119-548: Sir Anthony Lee (c. 1510 – 24 November 1549) was an English courtier and Member of Parliament, and the father of Elizabeth I's champion, Sir Henry Lee . He was at the court of Henry VIII in his youth, and served as a Justice of the Peace and Knight of the Shire for Buckinghamshire . He was a close friend of his brother-in-law, the poet Sir Thomas Wyatt . Anthony Lee was a great-grandson of Bennet Lee of Cheshire , who had established
238-618: 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
357-410: 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
476-467: A few days. It was put about that a plot to kill Ormond had been drawn up during that visit, but Essex forgave him his unauthorised communications. In August he again visited the rebel earl with the cognisance of Sir Christopher Blount ; finding O'Neill " quite changed from his former disposition and possessed with insolency and arrogancy ", Lee cursed him and left. Lee went to England after September 1599 and sought to speak with his cousin, Ditchley, because
595-424: A large flock of sheep, with the proviso that if Anne were to remarry the plate and goods would go to Richard Lee alias Hassall and Russell Lee alias Hassall, the two illegitimate sons born before their marriage. His will was proved 17 October 1550 by one of his executors, Sir William Paget . None of Sir Anthony Lee's four legitimate sons left legitimate issue, and the heir at law of his eldest son, Sir Henry Lee,
714-779: A petition to Lord Deputy Grey for wrongs done to Robert Pipho, who again complained against him in the following year for cattle theft. However, Grey was relying on him to counter the Eustace rebellion in the Pale and suppressed the charges. Lee managed to capture the rebel brother of Viscount Baltinglass , Thomas Eustace, and incurred the displeasure of the Earl of Ormond , who objected to his invasions of Tipperary , describing him as, " this railing fellow ". The following year in Waterford he had to clear himself of " clamorous complaints ". In February 1583, after
833-592: 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
952-567: 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
1071-498: A scheme to overthrow Ormond, whereby the earl's daughter was to marry Kildare with a dowry of £2,000-3,000. In April 1599 Lee's patron, William FitzGerald, 13th Earl of Kildare , died in a shipwreck while travelling to join Essex in Ireland at the start of the latter's costly and unsuccessful campaign against O'Neill. Upon his release, Lee went secretly to O'Neill in the summer of 1599 for
1190-458: 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
1309-477: 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
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#17328562186471428-447: A son and a daughter: He married secondly, in 1595, Kinborough Valentine, an Irish recusant. Kinborough had three children in Co. Kildare, Ireland. William 1593, Martha 1591 & Mary 1592. They were not baptised as infants. Their baptisms were in 1609, 1610 and 1611 when 18 year old adults. Church records at St. Mary's Hardwick name their father. Lee's portrait was painted in 1594, when he
1547-417: 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"
1666-649: 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
1785-520: 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
1904-499: 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
2023-526: A turbulent role in the factional politics of the time and was highly active during the Nine Years' War (1593–1603). He was put to death at Tyburn for his involvement in the treason of the 2nd Earl of Essex . Thomas Lee was the grandson of Robert Lee (d.1539) by his second wife, Lettice Peniston, widow of Sir Robert Knollys , and daughter of Thomas Peniston of Hawridge , Buckinghamshire. His parents were Benedict Lee (d. February 1559) and Margaret Pakington,
2142-504: Is dead, and hath left Sir Robert Lee's son of the Forest, with one eye, his heir, and all his lands and goods but £600 a year to Mrs Banaster [sic for 'Vavasour'] during her life and no further, and she must put in bands to leave the houses and goods she hath at her death as good as now they are. Lee married firstly Margaret Wyatt , sister of the poet Sir Thomas Wyatt , and daughter of Sir Henry Wyatt of Allington Castle , Kent by Anne Skinner,
2261-526: 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
2380-676: Is settled to reform his mis-spent life by hazard in service ". Lee had taken into his custody various properties of Baltinglas, for which he made petition, and managed to settle in Kildare, where he proposed to defend the country with 25 horsemen and 50 foot. This proposal was favoured by Loftus, who noted that Lee, " hath so weeded out those parts of that lewd sort of people as the inhabitants of their own report find great quiet and better security of their lives, goods and cattle than of many years they have had ". The privy council wrote to Lee in July 1583 granting
