Editing Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury

{{Short description|English government minister (1563–1612)}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2015}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific_prefix   = [[The Right Honourable]]
|name               = The Earl of Salisbury
|honorific_suffix   = [[Knight of the Order of the Garter|KG]] [[Privy Council of England|PC]]
|image              = Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury by John De Critz the Elder (2).jpg
|imagesize          =
|caption            = The Earl of Salisbury by [[John de Critz the Elder]] c. 1602
|order              =
|office             = [[Lord High Treasurer]]
|term_start         = 4 May 1608
|term_end           = 24 May 1612
|monarch            = [[James VI and I|James I]]
|predecessor        = [[Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset|The Earl of Dorset]]
|successor          = [[Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton|The Earl of Northampton]] <small>(as [[First Lord of the Treasury|First Lord]])</small>
|office1            =  [[Lord Privy Seal]]
|term_start1        =  1598
|term_end1          =  1608
|monarch1           =  [[Elizabeth I]]<br />[[James I of England|James I]]
|predecessor1       =  [[William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley|The Lord Burghley]]
|successor1         =  [[Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton|The Earl of Northampton]]
|office2            =  [[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]]
|term_start2        =  8 October 1597
|term_end2          = 1599
|monarch2           = [[Elizabeth I]]
|predecessor2       =  In commission
|successor2         =  In commission
|office3            =  [[Secretary of State (England)|Secretary of State]]
|term_start3        =  5 July 1596
|term_end3          =  24 May 1612
|monarch3           =  [[Elizabeth I]]<br />[[James I of England|James I]]
|predecessor3       =  [[William Davison (diplomat)|William Davison]]
|successor3         =  [[John Herbert (Secretary of State)|John Herbert]]
|birth_date         = 1 June 1563
|birth_place        = [[Westminster]], [[Central London|London]], England
|death_date         = {{death date and age|df=yes|1612|5|24|1563|6|1}}
|death_place        = [[Marlborough, Wiltshire]], England
|restingplace       =
|restingplacecoordinates =
|birthname          =
|nationality        = [[England|English]]
|spouse             = Elizabeth Brooke
|parents            = [[William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley]]<br />[[Mildred Cooke]]
|children           = 2, including [[William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Salisbury|William]]
|residence          = [[Hatfield House]]<br />[[Cecil House#Salisbury House|Salisbury House]]<br />[[Cranborne Manor]]
|alma_mater         = [[St John's College, Cambridge]]
|signature          = Signature of Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury.svg
|signature_alt      =
|website            =
}}

'''Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|size=100%|KG|PC}} (1 June 1563{{snd}}24 May 1612) was an English statesman noted for his direction of the government during the [[Union of the Crowns]], as [[Tudor England]] gave way to [[Stuart period|Stuart rule]] (1603). Lord Salisbury served as the [[Secretary of State (England)|Secretary of State]] of England (1596–1612) and  [[Lord High Treasurer]] (1608–1612), succeeding his [[William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley|father]] as Queen [[Elizabeth I]]'s [[Lord Privy Seal]] and remaining in power during the first nine years of King [[James VI and I|James I]]'s reign until his own death.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Cecil-1st-earl-of-Salisbury|title=Robert Cecil, 1st earl of Salisbury {{!}} English statesman|work=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2018-02-10|language=en}}</ref>

The principal discoverer of the [[Gunpowder Plot]] of 1605, Robert Cecil remains a controversial historic figure as it is still debated at what point he first learned of the plot and to what extent he acted as an ''[[agent provocateur]]''.

==Early life and family==
Cecil (created [[Earl of Salisbury]] in 1605) was the younger son of [[William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley]] by his second wife, [[Mildred Cooke]], eldest daughter of Sir [[Anthony Cooke]] of [[Gidea Hall|Gidea]], [[Essex]]. His elder half-brother was [[Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter]], and philosopher [[Francis Bacon]], 1st Viscount St Albans, was his first cousin.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Francis-Bacon-Viscount-Saint-Alban#ref358802|title=Francis Bacon {{!}} Biography, Philosophy, & Facts|work=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2018-02-10|language=en}}</ref>

Robert Cecil was {{convert|5|ft|4|in|cm|abbr=on}} tall, had [[scoliosis]], and was hunchbacked.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sLDqBgAAQBAJ&q=robert+cecil++scoliosis&pg=PA276 |title = Elizabeth I and Her Circle|isbn = 9780191033551|last1 = Doran|first1 = Susan|date = 27 March 2015| publisher=OUP Oxford }}</ref> Living in an age which attached much importance to  physical beauty in both sexes, he endured much ridicule as a result: Queen [[Elizabeth I]] called him "my pygmy", and King [[James VI and I|James I]] nicknamed him "my little beagle".<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uqMMAAAAYAAJ&dq=robert+cecil++my+pygmy+my+little+beagle&pg=PA55 |title=Historic Houses of the United Kingdom: Descriptive, Historical, Pictorial |date=1892 |publisher=Cassell, limited |pages=55 |language=en}}</ref> Nonetheless, his father recognised that it was Robert rather than his half-brother Thomas who had inherited his own political genius.

