118-717: Robert Cecil may refer to: Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury (1563–1612), English administrator and politician, MP for Westminster, and for Hertfordshire Robert Cecil (1670–1716) , Member of Parliament for Castle Rising, and for Wootton Basset Robert Cecil (MP for Old Sarum) (died 1657), English politician Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood (1864–1958) British lawyer, politician and diplomat Robert Cecil (British diplomat) (1913–1994), British diplomat and writer Robert Gascoyne-Cecil (disambiguation) , several people See also [ edit ] Cecil Roberts (disambiguation) [REDACTED] Topics referred to by
236-637: A secret correspondence with James in Scotland, to persuade James that he favoured his claims to the English throne. An understanding was now effected by which Cecil was able to assure James of his succession, ensure his own power and predominance in the new reign against Sir Walter Raleigh and other competitors, and secure the tranquillity of the last years of Elizabeth. Cecil demanded as conditions that James stop his attempts to obtain parliamentary recognition of his title, that absolute respect should be paid to
354-631: A Catholic aristocrat exiled to Spain and secretary to King Philip II. Three letters exist today describing the interview, detailing what Arthur proclaimed to be the story of his life, from birth in the royal palace to the time of his arrival in Spain. However, this failed to convince the Spaniards: Englefield admitted to King Philip that Arthur's "claim at present amounts to nothing", but suggested that "he should not be allowed to get away, but [...] kept very secure." The King agreed, and Arthur
472-410: A body politic to govern, so shall I desire you all ... to be assistant to me, that I with my ruling and you with your service may make a good account to Almighty God and leave some comfort to our posterity on earth. I mean to direct all my actions by good advice and counsel. As her triumphal progress wound through the city on the eve of the coronation ceremony , she was welcomed wholeheartedly by
590-687: A house of the Duke of Montpensier in Paris, and subsequently travelled south to meet the French king at Angers in March. They had their final audiences with the king at Nantes and the Duke de Bouillon gave Cecil a locket with the king's portrait. They sailed home to Portsmouth from Ouistreham , a port near Caen , in the Adventure commanded by Sir Alexander Clifford. Cecil became the leading minister after
708-450: A little man, I shall shortly load your shoulders with business", the King joked to him at their first meeting. Cecil, who had endured a lifetime of jibes about his height (even Queen Elizabeth had called him "pygmy" and "little man"; he had a curvature of the spine and was barely 5 feet (1.5 m) tall), is unlikely to have found the joke funny, while the crushing weight of business with which
826-547: A plot, but had no firm evidence until the Catholic peer, William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle , showed him the celebrated anonymous letter, warning Monteagle to stay away from the opening of Parliament. The Gunpowder Plot itself was a belated reaction to what was seen as the King's betrayal of a pledge to repeal, or at least mitigate, the Penal Laws . Cecil was undoubtedly among those who advised King James I not to tamper with
944-462: A protégé of Francis Walsingham (Elizabeth's principal spymaster), he was trained by them in spy-craft as a matter of course. The " Rainbow Portrait " of Queen Elizabeth at Hatfield , decorated with eyes and ears, may relate to this role. Cecil, like his father, greatly admired the Queen, whom he famously described as being "more than a man, but less than a woman". Despite his careful preparations for
1062-600: A queen, having reigned such a time, lived and died a virgin". Later on, poets and writers took up the theme and developed an iconography that exalted Elizabeth. Public tributes to the Virgin by 1578 acted as a coded assertion of opposition to the queen's marriage negotiations with the Duke of Alençon. Ultimately, Elizabeth would insist she was married to her kingdom and subjects, under divine protection. In 1599, she spoke of "all my husbands, my good people". This claim of virginity
1180-561: A relatively old-fashioned property that the King disliked. Salisbury had a disposition for building and tore down parts of it and used its bricks to build Hatfield House . Work continued on the house until 1612. He remodelled Cranborne Manor , originally a small hunting lodge, and built Salisbury House (also referred to as Cecil House), his London residence on the Strand. The Cecil family fostered arts: they supported musicians such as William Byrd , Orlando Gibbons , Thomas Robinson , and
1298-583: A result, the Parliament of 1559 started to legislate for a church based on the Protestant settlement of Edward VI , with the monarch as its head, but with many Catholic elements, such as vestments . The House of Commons backed the proposals strongly, but the bill of supremacy met opposition in the House of Lords , particularly from the bishops. Elizabeth was fortunate that many bishoprics were vacant at
SECTION 10
#17327982624401416-458: A short-tempered, sometimes indecisive ruler, who enjoyed more than her fair share of luck. Towards the end of her reign, a series of economic and military problems weakened her popularity. Elizabeth is acknowledged as a charismatic performer ("Gloriana") and a dogged survivor ("Good Queen Bess") in an era when government was ramshackle and limited, and when monarchs in neighbouring countries faced internal problems that jeopardised their thrones. After
1534-481: A silver breastplate over a white velvet dress, she addressed them in her Speech to the Troops at Tilbury : My loving people, we have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit ourself to armed multitudes for fear of treachery; but I assure you, I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people ... I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman, but I have
1652-417: A sort broken our commandment in a cause that so greatly touches us in honour ... And therefore our express pleasure and commandment is that, all delays and excuses laid apart, you do presently upon the duty of your allegiance obey and fulfill whatsoever the bearer hereof shall direct you to do in our name. Whereof fail you not, as you will answer the contrary at your utmost peril. Elizabeth's "commandment"
1770-653: A sympathetic teacher who believed that learning should be engaging. Current knowledge of Elizabeth's schooling and precocity comes largely from Ascham's memoirs. By the time her formal education ended in 1550, Elizabeth was one of the best educated women of her generation. At the end of her life, she was believed to speak the Welsh , Cornish , Scottish , and Irish languages in addition to those mentioned above. The Venetian ambassador stated in 1603 that she "possessed [these] languages so thoroughly that each appeared to be her native tongue". Historian Mark Stoyle suggests that she
