Notable features of the Elizabethan era include:

• The development of Elizabethan theater
• The work of Francis Bacon in formulating early elements of the scientific method
• The literature (plays, books, and poetry) of:
  • William Shakespeare
  • Christopher Marlowe
  • Ben Jonson
  • Thomas Kyd
• Periodic outbreaks of the Black Death
• The continuation of hostilities between England and Ireland
• The defeat of the Spanish Armada by English naval forces.
• The sea explorations of Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh
• Other illustrious names associated with the reign of Elizabeth I include: John Dee, Richard Grenville, and Sir Philip Sidney.