Cecil attended [[St John's College, Cambridge]], in the 1580s, but did not take a degree.<ref>{{acad|id=CCL581R|name=Cecil, Robert}}</ref> He also attended "disputations" at the [[University of Paris|Sorbonne]].<ref name="odnb2"/>

In 1589, Cecil married Elizabeth Brooke, the daughter of [[William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham]] by his second wife, [[Frances Newton, Lady Cobham|Frances Newton]]. Their son, [[William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Salisbury|William Cecil]], was born in Westminster on 28 March 1591, and baptised in [[St Clement Danes]] on 11 April. He was followed by a daughter, Lady Frances Cecil (1593–1644). Elizabeth died in 1597, leaving Cecil with two small children.<ref name="ODNB">{{Cite ODNB |last=Owen |first=G.D. |date=2004-09-23 |title=Cecil, William, second earl of Salisbury (1591–1668), politician. |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-37272 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/37272|isbn=978-0-19-861412-8 }}</ref> Her brothers [[Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham|Henry, 11th Baron Cobham]], and [[George Brooke (conspirator)|George Brooke]] were arrested by Cecil for their involvement in the [[Bye Plot|Bye]] and [[Main Plot]]s; George, her younger brother, was executed at [[Winchester]] on 5 December 1603 for [[high treason]].

In 1608, Frances Cecil caught the eye of King James I's daughter [[Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia|Elizabeth]] and she made Sir [[John Harington, 1st Baron Harington of Exton|John Harington]] write to Salisbury to invite her to join her household.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Salisbury |first=Robert Cecil Marquess of |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nmRnAAAAMAAJ |title=Calendar of the Manuscripts of the Most Honourable the Marquess of Salisbury ...: Preserved at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire ... |date=1883 |publisher=H.M. Stationery Office |isbn=978-0-11-440062-0 |volume=20 |pages=297 |language=en}}</ref> She married the [[Henry Clifford, 5th Earl of Cumberland|5th Earl of Cumberland]] and had one daughter but no sons.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/52621466 |title=Burke's peerage, baronetage and knightage |publisher=Burke's Peerage & Gentry |others=Charles Mosley |year=2003 |isbn=0-9711966-2-1 |edition=107th |volume=1 |location=Stokesley |pages=1064 |oclc=52621466}}</ref>

==Secretary of State==

===Under Elizabeth===
In 1584, Cecil sat for the first time in the House of Commons, representing his birthplace, the borough of [[Westminster]], and was re-elected in 1586. He was a back bencher, never making a speech until 1593, after having been appointed a Privy Councillor.<ref name="historyofparliamentonline.org">{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/cecil-robert-1563-1612|title=CECIL, Robert (1563-1612), of the Savoy, London and Theobalds, Herts. &#124; History of Parliament Online|website=www.historyofparliamentonline.org}}</ref> In 1588, he accompanied [[Henry Stanley, 4th Earl of Derby|Lord Derby]] in his mission to the Netherlands to negotiate peace with Spain.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Salisbury, Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of|volume=24|pages=76–77}}</ref>{{rp|76}} He was elected for [[Hertfordshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Hertfordshire]] in 1589, 1593, 1597, and 1601,<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/cecil-robert-1563-1612|title=CECIL, Robert (1563-1612), of the Savoy, London, and Theobalds, Herts.|publisher= History of Parliament Online|access-date= 9 October 2016}}</ref> was made a [[Privy Counsellor]] in 1591 and was leader of the Council by 1597.<ref name="historyofparliamentonline.org"/>

Following the death of Sir [[Francis Walsingham]] in 1590, Burghley acted as [[Secretary of State (England)|Secretary of State]], while Cecil took on an increasingly heavy work-load. He was also [[knight]]ed and subsequently appointed to the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council]] in 1591, and began to act as Secretary of State in 1589, although his formal appointment came later. He participated in the social life of the royal court, on 15 September 1595 he went [[Falconry|hawking]] with the queen and they caught three partridges, which they gave to [[Elizabeth Wolley]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kempe |first=Alfred John |url=http://archive.org/details/loseleymanuscrip00kemp |title=The Loseley manuscripts |date=1836 |publisher=London, J. Murray |others=The Library of Congress |pages=317–318 |author-link=Alfred John Kempe}}</ref>

In 1597, he was made [[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]], and in February 1598 dispatched on a mission to [[Henry IV of France]], to prevent the impending alliance between that country and [[Habsburg Spain|Spain]].<ref name="EB1911"/>{{rp|76}} Three ambassadors, Cecil, [[John Herbert (Secretary of State)|John Herbert]], and [[Thomas Wilkes]] left from Dover, but Wilkes died soon after arrival at Rouen. Cecil and Herbert lodged at a house of the [[Henri, Duke of Montpensier|Duke of Montpensier]] in Paris, and subsequently travelled south to meet the French king at [[Angers]] in March. They had their final audiences with the king at [[Nantes]] and the [[Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Duke of Bouillon|Duke de Bouillon]] gave Cecil a locket with the king's portrait. They sailed home to Portsmouth from [[Ouistreham]], a port near [[Caen]], in the ''Adventure'' commanded by Sir Alexander Clifford.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Birch |first=Thomas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A78sAAAAMAAJ |title=Memoirs of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, from the Year 1581 Till Her Death |date=1754 |publisher=A. Millar |pages=372–380 |language=en}}</ref> Cecil became the [[Chief Ministers of England|leading minister]] after the death of his father in August 1598, serving both Queen Elizabeth and King [[James VI and I|James]] as Secretary of State.<ref name=":0" />

Cecil fell into dispute with the [[Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex|2nd Earl of Essex]], and only prevailed at Court upon the latter's poor [[Essex in Ireland|campaign against the Irish rebels]] during the [[Nine Years War (Ireland)|Nine Years War]] in 1599. He was then in a position to orchestrate the smooth succession of King James. [[Essex's Rebellion|Lord Essex's unsuccessful rebellion]] in 1601, which resulted in his final downfall and death, was largely aimed at Sir Robert Cecil, as he then was, who was to be removed from power and [[Impeachment in the United Kingdom|impeached]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dickinson |first=Janet |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/773025655 |title=Court politics and the Earl of Essex, 1589-1601 |date=2012 |publisher=Pickering & Chatto |isbn=978-1-84893-077-3 |location=London |pages=79–98 |oclc=773025655}}</ref> Whether Essex intended that Cecil should actually die is unclear.<ref>Weir p.460</ref>

