Editing Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex

{{Short description|English nobleman and rebel (1565–1601)}}
{{other people||Robert Devereux (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox noble
| honorific_prefix = [[The Right Honorable]]
| name = The Earl of Essex
| honorific_suffix = [[Knight of the Garter|KG]] [[Privy Counsellor|PC]]
| image = Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = The 2nd Earl of Essex, by [[Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger]]
| birth_name =
| birth_date = 10 November 1565
| birth_place = Netherwood, [[Herefordshire]], England
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1601|2|25|1565|11|10}}
| death_place = [[Liberties of the Tower of London|Liberties]] of the [[Tower of London|Tower]], [[London]], England
| death_cause = Execution by [[beheading]]
| body_discovered =
| resting_place = [[Church of St Peter ad Vincula]], London
| resting_place_coordinates =
| CoA =
| tenure = 1576–1601
| other_titles =
| other_names =
| known_for = [[Favourite]] of [[Elizabeth I]]
| years_active =
| nationality =
| residence = [[Essex House (London)|Essex House]], London<br>[[Merevale Hall]], Warwickshire
| locality =
| networth =
| wars_and_battles = [[Dutch revolt]]<br>[[Spanish Armada]]<br>[[English Armada]]<br>[[Capture of Cádiz]]<br>[[Azores]] expedition, 1597 <br> [[Nine Years' War (Ireland)|Irish Nine Years' War]]
| offices = [[Master of the Horse]]<br>[[Privy Councillor]]<br>[[Earl Marshal]]<br>[[Master-General of the Ordnance]]<br>[[Lord Lieutenant of Ireland]]
| predecessor = [[Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex]]
| heir =
| successor = [[Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex]]
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Frances Burke, Countess of Clanricarde|Frances Walsingham]]|1590}}
| issue = [[Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex]]<br>Lady Dorothy Devereux<br>[[Frances Seymour, Duchess of Somerset (1599–1674)|Frances Seymour, Duchess of Somerset]]<br>[[Walter Devereux (died 1641)|Sir Walter Devereux]] (illegitimate)
| religion =
| parents = [[Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex]]<br>[[Lettice Knollys]]
| signature = Signature of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex.svg
| footnotes =
| misc =
}}
[[File:Arms of Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex.svg|thumb|243px|Quartered arms of Sir Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG]]

'''Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|ɛ|v|ə|ˌ|r|uː}}; 10 November 1565 – 25 February 1601) was an English nobleman and a [[favourite]] of Queen [[Elizabeth I]]. Politically ambitious, he was placed under [[house arrest]] following a [[Essex in Ireland|poor campaign in Ireland]] during the [[Nine Years' War (Ireland)|Nine Years' War]] in 1599. In 1601, he led an abortive ''[[coup d'état]]'' against the government of Elizabeth I and was executed for [[treason]].

==Early life==
Devereux was born on 10 November 1565<ref>{{harvnb|Hammer|1999|p=13}}. fn. 3.; {{harvnb|McCormack|2011|p=}}</ref>{{efn|Other sources give his year of birth as 1566<ref name="bbc"/> or 1567.<ref name="brit"/>}} at Netherwood near [[Bromyard]], in [[Herefordshire]],<ref name="brit">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (6 November 2023). [https://web.archive.org/web/20240202233727/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Devereux-2nd-earl-of-Essex "Robert Devereux, 2nd earl of Essex"]. ''[[Encyclopedia Britannica]]''. Archived from [https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Devereux-2nd-earl-of-Essex the original] on 2 February 2024.</ref> the son of [[Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex]], and [[Lettice Knollys]].<ref name="bbc">{{cite web |date=2014 |title=Robert, Earl of Essex (1566 - 1601) |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/earl_of_essex_robert.shtml |website=BBC – History}}</ref> His maternal great-grandmother [[Mary Boleyn]] was a sister of [[Anne Boleyn]], the mother of Queen Elizabeth I, making him a [[Cousin#First cousins twice removed|first-cousin-twice-removed]] of the queen.

He was brought up on his father's estates at [[Chartley Castle]], Staffordshire, and at [[Lamphey]], [[Pembrokeshire]], in [[Wales]]. He was educated by [[Thomas Ashton (schoolmaster)|Thomas Ashton]] (an influential figure in the evolution of Tudor drama), previously headmaster of [[Shrewsbury School]] within his father's household.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofshrewsb00blak/page/28/mode/2up |title=A History of Shrewsbury School from the Blakeway MMS, and Many Other Sources |publisher=Simpkin, Marshall and Co |year=1888 |edition=1st |location=London |pages=28 |language=English}}</ref>

His father died in 1576, and the new Earl of Essex became a [[Ward (law)|ward]] of [[William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley|Lord Burghley]] of [[Burghley House]]. In 1577, he was admitted as a [[Commoner (academia)#Commoners in Cambridge|fellow-commoner]] at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]]; in 1579, he [[Matriculation|matriculated]]; and in 1581 he graduated as a [[Master of Arts (Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin)|Master of Arts]].<ref>{{acad|id=DVRS577R|name=Devereux, Robert}}</ref>

