On this day in Tudor history, 5th June 1600, Elizabeth I’s favourite, thirty-four-year-old Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, was charged with insubordination during his time in Ireland at a special hearing at York House.

Essex had been made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1599, but his campaign against the Irish was unsuccessful. He constantly ignored the Queen’s orders, acted contrary to her wishes and constantly worried about what his enemies were up to back in London. He ended up returning to England without Elizabeth’s permission, which amounted to desertion.

On 18th March 1601, just six days before the day of Queen Elizabeth I,  soldier, secret agent and rebel Sir Christopher Blount was executed on Tower Hill for high treason.

He was accused of treason following his involvement in the rebellion of his stepson, Elizabeth’s former favourite, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex.

On this day in Tudor history, 28th September 1599, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, Elizabeth I’s favourite, strode into the queen’s bedchamber unannounced. Elizabeth wasn’t ready to see people. She wasn’t made up and she wasn’t wearing her wig. She must have been furious with Essex.

Why would Essex do such a thing?

Find out why Robert Devereux needed to see his queen so urgently and how Elizabeth I reacted to his visit…

On this day in Tudor history, 5th June 1600, Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, was in a spot of bother. Even though he was usually one of Elizabeth I’s favourite, Devereux was charged with insubordination. Oh dear.

On this day in 1545, Sir Robert Dymoke, champion at the coronations of Henry VII and Henry VIII, and a man who served in the households of Queens Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, died.

He had an interesting career and survived being suspected of involvement in the 1536 Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion.

Find out more about Sir Robert Dymoke…

On this day in Tudor history, 30th October 1600, Queen Elizabeth I refused to renew Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex’s monopoly on sweet wines, saying that “an unruly horse must be abated of his provender, that he may be the easier and better managed.”

It may not sound like a major event, but it was for Essex and it drove him to desperation and, ultimately, to the scaffold.

Why? What was going on? How could the queen’s refusal to renew this monopoly lead to Essex’s undoing?

Find out what was happened in 1600 and what happened next with the queen and her favourite, in today’s talk.