It is to Cecil's credit that the Queen, largely at his urging, treated the rebels with a degree of mercy, which was unusual in that age. Essex himself and four of his closest allies were executed, but the great majority of his followers were spared: even Essex's denunciation of his sister [[Penelope Blount, Countess of Devonshire|Penelope]], as the ringleader of the rebellion, was tactfully ignored. This clemency did him no good in the eyes of the public, who had loved Essex and mourned him deeply. Cecil, who had never been very popular, now became a much-hated figure. In [[ballads]] like ''Essex's Last Good Night'', Cecil was viciously attacked.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Neale |first=J. E. |title=Queen Elizabeth I |publisher=Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin Books |year=1960 |pages=384 |language=en |asin=B0000CKRBS}}</ref>

[[File:Elizabeth I Rainbow Portrait3.jpg|thumbnail|The ''Rainbow Portrait'' of Elizabeth I at [[Hatfield House]] has been seen as reflecting Cecil's role as spymaster after the death of Sir Francis Walsingham, due to the eyes and ears in the pattern of the dress.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.andrewgrahamdixon.com/archive/readArticle/245 | title=Elizabeth I: The Rainbow Portrait attributed to Isaac Oliver | access-date=16 November 2014 | author=Graham-Dixon, Andrew | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140311062852/http://www.andrewgrahamdixon.com/archive/readArticle/245 | archive-date=11 March 2014 | df=dmy-all }}</ref>]]

Cecil was extensively involved in matters of state security. As the son of Queen Elizabeth's principal minister and a protégé of Francis Walsingham (Elizabeth's principal spymaster), he was trained by them in spy-craft as a matter of course. The "[[Portraiture of Elizabeth I|Rainbow Portrait]]" of Queen Elizabeth at [[Hatfield House|Hatfield]], decorated with eyes and ears, may relate to this role.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}}

Cecil, like his father, greatly admired the Queen, whom he famously described as being "more than a man, but less than a woman".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Morris |first=Christopher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6x8TAQAAIAAJ |title=The Tudors |date=1966 |publisher=Collins |pages=148–149 |language=en}}</ref> Despite his careful preparations for the succession, he clearly regarded the Queen's death as a misfortune to be postponed as long as possible. During her last illness, when Elizabeth would sit motionless on cushions for hours on end, Cecil boldly told her that she must go to bed. Elizabeth roused herself one last time to snap at him: <blockquote>"Little man, little man, 'Must' is not a word to use to princes. Your father were he here durst never speak to me so"; but she added wryly "Ah, but ye know that I must die, and it makes you presumptuous".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Weir |first=Alison |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/43204094 |title=Elizabeth the Queen |date=1999 |publisher=Pimlico |isbn=0-7126-7312-1 |location=London |pages=482 |oclc=43204094}}</ref></blockquote>

===Under James I===
Sir Robert Cecil now promoted James as successor to Elizabeth.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gardiner |first=Samuel Rawson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vbv1Z_1Cj1gC&dq=Cobham+and+Raleigh++reprieved++robert+cecil&pg=PR10 |title=History of England from the Accession of James I. to the Disgrace of Chief-Justice Coke: 1603-1616 |date=1863 |publisher=Hurst and Blackett |pages=53 |language=en}}</ref> Around 1600, he began a [[Secret correspondence of James VI|secret correspondence]] with James in Scotland, to persuade James that he favoured his claims to the English throne. An understanding was now effected by which Cecil was able to assure James of his succession, ensure his own power and predominance in the new reign against Sir [[Walter Raleigh]] and other competitors, and secure the tranquillity of the last years of Elizabeth. Cecil demanded as conditions that James stop his attempts to obtain parliamentary recognition of his title, that absolute respect should be paid to the queen's feelings, and that the communications should remain a secret.<ref name="EB1911"/>{{rp|76}}

James took the throne without opposition, and the new monarch expressed his gratitude by elevating Cecil to the peerage.<ref name=":0" /> Cecil also served as both the third [[chancellor of the University of Dublin]],<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Former Chancellors 1592- |url=https://www.tcd.ie/chancellor/former/ |access-date=2018-02-10 |website=Trinity College, Dublin |language=en}}</ref> and chancellor of the [[University of Cambridge]],<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= 9 March 2015|title=Former Chancellors |url=https://www.v-c.admin.cam.ac.uk/chancellors-role/former-chancellors |access-date=2022-05-20 |website=University of Cambridge |language=en}}</ref> between 1601 and 1612.