1888-475: A talented and skilful tutor, she also progressed in French and Greek. By the age of 12, she was able to translate her stepmother Catherine Parr 's religious work Prayers or Meditations from English into Italian, Latin, and French, which she presented to her father as a New Year's gift. From her teenage years and throughout her life, she translated works in Latin and Greek by numerous classical authors, including
2006-452: A thousand pieces". However, after Parr discovered the pair in an embrace, she ended this state of affairs. In May 1548, Elizabeth was sent away. Thomas Seymour nevertheless continued scheming to control the royal family and tried to have himself appointed the governor of the King's person. When Parr died after childbirth on 5 September 1548, he renewed his attentions towards Elizabeth, intent on marrying her. Her governess Kat Ashley , who
2124-535: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury , KG , PC (1 June 1563 – 24 May 1612) was an English statesman noted for his direction of the government during the Union of the Crowns , as Tudor England gave way to Stuart rule (1603). Lord Salisbury served as
2242-537: Is guilty". Seymour was beheaded on 20 March 1549. Edward VI died on 6 July 1553, aged 15. His will ignored the Succession to the Crown Act 1543 , excluded both Mary and Elizabeth from the succession, and instead declared as his heir Lady Jane Grey, granddaughter of Henry VIII's younger sister Mary Tudor, Queen of France . Jane was proclaimed queen by the privy council , but her support quickly crumbled, and she
2360-660: The Pro Marcello of Cicero , the De consolatione philosophiae of Boethius , a treatise by Plutarch , and the Annals of Tacitus . A translation of Tacitus from Lambeth Palace Library, one of only four surviving English translations from the early modern era, was confirmed as Elizabeth's own in 2019, after a detailed analysis of the handwriting and paper was undertaken. After Grindal died in 1548, Elizabeth received her education under her brother Edward's tutor, Roger Ascham ,
2478-513: The Bye and Main Plots ; George, her younger brother, was executed at Winchester on 5 December 1603 for high treason . In 1608, Frances Cecil caught the eye of King James I's daughter Elizabeth and she made Sir John Harington write to Salisbury to invite her to join her household. She married the 5th Earl of Cumberland and had one daughter but no sons. In 1584, Cecil sat for the first time in
SECTION 20
#17327982624402596-601: The Flight of the Earls . The response of the government was to plan a Plantation of Ulster , to share out Tyrone's lands between the Gaelic Irish lords and the settlers from Britain. In 1608, Sir Cahir O'Doherty launched O'Doherty's rebellion by attacking and burning Derry . In the wake of O'Doherty's defeat at Kilmacrennan , a much larger plantation was undertaken. Cecil wrote humorous letters to his friend Adam Newton
2714-573: The Great Contract , under which the King would give up all his feudal and customary sources of revenue (wardship and purveyance) in return for a fixed annual income of approximately £300,000. The rationale was that the King was spending extravagantly, exceeding his income by £140,000, and putting the kingdom into debt. By 1608, the debt was £1.4 million, although the Lord Treasurer managed to get that down to £300,000 by 1610. The project
2832-542: The Secretary of State of England (1596–1612) and Lord High Treasurer (1608–1612), succeeding his father as Queen Elizabeth I 's Lord Privy Seal and remaining in power during the first nine years of King James I 's reign until his own death. The principal discoverer of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, Robert Cecil remains a controversial historic figure as it is still debated at what point he first learned of
2950-749: The Spanish ships to the northeast. The Armada straggled home to Spain in shattered remnants, after disastrous losses on the coast of Ireland (after some ships had tried to struggle back to Spain via the North Sea , and then back south past the west coast of Ireland). Unaware of the Armada's fate, English militias mustered to defend the country under the Earl of Leicester's command. Leicester invited Elizabeth to inspect her troops at Tilbury in Essex on 8 August. Wearing
3068-680: The Spanish Netherlands . In December 1584, an alliance between Philip II and the French Catholic League at Joinville undermined the ability of Anjou's brother, Henry III of France , to counter Spanish domination of the Netherlands. It also extended Spanish influence along the channel coast of France, where the Catholic League was strong, and exposed England to invasion. The siege of Antwerp in
3186-470: The Tower of London . Elizabeth fervently protested her innocence. Though it is unlikely that she had plotted with the rebels, some of them were known to have approached her. Mary's closest confidant, Emperor Charles's ambassador Simon Renard , argued that her throne would never be safe while Elizabeth lived; and Lord Chancellor Stephen Gardiner , worked to have Elizabeth put on trial. Elizabeth's supporters in
3304-482: The crucifix ), and downplayed the role of sermons in defiance of a key Protestant belief. Elizabeth and her advisers perceived the threat of a Catholic crusade against heretical England. The Queen therefore sought a Protestant solution that would not offend Catholics too greatly while addressing the desires of English Protestants, but she would not tolerate the Puritans , who were pushing for far-reaching reforms. As
3422-667: The succession question became a heated issue in Parliament. Members urged the Queen to marry or nominate an heir, to prevent a civil war upon her death. She refused to do either. In April she prorogued the Parliament, which did not reconvene until she needed its support to raise taxes in 1566. Having previously promised to marry, she told an unruly House: I will never break the word of a prince spoken in public place, for my honour's sake. And therefore I say again, I will marry as soon as I can conveniently, if God take not him away with whom I mind to marry, or myself, or else some other great let [obstruction] happen. By 1570, senior figures in
3540-758: The 1580s, but did not take a degree. He also attended "disputations" at the Sorbonne . In 1589, Cecil married Elizabeth Brooke, the daughter of William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham by his second wife, Frances Newton . Their son, William Cecil , was born in Westminster on 28 March 1591, and baptised in St Clement Danes on 11 April. He was followed by a daughter, Lady Frances Cecil (1593–1644). Elizabeth died in 1597, leaving Cecil with two small children. Her brothers Henry, 11th Baron Cobham , and George Brooke were arrested by Cecil for their involvement in
