A pedigree chart is a diagram that shows the occurrence and appearance of phenotypes of a particular gene or organism and its ancestors from one generation to the next, most commonly humans , show dogs , and race horses .
72-761: Burghley may refer to: William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (1520–1598), chief minister of queen Elizabeth I of England Burghley House , a sixteenth-century country house in Cambridgeshire, built for the above Burghley Horse Trials , an annual three-day event Burghley, an abandoned English village, believed to be under Burghley House David Cecil, 6th Marquess of Exeter , also known as David Burghley, British Conservative politician and 1928 Summer Olympics 400m hurdles champion See also [ edit ] Birley (disambiguation) Burley (disambiguation) Burleigh (disambiguation) Berlei Topics referred to by
144-411: A horizontal sibship line and listed in birth order from left to right. If the offspring are twins then they will be connected by a triangle. If an offspring dies then its symbol will be crossed by a line. If the offspring is still born or aborted it is represented by a small triangle. Each generation is identified by a Roman numeral (I, II, III, and so on), and each individual within the same generation
216-557: A letter to the queen regarding Nicholas Malby 's actions in the Munster rebellion since he was away in England during the deliberations of the meeting. Again, on 28 August 1582 White was accused of withholding his signature to conciliar deliberations on the actions of the deputy during the Pale rebellion. He continued to demonstrate his valuable insights to Burghley in regular correspondence throughout
288-514: A likely model for the character of the King's calculating minister Polonius in William Shakespeare 's Hamlet . Richard Attenborough depicted him in the film Elizabeth (1998), although the portrayal was inaccurate in many ways, including in regards to age and length of service. He was played by Ben Webster in the 1935 film Drake of England . He was a prominent supporting character in
360-428: A mark was used to denote succession in pedigree charts. A pedigree results in the presentation of family information in the form of an easily readable chart. It can be simply called as a " family tree ". Pedigrees use a standardized set of symbols, squares represent males and circles represent females. Pedigree construction is a family history, and details about an earlier generation may be uncertain as memories fade. If
432-545: A maxim such as this, it was easy for him to maintain that Elizabeth's coercive measures were political and not religious. To say that he was Machiavellian is meaningless, for every statesman is so, more or less; especially in the 16th century men preferred efficiency to principle. On the other hand, principles are valueless without law and order; and Burghley's craft and subtlety prepared a security in which principles might find some scope." The most prolonged of Cecil's surviving personal correspondences, lasting from 1566 until 1590,
504-570: A palace fine enough to accommodate the Queen on her visits. The Queen visited there eight times, between 1572 and 1596. An entertainment for Elizabeth, the Hermit's Welcome at Theobalds in May 1591 alluded to Burghley's retirement from public life. Burghley collapsed (possibly from a stroke or heart attack) in 1598. Before he died, Robert, his only surviving son by his second wife, was ready to step into his shoes as
576-586: A powerful Royal Navy. While he was not fully successful, his successors agreed with his goals. In 1587, Cecil persuaded the Queen to order the execution of the Roman Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots , after she was implicated in a plot to assassinate Elizabeth. He was the father of Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury , and founder of the Cecil dynasty (marquesses of Exeter and of Salisbury ), which has produced many politicians including two prime ministers. Cecil
648-503: A successor to this crown, but I fear the unwillingness of her Majesty to have such a person known will stay the matter." It was rumoured in December 1554 that Cecil would succeed Sir William Petre as Secretary of State , an office which, with his chancellorship of the Garter, he had lost on Mary's accession to the throne. Probably the Queen had more to do with this rumour than Cecil, though he