In 1603, his brothers-in-law, [[Henry Brooke, Lord Cobham]] and George Brooke, along with Sir Walter Raleigh, were implicated in both the [[Bye Plot]] and the [[Main Plot]], an attempt to remove King James I from the throne and replace him with his first cousin, [[Lady Arbella Stuart]]. Cecil was one of the judges who tried them for [[treason]]: at Raleigh's trial, Cecil was the only judge who appeared to have some doubts about his guilt (which is still a matter of debate, although the prevailing view now is that Raleigh was involved in the Plot to some extent).<ref>Nicholls, Mark "Sir Walter Ralegh's Treason- a prosecution document" ''English Historical Review'' CX 1995</ref> Though they were found guilty and sentenced to death, both Cobham and Raleigh were eventually reprieved; this may have been due in part to Cecil's pleas for mercy, although the King kept his intentions a secret until the last minute.<ref name=":0" />

[[File:The Somerset House Conference 19 August 1604.jpg|thumb|The [[Treaty of London (1604)|Treaty of London]] taking place at [[Somerset House]] on 19 August 1604 - Cecil is seen sitting on the right in foreground]]

King James I raised Robert Cecil to the [[peerage]], on 20 August 1603, as '''Baron Cecil''' of Essendon in the County of Rutland. Baron Cecil then led the English delegation at the [[Treaty of London (1604)|Treaty of London]] that brought peace between Spain and England after [[Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)|a long war]]. Between 1603 and 1604 difficult negotiations with the Spanish delegation took place, but through Cecil's determined statesmanship the treaty bought an "honourable and advantageous" peace for England.<ref name="Reed">{{cite book|last1=Reed|first1=Richard Burton|title=Sir Robert Cecil and the Diplomacy of the Anglo-Spanish Peace, 1603-1604|date=1970|publisher=University of Wisconsin - Madison|pages=4–5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PWHSAAAAMAAJ}}</ref> This was a personal triumph for Cecil which reflected well on James who wanted to be styled as a European peacemaker between the Protestants and the Catholics.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dartford |first1=G. P |title=The Growth of the British Commonwealth, Volume 2 |date=1948 |publisher=Longmans, Green |page=34 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hIbSAAAAMAAJ}}</ref> Cecil accepted a pension of £1,000 that year, which was raised the following year to £1,500. The King also rewarded Cecil further creating him '''Viscount Cranborne''' soon after the treaty had been signed and then '''[[Earl of Salisbury]]''' the following year.<ref name="EB1911"/>{{rp|76}} Cecil was appointed to the [[Order of the Garter]] as its 401st Knight in 1606.<ref name=":1" /> In 1607, James appointed him as Lord Treasurer, succeeding [[Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset]].<ref name="books.google.ca">{{Cite book |last=Sackville-West |first=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LgSgy-f70GYC&dq=robert+cecil+lord+treasurer+under+James+I&pg=PA5 |title=Inheritance: The Story of Knole and the Sackvilles |date=2010-09-06 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-0-8027-7926-7 |pages=5 |language=en}}</ref> As a result, the whole conduct of public affairs was solely in his hands, although the king often interfered.<ref name="EB1911"/>{{rp|76}}

Although King James would often speak disparagingly of Cecil as "my little [[beagle]]" or "young [[Tom Durie]]", he gave him his absolute trust. "Though you are but a little man, I shall shortly load your shoulders with business", the King joked to him at their first meeting. Cecil, who had endured a lifetime of jibes about his height (even Queen Elizabeth had called him "pygmy" and "little man"; he had a curvature of the spine and was barely {{convert|5|ft}} tall), is unlikely to have found the joke funny, while the crushing weight of business with which the King duly loaded him probably hastened his death at the age of 48.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fraser |first=Antonia |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1302080011 |title=The Gunpowder Plot: terror & faith in 1605 |date=1999 |publisher=Arrow Books |isbn=9780099429975 |location=London |pages=33 |oclc=1302080011}}</ref> The Venetian ambassador, [[Nicolò Molin]], described Cecil as short and "crook-backed", with a noble countenance and features.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/venice/vol10/pp501-524 |title=Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 10, 1603-1607 |publisher=Horatio F Brown |year=1900 |location=London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office |pages=515 |via=British History Online}}</ref>

Cecil was the principal discoverer of the [[Gunpowder Plot]] of 1605: at what point he first learned of it, and to what extent he acted as an [[agent provocateur]], has been a subject of controversy ever since.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fraser |first=Antonia |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1302080011 |title=The Gunpowder Plot : terror & faith in 1605 |date=1999 |publisher=Arrow Books |isbn=9780099429975 |location=London |pages=284 |oclc=1302080011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Tutino |first=Stefania |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=666t6di_6XkC&dq=robert+cecil+orchestrated+gunpowder+plot&pg=PA118 |title=Law and Conscience: Catholicism in Early Modern England, 1570-1625 |date=2007-01-01 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |isbn=978-0-7546-5771-2 |pages=118 |language=en}}</ref> On balance, it seems most likely that he had heard rumors of a plot, but had no firm evidence until the Catholic peer, [[William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle]], showed him the celebrated anonymous letter, warning Monteagle to stay away from the opening of Parliament. The Gunpowder Plot itself was a belated reaction to what was seen as the King's betrayal of a pledge to repeal, or at least mitigate, the [[Penal law (British)|Penal Laws]]. Cecil was undoubtedly among those who advised King James I not to tamper with the existing laws.<ref name="Fraser p.38">Fraser p.38</ref> However, his attitude to [[Catholic Church|Catholics]] was not, for the time, especially harsh: he admitted that he was unhappy with the notorious [[Jesuits, etc. Act 1584]], by which any Catholic priest who was found guilty of acting as a priest in England was liable to the death penalty in its most gruesome form. Like most moderate Englishmen at the time, he thought that exile, rather than death, was the appropriate penalty for the priests.<ref name="Fraser p.38"/> Cecil did hope, like his father, to make England the head of the international [[Protestant]] alliance, and his last energies were expended in effecting the marriage in 1612 of the princess [[Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia|Elizabeth]], James's daughter, with [[Frederick V of the Palatinate|Frederick]], the Elector Palatine.<ref name="EB1911"/>{{rp|76}} Still, he was averse to prosecution for religion, and attempted to distinguish between the large body of law-abiding and loyal Catholics and those connected with plots against the throne and government.<ref name="EB1911"/>{{rp|77}}

[[File:Arms of Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury.svg|thumb|150px|Quartered arms of Sir Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, KG.]]

