Challenges to Elizabeth's rule

Elizabeth was the daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. In order to divorce his first wife Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn, Henry started the English reformation and created the CofE, after the Pope would not allow him a divorce
For this reason, Catholics did not recognise Henry’s divorce, and as such saw Elizabeth as illegitimate
Her father had also declared her illegitimate earlier to prevent the line of succession going to her - a decision he would later go back on

England was divided when it came to religion, as the recent English reformation led to a change in religion for the country from Catholic to Protestant. Since then, the religion of the country changed with its ruler, leading to different people with different beliefs.
Elizabeth was a Protestant, meaning her rule was not supported by Catholics as a suitable leader
Her case was worsened as a more suitable Catholic monarch, Mary Queen of Scots was favoured by Catholic nobles

Mary Stuart was seen as a more favourable ruler in the eyes of Catholic nobles, who wanted to see a fellow Catholic on the throne
Mary also had a legitimate claim to the throne as the great-granddaughter of King Henry VII

Elizabeth faced challenge to her rule due to the Tudor stereotypes around women that she had to face. In a patriarchal society, Elizabeth had to prove she was worthy of being Queen, and did so often by demonstrating masculine traits in her portraits
She also faced bias as the last rule of a female leader was Mary Tudor or Bloody Mary, who was known for her violent nature and killed hundreds of protestants.
Although women were expected to marry, Elizabeth could not marry someone from France or Spain at the risk of making the other her enemy, in the same way she couldn’t marry a Protestant or Catholic
Eventually she declared herself to be ‘married to her country’, which showed her dedication to England, however proved a problem as she would not go on to produce an heir for the throne