2499-647: 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 ,
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#17328562186472618-727: 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
2737-648: 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
2856-466: 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
2975-477: 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
3094-715: 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
3213-467: 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
3332-609: 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
3451-625: 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
3570-523: The Earldom and lieutenancy of Mayo plus £1000 with Lee to act as chief commander of Connacht. The Queen agreed to all, except the appointment of Lee, and stipulated that the payment would be made after the fact. By December he had fallen ill and there was a delay in the response to his proposals. On 12 February 1601, four days after Essex was apprehended on charges of treason, Lee sought the assistance of Sir Henry Nevill and Sir Robert Crosse (a naval captain who
3689-540: 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
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3808-521: 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
3927-576: The Lee family at Quarrendon in Buckinghamshire. Born about 1510, Anthony was the eldest son of Sir Robert Lee (d. 1539) by his first wife, Joan Cope, daughter of William Cope of Banbury by Joan Spencer, one of the daughters of John Spencer, esquire, of Hodnell, Warwickshire . Anthony had a brother, Francis Lee, about whom little in known, and a sister, Jane Lee, who is said to have married William Symonds of Cornwall . Lee's mother died before 12 July 1521,
4046-575: 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
4165-451: The Queen, he simply said he meant, "to vex her for half an hour, that she might live all the merrier all her life after" . Upon conviction and sentencing he pleaded for his son's inheritance. He was put to death at Tyburn on 14 February, dying " very christianly ". Essex was put to death eleven days later. Lee married firstly, in 1578, Elizabeth Peppard, a recusant and widow of John Eustace, and daughter of Cuthbert Peppard, by whom he had
4284-692: 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
4403-570: The apprehension and killing of O'Byrne's sons, two of whom were married to her own sisters. Lee was accused of pulling out the eyes of Art O'Toole while the latter was under protection, and of driving the victim's brother, Rowny, into rebellion while under the same protection. When O'Neill had defeated Bagenal at the Battle of the Yellow Ford in 1598, Lee was confined to prison at Dublin for twenty weeks on charges of treason brought against him by Ormond and
4522-530: 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
4641-685: 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
4760-414: The blame for this incident on Nicholas White , a senior judge and adherent of Ormond's. In 1593 Lee took part in the expedition against Hugh Maguire under the new lord deputy, William FitzWilliam . Following the battle of Belleek he was commended for bravery by Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone and by Bagenal, having been the first to enter the ford on the river Erne. Lee became intimate with O'Neill, and
4879-520: 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
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4998-510: 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
5117-551: The charges. In April 1600 Lee petitioned for a return to Ireland. At about this time he submitted his Discovery - written while under house arrest - in which he proposed the recovery of the province of Leinster, and sought the seneschalship of O'Byrne's country and the lieutenancy of Leix as well as the distribution amongst his followers of the rebels' lands. He later proposed to ally with chiefs in Connacht, notably McWilliam who had undertaken to seize Hugh Roe O'Donnell in return for
5236-479: 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
5355-467: 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
5474-523: 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
5593-407: The date on which his father settled property at Burston on his second wife, Lettice Peniston, widow of Sir Robert Knollys , and daughter of Thomas Peniston of Hawridge , Buckinghamshire. By his second wife Sir Robert Lee had a son and two daughters: Lee is thought to have come to Henry VIII's court in his youth. By 1531 he had married Margaret Wyatt. He appears to have been close to her brother,
5712-455: The daughter of Robert Pakington . By his first wife, Robert Lee was the father of Sir Anthony Lee , and Thomas Lee was thus a cousin of the half blood of Sir Anthony Lee's eldest son and heir, the courtier Sir Henry Lee , Queen Elizabeth's champion. Lee eventually became attached to Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex . He probably arrived in Ireland in 1574 to take part in the colonisation scheme of Essex in eastern Ulster, and in 1576