3658-474: The Babington Plot. Elizabeth's proclamation of the sentence announced that "the said Mary, pretending title to the same Crown, had compassed and imagined within the same realm diverse things tending to the hurt, death and destruction of our royal person." On 8 February 1587, Mary was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle , Northamptonshire. After the execution, Elizabeth claimed that she had not intended for
Robert Cecil - Misplaced Pages Continue
3776-760: The Bye Plot and the Main Plot, an attempt to remove King James I from the throne and replace him with his first cousin, Lady Arbella Stuart . Cecil was one of the judges who tried them for treason : at Raleigh's trial, Cecil was the only judge who appeared to have some doubts about his guilt (which is still a matter of debate, although the prevailing view now is that Raleigh was involved in the Plot to some extent). Though they were found guilty and sentenced to death, both Cobham and Raleigh were eventually reprieved; this may have been due in part to Cecil's pleas for mercy, although
3894-517: The Catholic enemies of England, they detained her in England, where she was imprisoned for the next nineteen years. Mary was soon the focus for rebellion. In 1569 there was a major Catholic rising in the North ; the goal was to free Mary, marry her to Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk , and put her on the English throne. After the rebels' defeat, over 750 of them were executed on Elizabeth's orders. In
4012-635: The Catholics to retake the port. Elizabeth's intention had been to exchange Le Havre for Calais , lost to France in January 1558. Only through the activities of her fleets did Elizabeth pursue an aggressive policy. This paid off in the war against Spain , 80% of which was fought at sea. She knighted Francis Drake after his circumnavigation of the globe from 1577 to 1580, and he won fame for his raids on Spanish ports and fleets. An element of piracy and self-enrichment drove Elizabethan seafarers, over whom
4130-553: The English throne, but from the Ridolfi Plot of 1571 (which caused Mary's suitor, the Duke of Norfolk, to lose his head) to the Babington Plot of 1586, Elizabeth's spymaster Francis Walsingham and the royal council keenly assembled a case against her. At first, Elizabeth resisted calls for Mary's death. By late 1586, she had been persuaded to sanction Mary's trial and execution on the evidence of letters written during
4248-535: The English throne. The marriage was the first of a series of errors of judgement by Mary that handed the victory to the Scottish Protestants and to Elizabeth. Darnley quickly became unpopular and was murdered in February 1567 by conspirators almost certainly led by James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell . Shortly afterwards, on 15 May 1567, Mary married Bothwell, arousing suspicions that she had been party to
4366-479: The House of Commons, representing his birthplace, the borough of Westminster , and was re-elected in 1586. He was a back bencher, never making a speech until 1593, after having been appointed a Privy Councillor. In 1588, he accompanied Lord Derby in his mission to the Netherlands to negotiate peace with Spain. He was elected for Hertfordshire in 1589, 1593, 1597, and 1601, was made a Privy Counsellor in 1591 and
4484-465: The Irish harper and composer Cormac MacDermott . Byrd composed his famous pavane The Earle of Salisbury in his memory. Salisbury's motto was "Sero, sed serio", which can be translated as 'late but in earnest'. In poor health and worn out by years of overwork, Salisbury, in the spring of 1612, went on a journey to take the waters at Bath in hope of a cure; but he obtained little relief. He started on
4602-469: The King duly loaded him probably hastened his death at the age of 48. The Venetian ambassador, Nicolò Molin , described Cecil as short and "crook-backed", with a noble countenance and features. Cecil was the principal discoverer of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605: at what point he first learned of it, and to what extent he acted as an agent provocateur , has been a subject of controversy ever since. On balance, it seems most likely that he had heard rumors of
4720-613: The King kept his intentions a secret until the last minute. King James I raised Robert Cecil to the peerage , on 20 August 1603, as Baron Cecil of Essendon in the County of Rutland. Baron Cecil then led the English delegation at the Treaty of London that brought peace between Spain and England after a long war . Between 1603 and 1604 difficult negotiations with the Spanish delegation took place, but through Cecil's determined statesmanship
4838-561: The King now increasingly preferred the company of his male favourites, like The 1st Earl of Somerset . Although it failed to be implemented, the concept of paying an annual income to the monarch was revived some five decades later as a solution to the nation's financial problems and formed the basis for the financial settlement at the Restoration of Charles II , through which Charles was to receive an income of approximately £1,200,000 per annum. One historian describes this annual payment as
Robert Cecil - Misplaced Pages Continue
4956-587: The Queen had little control. After the occupation and loss of Le Havre in 1562–1563, Elizabeth avoided military expeditions on the continent until 1585, when she sent an English army to aid the Protestant Dutch rebels against Philip II. This followed the deaths in 1584 of the Queen's allies William the Silent , Prince of Orange, and the Duke of Anjou, and the surrender of a series of Dutch towns to Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma , Philip's governor of
5074-655: The Spanish fleet of war ships intended for the Enterprise of England , as Philip II had decided to take the war to England. On 12 July 1588, the Spanish Armada, a great fleet of ships, set sail for the channel, planning to ferry a Spanish invasion force under the Duke of Parma to the coast of southeast England from the Netherlands. The armada was defeated by a combination of miscalculation, misfortune, and an attack of English fire ships off Gravelines at midnight on 28–29 July (7–8 August New Style), which dispersed
5192-540: The autumn of 1559, several foreign suitors were vying for Elizabeth's hand; their impatient envoys engaged in ever more scandalous talk and reported that a marriage with her favourite was not welcome in England: "There is not a man who does not cry out on him and her with indignation ... she will marry none but the favoured Robert." Amy Dudley died in September 1560, from a fall from a flight of stairs and, despite