On 21 September 1578, Essex's mother married [[Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester]], Elizabeth I's long-standing favourite and Robert Devereux's godfather.<ref>{{harvnb|Hammer|1999|p=32}}</ref> The following year, [[Francis Bacon]] joined the friendship circle comprising Robert, Sir Fulke Greville and Sir Phillip Sidney, Mary Sidney, by then [[Mary Sidney|Countess of Pembroke]], and Robert's sister [[Penelope Devereux|Penelope]] who inspired the "Stella" of Phillip Sidney's ''[[Astrophel and Stella]]'' sonnet sequence.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dawkins |first=Peter |title=Francis Bacon, Shakespeare and the Earl of Essex |url=https://www.fbrt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Francis_Bacon_Shakespeare__the_Earl_of_Essex.pdf |journal=Francis Bacon Research Trust |pages=1–8}}</ref>

Essex performed military service under his stepfather in the [[Netherlands]], before making an impact at court and winning the queen's favour. In 1590, he married [[Frances Walsingham]], daughter of Sir [[Francis Walsingham]] and widow of [[Sir Philip Sidney]], by whom he had several children, three of whom survived into adulthood. Elizabeth was against the marriage. Sidney, who was Leicester's nephew, had died from an infected gun wound in 1586, 31 days after his participation in the [[Battle of Zutphen]] in which Essex had distinguished himself. In October 1591, Essex's mistress, [[Elizabeth Moleyns|Elizabeth Southwell]], gave birth to their son [[Walter Devereux (died 1641)]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Devereux |first=Walter Bourchier |url=https://archive.org/details/livesandletters02devegoog/page/n8/mode/2up |title=The Lives and Letters of the Devereux, Earls of Essex, in the Reigns of Elizabeth, James I, and Charles I, 1540–1646 |publisher=John Murray |year=1853 |volume=1 |location=London |pages=475}}</ref><ref>Johanna Rickman. ''Love, Lust, and License in Early Modern England. Illicit Sex and the Nobility'' (Aldershot, 2008), p. 31</ref>

==Court and military career==
[[File:Nicholas Hilliard 013.jpg|thumb|left|Melancholy youth representing the Earl of Essex, c.1588, miniature by [[Nicholas Hilliard]]<ref>{{harvnb|Hammer|1999|p=69}}</ref>]]

Devereux first came to court in 1584, and by 1587 had become a favourite of the queen, who relished his lively mind and eloquence, as well as his skills as a showman and in courtly love. In June 1587 he replaced the Earl of Leicester as [[Master of the Horse]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hammer|1999|pp=60–61}}</ref> After Leicester's death in 1588, the queen transferred the late Earl's royal monopoly on sweet wines to Essex, providing him with revenue from taxes. In 1593, he was made a member of her [[Privy Council of England|Privy Council]].<ref name=compeerage>{{Cite book |year=1926 |title=The Complete Peerage, Volume V |publisher=St Catherine's Press |page=141}}</ref>

It is reported that his friend and confidant Francis Bacon warned him to avoid offending the queen by attempting to gain power and underestimating her ability to rule and wield power.{{sfn|Ridgway|2015}}

Essex did underestimate the queen, however, and his later behaviour towards her lacked due respect and showed disdain for the influence of her principal secretary, [[Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury|Robert Cecil]]. On one occasion during a heated Privy Council debate on the problems in Ireland, the queen reportedly cuffed an insolent Essex round the ear, prompting him to half draw his sword on her.<ref>Neale, Sir John. ''Queen Elizabeth 1'' Pelican Books reissue 1960 p. 354</ref>

In 1589, he took part in [[Francis Drake]]'s [[English Armada]], which sailed to Spain in an unsuccessful attempt to press home the English advantage following the defeat of the [[Spanish Armada]], but the queen had ordered him not to take part. The English Armada was defeated with 40 ships sunk and 15,000 men lost.<ref>Fernández Duro, Cesáreo (1972). ''Armada Española desde la Unión de los Reinos de Castilla y Aragón.'' Museo Naval de Madrid, Instituto de Historia y Cultura Naval, Tomo III, Capítulo III. Madrid. p. 51</ref> In 1591, he was given command of a force sent to the assistance of King [[Henry IV of France]]. In 1596, he distinguished himself by the [[capture of Cádiz]].<ref name=bbc/> During the [[Islands Voyage]] expedition to the [[Azores]] in 1597, with [[Walter Raleigh]] as his second-in-command, he defied the queen's orders, pursuing the Spanish treasure fleet without first defeating the Spanish battle fleet.

When the [[3rd Spanish Armada]] first appeared off the English coast in October 1597, the English fleet was far out to sea, with the coast almost undefended, and panic ensued. This further damaged the relationship between the queen and Essex, even though he was initially given full command of the English fleet when he reached England a few days later. Fortunately, a storm dispersed the Spanish fleet. A number of ships were captured by the English and though there were a few landings, the Spanish withdrew.

==Ireland==
{{More citations needed section|date=June 2017}}
{{main article|Essex in Ireland}}
[[File:Frances Walsingham.jpg|thumb|[[Frances Walsingham]], Countess of Essex, and her son [[Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex|Robert]]<br />by [[Robert Peake the elder]], 1594]]

Essex's greatest failure was as [[Lord Lieutenant of Ireland]], a post which he talked himself into in 1599.<ref name=bbc/> The [[Nine Years' War (Ireland)|Nine Years' War]] (1595–1603) was in its middle stages, and no English commander had been successful. More military force was required to defeat the Irish chieftains,{{According to whom|date=February 2023}} led by [[Hugh O'Neill, 3rd Earl of Tyrone|Hugh O'Neill, the Earl of Tyrone]], and supplied from Spain and Scotland.

