On this day in Tudor history, 28th September, Mary I and her half-sister, Elizabeth, travelled to the Tower of London to prepare for Mary’s coronation; and Elizabeth I’s favourite, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, strode into the queen’s bedchamber unannounced and saw her without her “mask of youth”…
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On this day in Tudor history, 5th June, Catherine of Aragon’s lady and good friend, Maria de Salinas, married William, 10th Lord Willoughby of Eresby; Elizabeth I’s favourite, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, was charged with insubordination; and physician and naturalist Thomas Moffet died…
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On this day in Tudor history, 15th April, kings’ champion Sir Robert Dymoke died; Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, was sworn in as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, little knowing it would lead to his undoing; and privy chamberer Sir John Scudamore was buried…
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On this day in Tudor history, 13th March, Henry Bourchier, 2nd Earl of Essex, died after a horse-riding accident; Welshman Sir Gelly Meyrick was hanged, drawn and quartered after the rebellion of his master, the Earl of Essex, and Elizabethan actor Richard Burbage died…
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On this day in Tudor history, 8th February, Mary, Queen of Scots was executed in a rather botched beheading, and Elizabeth I’s favourite, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, launched a rebellion, which did not go well…
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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.
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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.
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On this day in Tudor history, 30th October 1600, Queen Elizabeth I punished her former favourite, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, by refusing to renew his monopoly on sweet wines. Elizabeth said that “an unruly horse must be abated of his provender, that he may be the easier and better managed.”
Unfortunately, it drove the Earl of Essex to desperation and, ultimately, to a brutal end on 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…
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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…
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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.
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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…
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On this day in Tudor history, 25th February 1570, Pope Pius V issued the papal bull “Regnans in Excelsis”. This bull not only excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I, it also freed her Catholic subjects from their allegiance to her and called on the English people to disobey her orders, mandates and laws. It threatened excommunication for those who did obey her.
It put Elizabeth I in danger and it put Catholics in an impossible situation.
Find out more about the bull and its impact in this talk…
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On this day in Tudor history, 8th February 1601, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex and Queen Elizabeth I’s former favourite, did a rather foolish thing and raised a rebellion against the queen and her council.
Spoilers: It didn’t go well and he ended up being executed as a traitor.
Find out exactly what happened in this talk…
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On this day in Tudor history, 28th September 1599, Elizabeth I’s favourite, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, strode into the queen’s bedchamber unannounced and saw her without her makeup or wig, without her “mask of youth”.
Why would he do such a thing?
Find out why Devereux was troubled and wanted to see the queen urgently and how Elizabeth I reacted to his visit, and what happened next…
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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.
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On this day in Tudor history, 28th September 1599, Elizabeth I’s favourite, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, strode into the queen’s bedchamber unannounced and saw her without her makeup or wig, without her “mask of youth”.
Why would he do such a thing?
Find out why Devereux was troubled and wanted to see the queen urgently and how Elizabeth I reacted to his visit, and what happened next, in today’s talk.
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On this day in Tudor history, 8th February 1601, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex and Queen Elizabeth I’s former favourite, did a rather foolish thing and raised a rebellion against the queen and her council.
Spoilers: It didn’t go well and he ended up being executed as a traitor.
Find out exactly what happened in today’s talk.
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You’d think that the appointment of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland might be something to be pleased about, but Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, who was sworn in as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland on this day in 1599, was not at all happy. He didn’t want to be in Ireland!
The earl’s time in Ireland was to be his undoing, as the arrogant earl decided to ignore the queen’s orders and do his own thing. Oh dear! Find out what happened in today’s video.
[Read More...]On 25th February 1601, Elizabeth I’s former favourite, Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, was executed by beheading.
In today’s video, I share an excerpt from her book “On This Day in Tudor History” about Essex’s execution, which includes his scaffold speech, before explaining how this man went from being royal favourite to traitor. Pride really did come before a fall in the case of Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex.
[Read More...]On this day in history, 28th September 1599, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, strode into Queen Elizabeth I’s bedchamber unannounced and saw the Queen without her makeup or wig, without her “mask of youth”.
Essex had been confirmed as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland on 30th December 1598 and he left England on 27th March 1599, arriving in Dublin on 14 April. His campaign against the Irish was unsuccessful. Essex had assumed that he’d be able to defeat the Earl of Tyrone and his men quickly, but as things dragged on he became disillusioned with the situation. Exhaustion, disillusionment and a fear that his enemies at court were undermining him and influencing the queen against him, led to him giving up on the Irish situation, making a truce with the Irish rebel leader (against the qqueen’s wishes) and returning to England without the queen’s permission. This amounted to desertion and disobedience, something which Elizabeth I could not and would not tolerate
Devereux rushed back to court at Nonsuch Palace to offer an explanation but ended up making things worse when he strode into the queen’s bedchamber unannounced while she was getting ready:
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Lettice Knollys was born on 8 November 1543 at Rotherfield Greys in Oxfordshire. She was the eldest of sixteen children born to Sir Francis Knollys and his wife, Katherine Carey. Lettice’s mother was the daughter of Mary Boleyn, meaning that Lettice was the great niece of Anne Boleyn. She was also a kinswoman of Elizabeth I. Francis and Katherine Knollys departed for the Continent in the mid-1550s to escape the religious persecution during Mary I’s reign, but it is possible that Lettice remained with Elizabeth Tudor at Hatfield. When Elizabeth came to the throne in 1558, Francis was appointed vice-chamberlain and Katherine, who was close to the queen, was appointed a lady of the bedchamber. Lettice, now in her teens, served as a gentlewoman of the privy chamber.
[Read More...]On this day in history, Sunday 8th February 1601, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, his supporters and two hundred soldiers gathered at Essex House. Essex then marched into the city crying “For the Queen! For the Queen! The crown of England is sold to the Spaniard! A plot is laid for my life!”. However, the people ignored him and stayed indoors.
Essex was forced to give up after his supporters deserted him, and he surrendered after Lord Admiral Nottingham threatened to blow up his house if he did not give himself up.
Thomas Birch gives an account of the failed rebellion in his book…
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At just before 8am on the 25th February 1601, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex was brought out of the Tower of London and walked to the scaffold. He was wearing a black velvet gown, black satin doublet and breeches and a black hat, which he took off as he climbed up onto the scaffold so that he could bow to the people gathered. He then made a speech acknowledging “with thankfulness to God, that he was justly spewed out of the realm”, and said:
[Read More...]Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, was born on this day in history, 10th November 1565, at Netherwood, Herefordshire. Devereux was the eldest son of Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex, and Lettice Knollys, granddaughter of Mary Boleyn, and was a favourite of Elizabeth I. After his father’s death in 1576, William Cecil, Lord Burghley, was made his guardian, and in 1578 his mother married his godfather, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.
Essex first caught the Queen’s attention in 1584 when his stepfather, Leicester, brought him to court, and he was appointed Master of the Horse on his return to court after successful military service in the Netherlands with his stepfather. He was just twenty-one, and the Queen was fifty-three.
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