Elizabethan Fact of the Day: Soldiers Bring Back Plague to England

An engraving of Ambrose Dudley, the Earl of Warwick. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

In March of 1563, the soldiers of Ambrose Dudley, the Earl of Warwick brought plague back to England upon their return from France. 

To read more about the Earl of Warwick's role in siege of Le Havre, and to discover Queen Elizabeth's role in negotiating the Treaty of Troyes, view our article.

On This Day in Elizabethan History: The Death of Sir Francis Knollys

On this day in Elizabethan history, 1596, Sir Francis Knollys, a Privy Councillor, Knight of the Garter, and Vice-Chamberlain of the household of Queen Elizabeth I, died.

Francis Knollys was born c.1514 to Robert Knollys, a court official of Henry VIII, and his wife, Lettice. After receiving some schooling at Oxford University, Francis began to earn favor at King Henry's court, becoming one of Henry VIII's esteemed gentleman-pensioners. In 1540, Francis' future wife Katherine Carey, daughter of Mary Boleyn, arrived at court. She was secured a place in Queen Anne of Cleves household by Henry VIII. (Historian Alison makes a convincing case based on ample primary and secondary sources that Katherine Carey was the illegitimate daughter of King Henry VIII, though her brother Henry Carey, later 1st Baron Hunsdon, was almost certainly Mary's child by her husband, William Carey.) Francis was now in almost daily contact with his future wife, and if their eventual happy marriage is any indication, they perhaps fell in love before they were even wed.

This Portrait of a Pregnant Lady, 1562, by Steven van der Muelen  is most likely of Katherine Carey-Knollys. For further information on this portrait, and the controversy surrounding Katherine's paternity, please see Alison Weir's biography, Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

In 1542 Francis was admitted to The House of Commons (Dictionary of National Biography), and in 1546 he married Katherine Carey. By an act of Parliament, the couple would be joint owners of the estate of Rotherfield Greys.

By all accounts, Francis Knollys was always an outspoken champion for the reform movement in the Church of England. His opinions resonated with the young King Edward VI, and  Francis became an important member of his government (Wagner, 174). His dedication to King and country paid off, as he was knighted in 1547.

A detail of a portrait of King Edward VI. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

Things changed for Sir Francis and his family upon Mary Tudor's accession in 1553. The Knollys's fled to the Protestant state of Germany with their children rather than face persecution for their faith (Wagner, 174). This was especially wise in their case, as Sir Francis had long been ardently defending and promoting his beliefs. 

Upon the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558, the Knollys's could breathe a sigh of relief. Sir Francis had been a loyal servant of Queen Elizabeth's father and brother, and longing to serve the new Queen, he had returned to England before his wife and children, in the hopes of securing an appointment and setting up a household. Katherine Carey-Knollys was the Queen's first cousin, if not her half sister; the two had become acquainted in their in youth and had developed an unbreakable bond. Katherine Carey-Knollys and the children followed Sir Francis home to England.

As he had hoped, Sir Francis did earn one of the first appointments of Queen Elizabeth's reign, becoming a member of the Privy Council in 1558. Shortly thereafter he was made Vice-Chamberlain of her household, a post that would later on be held by his son (Wagner, 175).

A detail of the Clopton Portrait of Elizabeth I c.1560-65, shortly after she became Queen of England. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

By the 1560's, Sir Francis's Protestant beliefs had developed into Puritan ones, and he often spoke in favor of Puritan causes in the Elizabethan Parliament's (Wagner, 175). This was problematic, as anything perceived as religious extremism during Elizabeth's reign, be it on the conservative Catholic side or the reformist Protestant side of the spectrum, was monitored closely. Nothing could threaten the moderate, largely tolerant Anglican Church Queen Elizabeth and her administration had worked so hard to establish (please see Religious Policy under Elizabeth I). Still, Sir Francis' personal beliefs were never a threat to the realm, and true to Elizabeth's declaration of wishing "not to open windows into men's souls", and perhaps due in part to her great love for both Francis and Katherine, the Knollys's were left in peace. 

In 1568, Sir Francis was entrusted with keeping Mary Stuart, the so-called Queen of Scot's under house arrest, after she had provocatively crossed over into England without permission. Francis would guard Mary Stuart on and off, along with George Talbot, the Earl of Shrewsbury.

A detail of a portrait of George Talbot, the Earl of Shrewsbury, one of the men who guarded Mary, the so-called Queen of Scots in England. He was also Bess of Hardwick's last husband. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

This duty kept him away from court, and thus away from his wife and children, of whom his personal letters and life choices proved he loved very much.  Sir Francis would frequently ask permission from Queen Elizabeth to give his wife leave so that she could come and visit him, but usually his requests were denied (Weir, 271). Katherine Carey-Knollys was one of about five women that Elizabeth ever developed a close friendship with, and she preferred to keep her close. According to Ambassador Fenelon, the Queen "loved Lady Knollys above all other women in the world." Thus, Sir Francis was often at odds with his sovereign concerning quality time with his wife.