720-616: A united British Isles became an axiom of English policy by the 17th century. Though a Protestant, Cecil was not a religious purist; he aided the Protestant Huguenots and Dutch just enough to keep them going in the struggles which warded danger from England's shores. However, Cecil never developed that passionate aversion to decided measures which became a second nature to Elizabeth. His intervention in Scotland in 1559–1560 showed that he could strike hard when necessary; and his action over
792-488: Is a prominent secondary character in several books by Bertrice Small . He is a prominent character in Legacy , a novel of Elizabeth I by Susan Kay . He also appears in the alternative history Ruled Britannia , by Harry Turtledove , in which he and his son Sir Robert Cecil are conspirators and patrons of William Shakespeare in an attempt to restore Elizabeth to power after a Spanish invasion and conquest of England. In addition, he
SECTION 10
#1732858936214864-547: Is an anglicisation of the Welsh Seisyllt . Lord Burghley acknowledged that the family was from the Welsh Marches in a family pedigree painted at Theobalds . The Lord Treasurer's grandfather, David Cecil , had moved to Stamford. David Cecil secured the favour of the first Tudor king, Henry VII , to whom he was yeoman of the chamber. He was elected Member of Parliament for Stamford five times, between 1504 and 1523. He
936-452: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley KG PC (13 September 1520 – 4 August 1598) was an English statesman, the chief adviser of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State (1550–1553 and 1558–1572) and Lord High Treasurer from 1572. In his description in
1008-514: Is identified by an Arabic numeral (1, 2, 3, and so on). Analysis of the pedigree using the principles of Mendelian inheritance can determine whether a trait has a dominant or recessive pattern of inheritance. Pedigrees are often constructed after a family member afflicted with a genetic disorder has been identified. This individual, known as the proband , is indicated on the pedigree by an arrow. These changes may occur yearly or monthly. In England and Wales pedigrees are officially recorded in
1080-582: Is played by Philip Rosch. As a stage character Cecil features in Friedrich Schiller 's verse drama Mary Stuart and Robert Bolt 's Vivat! Vivat Regina! . Bolt portrays him as intelligent, pragmatic, ruthless and driven by the interests of the State and the Crown. Cecil appears as a character in the novels I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles , The Virgin's Lover and The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory , and
1152-562: Is portrayed as a young man in Lamentation by C. J. Sansom . Burghley also appears in the espionage novels of Fiona Buckley , featuring Elizabeth I's half-sister, Ursula Blanchard. Guy Pearce portrays Cecil in the 2018 historical drama Mary Queen of Scots , directed by Josie Rourke . William Cecil appears as a character in Deborah Harkness ’ novel Shadow of Night , which is the second instalment of her “All Souls” Trilogy. Cecil
1224-462: Is portrayed by Adrian Rawlins in the television adaptation of the triogy, A Discovery of Witches . Pedigree chart The word pedigree is a corruption of the Anglo-Norman French pé de grue or "crane's foot", either because the typical lines and split lines (each split leading to different offspring of the one parent line) resemble the thin leg and foot of a crane or because such
1296-538: Is said to have opposed, in the parliament of 1555 (in which he represented Lincolnshire), a bill for the confiscation of the estates of the Protestant refugees . The story, even as told by his biographer, does not represent Cecil's conduct as having been very courageous; and it is more revealing that he found no seat in the parliament of 1558, for which Mary had directed the return of "discreet and good Catholic members ". The Duke of Northumberland had employed Cecil in
1368-564: Is with Nicholas White , an Irish judge. It is contained in the State Papers Ireland 63 and Lansdowne MS. 102 , but receives hardly a mention in the literature on Cecil. White had been a tutor to Cecil's children during his student days in London, and the correspondence suggests that he was held in lasting affection by the family. In the end, White fell into a Dublin controversy over the confessions of an intriguing priest, which threatened
1440-517: The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition , A.F. Pollard wrote, "From 1558 for forty years the biography of Cecil is almost indistinguishable from that of Elizabeth and from the history of England." Cecil 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
