single woman in an era when women's power, usually slight, was normally derived through their husbands. She was, and still is, known by the people of England as "Good Queen Bess."