About Me
I, the last of Queen Elizabeth I's favourites, was the son of Walter Devereux, first Earl of Essex, and Lettice Knollys. On my father's death, in 1576, Lord Burghley became my guardian and my mother married the famous Earl of Leicester. I entered at Trinity, Cambridge, when only twelve years of age, but does not appear to have been regular in my residence, though he became a fair scholar.I was early presented at Court, where the Queen did her best to 'spoil' me; and from my twentieth and her own fifty-fourth year she indulged in many flirtations with me, but also in many quarrels, in the course of which my hot temper and jealousy always allowed her to get the better. But the Queen's affection for me was genuine and, at bottom, more of a maternal than of an amatory character. She was always in anxiety when I went to the wars, which I often did (sometimes against her express command) and in which I always behaved myself with conspicuous daring. Thus, I was knighted on the field of battle at Zutphen, where Sidney fell. I 'ran away' and joined the 'Counter Armada' of 1589, and I was always crying out for open war with Spain and for an efficient army. But I was also perpetually quarrelling with my rivals at Court or in camp; now with Raleigh, now with Blount, now with the Cecils; and my idea of a quarrel was, if possible, to fight a duel to the death.In 1590, I incurred for a time, the Queen's severest displeasure by marrying Sir Philip Sidney's widow, the daughter of Sir Francis Walsingham. Next year, I commanded, with more valour than discretion, a small English force sent to France to succour Henry IV against the Catholic League. Whenever I was abroad, I was always complaining, and with reason, of the way in which my rivals, especially Robert Cecil, were undermining my influence at home.One of the most curious episodes in my life is the friendship I formed with the two Bacons, Francis and Anthony. It seems probable that the former, believing me to be the 'coming man,’ deliberately attached himself to the my fortunes and gave me good advice, which I was too impetuous to take. I was perpetually soliciting the Queen, but in vain, for preferment for my new friend. In 1596, came the expedition to Spain, in which I commanded the land forces which stormed Cadiz, while, against my advice, the sailors let the Spanish treasure-fleet escape; but in my next expedition, known as the 'Islands' voyage' to the Azores, I was not so successful.Finally, all my enemies were rejoiced when I teased my fond mistress into giving me command of the great expedition to Ireland in 1599. Ireland was the grave of my brilliant father's reputation and of that of many more. My preparations were extensive and well planned but I had to face the worst rebellion yet known in the island with the certainty that Spanish help was not far off. Once in Ireland, I seemed to have lost his head. Instead of driving straight at Ulster and at the Earl of Tyrone, the leading rebel, I made a senseless progress through Munster; and, when at last I turned northwards, I allowed myself to be entrapped into a parley by the wily Irishman, the result of which was that I concluded a wholly unauthorized truce and undertook to present Tyrone's demands to the English government. The Queen was absolutely furious and I made matters worse by deserting my army and hurrying to England.I was not immediately imprisoned, but kept in seclusion for nine months. In June 1600, I was brought to trial before a special court and it is characteristic of Francis Bacon that he, who had advised me nto apply for the Irish command and hoped to make his own fortune by me, appeared against me in his trial. No actual sentence beyond dismissal from my offices and imprisonment in my own house was recorded against me and I was set at liberty in August. However, I had lost the favour of the Queen for good, and this disgrace was one under which my restless nature could not be quiet. I knew well that Cecil and other courtiers were my sworn enemies and I now entertained the absurd idea of an appeal to force.I was intrigued with King James VI of Scotland to induce him to support a rising, along with my friend, Lord Mountjoy, who had succeeded to my command in Ireland, whom I implored to land troops in Wales. My only real accomplice, however, was Shakespeare's patron, the Earl of Southampton. I was a bad head for any insurrection and the London mob, with whom I was really popular, was not so foolish as to rise against Queen Elizabeth. There was, however, actually something like a small riot when Southampton and I were seized and sent to the Tower. The former was beheaded on 25th February 1601 and there is good reason for believing that the Queen broke her aged heart when she signed my death-warrant.Vain and rash beyond anyone of his age, lacking any real measure of statesmanship, I had been lifted by the accidents of my birth into a position for which I was wholly unfitted. Yet I possessed, in a marked degree, qualities which endeared me even to those with whom I quarrelled: most utter frankness, warm affection and generosity and, in war, the courage of a Paladin of romance.