1512-458: The Almanach de Gotha . A pedigree may be used to establish the probability of a child having a particular disorder or condition. It may be used to discover where the genes in question are located (x, y, or autosome chromosome), and to determine whether a trait is dominant or recessive. When a pedigree shows a condition appearing in a 50:50 ratio between men and women it is considered autosomal . When
SECTION 20
#17328589362141584-608: The College of Arms , which has records going back to the Middle Ages, including pedigrees collected during roving inquiries by its heralds during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The purpose of these heraldic visitations was to register and regulate the use of coats of arms . Those who claimed the right to bear arms had to provide proof either of a grant of arms to them by the College, or of descent from an ancestor entitled to arms. It
1656-556: The Religious Settlement of 1559 was considerable, and it coincided fairly with his own Anglican religious views. Like the mass of the nation, he grew more Protestant as time wore on; he was happier to persecute Catholics than Puritans ; and he had no love for ecclesiastical jurisdiction. His prosecution of the English Catholics made him a recurring character in the "evil counsellor polemics", written by Catholic exiles across
1728-594: The Third Succession Act on 15 June 1553. (The document, which Edward titled "My Devise for the Succession", barred both Elizabeth and Mary, the remaining children of Henry VIII , from the throne, in favour of Lady Jane Grey .) Cecil resisted for a while, in a letter to his wife, he wrote: "Seeing great perils threatened upon us by the likeness of the time, I do make choice to avoid the perils of God's displeasure." However, at Edward's royal command he signed, not only
1800-494: The devise , but also the bond among the conspirators and the letters from the council to Mary Tudor of 9 June 1553. Years afterwards, he pretended that he had only signed the devise as a witness, but in his apology to Queen Mary I , he did not venture to allege so flimsy an excuse; he preferred to lay stress on the extent to which he succeeded in shifting the responsibility on to the shoulders of his brother-in-law, Sir John Cheke, and other friends, and on his intrigues to frustrate
1872-442: The 1937 film Fire Over England , starring Laurence Olivier , Vivien Leigh , and Flora Robson ; Burghley (spelled Burleigh in the film) was played by Morton Selten . He also appears in the 2005 television mini-series Elizabeth I with Helen Mirren , played by Ian McDiarmid ; was portrayed by Ronald Hines in the 1971 TV series Elizabeth R ; by Trevor Howard in the 1971 film Mary, Queen of Scots ; and by Ian Hart in
1944-611: The 2005 miniseries The Virgin Queen . He is portrayed by David Thewlis in Roland Emmerich 's Anonymous (2011). Cecil is portrayed by Ben Willbond in the BAFTA Award -winning children's comedy television series Horrible Histories ; in the spin-off film, Bill (2015), he was played by Mathew Baynton . In the BBC TV miniseries Elizabeth I's Secret Agents (2017, broadcast on PBS in 2018 as Queen Elizabeth's Secret Agents ), he
2016-458: The Court of Wards, Cecil supervised the raising and education of wealthy, aristocratic boys whose fathers had died before they reached maturity. These included Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford , Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton , Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex and Roger Manners, 5th Earl of Rutland . He is widely credited with reforming an institution notorious for its corruption, but
2088-583: The Order of the Garter . But service under Warwick (by now the Duke of Northumberland) carried some risk, and decades later in his diary, Cecil recorded his release in the phrase " ex misero aulico factus liber et mei juris " ("I was freed from this miserable court"). To protect the Protestant government from the accession of a Catholic queen, Northumberland forced King Edward's lawyers to create an instrument setting aside
2160-568: The Parliament of 1555 and 1559, and Northamptonshire in that of 1563, and he took an active part in the proceedings of the House of Commons until his elevation to the peerage ; but there seems no good evidence for the story that he was proposed as Speaker in 1563. In January 1561, he was given the lucrative office of Master of the Court of Wards and Liveries in succession to Sir Thomas Parry . As Master of
2232-717: The Protector, and was in some danger at the time of the Protector's fall in October 1549. The lords opposed to Somerset ordered his detention on 10 October, and in November he was in the Tower of London . Cecil ingratiated himself with John Dudley, then Earl of Warwick , and after less than three months he was out of the Tower. On 5 September 1550 Cecil was sworn in as one of King Edward's two secretaries of state . In April 1551, Cecil became chancellor of