5831-473: The daughter of John Skinner of Reigate , Surrey, by whom he had four sons and five daughters: He married secondly, by settlement dated 23 May 1548, Anne Hassall, the daughter of Richard Hassall of Hankelow , Cheshire, by whom he had two illegitimate sons born before the marriage: Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She
5950-654: The earl had advised him to depart. Lee went to England as intermediary, and about this time he wrote his Brief Declaration , which was presented to the queen in November and duly ignored. He also had his portrait done by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger . In his writings he cast himself in the model of the Roman hero Scaevola , who had entered the Etruscan camp to assassinate the king and, upon his discovery and trial, had thrust his right hand in
6069-536: 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
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#17328562186476188-424: 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
6307-529: The flame, whereupon a treaty had been concluded. The parallel was with Lee's relations with O'Neill, and his argument seems to have been that the rebels were in arms because the crown had waged its campaign beyond Fermanagh and Monaghan into the heart of O'Neill's territory in Ulster. However, Lord Deputy FitzWilliam - at whose door Lee had laid the principal blame for the war - described him to Lord Burghley as "indigent and desperate", and recommended he be barred from
6426-435: The flames or by being thrown over the walls by Lee's soldiers. In April 1596 Lee wrote to the queen's principal secretary, Lord Burghley , again urging a conciliatory policy towards O'Neill - now a proclaimed rebel - who would go to England on a safe conduct from the queen. Lee complained that the rebellion could have been avoided had his original advice been taken. At this stage he was being sued for arrears of Crown rents. By
6545-536: 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
6664-455: 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
6783-460: 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
6902-492: 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
7021-447: 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
7140-492: The heart and stomach of a king, and of a King of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any Prince of Europe should dare to invade the borders of my realm. Thomas Lee (army captain) Thomas Lee (1551/2 – 14 February 1601) was an English army captain, who served under Queen Elizabeth I and spent most of his career in Ireland during the Tudor conquest of that country . Although of middle rank, he played
7259-483: The horse and men. In 1584-5 Lee complained of his loss of horse under Bagenal and Stanley in the north on campaign against Sorley Boy MacDonnell . He then visited England, and was employed in the autumn of 1585 by the new lord deputy, John Perrot , against the rebel Cahir Oge Kavanagh in Kilkenny. There he ran into the sheriff who " grew to words and so to blows " with him; Lee was outnumbered 300 to 60 but still captured
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#17328562186477378-430: The latter was in bonds on his behalf. At the time he was under house arrest with Essex, who said that he had given Lee leave to go to his cousin, but had commanded him not to resort to London or the court. However Lee did go to court, where he was slandered by the archbishop of Cashel , Miler Magrath , with the " most indecent and contumelious words " and accused of treason; Lee wrote to Cecil seeking an opportunity to meet
7497-461: 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
7616-615: 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
7735-682: 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
7854-576: 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
7973-436: 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
8092-707: The poet Sir Thomas Wyatt , who spoke of the infinite favours Lee had done him, such that it made Wyatt 'weary to think on them'. By 1532 he is known to have had lodgings at Westminster , at Petty Calais, and may have been in the household of Thomas Cromwell . In early 1536 he was brought to Hampton Court by Sir John Russell to answer for 'consenting to the theft of some of the King's hawks', but appears to have been restored to favour by October of that year, at which time he and one of Cromwell's servants were in attendance on 'Richard Cromwell alias Williams' in Lincolnshire . Lee's father died 23 February 1539, and in that year Lee
8211-465: The queen's presence. Lee returned to Ireland in September 1595 and killed Kedagh MacPhelim Reagh. Harrington deemed it a cruel murder, and Lee was again imprisoned in Dublin Castle. In March 1596 Lee served under Lord Deputy Russell and took Cloghan Castle. The garrison refused to yield to him or evacuate the women, so he breached the walls and set fire to the thatched roof: forty-six died, either in
