(6 works of Robert Devereux English nobleman and a favouri...)
6 works of Robert Devereux English nobleman and a favourite of Elizabeth I (1565-1601) This ebook presents a collection of 6 works of Robert Devereux. A dynamic table of contents allows you to jump directly to the work selected. Table of Contents: A Passion of my Lord of Essex (Happy were he could finish forth his fate) Change thy mind Muses no more but mazes Seated between the old world and the new The Passion of a Discontented Mind (From silent night, true register of moans) To plead my faith.
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Essex was born Robert Devereux, eldest son of Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex and of Lettice Knollys, a cousin of Elizabeth I. Of ancient Norman stock, Essex had Plantagenet blood, which was a factor in his advancement. His father died young in Ireland; his mother then married the Earl of Leicester, the queen's prime favorite.
The boy was brought up under the guardianship of Lord Burghley, the chief minister, who sent him to Trinity College, Cambridge (1579 - 1581). Intelligent and gifted, Essex made good progress under the tutorship of John Whitgift, later archbishop of Canterbury.
Essex had his first experience of warfare under his stepfather in the Netherlands, in the years 1585-1586, and on his return made an immediate impression at court, which Leicester's death did nothing to lessen. This affords the clue to the conflicts in Essex' life and his increasing clashes with the queen. In 1591 Essex led an expedition to Normandy to aid Henry IV of France. The French expedition accomplished nothing and in the course of it Essex behaved with reckless bravery, exposing himself and others to unnecessary danger. From 1593 he was a privy councillor and, advised by the brilliant brothers Anthony and Francis Bacon, he was also an important member of the government with a particular interest in military matters. But he gradually became the head and focus of opposition elements, and an Essex faction arose to confront the Cecil family's predominant position in the government. Meanwhile Essex and the lord admiral, Lord Howard, brought off the most brilliant coup of the long war with Spain, the capture of Cadiz (1596). The plan of attack was actually suggested by Sir Walter Raleigh, but all the glory accrued to Essex, in Spain no less than in England. In the following year Essex' Islands Voyage to the Azores was an expensive failure, punctuated by yet another bitter dispute with Raleigh. Essex' relations with the queen became more and more psychotic, reconciliations following upon quarrels in which all mutual consideration was ignored; insults were - sometimes publicly - exchanged. The last and most dangerous phase of his long war with the queen opened with the Earl of Tyrone's successful rising in Ulster, which began in 1598 and almost reached the extent of a national rebellion. Essex made the appointment of any other commander to suppress the rising impossible and therefore had to take the responsibility. Essex was made a Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1599. He was given a large and powerful army and left London in March 1599, amid the plaudits of the mob. In Ireland his conduct of the campaign was an abysmal failure, which infuriated the queen; he concluded it by making a truce with Tyrone. At the same time he undoubtedly discussed the succession to the English throne on Elizabeth's death. Essex was also in touch with James VI of Scotland, in pursuit of his objective to control the succession and to displace the government then in power, which was in the hands of his rival Robert Cecil. Returning to England in humiliation after his military failure, Essex threw himself on the queen's mercy; he was placed under house arrest and his conduct investigated. The queen could not put her case before the public for diplomatic reasons and because Essex retained the public's favor and sympathy, which he had made efforts to organize. He gained freedom, but the source of his basic income - the sweet wines monopoly - was not renewed. Then he made himself the head of a widespread conspiracy against the government, combining all opposition factions, Catholics, Puritans, dissatisfied nobles, and military men opposed to the idea of making peace with Spain. The government was aware of the plot and maneuvered Essex into overt action. Essex and his followers broke out in armed rebellion in February 1601. On its ignominious collapse, he was brought to trial and executed on February 25, 1601. A legend says, that Elizabeth had given Essex a ring that he should send to her if he was in trouble. He tried to send this ring through the Countess of Nottingham to the queen after trial, but as the Countess of Nottingham's husband was an enemy of Essex, she kept it, and as a result Essex was executed. It is said that the Countness has confessed to the queen on her deathbed, and Elizabeth angrily replied "May God forgive you, Madam, but I never can. " Essex was a poet, several of his poems were set to music.
He is mostly known for being favorite of Queen Elizabeth I. Essex was portrayed in many works throughout the years. He is slightly alluded in Shakespeare's Henry V. There are several TV series, films, operas and plays. His most successful operation as a general was the capture of Cadiz. His death and confession became the subject of two popular 17th-century Broadside Ballads. Many ballads were lamenting his death and praising his military feats.
(6 works of Robert Devereux English nobleman and a favouri...)
Nothing that Essex did impaired his popularity: there was an irresistible glamour in his personality, a brilliance, generosity, and charm, along with a fatal lack of judgment. Queen's maternal feeling toward him spoiled Essex, so he would never be content with the secondary position.
In 1590 Essex married Frances Walsingham. The marriage took place without the queen's permission, thus incurring her anger.