Burghley - Misplaced Pages Continue
2304-451: The Queen to whom he had sworn allegiance. There is no doubt that Cecil saw which way the wind was blowing, and disliked Northumberland's scheme; but he had not the courage to resist the duke to his face. As soon as the duke had set out to meet Mary, however, Cecil became the most active intriguer against him, and to these efforts, of which he laid a full account before Queen Mary, he mainly owed his immunity. He had, moreover, had no part in
2376-552: The Queen's principal adviser. Having survived all his children except Robert and Thomas, Burghley died at his London residence, Cecil House on 4 August 1598, and was buried in St Martin's Church, Stamford . William Cecil first married Mary Cheke (Cheek), daughter of Peter Cheke of Cambridge and Agnes Duffield (and sister of John Cheke ), and they had issue: Secondly, he married Mildred Cooke , eldest daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke of Gidea , Essex and Anne Fitzwilliam, and they had
2448-734: The Spanish and of the pope, who excommunicated Elizabeth in 1570 and sent in Jesuits to organise a Catholic underground. Following the Harleyford Conference of July 1586 these missionaries would set up a highly effective underground system for the transport and support of priests arriving from the Continent. Elizabeth's indecision was maddening; finally in 1587 Elizabeth had Mary executed. In 1572, Lord Winchester , who had been Lord High Treasurer under Edward, Mary and Elizabeth, died. His vacant post
2520-465: The administration of the lands of Princess Elizabeth . Before Mary died he was a member of the "old flock of Hatfield", and from the first, the new Queen relied on Cecil. He was the cousin of Blanche Parry , Elizabeth's longest serving gentlewoman and close confidante. Elizabeth appointed Cecil Secretary of State . His tight control over the finances of the Crown, leadership of the Privy Council , and
2592-428: The arts of architecture and horticulture were lavished on Burghley House and Theobalds, which his son exchanged for Hatfield. Cecil wrote more than 128 letters to his son Robert Cecil over the course of his life, containing words of guidance and perseverance. The collection of letters show the close direction and counsel he gave his son in seeking and obtaining the office of principal secretary, 1593–1598. They describe
2664-476: The authority of the Queen's deputised government in Ireland; out of caution Cecil withdrew his longstanding protection and the judge was imprisoned in London and died soon after. White's most remarked-upon service for Cecil is his report on his visit to Mary, Queen of Scots , in 1569, during the early years of her imprisonment. It was an acrimonious encounter in which he angrily refuted Mary's contention that Elizabeth
2736-518: The channel. In these pamphlets, polemicists painted a black picture of Burghley as a corrupting influence over the queen. "The Queen will listen to none but unto him", exiled Catholic intelligencer Richard Verstegan wrote, "and somtymes, she is faine to come to his bedsyde to entreat him in some-things." He warmly remonstrated with John Whitgift , the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury , over his persecuting Articles of 1583. The finest encomium
2808-427: The condition predominantly affects males in the pedigree it is considered x-linked . Some examples of dominant traits include: male baldness , astigmatism , and dwarfism . Some examples of recessive traits include: small eyes, little body hair, and tall stature. In the practice of selective breeding of animals, particularly in animal fancy and livestock , including horses , pedigree charts are used to track
2880-404: The creation of a capable intelligence service under the direction of Francis Walsingham made him the most important minister for the majority of Elizabeth's reign. Dawson argues that Cecil's long-term goal was a united and Protestant British Isles, an objective to be achieved by completing the conquest of Ireland and by creating an Anglo-Scottish alliance. With the land border with Scotland safe,
2952-451: The divorce of Catherine of Aragon or in the humiliation of Mary during Henry's reign, and he made no scruple about conforming to the Catholic reaction. He went to Mass , confessed, and in no particular official capacity went to meet Cardinal Pole on his return to England in December 1554, again accompanying him to Calais in May 1555. William Cecil was elected to Parliament as knight of