8330-435: 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
8449-627: The rebel earl, and that the Earl of Ormond 's family, the Butlers, had seized 500 cows from his land and burnt to the ground six of his newly built towns. In December 1596 Lord Deputy Russell reported that Lee had sent in seventeen rebel heads, a service which was highly paid. In the following April Lee complained to the Queen's secretary, Robert Cecil , of slanderous reports against himself and sought authority to take, banish or kill O'Byrne. At this time he seems to have been fed up with his miserable service in Ireland, but Russell had further use for him. Lee
8568-424: 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
8687-477: 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
8806-414: 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
8925-605: The sheriff and killed several of his men. This event cemented the enmity of the Earl of Ormond, but Lee was able to rely upon the backing of Walsingham and Perrot, who allowed that he had acted according to duty. Lee plotted to take the leader of the rebellious bastard Leinster Geraldines, Walter Reagh, but the plot was betrayed by Lee's wife, who had been an interpreter in negotiations with the rebels. Lee separated from his wife in October 1587, but it seems he maintained some relations with her. By this time he had fallen out with Perrot - in part because of non-payment for his services - and
9044-440: The sheriff of Kilkenny following his efforts to have the rebel leader installed as president of Ulster. Rice O'Toole's sisters offered evidence against Lee in return for protection. The attorney general thought a jury conviction touch and go, observing that " he hath good merits and evil infirmities ". Evidence was heard, Lee showed his letters of commission - empowering him to parley with rebels - and said that his letter from O'Neill
9163-421: 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
9282-563: 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
9401-399: 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
9520-509: 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
9639-544: 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
9758-512: 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
9877-457: The summer he had grown sceptical of O'Neill, who was " too far gone with pride of his own strength and confidence of foreign assistance, that he is past all hope of being reclaimed otherwise than by force ". Lee began to protest that he would die the poorest man in Her Majesty's service: he claimed that the clan leader and ally of O'Neill, Fiach McHugh O'Byrne , was hindering his proceedings with
9996-535: 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
10115-447: The suppression of the rebellion, Lee's company of 24 horsemen was disbanded. He was commended by the archbishop of Dublin, Adam Loftus , and Geoffrey Fenton , the latter commenting that he was " not without his portion of that common and secret envy which biteth most of us that serve here ". At the same time Grey wrote to the queen's secretary, Walsingham , that Lee should have 200 Irish soldiers to conduct into Flanders, noting that " Lee
10234-522: 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
10353-521: 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
10472-575: 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
10591-407: 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
10710-495: 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,
10829-649: 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
10948-405: 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
11067-553: Was appointed Justice of the Peace , was knighted, and was among those appointed to receive Henry VIII's bride, Anne of Cleves . He and his stepmother, Lettice, quarrelled over his father's will, and Cromwell was petitioned to act on her behalf. In the years 1540 and 1541 Lee's title to Quarrendon was challenged, and the matter was referred by the Privy Council to the Lord Chancellor , Thomas Audley . In 1542 and again in 1547 he
11186-430: 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
11305-462: 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
11424-487: 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
11543-406: Was covertly seeking O'Neill's forgiveness for O'Byrne's death, but he did receive O'Byrne lands from the government and was also granted a commission for martial law throughout south Leinster. Lee preferred articles of treason against the sheriff of Kilkenny for secretly maintaining Rice O'Toole. She was imprisoned in the castle, and Lee had her execution stayed in return for her promise to assist in
11662-471: 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 ,