The [[Kingdom of Ireland]] was a major source of concern and expense during Robert Cecil's time in government. The [[Nine Years' War (Ireland)|Nine Years' War]] there had ended with the leader of the rebels, [[Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone]], submitting to the Crown and being restored to his estates, following the [[Treaty of Mellifont]] (1603). Four years later, Tyrone led his followers into exile during the [[Flight of the Earls]]. The response of the government was to plan a [[Plantation of Ulster]], to share out Tyrone's lands between the Gaelic Irish lords and the settlers from Britain. In 1608, Sir [[Cahir O'Doherty]] launched [[O'Doherty's rebellion]] by attacking and [[Burning of Derry|burning Derry]]. In the wake of O'Doherty's defeat at [[Battle of Kilmacrennan|Kilmacrennan]], a much larger plantation was undertaken.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}}

Cecil wrote humorous letters to his friend [[Adam Newton (tutor)|Adam Newton]] the tutor of [[Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales|Prince Henry]]. Apologizing for a minor breach of manners, he compared himself to the court jester [[Tom Durie]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ellis |first=Henry |url=https://archive.org/details/s3originalletter04elliuoft/page/162/mode/2up |title=Original Letters, Illustrative of English History, volume 4 |date=1846 |publisher=R. Bentley |pages=163 |language=en}}</ref> In another letter he wrote that if a certain man failed to gain a place in Prince Henry's household, he should be sent to "Tom Dyrry or to me". Although the applicant was poor he could become rich by charging a fee to all the girls in England who wished to meet the Prince.<ref>[[Thomas Birch]], [https://archive.org/details/lifeofhenryprinc00birc/page/138/mode/2up ''Life of Henry Prince of Wales'' (London, 1760), p. 138]</ref>

In 1611 Cecil disapproved of the proposed marriage between the Prince of Wales and the Infanta of Spain. He may have also received a pension from France.<ref name="EB1911"/>{{rp|77}}

==Lord Treasurer==
As [[Lord Treasurer]], Lord Salisbury, as he became in 1605, showed considerable financial ability. During the year preceding his acceptance of that office in 1608, the expenditure had risen to £500,000, leaving a yearly [[Government budget balance|deficit]] of £73,000. Lord Salisbury took advantage of the decision by the judges in the [[Exchequer of Pleas|Court of Exchequer]] in [[Bates's Case]] in favour of the King's right to levy [[impositions]] (import [[Duty (economics)|duties]]), and imposed new duties on articles of luxury and those of foreign manufacture which competed with English goods. By this measure, and by a more careful collection, the ordinary income was raised to £460,000, while £700,000 was paid off the debt.<ref name="EB1911"/>{{rp|77}}

In 1610–11, Salisbury worked hard to persuade Parliament to enact the [[Great Contract]], under which the King would give up all his feudal and customary sources of revenue (wardship and purveyance) in return for a fixed annual income of approximately £300,000.<ref>[[John Harold Clapham]] & [[Eileen Power]], ''Cambridge Economic History of Europe: From the Decline of the Roman Empire'', vol. 5 (Cambridge, 1977), p. 382.</ref> The rationale was that the King was spending extravagantly, exceeding his income by £140,000, and putting the kingdom into debt. By 1608, the debt was £1.4 million, although the Lord Treasurer managed to get that down to £300,000 by 1610.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Aaron |first=Melissa D. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/57357505 |title=Global economics : a history of the theater business, the Chamberlain's/King's Men, and their plays, 1599-1642 |date=2005 |publisher=Newark |isbn=0-87413-877-9 |location=University of Delaware Press |pages=83 |oclc=57357505}}</ref> The project was one to which Salisbury attached great importance, but the House of Commons eventually lost interest in the plan,<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/31436362 |title=Historical dictionary of Stuart England, 1603-1689 |publisher=Greenwood Press |others=Ronald H. Fritze, William Baxter Robison, Walter Sutton |year=1996 |isbn=0-313-28391-5 |location=Westport, CT |oclc=31436362}}</ref> and Francis Bacon argued against it, calling it humiliating.<ref name="EB1911"/>{{rp|77}} King James I also did not show much enthusiasm for it, and it lapsed when the King, against Salisbury's advice, dissolved Parliament in 1611. This was a double blow to Lord Salisbury, who was sick and prematurely aged, and conscious that the King now increasingly preferred the company of his male favourites, like [[Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset|The 1st Earl of Somerset]]. Although it failed to be implemented, the concept of paying an annual income to the monarch was revived some five decades later as a solution to the nation's financial problems and formed the basis for the financial settlement at the [[Restoration of Charles II]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kenyon |first=J. P. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1035924 |title=The Stuarts: a study in English kingship |date=1966 |publisher=Fontana |isbn=0-00-632952-7 |edition=[New ed.] |location=London |pages=44 |oclc=1035924}}</ref> through which Charles was to receive an income of approximately £1,200,000 per annum.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/office-holders/vol11/lxxvi-xcviii|title=Chronological Survey 1660-1837: The Later Stuart Household, 1660-1714 &#124; British History Online|website=www.british-history.ac.uk}}</ref> One historian describes this annual payment as the eventual "implementation of Cecil's Great Contract".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Prall |first=Stuart E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Ff5A9AQwG8C&dq=england+great+contract+restoration+charles+ii&pg=PA29 |title=The Bloodless Revolution: England, 1688 |date=1985 |publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press |isbn=978-0-299-10294-4 |pages=29 |language=en}}</ref>