A miniature of Mary, Queen of Scots, painted by Nicholas Hilliard while she was under house arrest in England. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

Sadly, Katherine Carey-Knollys died on January 15th, 1569 at Hampton Court Palace with Queen Elizabeth, while Sir Francis was away guarding Mary Stuart at Bolton Castle (Weir, 271-72). Katherine was given a lavish, nearly royal burial at Westminster Abbey, paid for in part by Queen Elizabeth herself. Francis wrote of his grief over the loss of his wife while they were separated, and the Queen was equally devastated. Sir Francis never remarried.

The Western facade of Westminster Abbey. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

In 1572, just three years after his wife's death, Sir Francis received another honor, being appointed Treasurer of the Royal Household , a position he would hold until his death (Dictionary of National Biography).

The eldest of Sir Francis and Katherine Carey-Knollys's thirteen children, Lettice (likely named for Francis' mother) secretly married Queen Elizabeth's closest friend and favorite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester in 1578. When Sir Francis found out about the nuptials, he demanded to be a witness at a second ceremony. This is understandable, given Leicester's controversial marital history, but also somewhat dangerous, seeing as it was inevitable the Queen would find out about it.

A portrait of Lettice Knollys as Countess of Leicester, c. 1585 by George Gower. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

And find out about it, she did. The Queen's wrath was two-fold, having been betrayed by the only man she ever loved as well as of the Knollys children, who had been like surrogate children to her (Weir). Sir Francis's new son-in-law was briefly imprisoned, and Lettice was banned forever from the royal court. Luckily, Sir Francis was not held responsible for the the poor judgement exercised by his daughter and Leicester, although his grandson, Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, was to become a thorn in his side.

A miniature by Hilliard of Francis Knollys and Katherine Knollys's grandson, Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

From the 1580's through the 1590's. Knollys's Puritan beliefs put him at particular odds with Queen Elizabeth I's Archbishop of Canterbury, (1583-1603) John Whitgift (Palmer, 32). The Archbishop was entrusted with suppressing Puritan and Presbyterian non-conformity in England (Wagner, 175).

In 1593 Sir Francis Knollys entered into a prestigious brotherhood, being made a Knight of the Garter. Just three years later Sir Francis Knollys died, bringing his long and illustrious career to a close. Sir Francis and his brother-in-law, Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon died within a week of each other. The loss of two of the people Elizabeth was closest to in such a short amount of time truly devastated her (Weir, 266). Sir Francis was laid to rest at Rotherfield Greys; a memorial to his wife was erected there as well, though her body still resides in St. Edmund's chapel, Westminster Abbey.

Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon in his old age, wearing his chain of office. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

Sir Francis Knollys certainly enjoyed the distinction of being a part of Queen Elizabeth's family, having married one of her maternal relations, but he also earned every honor bestowed upon him. Unlike her father, Queen Elizabeth was not one for sycophancy, and "was never prone to handing out offices and favors to the undeserving, however close they were to her in blood." (Weir, 234). When Sir Francis disagreed with Queen Elizabeth on matters of state, which happened on more than one notable occasion, he did not mince words, always giving her his honest opinion. Since her accession, Elizabeth I had demanded that her Councillors always tell her the truth, even if it was not something that she necessarily wanted to hear; Sir Francis consistently lived up to that expectation, and he was rewarded because of it.

Sources:

"Knollys, Francis." Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885-1900.

"Francis, Knollys." The Historical Dictionary of the Elizabethan World. Print. (By John A. Wagner)

Weir, Alison. Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings. New York: Balantine Books, 2011. Print.

Palmer, Michael. Reputations: Elizabeth I. London: The Bath Press, 1988. Print.

On This Day in Elizabethan History: The Death of Archbishop of Canterbury Matthew Parker



A detail of a portrait of Queen Elizabeth I's Archbishop of Canterbury Matthew Parker. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

 On this Day in Elizabethan History, Matthew Parker, Queen Elizabeth's first Archbishop of Canterbury died. Reformer Matthew Parker (1504-1575) had been entrusted by Queen Anne Boleyn to look out for the spiritual education of her young daughter Elizabeth, before she was executed on trumped-up charges on May 19th, 1536. And Parker would keep his pledge to the late Queen to guide Elizabeth in the ways of the Protestant faith. Elizabeth rewarded Parker for his loyalty to her mother's request by making him Archbishop of Canterbury in 1559. He would serve in this prestigious post until his death, when he was succeeded by Edmund Grindal.