Essex led the largest expeditionary force ever sent to Ireland<ref name="dibhugh">{{Cite journal |last=Morgan |first=Hiram |author-link=Hiram Morgan |date=September 2014 |title=O'Neill, Hugh |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/oneill-hugh-a6962 |journal=[[Dictionary of Irish Biography]] |doi=10.3318/dib.006962.v1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230926084624/https://www.dib.ie/biography/oneill-hugh-a6962 |archive-date=26 September 2023 |access-date=3 May 2024}}</ref>—16,000 troops{{Sfnm|1a1=Strachey|1y=1930|1pp=198–199|2a1=Morgan|2y=2002|2pp=8, 10}}—with orders to put an end to the rebellion. He departed London to the cheers of the queen's subjects, and it was expected the rebellion would be crushed instantly, but the limits of Crown resources and of the Irish campaigning season dictated otherwise.

Essex had declared to the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council]] that he would confront O'Neill in [[Ulster]].{{sfn|Hammer|2003|p=212}} Instead, he led his army into southern Ireland, where he fought a series of inconclusive engagements, wasted his funds, and dispersed his army into garrisons, while the Irish won two important battles in other parts of the country. Rather than face O'Neill in battle, Essex entered a truce that some{{Who|date=February 2023}} considered humiliating to the Crown and to the detriment of English authority. The queen told Essex that if she had wished to abandon Ireland it would scarcely have been necessary to send him there.

In all of his campaigns, Essex secured the loyalty of his officers by conferring knighthoods, an honour the queen dispensed sparingly, and by the end of his time in Ireland more than half the knights in England owed their rank to him.<ref>The 38 knights he created in Ireland were later ritually degraded, and stripped of their knighthood by Elizabeth. See {{cite journal |last=Dillon |first=Viscount |author-link=Harold Dillon, 17th Viscount Dillon |year=1913 |pages=183–186 |title=Degradation and Reduction from Knighthood |journal=Archaeological Journal |volume=70 |doi=10.1080/00665983.1913.10853228 |url=https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/archjournal/contents.cfm?vol=70}}</ref> The rebels were said to have joked that, "he never drew sword but to make knights",<ref>[[iarchive:calendarireland08greauoft|''Calendar of the State Papers relating to Ireland, 1599–1600'']] (1899), London : Longman, H.M.S.O., p. 260.</ref> but his practice of conferring knighthoods could in time enable Essex to challenge the powerful factions at Cecil's command.{{According to whom|date=February 2023}}

He was the second [[Chancellor of the University of Dublin]], serving from 1598 to 1601. He was educated at [[Trinity College Dublin]].<ref>"Alumni Dublinenses: a register of the students, graduates, professors and provosts of [[Trinity College Dublin|Trinity College in the University of Dublin]] (1593–1860 [[George Dames Burtchaell]]/[[Thomas Ulick Sadleir]] p. 226: Dublin, Alex Thom and Co, 1935</ref>

==First trial==
Relying on his general warrant to return to England, given under the great seal, Essex sailed from Ireland on 24 September 1599 and reached London four days later.{{sfn|Brewer|Bullen|1869|pp=295, 297}} The queen had expressly forbidden his return and was surprised when he presented himself in her bedchamber one morning at [[Nonsuch Palace]], before she was properly wigged or gowned.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Elizabeth the Great|last=Jenkins|first=Elizabeth|publisher=Coward-McCann|year=1958|location=New York|page=309}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Richards |first=Judith M. |title=Elizabeth I |date=2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-48157-1 |edition=1. publ |series=Routledhe historical biographies |location=London |pages=171–175}}</ref> On that day, the Privy Council met three times, and it seemed his disobedience might go unpunished, but the queen did confine him to his rooms with the comment that "an unruly beast must be stopped of his provender."{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

[[File:Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger (2).jpg|thumb|upright|Portrait by [[Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger|Marcus Gheeraerts]], {{Circa|1597}}]]

Essex appeared before the full Council on 29 September, when he was compelled to stand before the council during a five-hour interrogation. The Council—his uncle [[William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury]] included—took a quarter of an hour to compile a report, which declared that his truce with O'Neill was indefensible and his flight from Ireland tantamount to the desertion of duty. He was committed to the custody of [[Richard Berkeley (died 1604)|Sir Richard Berkeley]]<ref>Barker, W.R. St Mark's or The Mayor's Chapel, Bristol, Formerly called the Church of the Gaunts. Bristol, 1892, pp. 147–148. Barker states Essex to have been confined in 1599 at ''Essex House'' by Sir Richard Berkeley</ref> in his own [[York House, Strand|York House]] on 1 October, and he blamed Cecil and Raleigh for the queen's hostility. Raleigh advised Cecil to see to it that Essex did not recover power, and Essex appeared to heed advice to retire from public life, despite his popularity with the public.

During his confinement at York House, Essex probably{{According to whom|date=February 2023}} communicated with King [[James I of England|James VI of Scotland]] through [[Charles Blount, 8th Baron Mountjoy|Baron Mountjoy]], although any plans he may have had at that time to help the Scots king capture the English throne came to nothing. In October, Mountjoy was appointed to replace him in Ireland, and matters seemed to look up for the Earl. In November, the queen was reported to have said that the truce with O'Neill was "so seasonably made... as great good... has grown by it."{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}} Others in the council were willing to justify Essex's return from Ireland, on the grounds of the urgent necessity of a briefing by the commander-in-chief.

