Essex, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of 1566/67-1601
Elizabethan soldier and courtier

Born in Netherwood, Herefordshire, the eldest son of Walter Devereux, he succeeded his father in 1676. Under Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, his stepfather from 1580, he served in the Netherlands (1585-86), distinguishing himself at Zutphen. At court he quickly rose in the favour of Queen Elizabeth I, despite his clandestine marriage (1590) with Frances Walsingham, the daughter of Sir Francis Walsingham and widow of Sir Philip Sidney. He became Master of the Horse (1587) and in 1591 he commanded the forces sent to help Henri IV of France against the Catholic League (1591). He took part in the capture of Cadiz (1596), but was largely responsible for the failure of an expedition to the Azores (1597). He became earl marshal (1597), and Chancellor of Cambridge University (1598), but because of his great quarrel with Elizabeth, when he turned his back on her, and she boxed his ears, they were never reconciled. When his six months' lord lieutenancy of Ireland proved a failure, he returned to England, and Elizabeth had him imprisoned. Unfortunately, although handsome and brave, and an ideal courtier, Essex aimed at the highest state office, despite being politically and administratively unskilled. He plotted to raise revolt in London and remove Elizabeth's councillors (1601), but was found guilty of high treason and beheaded.

Bibliography: Robert Lacey, Robert, Earl of Essex (1970)