5310-690: The belief that the revolt had been successful, Pope Pius V issued a bull in 1570, titled Regnans in Excelsis , which declared "Elizabeth, the pretended Queen of England and the servant of crime" to be excommunicated and a heretic , releasing all her subjects from any allegiance to her. Catholics who obeyed her orders were threatened with excommunication . The papal bull provoked legislative initiatives against Catholics by Parliament, which were, however, mitigated by Elizabeth's intervention. In 1581, to convert English subjects to Catholicism with "the intent" to withdraw them from their allegiance to Elizabeth
5428-530: The cause, Leicester's own shortcomings as a political and military leader, and the faction-ridden and chaotic situation of Dutch politics led to the failure of the campaign. Leicester finally resigned his command in December 1587. Meanwhile, Francis Drake had undertaken a major voyage against Spanish ports and ships in the Caribbean in 1585 and 1586. In 1587 he made a successful raid on Cádiz , destroying
5546-522: The centre of [Elizabeth's] emotional life", as historian Susan Doran has described the situation. He died shortly after the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. After Elizabeth's own death, a note from him was found among her most personal belongings, marked "his last letter" in her handwriting. Marriage negotiations constituted a key element in Elizabeth's foreign policy. She turned down
5664-487: The citizens and greeted by orations and pageants, most with a strong Protestant flavour. Elizabeth's open and gracious responses endeared her to the spectators, who were "wonderfully ravished". The following day, 15 January 1559, a date chosen by her astrologer John Dee , Elizabeth was crowned and anointed by Owen Oglethorpe , the Catholic bishop of Carlisle , in Westminster Abbey . She was then presented for
5782-467: The coroner's inquest finding of accident, many people suspected her husband of having arranged her death so that he could marry the Queen. Elizabeth seriously considered marrying Dudley for some time. However, William Cecil , Nicholas Throckmorton , and some conservative peers made their disapproval unmistakably clear. There were even rumours that the nobility would rise if the marriage took place. Among other marriage candidates being considered for
5900-530: The crown to a Protestant cousin, Lady Jane Grey , and ignoring the claims of his two half-sisters, the Catholic Mary and the younger Elizabeth, in spite of statutes to the contrary. Edward's will was set aside within weeks of his death and Mary became queen, deposing and executing Jane. During Mary's reign, Elizabeth was imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels. Upon her half-sister's death in 1558, Elizabeth succeeded to
6018-576: The death of his father in August 1598, serving both Queen Elizabeth and King James as Secretary of State. Cecil fell into dispute with the 2nd Earl of Essex , and only prevailed at Court upon the latter's poor campaign against the Irish rebels during the Nine Years War in 1599. He was then in a position to orchestrate the smooth succession of King James. Lord Essex's unsuccessful rebellion in 1601, which resulted in his final downfall and death,
SECTION 50
#17327982624406136-561: The decision by the judges in the Court of Exchequer in Bates's Case in favour of the King's right to levy impositions (import duties ), and imposed new duties on articles of luxury and those of foreign manufacture which competed with English goods. By this measure, and by a more careful collection, the ordinary income was raised to £460,000, while £700,000 was paid off the debt. In 1610–11, Salisbury worked hard to persuade Parliament to enact
6254-545: The enemy". He enraged Elizabeth by accepting the post of Governor-General from the Dutch States General . Elizabeth saw this as a Dutch ploy to force her to accept sovereignty over the Netherlands, which so far she had always declined. She wrote to Leicester: We could never have imagined (had we not seen it fall out in experience) that a man raised up by ourself and extraordinarily favoured by us, above any other subject of this land, would have in so contemptible
6372-495: The eventual "implementation of Cecil's Great Contract". In May 1591 Cecil was involved in an entertainment for the arrival of Queen Elizabeth at Theobalds , the Hertfordshire family home. The Hermit's Welcome at Theobalds made allusion to his father's potential retirement from public life. In July 1593 a Scottish suitor for Cecil's favour, William Dundas of Fingask wrote to him from Edinburgh. Dundas had heard Cecil
6490-401: The existing laws. However, his attitude to Catholics was not, for the time, especially harsh: he admitted that he was unhappy with the notorious Jesuits, etc. Act 1584 , by which any Catholic priest who was found guilty of acting as a priest in England was liable to the death penalty in its most gruesome form. Like most moderate Englishmen at the time, he thought that exile, rather than death,
6608-424: The final stages of Mary's apparent pregnancy . If Mary and her child died, Elizabeth would become queen, but if Mary gave birth to a healthy child, Elizabeth's chances of becoming queen would recede sharply. When it became clear that Mary was not pregnant, no one believed any longer that she could have a child. Elizabeth's succession seemed assured. King Philip, who ascended the Spanish throne in 1556, acknowledged
6726-547: The focus of plots against her predecessor. Elizabeth's unmarried status inspired a cult of virginity related to that of the Virgin Mary . In poetry and portraiture, she was depicted as a virgin, a goddess, or both, not as a normal woman. At first, only Elizabeth made a virtue of her ostensible virginity: in 1559, she told the Commons, "And, in the end, this shall be for me sufficient, that a marble stone shall declare that
6844-455: The government privately accepted that Elizabeth would never marry or name a successor. William Cecil was already seeking solutions to the succession problem. For her failure to marry, Elizabeth was often accused of irresponsibility. Her silence, however, strengthened her own political security: she knew that if she named an heir, her throne would be vulnerable to a coup; she remembered the way that "a second person, as I have been" had been used as
6962-464: The government, including William Paget, 1st Baron Paget , convinced Mary to spare her sister in the absence of hard evidence against her. Instead, on 22 May, Elizabeth was moved from the Tower to Woodstock Palace , where she was to spend almost a year under house arrest in the charge of Henry Bedingfeld . Crowds cheered her all along the way. On 17 April 1555, Elizabeth was recalled to court to attend