Cecil kept up the pressure and, on 5 June 1600, Essex was tried before a commission of 18 men. He had to hear the charges and evidence on his knees. Essex was convicted, deprived of public office, and returned to virtual confinement.

==Essex's rebellion==
{{main article|Essex's Rebellion}}
In August, his freedom was granted, but the source of his basic income—the sweet wines monopoly—was not renewed.<ref name=":0" /> His situation had become desperate, and he shifted "from sorrow and repentance to rage and rebellion." In early 1601, he began to fortify [[Essex House (London)|Essex House]], his town mansion on the [[Strand, London|Strand]], and gathered his followers.

On the morning of 8 February, he marched out of Essex House with a party of nobles and gentlemen (some later involved in the 1605 [[Gunpowder Plot]]) and entered the city of London in an attempt to force an audience with the queen. Cecil immediately had him proclaimed a traitor.

A force under [[John Leveson]] placed a barrier across the street at [[Ludgate Hill]]. When Essex's men tried to force their way through, Essex's stepfather, [[Christopher Blount]], was injured in the resulting skirmish, and Essex withdrew with his men to Essex House.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hotson|1937|pp=165–168}}; {{Harvnb|Wisker|2004}}.</ref> Essex surrendered after Crown forces besieged Essex House.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Elizabeth the Great|last=Jenkins|first=Elizabeth|publisher=Coward-McCann|year=1958|location=New York|page=317}}</ref>

==Treason trial and death==
{{More citations needed section|date=February 2016}}
[[File:HenryWriothesley 1594.jpg|thumb|[[Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton]], Essex's chief <br />co-conspirator]]
[[File: Captain Thomas Lee by Marcus Gheeraerts.jpg|thumb|Captain Thomas Lee by [[Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger|Marcus Gheeraerts]]]]

On 19 February 1601, Essex was tried before his peers on charges of treason.<ref>Cadwallader, p. 82. Quoting from ''State Trials'' (compiled by T. B. Howell and T. J. Howell, 33 vols., London, 1809–26, vol. I, pp.&nbsp;1334–1360)</ref> Laura Hanes Cadwallader summarised the indictment:

{{Blockquote|The indictment charged Essex with "conspiring and imagining at London...to depose and slay the queen, and to subvert the Government." It also stated that Essex had "endeavoured to raise himself to the Crown of England, and usurp the royal dignity," and that in order to fulfill these intentions, he and others "rose and assembled themselves in open rebellion, and moved and persuaded many of the citizens of London to join them in their treason, and endeavoured to get the City of London into their possession and power, and wounded and killed many of the queen's subjects then and there assembled for the purpose of quelling such rebellion." Essex was charged also with holding the Lord Keeper and the other Privy Councillors in custody "for four hours and more."<ref>Cadwallader, 1923, p. 83.</ref>}}

Part of the evidence showed that he was in favour of toleration of religious dissent. In his own evidence, he countered the charge of dealing with Catholics, swearing that "papists have been hired and suborned to witness against me."{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}} Essex also asserted that Cecil had stated that none in the world but the [[Isabella Clara Eugenia|Infanta of Spain]] had right to the Crown of England, whereupon Cecil (who had been following the trial at a doorway concealed behind some tapestry) stepped out to make a dramatic denial, going down on his knees to give thanks to God for the opportunity.<ref>Dickinson, 2012, p. 79.</ref> The witness whom Essex expected to confirm this allegation, his uncle William Knollys, was called and admitted there had once been read in Cecil's presence a book treating such matters. The book may have been either ''The book of succession'' supposedly by R. Doleman but probably by [[Robert Persons]] or Persons' ''[[A Conference about the Next Succession to the Crown of England]]'', works which favoured a Catholic successor friendly to Spain.<ref>[[Fraser, Antonia]], ''The Gunpowder Plot: Treason and Faith in 1605'' (London, 1997), p. 13</ref> Knollys denied hearing Cecil make the statement. Thanking God again, Cecil expressed his gratitude that Essex was exposed as a [[traitor]] while he was found an honest man.

Essex was found guilty and, on 25 February 1601, was beheaded on [[Tower Green]], the last person to be beheaded in the [[Tower of London]]. It was reported to have taken three strokes by the executioner [[Thomas Derrick]] to complete the beheading. Previously Thomas Derrick had been convicted of rape but had been pardoned by the Earl of Essex (clearing him of the death penalty) on the condition that he become an executioner at [[Tyburn]]. At Sir [[Walter Raleigh]]'s own execution on 29 October 1618, it was alleged that Raleigh had said to a co-conspirator, "Do not, as my Lord Essex did, take heed of a preacher. By his persuasion, he confessed, and made himself guilty."{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}} In that same trial, Raleigh also denied that he had stood at a window during the execution of Essex's sentence, disdainfully puffing out tobacco smoke in sight of the condemned man. Essex in the end shocked many by denouncing his sister [[Penelope Devereux|Penelope, Lady Rich]] as his co-conspirator: the queen, who was determined to show as much clemency as possible, ignored the charge.