==Houses and the arts==
In May 1591 Cecil was involved in an entertainment for the arrival of Queen Elizabeth at [[Theobalds]], the [[Hertfordshire]] family home. The ''[[Hermit's Welcome at Theobalds]]'' made allusion to his father's potential retirement from public life.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Alford |first=Stephen |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/174501721 |title=Burghley : William Cecil at the court of Elizabeth I |date=2008 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-11896-4 |location=New Haven [Conn.] |pages=313 |oclc=174501721}}</ref> In July 1593 a Scottish suitor for Cecil's favour, [[William Dundas of Fingask]] wrote to him from Edinburgh. Dundas had heard Cecil was completing a gallery in one of his houses and would like paintings with [[Scottish Renaissance painted ceilings|"such toys" or emblems]] as he had seen himself in Scotland.<ref>{{Cite web |year=1936 |title='James VI, July 1594', in Calendar of State Papers, Scotland: Volume 11, 1593-1595 |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/scotland/vol11/pp366-398 |access-date=2022-05-20 |website= |publisher=Edinburgh |pages=366–398 |via=British History Online |edition=Annie I. Cameron}}</ref>

In 1606, Lord Salisbury, as Cecil was now, entertained King James I and his brother-in-law, [[Christian IV of Denmark|King Christian IV of Denmark]], at Theobalds, under the sardonic eye of Queen Elizabeth's godson, Sir [[John Harrington (writer)|John Harrington]]. Both monarchs were notoriously heavy drinkers, and according to some of those present, the occasion was simply an orgy of drunkenness, as few English or Danish courtiers had their rulers' capacity to hold their drink. According to Harrington, who may have been mischievously fictionalising,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Butler |first=Martin |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/233029390 |title=The Stuart court masque and political culture |date=2008 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-88354-2 |location=Cambridge, UK |pages=125–127 |oclc=233029390}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=McManus |first=Clare |date=2008-02-01 |title=When Is a Woman Not a Woman? Or, Jacobean Fantasies of Female Performance (1606–1611) |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/591257 |journal=Modern Philology |volume=105 |issue=3 |pages=437–474 |doi=10.1086/591257 |s2cid=161877266 |issn=0026-8232}}</ref> the [[masque]] put on to [[The Entertainment of the Kings of Great Britain and Denmark|honour the two kings]] was a drunken fiasco: "the entertainment and show went forward, and most of the players went backward, or fell down, wine did so occupy their upper chambers".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/nugantiqubeinga03harigoog|title=Nugæ Antiquæ: Being a Miscellaneous Collection of Original Papers, in Prose and Verse; Written ...|date=12 March 1804|publisher=Vernor and Hood [etc.]|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

In 1607, King James took possession of Theobalds, giving Hatfield Palace to Lord Salisbury in exchange, a relatively old-fashioned property that the King disliked.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Danner |first=B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o0p9DAAAQBAJ&dq=robert+cecil+Theobalds+Palace&pg=PA166 |title=Edmund Spenser's War on Lord Burghley |date=2011-09-28 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-230-33667-4 |pages=166 |language=en}}</ref> Salisbury had a disposition for building and tore down parts of it and used its bricks to build [[Hatfield House]]. Work continued on the house until 1612.<ref name="books.google.ca"/> He remodelled [[Cranborne Manor]], originally a small hunting lodge, and built [[Cecil House#Salisbury House|Salisbury House]] (also referred to as Cecil House), his London residence on the Strand.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Guerci |first=Manolo |date=2009 |title=Salisbury House in London, 1599-1694: The Strand Palace of Sir Robert Cecil |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20623023 |journal=Architectural History |volume=52 |pages=31–78 |doi=10.1017/S0066622X00004147 |jstor=20623023 |s2cid=190508545 |issn=0066-622X}}</ref>

The Cecil family fostered arts: they supported musicians such as [[William Byrd]], [[Orlando Gibbons]], [[Thomas Robinson (composer)|Thomas Robinson]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Thomas, active |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/43476823 |title=New citharen lessons : (1609) |date=1997 |publisher=Baylor University Press |others=Alfredo Colman, William Casey |isbn=0-585-13512-6 |location=Waco, Tex. |oclc=43476823}}</ref> and the Irish harper and composer [[Cormac MacDermott (harper)|Cormac MacDermott]].<ref>Peter Holman: "The Harp in Stuart England", in ''Early Music'' vol. 15 (1987), pp. 188–203.</ref> Byrd composed his famous pavane ''The Earle of Salisbury'' in his memory. Salisbury's motto was "Sero, sed serio", which can be translated as 'late but in earnest'.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury |url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw05580/Robert-Cecil-1st-Earl-of-Salisbury |website=National Portrait Gallery}}</ref>

==Death==
In poor health and worn out by years of overwork, Salisbury, in the spring of 1612, went on a journey to take the waters at [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] in hope of a cure; but he obtained little relief. He  started on the journey home but died of [[cancer]],<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Durant |first=David N. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/4230856 |title=Arbella Stuart : a rival to the queen |date=1978 |publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson |isbn=0-297-77442-5 |location=London |pages=203 |oclc=4230856}}</ref> "in great pain and even greater wretchedness of mind",<ref name=":2" /> at [[Marlborough, Wiltshire]], on 24 May 1612, a week short of his 49th birthday. He was buried in [[St Etheldreda's Church, Hatfield]], in a tomb designed by [[Maximilian Colt]].<ref name="odnb2">{{Cite ODNB |last=Croft |first=Pauline |date=2004-09-23 |title=Cecil, Robert, first earl of Salisbury (1563–1612), politician and courtier |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-4980 |access-date=2022-05-20 |language=en |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/4980|isbn=978-0-19-861412-8 }}</ref>