7080-496: The hand of Philip, her half-sister's widower, early in 1559 but for several years entertained the proposal of King Eric XIV of Sweden . Earlier in Elizabeth's life, a Danish match for her had been discussed; Henry VIII had proposed one with the Danish prince Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp , in 1545, and Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, suggested a marriage with Prince Frederick (later Frederick II) several years later, but
7198-447: The hands of King Philip II of Spain, marriage offered the chance of an heir. However, the choice of a husband might also provoke political instability or even insurrection. In the spring of 1559, it became evident that Elizabeth was in love with her childhood friend Robert Dudley . It was said that his wife Amy was suffering from a "malady in one of her breasts" and that the Queen would like to marry Robert if his wife should die. By
SECTION 60
#17327982624407316-508: The journey home but died of cancer , "in great pain and even greater wretchedness of mind", at Marlborough, Wiltshire , on 24 May 1612, a week short of his 49th birthday. He was buried in St Etheldreda's Church, Hatfield , in a tomb designed by Maximilian Colt . Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She
7434-461: The monarch as the supreme governor or risk disqualification from office; the heresy laws were repealed, to avoid a repeat of the persecution of dissenters by Mary. At the same time, a new Act of Uniformity was passed, which made attendance at church and the use of the 1559 Book of Common Prayer (an adapted version of the 1552 prayer book ) compulsory, though the penalties for recusancy , or failure to attend and conform, were not extreme. From
7552-623: The murder of her husband. Elizabeth confronted Mary about the marriage, writing to her: How could a worse choice be made for your honour than in such haste to marry such a subject, who besides other and notorious lacks, public fame has charged with the murder of your late husband, besides the touching of yourself also in some part, though we trust in that behalf falsely. These events led rapidly to Mary's defeat and imprisonment in Lochleven Castle . The Scottish lords forced her to abdicate in favour of her one-year-old son, James VI . James
7670-693: The negotiations had abated in 1551. In the years around 1559, a Dano-English Protestant alliance was considered, and to counter Sweden's proposal, King Frederick II proposed to Elizabeth in late 1559. For several years, she seriously negotiated to marry Philip's cousin Charles II, Archduke of Austria . By 1569, relations with the Habsburgs had deteriorated. Elizabeth considered marriage to two French Valois princes in turn, first Henry, Duke of Anjou , and then from 1572 to 1581 his brother Francis, Duke of Anjou , formerly Duke of Alençon. This last proposal
7788-589: The new political reality and cultivated his sister-in-law. She was a better ally than the chief alternative, Mary, Queen of Scots , who had grown up in France and was betrothed to Francis, Dauphin of France . When his wife fell ill in 1558, Philip sent the Count of Feria to consult with Elizabeth. This interview was conducted at Hatfield House , where she had returned to live in October 1555. By October 1558, Elizabeth
7906-517: The occasion was simply an orgy of drunkenness, as few English or Danish courtiers had their rulers' capacity to hold their drink. According to Harrington, who may have been mischievously fictionalising, the masque put on to honour the two kings was a drunken fiasco: "the entertainment and show went forward, and most of the players went backward, or fell down, wine did so occupy their upper chambers". In 1607, King James took possession of Theobalds, giving Hatfield Palace to Lord Salisbury in exchange,
8024-436: The people's acceptance, amidst a deafening noise of organs, fifes, trumpets, drums, and bells. Although Elizabeth was welcomed as queen in England, the country was still in a state of anxiety over the perceived Catholic threat at home and overseas, as well as the choice of whom she would marry. Elizabeth's personal religious convictions have been much debated by scholars. She was a Protestant, but kept Catholic symbols (such as
8142-425: The plot and to what extent he acted as an agent provocateur . Cecil (created Earl of Salisbury in 1605) was the younger son of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley by his second wife, Mildred Cooke , eldest daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke of Gidea , Essex . His elder half-brother was Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter , and philosopher Francis Bacon , 1st Viscount St Albans, was his first cousin. Robert Cecil
8260-402: The proposed marriage between the Prince of Wales and the Infanta of Spain. He may have also received a pension from France. As Lord Treasurer , Lord Salisbury, as he became in 1605, showed considerable financial ability. During the year preceding his acceptance of that office in 1608, the expenditure had risen to £500,000, leaving a yearly deficit of £73,000. Lord Salisbury took advantage of
8378-485: The queen's feelings, and that the communications should remain a secret. James took the throne without opposition, and the new monarch expressed his gratitude by elevating Cecil to the peerage. Cecil also served as both the third chancellor of the University of Dublin , and chancellor of the University of Cambridge , between 1601 and 1612. In 1603, his brothers-in-law, Henry Brooke, Lord Cobham and George Brooke, along with Sir Walter Raleigh, were implicated in both
8496-435: The queen, Robert Dudley continued to be regarded as a possible candidate for nearly another decade. Elizabeth was extremely jealous of his affections, even when she no longer meant to marry him herself. She raised Dudley to the peerage as Earl of Leicester in 1564. In 1578, he finally married Lettice Knollys , to whom the queen reacted with repeated scenes of displeasure and lifelong hatred. Still, Dudley always "remained at
8614-424: The reins of power, the country had an established Protestant church and was run by a council of Protestant nobles supported by Elizabeth. Mary refused to ratify the treaty. In 1563, Elizabeth proposed her own suitor, Robert Dudley, as a husband for Mary, without asking either of the two people concerned. Both proved unenthusiastic, and in 1565, Mary married Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley , who carried his own claim to
8732-477: The rest of her life. Thomas Seymour engaged in romps and horseplay with the 14-year-old Elizabeth, including entering her bedroom in his nightgown, tickling her, and slapping her on the buttocks. Elizabeth rose early and surrounded herself with maids to avoid his unwelcome morning visits. Parr, rather than confront her husband over his inappropriate activities, joined in. Twice she accompanied him in tickling Elizabeth, and once held her while he cut her black gown "into