Some days before the execution, Captain [[Thomas Lee (army captain)|Thomas Lee]] was apprehended as he kept watch on the door to the queen's chambers. His plan had been to confine her until she signed a warrant for the release of Essex. Captain Lee, who had served in Ireland with the Earl, and who acted as a go-between with the Ulster rebels, was tried and put to death the next day.

{{anchor|Restitution of the Earl of Essex's Children Act 1603}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Restitution of the Earl of Essex's Children Act 1603
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of England
| long_title            = An Act for the restitution of the son and two daughters of Robert late earl of Essex.
| year                  = 1603
| citation              = [[1 Jas. 1]]. c. ''4''
| introduced_commons    =
| introduced_lords      =
| territorial_extent    =
| royal_assent          = 7 July 1604
| commencement          =
| expiry_date           =
| repeal_date           =
| amends                =
| replaces              =
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| related_legislation   =
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| millbankhansard       =
| original_text         =
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Essex's conviction for treason meant that the earldom was forfeit and his son did not inherit the title. However, after the queen's death, King [[James I of England]] reinstated the earldom in favour of the disinherited son, [[Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex]].

===The Essex ring===

There is a widely repeated romantic legend about a ring given by Elizabeth to Essex. There is a possible reference to the legend by [[John Webster]] in his 1623 play ''[[The Devil's Law Case]]'' suggesting that it was known at this time, but the first printed version of it is in the 1695 romantic novel ''The Secret History of the most renowned Queen Elizabeth and the Earl of Essex, by a Person of Quality''. The version given by [[David Hume]] in his ''[[The History of England (Hume)|History of England]]'' says that Elizabeth had given Essex a ring after the expedition to Cádiz that he should send to her if he was in trouble. After his trial, he tried to send the ring to Elizabeth via the [[Catherine Howard, Countess of Nottingham|Countess of Nottingham]], but the countess kept the ring because her husband was an enemy of Essex.  As a result, Essex was executed. On her deathbed, the countess is said to have confessed this to Elizabeth, who angrily replied: "May God forgive you, Madam, but I never can".{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}} The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries in [[Westminster Abbey]] possess a gold ring which is claimed to be this one.

Some historians consider this story of the ring to be a myth, partly because there are no contemporaneous accounts of it. [[John Lingard]] in his history of England says the story appears to be fiction.  [[Lytton Strachey]] states "Such a narrative is appropriate enough to the place where it was first fully elaborated—a sentimental novelette, but it does not belong to history",{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}} and [[Alison Weir]] calls it a fabrication.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Weir |first=Alison |url=https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Elizabeth_the_Queen.html?id=YZKcGPwbq8MC&redir_esc=y |title=Elizabeth the Queen |date=2009 |publisher=Vintage |isbn=978-0-09-952425-0 |pages=466 |language=en}}</ref>

Nevertheless, this version of the story forms the basis of the plot of [[Gaetano Donizetti]]'s opera ''[[Roberto Devereux]]'', with a further twist added to the story, in that Essex is cheating on both the queen and his best friend by having an affair with Lady Nottingham (who in the opera is given the wrong first name of Sarah rather than Catherine): and that this turns out to be (a) the reason why Lord Nottingham turns against his now former friend, when he discovers the ring in question and prevents her sending it, and (b) is the ultimate reason for Queen Elizabeth withdrawing her support for Essex at his trial. The actual question of Devereux's genuine guilt or innocence is sidelined (as is his actual failed rebellion), and the trial is presented as effectively a Parliamentary witch-hunt led by Cecil and Raleigh.

==Poetry==
Like many other Elizabethan aristocrats Essex was a competent lyric poet, who also participated in court entertainments. He engaged in literary as well as political feuds with his principal enemies, including Walter Raleigh. His poem "[[s:Muses no more but mazes|Muses no more but mazes]]" attacks Raleigh's influence over the queen.<ref name = "may">Steven W. May, "The poems of Edward de Vere, seventeenth Earl of Oxford and Robert Devereux, second Earl of Essex" in Studies in Philology, 77 (Winter 1980), Chapel Hill, pp. 86 ff.</ref>

Other lyrics were written for masques, including the sonnet "[[s:Seated between the old world and the new|Seated between the old world and the new]]" in praise of the queen as the moral power linking Europe and America, who supports "the world oppressed" like the mythical Atlas. During his disgrace, he also wrote several bitter and pessimistic verses. His longest poem, "[[s:The Passion of a Discontented Mind|The Passion of a Discontented Mind]]" (beginning "From silent night..."), is a penitential lament, probably written while imprisoned awaiting execution.<ref name = "may"/>

Several of Essex's poems were set to music. English composer [[John Dowland]] set a poem called "[[Can She Excuse My Wrongs|Can she excuse my wrongs with virtue's cloak]]?" in his 1597 publication ''First Booke of Songs'': these lyrics have been attributed to Essex, largely on the basis of the dedication of "The Earl of Essex's Galliard", an instrumental version of the same song. Dowland also sets the opening verses of Essex's poem "The Passion of a Discontented Mind" ("From silent night") in his 1612 collection of songs. [[Orlando Gibbons]] set lines from the poem in the same year.<ref name = "may"/> Settings of Essex's poems "[[s:Change thy mind|Change thy minde]]" (set by Richard Martin) and "[[s:To plead my faith|To plead my faith]]" (set by [[Daniel Bacheler]]) are published in ''A Musicall Banquet'' (1610), a collection of songs edited by [[Robert Dowland]].