11781-419: Was elected to Parliament as Knight of the Shire for Buckinghamshire; however no details of his activity in Parliament survive. In 1544 he was among knights named to serve in the rearguard of the army sent by Henry VIII to France, and two years later he and Richard Greenway were jointly charged with mustering 300 men from Buckinghamshire. In 1546 he purchased lands from John Croke for £775. On 24 January 1549 he
11900-410: 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
12019-655: 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
12138-440: Was imprisoned for eight weeks in Dublin Castle and deprived of his company. Lee sent his wife to court to plead his case, and in 1588 she was still there requesting that a band of 50 men taken from another captain be assigned to her husband. In 1591 Lee suffered " a great casual fire by the means of lewd servants " at Castlemartin, which cost him £1,000 and left him and his wife with nothing but their clothes and some horses. He laid
12257-424: Was knighted by Essex in the expedition to Cadiz in 1596) - with four other gentlemen - to surprise the queen in her privy chamber at supper time. His plan was to lock her in and pin her up until she signed a warrant for the delivery of Essex. However, Crosse informed the authorities of their plan, and Lee was apprehended as he watched the door of the chamber in preparation for an attempt on the following evening. Lee
12376-422: Was licensed to be absent from Parliament because of illness. He was nominated as Sheriff on 12 November 1549, and died less than two weeks later, on 24 November. In his will, dated 10 July 1549, he divided his properties among his four sons, all of whom were underage. His four unmarried daughters were given £200 apiece as marriage portions. His second wife, Anne, was given plate and other household goods, as well as
12495-468: 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
12614-543: Was made privy to the Lords Justice. Having apologised on his knees before the council, he was liberated and went on to revictual Maryborough fort. In October 1598 Lee took a company of 100 foot with Ormond into Munster to suppress the rebellion in that province. A month later he was in prison having asserted that Ormond was stirring rebellion and had secret agreements with O'Neill and the Earl of Kildare. He claimed to have dissuaded Kildare from rebellion and to have been behind
12733-431: 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 ,
12852-464: 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
12971-497: 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
13090-659: 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
13209-400: Was promoted to provost-marshal of Connacht; the following month he commanded the party which killed the ailing O'Byrne and was commended by Loftus. In a meeting with the rebels, he later denied on the book that he had been privy to the killing and denounced it as he had gained nothing by it; his soldiers then joined with the rebels in raiding twenty-six towns in O'Byrne's country. By November Lee
13328-690: Was serving as constable of Carrickfergus . By his marriage in 1578 to the Irish Catholic widow, Elizabeth Peppard, widow of John Eustace, he came into considerable property, including Castlemartin in County Kildare . He later bought Castle Reban , seeking its fee farm in April 1583, and much other property. In 1580 he was charged with highway robbery in Oxfordshire , but upon his release on bail he returned to Ireland. In 1581, Lee and his wife were cited in
13447-400: 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
13566-539: 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
13685-558: 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
13804-460: Was thus Henry Lee (d. 9 October 1657) of Kildare , son of Sir Henry's Lee's half-cousin, Captain Thomas Lee , 'the traitor', executed at Tyburn on 17 February 1601 after the Earl of Essex's rebellion. However Sir Henry Lee contrived to leave his estates, not to his heir at law, but to a nephew described thus by George Blundell in a letter to Sir Ralph Winwood on 19 February 1611: Sir Henry Lee
13923-500: 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 ,
14042-422: Was tried on 13 February. Crosse testified against him. Lee denied the construction put upon his words by the attorney-general and spoke boldly in defence of Essex, who had written in commendation of him to Lord Mountjoy . He admitted that, " it was ever my fault to be loose and lavish of my tongue ", adding that, " he had lived in misery and cared not to live, his enemies were so many and so great ". In reference to
14161-450: Was useful to the government during negotiations with the earl in March 1594, prior to the outbreak of the Nine Years' War . On one occasion, the earl requested the company of " Tom Lee ": along with another intermediary, Lee accompanied the earl and, on his return, reported that some of the earl's party had pointed weapons at his breast and beaten him and his companion with their staves, whereupon
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