Burghley - Misplaced Pages Continue
3024-415: The execution of Mary, Queen of Scots , proved that he was willing to take on responsibilities from which the Queen shrank. Generally he was in favour of more decided intervention on behalf of continental Protestants than Elizabeth would have liked, but it is not always easy to ascertain the advice he gave. He left endless memoranda lucidly (nevertheless sometimes bordering on the ridiculous) setting forth
3096-597: The extent of his reforms has been disputed by some scholars. In February 1559, he was elected Chancellor of Cambridge University in succession to Cardinal Pole ; he was created M.A. of that university on the occasion of Elizabeth's visit in 1564, and M.A. of Oxford on a similar occasion in 1566. He was the first Chancellor of the University of Dublin , between 1592 and 1598. On 25 February 1571, Queen Elizabeth elevated him as Baron Burghley. That Cecil continued to act as Secretary of State after his elevation illustrates
3168-502: The following issue: Cecil's descendants include the Marquesses of Exeter , descended from his elder son Thomas; and the Marquesses of Salisbury , descended from his younger son Robert. One of the latter branch, Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (1830–1903), served three times as Prime Minister, under Queen Victoria and her son, King Edward VII . The latter's nephew Arthur Balfour , who succeeded Salisbury as Prime Minister,
3240-491: The future of the Queen and her realms. Albert Pollard , in his article on Cecil in the Encyclopedia Britannica , wrote: "William Cecil's public conduct does not present itself in quite so amiable a light. As his predecessor, Lord Winchester, said of himself, he was sprung "from the willow rather than the oak". Neither Cecil nor Lord Winchester were men to suffer for the sake of obstinate convictions. The interest of
3312-400: The growing importance of the office, which under his son became a secretary of the ship of state. In 1572 Cecil privately admonished the queen for her "doubtful dealing with the Queen of Scots". He made a strong attack on everything he thought Elizabeth had done wrong as queen. In his view, Mary had to be executed because she had become a rallying cause for Catholics and played into the hands of
3384-485: The imperfect parliamentary returns until 1547, when he was elected for the family borough of Stamford . In 1548, he was described as the Protector's Master of Requests, which apparently means that he was clerk or registrar of the court of requests which Somerset, possibly at Hugh Latimer 's instigation, illegally set up in Somerset House to hear poor men's complaints. He also seems to have acted as private secretary to
3456-544: The main burden of defence would fall upon the Royal Navy , Cecil proposed to strengthen and revitalise the Navy, making it the centrepiece of English power. He did obtain a firm Anglo-Scottish alliance reflecting the common religion and shared interests of the two countries, as well as an agreement that offered the prospect of a successful conquest of Ireland. However, his strategy ultimately failed. His idea that England's safety required
3528-464: The native Irish he was apparently the author of an extraordinary trial by combat in September 1583 in which Teig MacGilpatrick O'Connor and Conor MacCormac O'Connor died. His usefulness as an Irish speaker and a nominal protestant made White an essential privy councillor for two decades. Cecil has been a character in many works of fiction connected with Elizabeth I's reign. He has long been considered
3600-487: The necessity of safeguarding the social hierarchy, the just price and the moral duties due to labour. In his economic policy he was motivated by a variety of factors, including those of national independence and self-sufficiency, as well as seeking to balance the interests of the Crown and the subject. Cecil did not believe that economics and politics were separate or that there was a dichotomy between power and plenty. One of his biographers asserted that, for Burghley, "power
3672-442: The period, including letters of December 1581 on the miseries of war, the need for temperate government, and his fear that the wild Irish were glad to see the weakness of English blood in Ireland. In a missive of 13 September 1582 White complained of the unfriendly dealings of Lucas Dillon , his erstwhile companion and fellow Irish-born councillor, stating they had been for a long time of 'contrary minds'. In spite of his sympathies for
SECTION 50
