William Cecil

Background

William was born on September 18, 1520, at Bourne, in Lincolnshire, into a family of border gentry of Welsh origin.

Education

The young Cecil was educated at local schools and at Cambridge University. Burghley had left Cambridge in 1541 without taking his degree and had begun his legal studies at Gray's Inn.

Career

In 1543 he entered Parliament. Burghley served his political apprenticeship under the boy king Edward VI, first as one of the secretaries of the Protector, the Duke of Somerset, and as secretary of state from 1550 until 1553. He was knighted in 1551. But two years later, when the Catholic Mary I came to the throne, Burghley went into retirement. He was no Protestant extremist, however, and was able to undertake special duties for the government on occasion. With Mary's death in 1558, he was at once sworn in as minister by Queen Elizabeth. He held three important offices: that of secretary of state, from 1558 until 1572, in which post he was the Queen's principal adviser in both domestic and diplomatic affairs; lord treasurer, from 1572 until his death, in which office he bore the heavy burden of organizing the national finances and working out economic policy; and master of the Court of Wards, from 1561 until his death, in which capacity he dealt with the wardship, marriage, and estates of feudal heirs who were under the guardianship of the Crown. In foreign policy Burghley was essentially a man of peace, in contrast with his great rival, Robert Dudley, later Earl of Leicester, who favored more active intervention in European affairs. Burghley did, however, favor and organize direct action in Scotland to end French domination there. The Treaty of Edinburgh of 1560, which crowned this successful enterprise, was also the indispensable preliminary to the eventual union of the two kingdoms. In 1587 Burghley brought the long drawn-out crisis over the fate of Mary, Queen of Scots, to an end by dispatching the signed execution warrant speedily, to forestall any last-minute change of mind by Elizabeth. After the execution the Queen claimed that though she had signed the warrant she had forbidden its dispatch until she gave specific instructions. For this Burghley received the full blast of the royal displeasure. But he soon came back into favor. In religious matters Burghley was a sincere and thoughtful Protestant who shared the Queen's desire to bring the moderate Catholics within an all-embracing Church of England. But like her he vigorously attacked the extremists who, he argued, had the political aim of overthrowing the established government of England. His Execution of Justice in England (1583) is his official statement of policy. On the other hand, his desire to ameliorate the lot of the Puritans, who were under heavy pressure to conform to the Church of England, was out of keeping with the hostile attitude of the Queen and her archbishop, Whitgift. As a statesman Burghley's approach was always marked by a realistic caution and a deep hostility--generally shared by the Queen - to military adventures. That hostility was reinforced by a powerful sense of economy that made him resist any extravagant use of the limited resources of the Exchequer. As a mark of her confidence in him Elizabeth conferred on him the barony of Burghley in 1571. Burghley's policies, taken as a whole, were not marked by radical concepts or original notions. All his life he remained a conservative, concerned much more with making the existing machinery work than with expounding new ideas in government or establishing new organizations for its conduct. This policy was probably what was needed after the rapid changes of the middle years of the century. It was certainly the policy most acceptable to the Queen. Burghley was a man of wide scholarly interests. He took an active part in education as chancellor of his old university and in the care of the Crown's wards. He was also a great builder; Burghley House in Northamptonshire still stands as an impressive example of the enormous sums spent by Elizabethan statesmen on their country palaces. For this and other reasons Burghley was sometimes accused by contemporaries of corruption. But although there is evidence that, according to the custom of the day, he took gifts from persons having business with the government, there is no reason to conclude that he ever sacrificed the national interest to his personal gain or gave his Queen anything but loyal and devoted service. In temperament he was a man of great reserve for whom popularity was not of easy access. He was a tremendous worker, a good and loving husband and father, and a conscientious public servant. In the last years before his death in London on Aug. 4, 1598, his health was deteriorating, and a good deal of the detail work was handled by his son, Robert Cecil. But the direction of policy lay in his hands, under the ultimate control of the Queen, for whom his passing was an irreparable loss.

Achievements

• Burghley set as the main goal of English policy the creation of a united and Protestant British Isles. His methods were to complete the control of Ireland, and to forge an alliance with Scotland. Protection from invasion required a powerful Royal Navy. While he was not fully successful, his successors agreed with his goals.

Religion

In religious matters Cecil was a sincere and thoughtful Protestant who shared the Queen's desire to bring the moderate Catholics within an all-embracing Church of England. But like her he vigorously attacked the extremists who, he argued, had the political aim of overthrowing the established government of England. His Execution of Justice in England (1583) is his official statement of policy. On the other hand, his desire to ameliorate the lot of the Puritans, who were under heavy pressure to conform to the Church of England, was out of keeping with the hostile attitude of the Queen and her archbishop, Whitgift.

Connections

At Cambridge William fell in love with Mary Cheke, whom he married soon after leaving the university; she bore him one son and died in 1543. In 1545 he married Mildred Cooke and had two surviving daughters and a son, Robert Cecil, who became the country's leading statesman at the turn of the century.

Father:

Richard Cecil

Mother:

Jane Heckington

Wife:

Mildred Cooke

Wife:

Mary Cheke

Son:

Robert Cecil

References

• Burghley: William Cecil at the Court of Elizabeth I