Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester (24 June 1532 – 4 September 1588) was an English statesman and the favourite of Elizabeth I from her accession until his death. He was a suitor for the queen's hand for many years.
Dudley's youth was overshadowed by the downfall of his family in 1553 after his father, the Duke of Northumberland, had failed to prevent the accession of Mary I. Robert Dudley was condemned to death but was released in 1554 and took part in the Battle of St. Quentin under Mary's husband and co-ruler, Philip, which led to his full rehabilitation, but also to the death of his older brother Henry. On Elizabeth I's accession in November 1558, Dudley was appointed Master of the Horse. In October 1562, he became a privy councillor and, in 1587, was appointed Lord Steward of the Royal Household. In 1564, Dudley became Earl of Leicester and, from 1563, one of the greatest landowners in North Wales and the English West Midlands by royal grants.
The Earl of Leicester was one of Elizabeth's leading statesmen, involved in domestic as well as foreign politics alongside William Cecil and Sir Francis Walsingham. Although he refused to be married to Mary, Queen of Scots, Leicester was for a long time relatively sympathetic to her until, from the mid-1580s, he urged her execution. As patron of the Puritan movement, he supported non-conforming preachers but tried to mediate between them and the bishops of the Church of England. A champion also of the international Protestant cause, he led the English campaign in support of the Dutch Revolt (1585–1587). His acceptance of the post of governor-general of the United Provinces infuriated Queen Elizabeth. The expedition was a military and political failure, and it ruined Leicester financially. Leicester was engaged in many large-scale business ventures and was one of the main backers of Francis Drake and other explorers and privateers. During the Spanish Armada, Leicester was in overall command of the English land forces. In this function, he invited Queen Elizabeth to visit her troops at Tilbury. This was the last of many events he had organised over the years, the most spectacular being the festival at his seat Kenilworth Castle in 1575 on the occasion of a three-week visit by the Queen. Leicester was a principal patron of the arts, literature, and the Elizabethan theatre.Haynes 1992 p. 12; Wilson 1981 pp. 151–152
Leicester's private life interfered with his court career and vice versa. When his first wife, Amy Robsart, fell down a flight of stairs and died in 1560, he was free to marry the queen. However, the resulting scandal very much reduced his chances in this respect. Popular rumours that he had arranged for his wife's death continued throughout his life, despite the coroner's jury's verdict of accident. For 18 years he did not remarry for Queen Elizabeth's sake and when he finally did, his new wife, Lettice Knollys, was permanently banished from court. This and the death of his only legitimate son and heir were heavy blows.Adams 2002 pp. 145, 147 Shortly after the child's death in 1584, a virulent libel known as Leicester's Commonwealth was circulated in England. It laid the foundation of a literary and historiographical tradition that often depicted Leicester as the Machiavellian "master courtier"Adams 2002 p. 52 and as a deplorable figure around Elizabeth I. More recent research has led to a reassessment of his place in Elizabethan government and society.
Early life
Education and marriage Robert Dudley was the fifth son of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, and his wife Jane, daughter of Sir Edward Guildford.Adams 2008b His paternal grandfather, Edmund Dudley, had been an adviser to King Henry VII and was executed for treason in 1510 by King Henry VIII. John and Jane Dudley had 13 children in all and were known for their happy family life.Adams 2002 p. 133 Among the siblings' tutors figured John Dee,Wilson 1981 p. 16 Thomas Wilson, and Roger Ascham.Chamberlin 1939 pp. 55–56
Roger Ascham believed that Robert Dudley possessed a rare talent for languages and writing, including in Latin, regretting that his pupil had done himself harm by preferring mathematics.Chamberlin 1939 p. 55; Adams 2008b Robert learned the craft of the courtier at the courts of Henry VIII, and especially Edward VI, among whose companions he served.Wilson 1981 pp. 23, 28–29; Adams 2008b; Loades 1996 p. 225
In 1549, Robert Dudley participated in crushing Kett's Rebellion and probably first met Amy Robsart, whom he was to wed on 4 June 1550 in the presence of the young King Edward.Wilson 1981 pp. 31, 33, 44 She was of the same age as the bridegroom and the daughter and heiress of Sir John Robsart, a gentleman-farmer of Norfolk.Adams 2002 pp. 135, 159 It was a love-match, the young couple depending heavily on their fathers' gifts, especially Robert's. John Dudley, who since early 1550 effectively ruled England, was pleased to strengthen his influence in Norfolk by his son's marriage.Loades 1996 pp. 179, 225, 285; Haynes 1987 pp. 20–21 Lord Robert, as he was styled as a duke's son, became an important local gentleman and served as a Member of Parliament for Norfolk in 1551–52, March 1553 and 1559.Virgoe 1982 p. 66 His court career went on in parallel.Loades 1996 pp. 225–226; Wilson 1981 pp. 45–47
Condemned and pardoned On 6 July 1553, King Edward VI died and the Duke of Northumberland attempted to transfer the English crown to Lady Jane Grey, who was married to his second youngest son, Lord Guildford Dudley.Loades 1996 pp. 256–257, 238–239 Robert Dudley led a force of 300 into Norfolk where Edward's half-sister Mary was assembling her followers. After some ten days in the county and securing several towns for Jane, he took King's Lynn and proclaimed her in the marketplace.Ives 2009 pp. 199, 209; Haynes 1987 pp. 23 The next day, 19 July, Jane's reign was over in London. Soon, the townsmen of King's Lynn seized Robert Dudley and the rest of his small troop and sent him to Framlingham Castle before Mary I.Haynes 1987 pp. 23–24; Chamberlin 1939 pp. 68-69
Robert Dudley was imprisoned in the Tower of London, attainted, and condemned to death, as were his father and four brothers. His father went to the scaffold.Loades 1996 pp. 266, 270–271 In the Tower, Dudley's stay coincided with the imprisonment of his childhood friend,Adams 2002 p. 134 Edward and Mary's half-sister Elizabeth, who was sent there on suspicion of involvement in Wyatt's rebellion. Guildford Dudley was executed in February 1554. The surviving brothers were released in the autumn; working for their release, their mother (who died in January 1555) and their brother-in-law, Henry Sidney, had befriended the incoming Spanish nobles around Philip of Spain, Mary's husband.