==Portrayals==
There have been many portrayals of Essex throughout the years:

===Opera===
* [[Saverio Mercadante]]'s 1833 opera ''Il Conte d'Essex'' with [[libretto]] by [[Felice Romani]]
* [[Gaetano Donizetti]]'s 1837 opera ''[[Roberto Devereux]]'' with libretto by [[Salvadore Cammarano]] based mainly on [[François Ancelot]]'s ''Elisabeth d'Angleterre''.
* [[Benjamin Britten]]'s 1953 opera ''[[Gloriana]]'' is based on [[Lytton Strachey]]'s ''Elizabeth and Essex''.

===Stage===
* In the 1956 essay ''Hamlet oder Hekuba: der Einbruch der Zeit in das Spiel'' (Hamlet or Hecuba: the Irruption of Time into the Play), the German legal theorist [[Carl Schmitt]] suggests that elements of the Earl's biography, in particular his final days and last words, were incorporated into [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Hamlet]]'' at both the level of dialogue and the level of characterisation. Schmitt's overall argument investigates the relationship between history and narrative generally.
* Essex is briefly alluded to in Shakespeare's ''[[Henry V (play)|Henry V]]'' at 5.0.22–34.<ref>{{Cite web |date=30 November 2003 |url=http://www.bl.uk/treasures/shakespeare/henry5.html |title=Henry V – Shakespeare in quarto |publisher=Bl.uk |access-date=23 July 2011}}</ref>
* Essex is said by editor David L. Stevenson to be alluded to in ''[[Much Ado About Nothing]]'' at 3.1.10–11.
* Gautier Coste de [[La Calprenède]], ''Le Comte d'Essex'' (1639).
* [[Thomas Corneille]], ''Le Comte d'Essex'' (1678).
* [[Claude Boyer]], ''Le Comte d'Essex, tragedie. Par Monsieur Boyer de l'Academie françoise'' (1678).
* [[John Banks (playwright)|John Banks]], ''[[The Unhappy Favourite|The Unhappy Favourite; Or the Earl of Essex, a Tragedy]]'' (1682).
* The night of Essex's execution is dramatised in the [[Timothy Findley]] play ''[[Elizabeth Rex]]''.
* Essex is the love interest in ''La Reine Elizabeth'', play by [[Émile Moreau (playwright)|Émile Moreau]], 1912, starring [[Sarah Bernhardt]]
* [[Maxwell Anderson]]'s 1930 play ''[[Elizabeth the Queen (play)|Elizabeth the Queen]]'' dramatised the queen's relationship with Devereux, ending with his execution.

===Film===
* The 1939 film ''[[The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex]]'', starring [[Bette Davis]] and [[Errol Flynn]], is based on Anderson's play and [[Lytton Strachey]]'s biographical account ''Elizabeth and Essex.''
* Their relationship also provided material during the [[silent film|silent]] era, as in the 1912 film ''[[Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth]]'' (''The Loves of Queen Elizabeth''), with [[Sarah Bernhardt]] as the queen and [[Lou Tellegen]] as Essex.
* Essex was played by [[Sam Reid (actor)|Sam Reid]] in the 2011 film ''[[Anonymous (2011 film)|Anonymous]]'', a fictional biopic that posits that [[Edward de Vere]], the 17th [[Earl of Oxford]], was the true author of [[William Shakespeare]]'s plays and where both Essex and the Earl of Southampton are the illegitimate sons of Queen Elizabeth (the latter also being de Vere's son who is stated by Robert Cecil to have been Elizabeth's first bastard, making Southampton [[Prince Tudor theory|the product of incest]])

===TV===
* [[Charlton Heston]] portrayed the Earl of Essex opposite [[Judith Anderson]]'s [[Elizabeth I]] in a 1968 television adaption of [[Maxwell Anderson]]'s ''[[Elizabeth the Queen (play)|Elizabeth the Queen]]'', for the [[Hallmark Hall of Fame]] series.
* The Earl of Essex was portrayed by [[Robin Ellis]] in the fifth and sixth episodes of the [[BBC]] series ''[[Elizabeth R]]'' (1971) starring [[Glenda Jackson]] as Elizabeth I.
* The queen's relationship with Essex (played by [[Hugh Dancy]]) and his stepfather Leicester (played by [[Jeremy Irons]]) was also covered by a 2005 [[Channel 4]]/[[Home Box Office|HBO]] co-production ''[[Elizabeth I (2005 miniseries)|Elizabeth I]]'', starring [[Helen Mirren]].
* In the 2005 ''[[The Virgin Queen (TV show)|The Virgin Queen]]'', [[Hans Matheson]] played the ill-fated Earl of Essex.
* In the 2017 BBC documentary mini-series ''Elizabeth I's Secret Agents'', the Earl of Essex was portrayed by [[Joe Wredden]].

=== Video game ===
* He is voiced by [[Rich Keeble]] in the video game ''[[Astrologaster]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Press Kit |url=https://www.astrologaster.com/press |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=A comedy written in the stars |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Essex in literature==
The best known biographical work about Robert Devereux is [[Lytton Strachey]]'s masterpiece ''Elizabeth and Essex''.