==Portrayals==
{{original research section|date=February 2018}}
* He appears as the character "Lord Cecil" in the opera ''[[Roberto Devereux]]'' (1837) by [[Gaetano Donizetti]]; he also appears in the opera ''[[Gloriana]]'' (1953) by [[Benjamin Britten]].
* In the BBC TV drama serial ''[[Elizabeth R]]'' (1971), "Sir Robert Cecil" is played by Hugh Dickson.
* IN the BBC2 ''[[ScreenPlay]]'' episode "Traitors", he is played by [[Anton Lesser]].
* In the HBO miniseries ''[[Elizabeth I (2005 TV series)|Elizabeth I]]'', Cecil is played by [[Toby Jones]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0465326/|title = Elizabeth I|website = [[IMDb]]|date = 22 April 2006}}</ref>
* In the BBC TV drama series ''[[Gunpowder (TV series)|Gunpowder]]'' (2017), he is played by [[Mark Gatiss]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fullerton |first=Huw |date=2018-05-18 |title=Who was Gunpowder's Robert Cecil? |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/gunpowder-robert-cecil/ |access-date=2022-05-20 |website=RadioTimes.com |language=en}}</ref>
* In the alternate history novel ''[[Ruled Britannia]]'', predicated on the victory of the [[Spanish Armada]] in 1588, he and his father organise the English resistance movement against the Spanish with the help of [[William Shakespeare]].
* Robert Cecil was portrayed as the unsympathetic, conniving antagonist of the play, ''[[Equivocation (play)|Equivocation]]'', written by [[Bill Cain]], which first premiered at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2009. In the play, it is suggested that Cecil was behind the conspiracies of the [[Gunpowder Plot]] to kill King James and the royal family. Cecil was first portrayed by Jonathan Haugen. The character in the show was given a serious limp, and is said to hate the word "tomorrow" and to know every detail about everything that goes on in London.
* He is portrayed extremely unsympathetically in ''The Desperate Remedy: Henry Gresham and the Gunpowder Plot'' by [[Martin Stephen]] ({{ISBN|0-316-85970-2}}), as malevolently self-centred, exploiting the plot to try to bolster his own position in face of his unpopularity.
* He is a minor character in the children's novel ''[[Cue for Treason]]'' by Geoffrey Trease, where he is portrayed positively.
* Robert Cecil is portrayed sympathetically in the historical mystery series featuring Joan and Matthew Stock, written by Leonard Tourney, where he is a patron to the main characters. The first novel is ''The Players' Boy is Dead''.
* Sir Robert Cecil features prominently in Irish playwright Thomas Kilroy's play ''The O'Neill'' (1969), in which Kilroy uses Cecil to challenge the myth surrounding Gaelic [[Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone]], just after the latter's victory over the English at [[Battle of the Yellow Ford|The Yellow Ford]]. Cecil's dramatic function is to demonstrate the complexity of history as opposed to simplistic pieties that would turn O'Neill into yet another victim of the English. Cecil 'obliges' O'Neill to reenact the past so the audience witnesses the moral dilemma of a man torn between two cultures and keenly aware of the advance of modernity in a troubled political, cultural and religious context.
* He is portrayed by [[Tim McInnerny]] in the 2004 TV mini series ''[[Gunpowder, Treason & Plot]]''.
* He is portrayed unsympathetically, yet quite humanly by [[Edward Hogg]] as a malevolent hunchbacked villain in [[Roland Emmerich]]'s movie ''[[Anonymous (2011 film)|Anonymous]]'' (2011).
* He was a major character at the 2012 Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire, portrayed by actor Nate Betancourt.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bacchanalians, Blackfryars and Directors |url=http://www.parenfaire.com/faire/cast.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006083013/http://www.parenfaire.com/faire/cast.php |archive-date=6 October 2012 |access-date=30 October 2012 |website=Pennsylvania Renaissance Fair}}</ref>
* He was a major character at the 2012 [[New York Renaissance Faire]], portrayed by actor J. Robert Coppola<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.renfair.com/ny/|title = New York Renaissance Faire - Home - Tuxedo Park, NY}}</ref>
* He is portrayed sympathetically in the novel ''1610'' by [[Mary Gentle]].
* He is mentioned in Red Winter of the Tapestry series, as a figure possessed by Astaroth.
* He was played by Christopher Peck in the premiere of the musical ''Remember Remember'' by Lewes Operatic Society in Autumn 2008.
* In the BBC TV miniseries ''Elizabeth I's Secret Agents'' (2017, broadcast on [[PBS]] in 2018 as ''Queen Elizabeth's Secret Agents''), he is played by British actor Kevin James.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7534144/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm|title=Elizabeth I's Secret Agents (TV Mini Series 2017) - IMDb|website=[[IMDb]]}}</ref>
* He was a major character at the 1995 in the Czech TV miniseries From pranks about queens (Z hříček o královnách) in episode Queen pack of Dogs (Královnina smečka psů), portrayed by actor Ondřej Vetchý.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.csfd.cz/film/614466-z-hricek-o-kralovnach/248442-kralovnina-smecka-psu-utrzek-anglicky/prehled/|title = Z hříček o královnách - Královnina smečka psů (útržek anglický) (1994)}}</ref>
* He is portrayed as a main character of the book ''Earthly Joys'' by Philippa Gregory as John Tradescent's master and lord.
* He is portrayed as the antagonist in the comedy play "The Gunpowder Plot", written by Stephen Hyde for British touring theatre company The Three Inch Fools in 2022.

