Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex

Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex

Relationship with Elizabeth I.

Frances Walsingham and her son Robert, who later became the 3rd Earl of Essex

Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex (born November 10, 1565 in Netherwood , Herefordshire , † February 25, 1601 in London ) was an English politician and general. He was best known as the favorite of Queen Elizabeth I of England, but was ultimately executed after a failed coup against her.

Life

Robert Devereux was born in Netherwood to Walter Devereux, 2nd Viscount Hereford , and Lettice Knollys . His godfather was Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester , the Queen's favorite. In 1572 Walter Devereux was made Earl of Essex . After the death of his father (September 1576), the not yet eleven-year-old new Earl of Essex became the ward of the treasurer Lord Burghley and went to Cambridge University for four years (1577–1581). In 1578 his mother married Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, her previous lover and godfather of their son. With his stepfather, with whom he got along very well, he moved to the Netherlands in 1585 when he became governor general there. He gained his first military experience, e.g. B. at the battle of Zutphen . In 1587 he came to Elisabeth's court and at the end of the year became head stable master (successor to his stepfather Robert Dudley). Then he was able to consolidate his position at court and became the new, sensational favorite of Elisabeth. In 1590 he married Frances Walsingham, the daughter of Sir Francis Walsingham and widow of Sir Philip Sidney , a war hero and nephew of his stepfather. The marriage took place without the knowledge of Elizabeth I, who was upset when she found out that the marriage had been kept secret against Elisabeth's instructions.

With Frances Devereux had a son Robert , who later became 3rd Earl of Essex (1591-1646).

At court he dueled Sir Walter Raleigh and others, which Elisabeth displeased. In 1591 he was given command of an army that was to come to the aid of the King of France , Henry IV , but in some cases he defied the queen's instructions. In the summer of 1596, Essex managed to take the Spanish port of Cadiz in one stroke on a fleet expedition to Lisbon . The booty, however, was small, as the Spaniards were able to burn their ships in time. This bold act nevertheless made Essex famous across Europe. The next year's expedition to the Azores with Sir Walter Raleigh turned out to be a complete failure.

The fact that Essex overestimated itself and behaved disrespectfully towards Queen Elizabeth contributed to his later downfall: He had her completely innocent personal physician Roderigo Lopes arrested out of injured vanity and executed against her will (1594). He also failed in his post as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , where he had been reluctant to be deported (April 1599). There was a kind of guerrilla war there at that time under the revolutionary Hugh O'Neill , the Earl of Tyrone , against English rule ( Nine Years War ). After several costly battles and an armistice that was detrimental to England, he disregarded an explicit order from Elizabeth to remain at his post in Ireland. He left Ireland on September 24, 1599 and reached London on September 28, where he gained access to the chambers of the not yet fully dressed Queen. After interrogation by the Privy Council , Essex was placed under house arrest for ten months .

He increasingly fell into melancholy and developed paranoia and a penchant for conspiracy theories . His financial situation also became more and more desperate. Essex had inherited immense debts from his father, he himself had amassed large debts, and now he lost his most important source of income at court: the queen refused to renew his tax lease. On February 8, 1601, Essex tried to get control of the City of London and the Privy Council with a small crowd. He wanted to get rid of his enemy, Sir Robert Cecil . The coup was miserable, however, and Essex was arrested that night and ostracized for high treason and sentenced to death . On the morning of February 25, 1601 (Wednesday) he was beheaded with three blows in the Tower by the executioner Thomas Derrick (he was sentenced to death as a seaman off Cádiz in 1596 and pardoned by Robert Devereux) . Six other people were executed as co-conspirators , including his stepfather, Christopher Blount . His close friend and co-conspirator, the Earl of Southampton , was also arrested but later pardoned.

reception

• Michael Curtiz (director): Favorite of a Queen / The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (USA 1939, with Bette Davis , Errol Flynn , Olivia de Havilland and others; historically the film is very freely about an affair between Queen Elizabeth I and the Earl of Essex).
• Benjamin Britten : Gloriana. Opera for the coronation of Elizabeth II (Libretto: William Plomer ). Argo, London 1993.
• Gaetano Donizetti : Roberto Devereux . Tragedia lirica in tre atti (Libretto: Salvatore Cammarano ). Ricordi, Milan 2001.
• Gaetano Donizetti: Roberto Devereux . Deutsche Grammophon, Hamburg 2006 (1 DVD; new production by Christof Loy at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich).
• Elizabeth I ; TV production (also on DVD) with Hugh Dancy as Devereux and Helen Mirren as Elisabeth, and Jeremy Irons as Robert Dudley.

literature

not evaluated

• Paul EJ Hammer : The Polarization of Elizabethan Politics. The Political Career of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, 1585–1597. (= Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History ). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1999, ISBN 0-521-43485-8 (preview on Google Books).
• Alexandra Gajda: The Earl of Essex and Late Elizabethan Political Culture. (= Oxford Historical Monographs. ) Oxford University Press, Oxford 2012, ISBN 978-0-19-969968-1 .
• Janet Dickinson: Court Politics and the Earl of Essex, 1589-1601. (= Political and Popular Culture in the Early Modern Period. Volume 6). Pickering & Chatto, London 2012, ISBN 978-1-84893-078-0 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ John E. Neale: Elisabeth I. (German edition) Munich 1967, ISBN 3-424-01226-2 , p. 345.
2. ↑ Handbook of British Chronology. 2nd Edition. 1961, p. 427.
3. ↑ Calendar of… State Papers Relating to English Affairs… in… Simancas 1558–1603. ed.MAS Hume 4 volumes London 1892–1899 Volume II, p. 511. archive.org
4. ↑ Simon Adams: Household Accounts and Disbursement Books of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester Cambridge 1995, ISBN 0-521-55156-0 , p. 182.
5. ^ Robert Lacey: Robert, Earl of Essex: To Elizabethan Icarus. London 1971, ISBN 0-521-01941-9 , pp. 36-37.
6. ^ John E. Neale: Elisabeth I. (German edition) Munich 1967, ISBN 3-424-01226-2 , p. 345.
7. ^ Robert Lacey: Robert, Earl of Essex: To Elizabethan Icarus. London 1971, ISBN 0-521-01941-9 , pp. 150-164.
8. ^ Robert Lacey: Robert, Earl of Essex: To Elizabethan Icarus. London 1971, ISBN 0-521-01941-9 , pp. 178-196.
9. ^ Robert Lacey: Robert, Earl of Essex: To Elizabethan Icarus. London 1971, ISBN 0-521-01941-9 , pp. 118-120.
10. ^ Robert Lacey: Robert, Earl of Essex: To Elizabethan Icarus. London 1971, ISBN 0-521-01941-9 , pp. 239-242.
11. ^ Robert Lacey: Robert, Earl of Essex: To Elizabethan Icarus. London 1971, ISBN 0-521-01941-9 , pp. 257-259.

Web links

Commons : Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Paul EJ Hammer: Devereux, Robert, second earl of Essex (1565-1601). ( Memento of July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . (2004), online version October 2008, doi: 10.1093 / ref: odnb / 7565 .
• Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex on thepeerage.com

predecessor	Office	successor
Walter Devereux	Earl of Essex 1576-1601	Title forfeited (from 1604: Robert Devereux )
Office in Commission	Earl Marshal 1597-1601	Office in Commission