#17328589362143744-585: The pros and cons of every course of action; but there are few indications of the line which he actually recommended when it came to a decision. How far he was personally responsible for the Anglican Settlement , the Poor Laws , and the foreign policy of the reign, remains to a large extent a matter of conjecture. However, it is most likely that Cecil's views carried the day in the politics of Elizabethan England . The historian Hilaire Belloc contends that Cecil
3816-413: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Burghley . 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=Burghley&oldid=1140413251 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
3888-425: The sex of the person is unknown a diamond is used. Someone with the phenotype in question is represented by a filled-in (darker) symbol. Heterozygotes , when identifiable, are indicated by a shade dot inside a symbol or a half-filled symbol. Relationships in a pedigree are shown as a series of lines. Parents are connected by a horizontal line and a vertical line leads to their offspring. The offspring are connected by
3960-400: The shire for Lincolnshire in 1553 (probably), 1555 and 1559 and for Northamptonshire in 1563." In January of that year, he wrote to Sir Thomas Smith: "The Parliament is begun and I trust will be short, for matters of moment to pass are not many, reviving of some old laws for penalties of some felonies and the grant of a subsidy. I think somewhat will be attempted to ascertain the realm of
4032-426: The state was the supreme consideration for Burghley, and to it he had no hesitation in sacrificing individual consciences. He frankly disbelieved in toleration; "that state", he said, "could never be in safety where there was a toleration of two religions. For there is no enmity so great as that for religion; and therefore they that differ in the service of their God can never agree in the service of their country". With
4104-475: The task of receiving and crafting a wide and large array of papers on behalf of Queen Elizabeth I and her Privy Council; finance, administration, foreign policy, and religion figure prominently, as does the shift from continental war to Ireland. These letters reveal the intimate relationship between the father and son; Burghley's care for his family, his thoughts of death, and a unique record of illness and old age are framed by his political and spiritual anxieties for
4176-674: Was Lord Protector during the early years of the reign of his nephew, the young Edward VI . Cecil accompanied Somerset on his Pinkie campaign of 1547 (part of the "Rough Wooing" ), being one of the two Judges of the Marshalsea . The other was William Patten , who states that both he and Cecil began to write independent accounts of the campaign, and that Cecil generously contributed his notes for Patten's narrative, The Expedition into Scotland . Cecil, according to his autobiographical notes, sat in Parliament in 1543; but his name does not occur in
4248-562: Was Sergeant-of-Arms to Henry VIII in 1526, Sheriff of Northamptonshire in 1532, and a Justice of the Peace for Rutland . He, according to Burghley's enemies, kept the best inn in Stamford. His eldest son, Richard , Yeoman of the Wardrobe (died 1554), married Jane, daughter of William Heckington of Bourne, and was father of three daughters and the future Lord Burghley. William, the only son,
4320-415: Was also a descendant. William Cecil's private life was upright; he was a faithful husband, a careful father and a dutiful master. A book-lover and antiquarian, he made a special hobby of heraldry and genealogy . It was the conscious and unconscious aim of the age to reconstruct a new landed aristocracy on the ruins of the old, Catholic order. As such, Burghley was a great builder, planter and patron. All
4392-565: Was born in Bourne, Lincolnshire , in 1520, the son of Sir Richard Cecil , owner of the Burghley estate (near Stamford, Lincolnshire ), and his wife, Jane Heckington. Pedigrees , elaborated by Cecil himself with the help of William Camden the antiquary , associated him with the Welsh Cecils or Seisyllts of Allt-Yr-Ynys, Walterstone , on the border of Herefordshire and Monmouthshire . Cecil
SECTION 60
#17328589362144464-424: Was for defence from external enemies; plenty for security at home. Cecil pursued both power and plenty. They were the foreign and domestic aspects of his economic nationalism ". He deplored the reliance on "foreign corn" and during an economic depression sought to ensure employment due to his fears of "tumults". Cecil used patronage to ensure the loyalty of the nobility. William Cecil represented Lincolnshire in