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
* Croft, Pauline. ''Patronage, Culture and Power: The Early Cecils'' (2002)
* Croft, Pauline. "The Religion of Robert Cecil." ''Historical Journal'' (1991) 34#4 pp: 773.
* Croft, Pauline. "The Reputation of Robert Cecil: Libels, Political Opinion and Popular Awareness in the Early Seventeenth Century." ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'' (1991) 1: 43+
*  Haynes, Alan. ''Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury'' (1989)
*  Loades, David, ed. ''Reader's Guide to British History'' (2003) 1: 237–39, historiography
* [https://www.british-history.ac.uk/search/series/cal-cecil-papers ''HMC Calendar of Manuscripts of the Marquis of Salisbury: The Cecil Manuscripts, 1306–1595], primary source.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{wikisource|Cecil,_Robert (DNB00)|Robert Cecil}}
* {{UK National Archives ID}}
* [https://thehistoryofparliament.wordpress.com/2021/11/25/mocking-the-afflicted-disability-at-court-in-early-modern-england/ Disability at Court in Early Modern England", Andrew Thrush, History of Parliament]

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef | before = [[William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley|The Lord Burghley]]|as=acting secretary}}
{{s-ttl | title  = [[Secretary of State (England)|Secretary of State]]
        | with = [[John Herbert (Secretary of State)|John Herbert]] 1600–1612
        | years  = 1596–1612}}
{{s-aft | after  = [[John Herbert (Secretary of State)|John Herbert]]<br />[[Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset|Viscount Rochester]]}}
{{s-break}}
{{s-vac | commission
        | last   = [[Sir Thomas Heneage]]}}
{{s-ttl | title  = [[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]]
        | years  = 1597–1599}}
{{s-vac | commission
        | next   = [[John Fortescue of Salden|Sir John Fortescue]]}}

{{s-bef | before = [[William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley|The Lord Burghley]]}}
{{s-ttl | title  = [[Lord Privy Seal]]
        | years  = 1598–1608}}
{{s-aft | after  = [[Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton|The Earl of Northampton]]}}

{{s-bef | before = [[Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset|The Earl of Dorset]]}}
{{s-ttl | title  = [[Lord High Treasurer]]
        | years  = 1608–1612}}
{{s-vac | commission
        | reason = First Lord: [[Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton|The Earl of Northampton]]}}

{{s-aca}}
{{succession box | before=[[Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex|The Earl of Essex]]  |title=[[Chancellor of the University of Dublin]]  | years= 1601–1612 | after=[[George Abbot (bishop)|The Archbishop of Canterbury]] }}
{{s-hon}}
{{s-break}}
{{s-vac | last   = [[William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley|The Lord Burghley]]}}
{{s-ttl | title  = [[Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire]]
        | years  = 1605–1612}}
{{s-aft | after=[[William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Salisbury|The Earl of Salisbury]]}}

{{s-bef | before = [[Thomas Howard, 3rd Viscount Howard of Bindon|The Viscount Howard of Bindon]]}}
{{s-ttl | title  = [[Lord Lieutenant of Dorset]]
        | with   = [[Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk|The Earl of Suffolk]]
        | years  = 1611–1612}}
{{s-aft | after  = [[Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk|The Earl of Suffolk]]}}

{{s-reg|en}}
{{s-new | rows=3| creation}}
{{s-ttl | title  = [[Marquess of Salisbury|Earl of Salisbury]]
        | years  = 1605–1612}}
{{s-aft | after  = [[William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Salisbury|William Cecil]]
        | rows   = 3}}
|-
{{s-ttl | title  = [[Viscount Cranborne]]
        | years  = 1604–1612}}
|-
{{s-ttl | title  = [[Baron Cecil]]
        | years  = 1603–1612}}

{{s-reg|im}}
{{s-bef | before = [[Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton|Henry Howard]]}}
{{s-ttl | title  = [[Lord of Mann]]
        | years  = 1608–1609}}
{{s-aft | after  = [[William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby|William Stanley]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{House of Stuart Lord High Treasurers}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salisbury, Robert Cecil, 1st Earl Of}}
[[Category:1563 births]]
[[Category:1612 deaths]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of England for Hertfordshire|Cecil, Robert]]
[[Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Earls of Salisbury (1605 creation)|Robert]]
[[Category:Cecil family|Robert, Salisbury 1]]
[[Category:English spies]]
[[Category:People of the Elizabethan era|Cecil, Robert]]
[[Category:Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster]]
[[Category:Chancellors of the University of Cambridge]]
[[Category:Chancellors of the University of Dublin]]
[[Category:Chancellors of the University of Oxford]]
[[Category:Knights of the Garter]]
[[Category:Lord high treasurers]]
[[Category:Lord-lieutenants of Dorset]]
[[Category:Lord-lieutenants of Hertfordshire]]
[[Category:Lords Privy Seal]]
[[Category:Members of the Spanish Company]]
[[Category:People associated with the Gunpowder Plot]]
[[Category:Secretaries of state of the Kingdom of England]]
[[Category:English MPs 1584–1585]]
[[Category:English MPs 1586–1587]]
[[Category:English MPs 1589]]
[[Category:English MPs 1593]]
[[Category:English MPs 1597–1598]]
[[Category:English MPs 1601]]
[[Category:16th-century English nobility]]

[[Category:People of the Nine Years' War (Ireland)]]
[[Category:Younger sons of barons]]
[[Category:Monarchs of the Isle of Man]]