8850-422: The ringleader of the rebellion, was tactfully ignored. This clemency did him no good in the eyes of the public, who had loved Essex and mourned him deeply. Cecil, who had never been very popular, now became a much-hated figure. In ballads like Essex's Last Good Night , Cecil was viciously attacked. Cecil was extensively involved in matters of state security. As the son of Queen Elizabeth's principal minister and
8968-551: The royal court, on 15 September 1595 he went hawking with the queen and they caught three partridges, which they gave to Elizabeth Wolley . In 1597, he was made Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster , and in February 1598 dispatched on a mission to Henry IV of France , to prevent the impending alliance between that country and Spain . Three ambassadors, Cecil, John Herbert , and Thomas Wilkes left from Dover, but Wilkes died soon after arrival at Rouen. Cecil and Herbert lodged at
9086-414: The royal succession. Eleven days after Anne Boleyn's execution, Henry married Jane Seymour . Queen Jane died the next year shortly after the birth of their son, Edward , who was the undisputed heir apparent to the throne. Elizabeth was placed in her half-brother's household and carried the chrisom , or baptismal cloth, at his christening. Elizabeth's first governess , Margaret Bryan , wrote that she
9204-406: The same term This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robert_Cecil&oldid=1134782306 " Category : Human name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
9322-421: The short, disastrous reigns of her half-siblings, her 44 years on the throne provided welcome stability for the kingdom and helped to forge a sense of national identity. Elizabeth was born at Greenwich Palace on 7 September 1533 and was named after her grandmothers, Elizabeth of York and Lady Elizabeth Howard . She was the second child of Henry VIII of England born in wedlock to survive infancy. Her mother
9440-568: The signed execution warrant to be dispatched, and blamed her secretary, William Davison , for implementing it without her knowledge. The sincerity of Elizabeth's remorse and whether or not she wanted to delay the warrant have been called into question both by her contemporaries and later historians. Elizabeth's foreign policy was largely defensive. The exception was the English occupation of Le Havre from October 1562 to June 1563, which ended in failure when Elizabeth's Huguenot allies joined with
9558-399: The son of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and an active Catholic. Discontent spread rapidly through the country, and many looked to Elizabeth as a focus for their opposition to Mary's religious policies. In January and February 1554, Wyatt's rebellion broke out; it was soon suppressed. Elizabeth was brought to court and interrogated regarding her role, and on 18 March, she was imprisoned in
9676-509: The sovereign's "two bodies": the body natural and the body politic : My lords, the law of nature moves me to sorrow for my sister; the burden that is fallen upon me makes me amazed, and yet, considering I am God's creature, ordained to obey His appointment, I will thereto yield, desiring from the bottom of my heart that I may have assistance of His grace to be the minister of His heavenly will in this office now committed to me. And as I am but one body naturally considered, though by His permission
9794-553: The start did not really back this course of action. Her strategy, to support the Dutch on the surface with an English army, while beginning secret peace talks with Spain within days of Leicester's arrival in Holland, had necessarily to be at odds with Leicester's, who had set up a protectorate and was expected by the Dutch to fight an active campaign. Elizabeth, on the other hand, wanted him "to avoid at all costs any decisive action with
9912-512: The start of Elizabeth's reign it was expected that she would marry, and the question arose to whom. Although she received many offers, she never married and remained childless; the reasons for this are not clear. Historians have speculated that Thomas Seymour had put her off sexual relationships. She considered several suitors until she was about 50 years old. Her last courtship was with Francis, Duke of Anjou , 22 years her junior. While risking possible loss of power like her sister, who played into
10030-594: The succession, he clearly regarded the Queen's death as a misfortune to be postponed as long as possible. During her last illness, when Elizabeth would sit motionless on cushions for hours on end, Cecil boldly told her that she must go to bed. Elizabeth roused herself one last time to snap at him: "Little man, little man, 'Must' is not a word to use to princes. Your father were he here durst never speak to me so"; but she added wryly "Ah, but ye know that I must die, and it makes you presumptuous". Sir Robert Cecil now promoted James as successor to Elizabeth. Around 1600, he began
10148-495: The summer of 1585 by the Duke of Parma necessitated some reaction on the part of the English and the Dutch. The outcome was the Treaty of Nonsuch of August 1585, in which Elizabeth promised military support to the Dutch. The treaty marked the beginning of the Anglo-Spanish War , which lasted until the Treaty of London in 1604. The expedition was led by Elizabeth's former suitor, the Earl of Leicester. Elizabeth from
10266-456: The throne and government. The Kingdom of Ireland was a major source of concern and expense during Robert Cecil's time in government. The Nine Years' War there had ended with the leader of the rebels, Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone , submitting to the Crown and being restored to his estates, following the Treaty of Mellifont (1603). Four years later, Tyrone led his followers into exile during
10384-539: The throne and set out to rule by good counsel. She depended heavily on a group of trusted advisers led by William Cecil , whom she created Baron Burghley . One of her first actions as queen was the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the supreme governor . This era, later named the Elizabethan Religious Settlement , would evolve into the Church of England . It
10502-527: The throne. Mary was considered by many to be the heir to the English crown, being the granddaughter of Henry VIII's elder sister, Margaret . Mary boasted being "the nearest kinswoman she hath". Elizabeth was persuaded to send a force into Scotland to aid the Protestant rebels, and though the campaign was inept, the resulting Treaty of Edinburgh of July 1560 removed the French threat in the north. When Mary returned from France to Scotland in 1561 to take up