4536-483: Was for this reason that pedigrees were recorded by the visitations. Pedigrees continue to be registered at the College of Arms and kept up to date on a voluntary basis but they are not accessible to the general public without payment of a fee. More visible, therefore, are the pedigrees recorded in published works, such as Burke's Peerage and Burke's Landed Gentry in the United Kingdom and, in continental Europe by
4608-506: Was fully finished", Cecil recorded in his diary, calling the place "my rude new cottage." Inherited by his elder son, Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter , it was known as "Exeter House". A new Theobalds House in Cheshunt was built between 1564 and 1585 by the order of Cecil, intending to build a mansion partly to demonstrate his increasingly dominant status at the Royal Court , and to provide
4680-574: Was in 1541 removed by his father to Gray's Inn , without having taken a degree , as was common at the time for those not intending to enter the Church. The precaution proved useless and four months later Cecil committed one of the rare rash acts of his life in marrying Mary Cheke. The only child of this marriage, Thomas , the future Earl of Exeter, was born in May 1542, and in February 1543 Cecil's first wife died. On 21 December 1546 he married Mildred Cooke , who
4752-429: Was offered to Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester , who declined it and proposed Burghley, stating that the latter was the more suitable candidate because of his greater "learning and knowledge". The new Lord Treasurer's hold over the queen strengthened with the years. Burghley House , near the town of Stamford , was built for Cecil, between 1555 and 1587, and modelled on the privy lodgings of Richmond Palace . It
4824-478: Was passed on him by the queen herself, when she said, "This judgment I have of you, that you will not be corrupted with any manner of gifts, and that you will be faithful to the state." William Cecil sought to ensure that policy was commensurate with the royal finances, which often led him advocating a cautious policy. His economic ideas were influenced by the Commonwealthmen of Edward VI's reign: he believed in
4896-408: Was put to school at The King's School, Grantham , and then Stamford School , which he later saved and endowed. In May 1535, at the age of fourteen, he went to St John's College, Cambridge , where he was brought into contact with the foremost scholars of the time, Roger Ascham and John Cheke , and acquired an unusual knowledge of Greek . He also acquired the affections of Cheke's sister, Mary, and
4968-458: Was ranked by Ascham with Lady Jane Grey as one of the two most learned ladies in the kingdom, (aside from another of Ascham's pupils, Elizabeth Tudor, who was later Elizabeth I ) and whose sister, Anne, was the wife of Sir Nicholas Bacon and mother of Sir Francis Bacon . William Cecil's early career was spent in the service of the Duke of Somerset (a brother of the late queen, Jane Seymour ), who
5040-476: Was subsequently the residence of his descendants, the earls and marquesses of Exeter. The house is one of the principal examples of 16th-century Elizabethan architecture , reflecting the prominence of its founder, and the lucrative wool trade of the Cecil estates. Cecil House was built as his London residence, an expansion of an existing building. Queen Elizabeth I supped with him there, in July 1561, "before my house
5112-567: Was the de facto ruler of England during his tenure as Secretary; pointing out that in instances where his and Elizabeth's wills diverged, it was Cecil's will that was imposed. Leimon and Parker argue that Cecil was the principal protector of Edward Stafford , the English ambassador to Paris and a paid spy who helped the Spanish at the time of the Spanish Armada. However, they do not claim Cecil knew of Stafford's treason. William Cecil's share in
5184-662: Was treating her harshly. However, he admitted in his subsequent letter to Cecil that despite his hostility towards Mary, he had found her to be somewhat alluring and advised that she be kept under strict confinement for fear that she would have a similar impact on others. Elizabeth was jealous of her Scottish rival and, although he was at pains to stress that Mary in no way surpassed her in charm and beauty, White could well have forfeited his recently acquired favour had this relation been communicated to his queen; Cecil seems to have kept it from his royal mistress. In February 1581, White demonstrated his independence in council, refusing to sign
#213786