In December 1554, Ambrose and Robert Dudley took part in a tournament held to celebrate Anglo-Spanish friendship. Yet, the Dudley brothers were welcome at court only as long as King Philip was there,Loades 1996 p. 280 otherwise they were suspected of associating with people who conspired against Mary's regime.Adams 2002 pp. 161–162 In January 1557, Robert and Amy Dudley were allowed to repossess some of their former lands,Loades 1996 p. 273 and in March of the same year Dudley was at Calais where he was chosen to deliver personally to Queen Mary the happy news of Philip's return to England.Adams 2002 p. 158; Wilson 1981 p. 71 Ambrose, Robert, and Henry Dudley, the youngest brother, fought for Philip II at the Battle of St. Quentin in August 1557.Loades 1996 pp. 238, 273 Henry Dudley was killed in the following siege by a cannonball—according to Robert, before his own eyes.Adams 2002 p. 134; Chamberlin 1939 pp. 87–88 All surviving Dudley children — Ambrose and Robert with their sisters, Mary and Katherine — were restored in blood by Mary I's next parliament in 1558.
Royal favourite
Robert Dudley was counted among Elizabeth's special friends by Philip II's envoy to the English court a week before Queen Mary's death. On 18 November 1558, the morning after Elizabeth's accession, Dudley witnessed the surrender of the Great Seal to her at Hatfield. He became Master of the Horse on the same day. This was an important court position entailing close attendance on the sovereign. It suited him, as he was an excellent horseman and showed great professional interest in royal transport and accommodation, horse breeding, and the supply of horses for all occasions. Dudley was also entrusted with organising and overseeing a large part of the Queen's coronation festivities.Wilson 1981 pp. 78, 83–92
In April 1559 Dudley was elected a Knight of the Garter.Wilson 1981 p. 96 Shortly before, Philip II had been informed:
Lord Robert has come so much into favour that he does whatever he likes with affairs and it is even said that her majesty visits him in his chamber day and night. People talk of this so freely that they go so far as to say that his wife has a malady in one of her breasts and the Queen is only waiting for her to die to marry Lord Robert ... Matters have reached such a pass ... that ... it would ... be well to approach Lord Robert on your Majesty's behalf ... Your Majesty would do well to attract and confirm him in his friendship.Hume 1892–1899 Vol. I pp. 57–58; Wilson 1981 p. 95
Within a month the Spanish ambassador, Count de Feria, counted Robert Dudley among three persons who ran the country. Visiting foreigners of princely rank were bidding for his goodwill. He acted as an official host on state occasions and was himself a frequent guest at ambassadorial dinners.Owen 1980 p. 9 By the autumn of 1559 several foreign princes were vying for the Queen's hand; their impatient envoys came under the impression that Elizabeth was fooling them, "keeping Lord Robert's enemies and the country engaged with words until this wicked deed of killing his wife is consummated."Skidmore 2010 pp. 166, 162 "Lord Robert", the new Spanish ambassador de Quadra was convinced, was the man "in whom it is easy to recognise the king that is to be ... she will marry none but the favoured Robert."Chamberlin 1939 p. 118 Many of the nobility would not brook Dudley's new prominence, as they could not "put up with his being King."Chamberlin 1939 pp. 116–117; Doran 1996 p. 42 Plans to kill the favourite abounded,Adams 1995 p. 78; Wilson 1981 p. 100; Chamberlin 1939 p. 117 and Dudley took to wearing a light coat of mail under his clothes.Adams 1995 p. 151 Among all classes, in England and abroad, gossip got underway that the Queen had children by Dudley—such rumours never quite ended for the rest of her life.Wilson 1981 p. 114; Doran 1996 p. 72
Amy Dudley's death Already in April 1559 court observers noted that Elizabeth never let Dudley from her side;Wilson 2005 p. 261 but her favour did not extend to his wife.Adams 2011 Amy Dudley lived in different parts of the country since her ancestral manor house was uninhabitable.Adams 1995 pp. 380–382 Her husband visited her for four days at Easter 1559 and she spent a month around London in the early summer of the same year.Adams 1995 p. 378 They never saw each other again; Dudley was with the Queen at Windsor Castle and possibly planning a visit to her, when his wife was found dead at her residence Cumnor Place near Oxford on 8 September 1560:Adams 1995 p. 383
There came to me Bowes, by whom I do understand that my wife is dead and as he sayeth by a fall from a pair of stairs. Little other understanding can I have of him. The greatness and the suddenness of the misfortune doth so perplex me, until I do hear from you how the matter standeth, or how this evil should light upon me, considering what the malicious world will bruit, as I can take no rest.Adams 2002 p. 136