10620-586: The time, including the Archbishopric of Canterbury . This enabled supporters amongst peers to outvote the bishops and conservative peers. Nevertheless, Elizabeth was forced to accept the title of Supreme Governor of the Church of England rather than the more contentious title of Supreme Head , which many thought unacceptable for a woman to bear. The new Act of Supremacy became law on 8 May 1559. All public officials were forced to swear an oath of loyalty to
10738-466: The treaty bought an "honourable and advantageous" peace for England. This was a personal triumph for Cecil which reflected well on James who wanted to be styled as a European peacemaker between the Protestants and the Catholics. Cecil accepted a pension of £1,000 that year, which was raised the following year to £1,500. The King also rewarded Cecil further creating him Viscount Cranborne soon after
10856-637: The treaty had been signed and then Earl of Salisbury the following year. Cecil was appointed to the Order of the Garter as its 401st Knight in 1606. In 1607, James appointed him as Lord Treasurer, succeeding Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset . As a result, the whole conduct of public affairs was solely in his hands, although the king often interfered. Although King James would often speak disparagingly of Cecil as "my little beagle " or "young Tom Durie ", he gave him his absolute trust. "Though you are but
10974-545: The tutor of Prince Henry . Apologizing for a minor breach of manners, he compared himself to the court jester Tom Durie . In another letter he wrote that if a certain man failed to gain a place in Prince Henry's household, he should be sent to "Tom Dyrry or to me". Although the applicant was poor he could become rich by charging a fee to all the girls in England who wished to meet the Prince. In 1611 Cecil disapproved of
11092-407: Was video et taceo ("I see and keep silent"). In religion, she was relatively tolerant and avoided systematic persecution. After the pope declared her illegitimate in 1570, which in theory released English Catholics from allegiance to her, several conspiracies threatened her life, all of which were defeated with the help of her ministers' secret service, run by Sir Francis Walsingham . Elizabeth
11210-495: Was "as toward a child and as gentle of conditions as ever I knew any in my life". Catherine Champernowne , better known by her later, married name of Catherine "Kat" Ashley, was appointed as Elizabeth's governess in 1537, and she remained Elizabeth's friend until her death in 1565. Champernowne taught Elizabeth four languages: French, Dutch , Italian, and Spanish. By the time William Grindal became her tutor in 1544, Elizabeth could write English, Latin , and Italian. Under Grindal,
11328-486: Was 5 ft 4 in (163 cm) tall, had scoliosis , and was hunchbacked. Living in an age which attached much importance to physical beauty in both sexes, he endured much ridicule as a result: Queen Elizabeth I called him "my pygmy", and King James I nicknamed him "my little beagle". Nonetheless, his father recognised that it was Robert rather than his half-brother Thomas who had inherited his own political genius. Cecil attended St John's College, Cambridge , in
11446-653: Was Henry VIII's second wife, Anne Boleyn . At birth, Elizabeth was the heir presumptive to the English throne. Her elder half-sister Mary had lost her position as a legitimate heir when Henry annulled his marriage to Mary's mother, Catherine of Aragon , to marry Anne, with the intent to sire a male heir and ensure the Tudor succession. She was baptised on 10 September 1533, and her godparents were Thomas Cranmer , Archbishop of Canterbury ; Henry Courtenay, Marquess of Exeter ; Elizabeth Stafford, Duchess of Norfolk ; and Margaret Wotton, Dowager Marchioness of Dorset . A canopy
11564-405: Was already making plans for her government. Mary recognised Elizabeth as her heir on 6 November 1558, and Elizabeth became queen when Mary died on 17 November. Elizabeth became queen at the age of 25, and declared her intentions to her council and other peers who had come to Hatfield to swear allegiance. The speech contains the first record of her adoption of the medieval political theology of
11682-430: Was carried at the ceremony over the infant by her uncle George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford ; John Hussey, Baron Hussey of Sleaford ; Lord Thomas Howard ; and William Howard, Baron Howard of Effingham . Elizabeth was two years and eight months old when her mother was beheaded on 19 May 1536, four months after Catherine of Aragon's death from natural causes. Elizabeth was declared illegitimate and deprived of her place in
11800-468: Was cautious in foreign affairs, manoeuvring between the major powers of France and Spain . She half-heartedly supported a number of ineffective, poorly resourced military campaigns in the Netherlands , France, and Ireland. By the mid-1580s, England could no longer avoid war with Spain . As she grew older, Elizabeth became celebrated for her virginity . A cult of personality grew around her which
11918-493: Was celebrated in the portraits, pageants, and literature of the day. Elizabeth's reign became known as the Elizabethan era . The period is famous for the flourishing of English drama , led by playwrights such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe , the prowess of English maritime adventurers, such as Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh , and for the defeat of the Spanish Armada . Some historians depict Elizabeth as
12036-439: Was completing a gallery in one of his houses and would like paintings with "such toys" or emblems as he had seen himself in Scotland. In 1606, Lord Salisbury, as Cecil was now, entertained King James I and his brother-in-law, King Christian IV of Denmark , at Theobalds, under the sardonic eye of Queen Elizabeth's godson, Sir John Harrington . Both monarchs were notoriously heavy drinkers, and according to some of those present,
12154-471: Was deposed after nine days. On 3 August 1553, Mary rode triumphantly into London, with Elizabeth at her side. The show of solidarity between the sisters did not last long. Mary, a devout Catholic , was determined to crush the Protestant faith in which Elizabeth had been educated, and she ordered that everyone attend Catholic Mass; Elizabeth had to outwardly conform. Mary's initial popularity ebbed away in 1554 when she announced plans to marry Philip of Spain ,
12272-410: Was expected that Elizabeth would marry and produce an heir; however, despite numerous courtships, she never did. Because of this she is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". She was eventually succeeded by her first cousin twice removed, James VI of Scotland , the son of Mary, Queen of Scots . In government, Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and siblings had been. One of her mottoes