At least two fencing treatises are dedicated to Robert, Earl of Essex. They are as follows:
* [[Vincentio Saviolo]] – ''His Practice'' (1595)<ref>Vincentio Saviolo, his practise, in two bookes, the first intreating of the use of the Rapier and Dagger, the second of Honor and honorable quarrels. London, printed by John Wolfe, 1595, http://www.cs.unc.edu/~hudson/saviolo/</ref>
* [[George Silver]] – ''Paradoxes of Defence'' (1599)<ref>by George Silver, Gentleman. London, Printed for Edward Blount, 1599, http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/paradoxes.html</ref>

Robert Devereux's death and confession became the subject of two popular 17th-century [[broadside ballads]], set to the English [[folk tune]]s ''Essex Last Goodnight'' and ''Welladay''.<ref>"A Lamentable Ballad on the Earl of Essex Death", 1610–1638?, http://ebba.english.ucsb.edu/ballad/30130/image</ref><ref>"A lamentable Dittie composed upon the death of
Robert Lord Devereux late Earle of Essex, who was beheaded in the Tower of London, upon Ash Wednesday in the morning. 1601.", 1603, http://ebba.english.ucsb.edu/ballad/32221/image</ref> Numerous ballads lamenting his death and praising his military feats were also published throughout the 17th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ebba.english.ucsb.edu/search_combined/?t=&ft=Earl+of+Essex&fl=&dt=&au=&pp=&i=&lc=&c=&v=&pg=&estc=&numkw=52&numpc=13&tts=&tst=&wkw=|title=Ballad Archive Search}}</ref>

== Ancestry ==
{{ahnentafel|1. Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex|2. [[Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex]]|3. [[Lettice Knollys]]|4. [[Richard Devereux (died 1547)|Richard Devereux]]|5. Dorothy Hastings|6. [[Francis Knollys (the elder)|Francis Knollys]]|7. [[Catherine Carey]]|8. [[Walter Devereux, 1st Viscount Hereford]]|9. Mary Grey|10. [[George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon]]|11. [[Anne Stafford, Countess of Huntingdon]]|12. [[Robert Knollys (courtier)|Robert Knollys]]|13. Lettice Peniston|14. [[William Carey (courtier)|William Carey]]|15. [[Mary Boleyn]]|collapsed=no|align=center|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;}}

