Elizabeth Tudor was raised as a Protestant; her mother, Ann Boelyn, was one of the Ladies-In-Waiting to Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first wife who was the widow of his elder brother. Henry VIII joined the Protestant cause not for the sake of the Reformation, but because the Pope refused to annul his marriage to Catherine for the fact that she seemed unable to provide a male heir. Boelyn bore Elizabeth to Henry, but when her second child was a stillborn male, Henry accused her of adultery with her music teacher and even incest with her own brother; she was summarily beheaded. Elizabeth came to the throne only after both her hemophiliac half-brother, Edward VI, and her Catholic half-sister Mary I had both reigned and died childless. Nicknamed "Bloody Mary," for her burning and disemboweling of Protestants in the streets, Mary, who was married to Philip II of Spain, brought the deadly hand of the Spanish Inquisition to England and restored Catholicism; she died shortly after learning that a suspected pregnancy was really a uterine tumor. Elizabeth, imprisoned for being long suspected of heresy and plotting to overthrow Mary, quoted Psalm 118 when she learned of her accession: "This is the work of the Lord and it is a marvel in our eyes!"
Elizabeth, in an attempt to right her father's and sister's wrongs, embraced the Reformation, reorganized and reinstituted the Protestant Church Of England, galvanized English Christian theological and philosophical thought, and brought peace and prosperity to her country as well as Protestantism as a whole. She survived multiple plots to overthrow and/or assassinate her, and catapulted England to the top of the ladder of European Empires. In so doing, she destroyed Spain's hold on the Atlantic, ended their genocide of South American natives, brought the Papacy to it's knees, and helped expose and bring an end to the terrors of the Inquisition. She wrote many prayers, religious poems, and dissertations; and, although hotly debated due to her many suitors upon which she bestowed both lands and titles, I believe, because of her well-documented prayer life and overactive hand within her Church, remained a virgin unto death.
I hereby proclaim Elizabeth Tudor Saint Elizabeth The First of Christ's Church both on Earth and in Heaven; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The tale of the attempted Spanish and French invasion of England after Saint Elizabeth the First executed Mary, Queen of Scots, for attempting to assassinate and overthrow her, was a point not relatively covered well in the latest film about her life; in reality, the story was much more complicated and, in my mind, miraculous. Philip II of Spain's Armada of warships and troop carrying barges suffered only about a 1/3 loss in the English fire ship attack that hit the Spaniards and French fleets at anchor due to choppy English Channel gales. The rest of Philip's forces sailed north into the gales to escape both reefs and the English fleet; because of head winds, St. Elizabeth's land forces were able to keep up with them, moving both cannon and encampments north staying pretty much on target with the enemy fleet. Meanwhile, England's fleet, made up mostly of privateers and their little individual fleets of nothing more than merchant ships fitted out with cannon, and pirates who were eager to have an excuse to retire on Aztec and Inca gold that had been taken away from the murderous Spanish galleons that left those civilizations destroyed, sailed up the West coast of England to intercept Philip's ships when they rounded the Northern point of Scotland.
The headwinds were so strong for the Spaniards in the Channel that they lost another 10% of their ships to storms and cannon fire from the coast. The English ships traveled much faster off the West coast, and rounded the point of Scotland far ahead of the Spanish fleet; they were lying in wait at the Northern end of the channel at anchor and facing the approaching Spaniards broadside. The cannon barrages then began to hit the Spaniards from land and sea; those who tried to escape by turning south again were driven onto the rocky shores of Scotland by the winds. Only a few ships managed to get passed the English on their Eastern flank and they limped back to Spain on the West side of England.
In one fell swoop, a miracle had happened; the largest Armada of ships and amphibious troops ever assembled in history had been destroyed by weather, some cannons on land, and a rag tag fleet of volunteer pirates that wanted to go straight and fight for their homeland. Saint Elizabeth was grateful to them, allowed them to keep large, fare shares of Spain's blood-looted gold, and she pardoned all who served in the defense of England against the Armada. As a result of this miracle of "sinners repentant," those former pirates went on to found the officer corps of the new English navy, establish respectable businesses, marry and raise children, and be productive to society.
The King of Spain and the Pope who financially backed him were ruined and everything from the Inquisition to Spain's attempts to colonize the Americas suffered thereafter; there simply weren't enough ships, troops, or money to continue the fight for control of the Atlantic. God's big, red, waxy rubber-stamp on Protestantism! A miracle...

What's saint-worthy about dying a virgin? Her list of accomplishments would seem to have been enough without that peculiarity.

The Saint-worthiness of dying a virgin is only present when one does so out of a personal commitment to God; I was only saying that I personally believe she did, even though others may argue the point. Her writings show of an incredible devotion to God and her position as the Head of the Church and Defender of the Faith.
Here is another miracle! When Elizabeth made her conscious decision to consecrate herself to God, she began wearing a white alabaster cosmetic that had the effect of making her look like a living statue. The cosmetic and/or its recipe was from the orient; women of the upper classes of China and Japan wore it first; it was made of alabaster, eggshell, egg whites, lead, and arsenic. The average age for a woman of the Royal class was 45-55; Saint Elizabeth lived to be 63, despite her applying lead and arsenic to her skin every day for 35 years.

Declaring her to be a "saint" based on what authority? Isnt that a Catholic thing anyway? Just curious.

My grandfather was "Chester, Patron Saint of Moderation." According to my mother, anyway.

I heard they didn't. err, she wouldn't fit into the canon...

Depending on what version of the Bible you read, the word "Saint" appears many times. Some Bibles (notably not most Catholic versions) even add the word to the titles of the Gospels and Epistles, i.e.: "St. Matthew, St. Mark;" and "The Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians..." I believe that, in the fullness of time at the Last Judgment, all those who claim the Blood of Christ as the payment for their sin will be welcomed into Heaven as Saints. Those who die having displayed heroic Christian virtue, sacrifice, and whose lives seem to have been surrounded with miraculous happenings should be named Saints before God's people here on Earth; their lives and, in some cases, their deaths, should be held up as examples for the living.
I do this because I feel the Holy Spirit has asked me to and, because of the Word of God, I believe I have the power and the right to do so; "You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melcheizedek of old," "whatever you bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven; whatever you loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven." I also believe in the "priesthood of all believers," and that those who serve God are "anointed priest, prophet, and King;" and, as Saint Paul said: "are coheirs with Christ and of His Kingdom."
Many Protestant Churches have Saints; Saint Martin Luther is an example. The Anglican/Episcopalian Churches have and name Saints; the R u s s i a n Orthodox Church, restored since the fall of the U.S.S.R, has named Tzar Nicholas II and his murdered family as Saints of their Church; and both Greek and Eastern Orthodox Churches have and name their own Saints. I do this, as I said, because I feel God asks me to...

Why are the words R u s s i a and R u s s i a n automatically edited out of posts? Have the become dirty words because of Vladimir Putin?

Probably because of R u s s i a n bride spam.