12390-655: Was fond of Seymour, sought to convince Elizabeth to take him as her husband. She tried to convince Elizabeth to write to Seymour and "comfort him in his sorrow", but Elizabeth claimed that Thomas was not so saddened by her stepmother's death as to need comfort. In January 1549, Seymour was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower on suspicion of conspiring to depose his brother Somerset as Protector, marry Lady Jane Grey to King Edward VI, and take Elizabeth as his own wife. Elizabeth, living at Hatfield House , would admit nothing. Her stubbornness exasperated her interrogator, Robert Tyrwhitt , who reported, "I do see it in her face that she
12508-479: Was largely aimed at Sir Robert Cecil, as he then was, who was to be removed from power and impeached . Whether Essex intended that Cecil should actually die is unclear. It is to Cecil's credit that the Queen, largely at his urging, treated the rebels with a degree of mercy, which was unusual in that age. Essex himself and four of his closest allies were executed, but the great majority of his followers were spared: even Essex's denunciation of his sister Penelope , as
12626-516: Was leader of the Council by 1597. Following the death of Sir Francis Walsingham in 1590, Burghley acted as Secretary of State , while Cecil took on an increasingly heavy work-load. He was also knighted and subsequently appointed to the Privy Council in 1591, and began to act as Secretary of State in 1589, although his formal appointment came later. He participated in the social life of
12744-468: Was made a treasonable offence, carrying the death penalty. From the 1570s missionary priests from continental seminaries went to England secretly in the cause of the "reconversion of England". Some were executed for treasonable conduct, engendering a cult of martyrdom . Regnans in Excelsis gave English Catholics a strong incentive to look to Mary as the legitimate sovereign of England. Mary may not have been told of every Catholic plot to put her on
12862-431: Was mysteriously bedridden with an illness that caused her body to swell. In 1587, a young man calling himself Arthur Dudley was arrested on the coast of Spain under suspicion of being a spy. The man claimed to be the illegitimate son of Elizabeth and Robert Dudley, with his age being consistent with birth during the 1561 illness. He was taken to Madrid for investigation, where he was examined by Francis Englefield ,
12980-468: Was never heard from again. Modern scholarship dismisses the story's basic premise as "impossible", and asserts that Elizabeth's life was so closely observed by contemporaries that she could not have hidden a pregnancy. Elizabeth's first policy toward Scotland was to oppose the French presence there. She feared that the French planned to invade England and put her Catholic cousin Mary, Queen of Scots , on
13098-497: Was not universally accepted. Catholics accused Elizabeth of engaging in "filthy lust" that symbolically defiled the nation along with her body. Henry IV of France said that one of the great questions of Europe was "whether Queen Elizabeth was a maid or no". A central issue, when it comes to the question of Elizabeth's virginity, was whether the Queen ever consummated her love affair with Robert Dudley. In 1559, she had Dudley's bedchambers moved next to her own apartments. In 1561, she
13216-418: Was one to which Salisbury attached great importance, but the House of Commons eventually lost interest in the plan, and Francis Bacon argued against it, calling it humiliating. King James I also did not show much enthusiasm for it, and it lapsed when the King, against Salisbury's advice, dissolved Parliament in 1611. This was a double blow to Lord Salisbury, who was sick and prematurely aged, and conscious that
13334-671: Was probably taught Cornish by William Killigrew , Groom of the Privy Chamber and later Chamberlain of the Exchequer . Henry VIII died in 1547 and Elizabeth's half-brother, Edward VI, became king at the age of nine. Catherine Parr, Henry's widow, soon married Thomas Seymour, Baron Seymour of Sudeley , Edward VI's uncle and the brother of Lord Protector Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset . The couple took Elizabeth into their household at Chelsea . There Elizabeth experienced an emotional crisis that some historians believe affected her for
13452-400: Was taken to Stirling Castle to be raised as a Protestant. Mary escaped in 1568 but after a defeat at Langside sailed to England, where she had once been assured of support from Elizabeth. Elizabeth's first instinct was to restore her fellow monarch, but she and her council instead chose to play safe. Rather than risk returning Mary to Scotland with an English army or sending her to France and
13570-546: Was that her emissary read out her letters of disapproval publicly before the Dutch Council of State, Leicester having to stand nearby. This public humiliation of her "Lieutenant-General" combined with her continued talks for a separate peace with Spain irreversibly undermined Leicester's standing among the Dutch. The military campaign was severely hampered by Elizabeth's repeated refusals to send promised funds for her starving soldiers. Her unwillingness to commit herself to
13688-549: Was the appropriate penalty for the priests. Cecil did hope, like his father, to make England the head of the international Protestant alliance, and his last energies were expended in effecting the marriage in 1612 of the princess Elizabeth , James's daughter, with Frederick , the Elector Palatine. Still, he was averse to prosecution for religion, and attempted to distinguish between the large body of law-abiding and loyal Catholics and those connected with plots against
13806-567: Was the last monarch of the House of Tudor . Elizabeth was the only surviving child of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn . When Elizabeth was two years old, her parents' marriage was annulled, her mother was executed, and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate . Henry restored her to the line of succession when she was 10, via the Third Succession Act 1543 . After Henry's death in 1547, Elizabeth's younger half-brother Edward VI ruled until his own death in 1553, bequeathing
13924-509: Was tied to a planned alliance against Spanish control of the Southern Netherlands . Elizabeth seems to have taken the courtship seriously for a time, wearing a frog-shaped earring that Francis had sent her. In 1563, Elizabeth told an imperial envoy: "If I follow the inclination of my nature, it is this: beggar-woman and single, far rather than queen and married". Later in the year, following Elizabeth's illness with smallpox ,
#439560