==References==

=== Notes ===
{{Notelist}}

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
* Bagwell, Richard: ''Ireland under the Tudors'' 3 vols. (London, 1885–1890).
**{{cite book|last=Bagwell|first=Richard|title=Ireland under the Tudors|publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co.|date=1885a|volume=1|url=https://archive.org/details/irelandundertudo01bagwiala/page/n5/mode/2up}}
**{{cite book|last=Bagwell|first=Richard|title=Ireland under the Tudors|publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co.|date=1885b|volume=2|url=https://archive.org/details/irelandundertudo02bagwiala/page/n5/mode/2up}}
**{{cite book|last=Bagwell|first=Richard|title=Ireland under the Tudors|publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co.|date=1890|volume=3|url=https://archive.org/details/irelandundertudo03bagw/page/n7/mode/2up}}
* {{cite book <!-- {{sfn|Brewer|Bullen|1869|pp=301–312}} --> |url=https://archive.org/details/calendarofcarewm03lambiala/page/300/mode/2up |title=Calendar of Carew Manuscripts in the Lambeth Library. Vol III: 1599–1600 |publisher=Longman & Co., et al. |others=(6 vols, 1867–73) |year=1869 |editor1-last=Brewer |editor1-first=J. S. |place=London |editor2-last=Bullen |editor2-first=W.}}&nbsp;[https://books.google.com/books?id=6nEJAAAAQAAJ vol I, 1515–1574] • [[iarchive:calendarofcarewm02lamb|vol II, 1575–1588]] • [[iarchive:calendarofcarewm03lambiala|vol III, 1589–1600]] • [[iarchive:calendarofcarewm04lamb|vol IV, 1601–1603]] • [https://books.google.com/books?id=1GlEAQAAMAAJ vol V, Book of Howth; Miscellaneous] • [[iarchive:calendarcarewma00ofgoog/page/n13/mode/2up|vol VI, 1603–1624]]&nbsp;<!--[Transcripts at [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=109-mss_1-1_7&cid=1-29#1-29 A Journal of the Occurrences of the Camp from the 21st of May until the last of the same month, and thence continued till the 22nd of June 1599] and [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=109-mss_1-1_7&cid=1-30#1-30 A journal of the Lord Lieutenant's proceedings from the 22nd of June].-->
* {{Cite book |last=Cadwallader |first=Laura Hanes |url=https://www.questia.com/read/252622/the-career-of-the-earl-of-essex-from-the-islands-voyage |title=The Career of the Earl of Essex from the Islands Voyage in 1597 to His Execution in 1601 |date=1923 |oclc=752786933 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415024657/https://www.questia.com/read/252622/the-career-of-the-earl-of-essex-from-the-islands-voyage |archive-date=15 April 2016 |url-status=dead}}
* Dickinson, Janet, ''Court Politics and the Earl of Essex, 1589–1601'' (Routledge: Abingdon, 2016). {{ISBN|978-1848930773}}
* {{Cite book |last=Ellis |first=Steven G. |title=Tudor Ireland |year=1985 |isbn=0-582-49341-2 |location=London}}
* {{Cite book |last=Ellis |first=Steven G. |url=https://books.google.com.fj/books?id=CXPXAwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=Ireland in the Age of the Tudors, 1447-1603: English Expansion and the End of Gaelic Rule |date=2014-06-17 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-90143-3 |language=en}}
* {{cite book |last=Falls |first=Cyril |author-link=Cyril Falls |title=Elizabeth's Irish Wars |publisher=Syracuse University Press |year=1997 |isbn=9780815604358 |place=New York |chapter=Essex in Ireland |orig-date=1950 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lu4mmpO-MnUC&pg=PA230}}
* {{Cite book|publication-place=Cambridge|last=Hammer |first=Paul E. J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VbKM-1eXuBkC |title=The Polarisation of Elizabethan Politics: The Political Career of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, 1585-1597 |date=1999-06-24 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-43485-0 |language=en|oclc=39539158}}
* {{cite book |last=Hammer |first=Paul E. J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nsocBQAAQBAJ |title=Elizabeth's Wars: War, Government and Society in Tudor England, 1544–1604 |publisher=Macmillan International Higher Education |year=2003 |isbn=978-0230629769 |place=London}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |year=2004 |title=Devereux, Robert, second earl of Essex (1565–1601) |encyclopedia=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/printable/7565 |access-date=29 December 2020 |last=Hammer |first=Paul E. J. |edition=Online |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714221645/http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/printable/7565 |archive-date=14 July 2014}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hotson |first=Leslie |year=1937 |title=I, William Shakespeare Do Appoint Thomas Russell, Esquire... |location=London |publisher=Jonathan Cape |pages=160–168, 218–219, 228, 231 }}
* {{Cite web |last=Ridgway |first=Claire |date=10 November 2015 |title=Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex – The Tudor Society |url=https://www.tudorsociety.com/robert-devereux-2nd-earl-of-essex/ |access-date=4 November 2022 |website=www.tudorsociety.com |language=en-gb}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lacey |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Lacey |url=https://archive.org/details/robertearlofesse0000lace |title=Robert, Earl of Essex: An Elizabethan Icarus |date=1971 |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |isbn=0-297-00320-8}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |title=Devereux, Robert |encyclopedia=[[Dictionary of Irish Biography]] |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/devereux-robert-a2553 |access-date=2 March 2025 |last=McCormack |first=Anthony M. |publication-date=February 2011 |doi=10.3318/dib.002553.v1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211221133603/https://www.dib.ie/biography/devereux-robert-a2553 |archive-date=21 December 2021}}
* {{Citation |last=Morgan |first=Hiram |title='By God I Will Beat Tyrone in the Field': Essex and Ireland |date=February 2002 |url=https://celt.ucc.ie/Essex_and_Ireland.pdf |access-date=14 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240615182125/https://celt.ucc.ie/Essex_and_Ireland.pdf |archive-date=15 June 2024 |url-status=live}}
* {{Cite book |last=Shapiro |first=James |title=1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare |year=2005 |isbn=0-571-21480-0 |location=London}}
* {{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Lacey Baldwin |title=Treason in Tudor England: Politics & Paranoia |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-84413-551-6 |location=Pimlico}}
* {{Cite book |last=Strachey |first=Lytton |author-link=Lytton Strachey |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.175886/ |title=Elizabeth and Essex: A Tragic History |date=1930 |publisher=Chatto & Windus |location=London |oclc=1037867845 |orig-date=1st pub. 1928}}
* {{Cite ODNB |last=Wisker |first=Richard |year=2004 |title=Leveson, Sir John (1555–1615) |id=46972}}

== Further reading ==

* {{Cite book |last=Hull |first=Eleanor |author-link=Eleanor Hull |url=https://www.libraryireland.com/HullHistory/Essex1.php |title=A History of Ireland and Her People |year=1931 |chapter=Essex in Ireland and the Ulster Campaign |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240908150603/https://www.libraryireland.com/HullHistory/Essex1.php |archive-date=8 September 2024 |url-status=live}}
* {{Cite web |title=The New Student's Reference Work/Essex, Robert Devereux, Earl of - Wikisource, the free online library |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_New_Student's_Reference_Work/Essex,_Robert_Devereux,_Earl_of |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=en.wikisource.org |language=en}}
* {{Cite DNB|last=Lee|first=Sydney|volume=14|title=Devereux, Robert (1567-1601)}}
* {{Cite book |last=Webb |first=Alfred |author-link=Alfred Webb |url=https://archive.org/details/compendiumofiris00webb |title=A Compendium of Irish Biography |date=1878 |publisher=M. H. Gill & Son|postscript=. "Devereux, Robert, 2nd Earl of Essex". pp. 147–148.}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Connolly |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont0000unse_j7r4/page/584/mode/2up |title=The Oxford Companion to Irish History |date=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-923483-7|editor1-first=S. J. |editor1-link=Sean Connolly (academic) |edition=2 |location=Oxford |doi=10.1093/acref/9780199234837.001.0001|postscript=. "Devereux, Robert, 2nd earl of". p. 188.}}
==External links==
{{Wikisource author}}
{{Commons category|Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex}}
* {{UK National Archives ID}}
* [http://ebba.english.ucsb.edu English Broadside Ballad Archive]

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