Parker would be responsible for devising the 39 Articles of Faith, one of the three principles all bishops in the Elizabethan Church were expected to subscribe to and uphold (Please see my article Religious Policy under Elizabeth I for more information.)

The path to religious life for Matthew Parker began in 1522, when Parker attended Corpus Christi College, part of Cambridge University; he graduated in 1525. In April of 1527 he was ordained a deacon, and then subsequently a priest in June. In September of the same year he was elected a fellow of Corpus Christi College and began his Master's degree. Parker, an early Anglican reformer, spurned the then-powerful Cardinal Wolsey's support in favor of Anne Boleyn, the intellectual and increasingly influential love-interest of King Henry VIII. 

A 16th century portrait of King Henry VIII's "new man", Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

Anne had long been a supporter of Cambridge intellectuals, and when she became Queen of England, she made Parker her personal chaplain. Anne, who was an active supporter of the reform of the English Church herself, had great faith in Parker's abilities, and it was through her influence that he was made Dean of the College of Secular Canons in 1535.


A Tudor-era miniature of Anne Boleyn wearing her famous "B" necklace. Attributed to Hoskins. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

Parker's royal patroness was executed in 1536; while many in the Boleyn faction were shunned after the Queen's death, Parker was not, which speaks to his level of religious talent, which the King found indispensable. In 1537, Parker was promoted Chaplain to King Henry VIII. Parker would enjoy a steady rise up the ecclesiastical ladder, accepting various prestigious positions. Then, in 1544 he was elected Master of his alma-mater, Corpus Christi College, and in 1545 he became the Vice-Chancellor.


A modern sign placed in memorial of some of the more famous individuals who lost their lives on the scaffold on Tower Green. Queen Anne Boleyn is the first listed. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

 That same year, King Henry VIII's parliament passed an act that enabled an investigation of colleges and chantries. Parker was appointed as one of the commissioners for Cambridge, and it is his report that has been credited in saving the institution from being dissolved.

When Edward VI took the throne after his father, many members of the Church of England's clergy chose to take advantage of the institution of marriage. Though it had not yet been legalized by Parliament, it was no longer a felony and the future looked promising. In June of 1547, Parker married Margaret Harlestone, the daughter of a Norfolk squire. Margaret and Matthew had planned to wed since around 1540 (Strype's Life of Parker, 1711). During Kett's Rebellion, an Edwardian uprising over land based in his wife's home county, Parker preached in the rebel camp at Mousehold Hill, begging the rebels to disperse. His appeal was to no avail, but Parker's secretary Alexander Neville wrote one of the two eye-witness accounts of the failed rebellion per his master's instruction, published in Latin in 1575.


Detail from the allegorical painting Edward VI and the Pope. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

 Parker would enjoy much favor in the brief reign of King Edward VI. The young King's uncle Lord Protector Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset and John Dudley, the Earl of Northumberland (Robert Dudley's father) saw that he was promoted to various offices. But as was the case of so many who rose to prestige in Edward VI's time on the throne, the ascension of Mary Tudor changed everything.


A portrait of Queen Mary I of England, who earned the nickname "Bloody Mary" for her relentless persecution of English Protestants and the Marian burnings. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

 Because Parker had been so closely associated with Northumberland, who attempted to usurp the English throne from Mary I and place his son Guilford and daughter-in-law Jane Grey on the throne (per Edward's change in the Succession), and because he was a married member of the clergy, he suffered under Mary's hand. 

A portrait of Jane Grey from the 1590's, after a lost original from the 1550's. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

Queen Mary took away Parker's lucrative deanery of Lincoln, which he had received in 1552, and his mastership of Corpus Christi College. While most who experienced the wrath of Mary I fled England for the Continent, establishing exiled English-Protestant communities abroad, Parker remained in England. He remarkably escaped the fate of his esteemed colleagues Archbishop Cranmer and Bishop Ridley and Bishop Latimer, who were burned at the stake.


An illustration of Bishop's Latimer and Ridley being burned at the stake, from John Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

Upon Elizabeth's ascension to the throne in 1558, she immediately identified Parker as her candidate for Archbishopric of Canterbury, though at first he modestly refused. On August 1, 1559 he was elected, and on December 19th, 1559 he was made Archbishop at Lambeth. Elizabeth's selection of Parker for Archbishop of Canterbury was political as well as personal. While Elizabeth rarely spoke of her mother, she did many things in plain sight to honor Queen Anne's memory; her promotion of Parker was to be the first of many. In the crucial months ahead, where Elizabeth would establish her policy on religion, she needed a temperate, hardworking man to help lay down her doctrine; Parker was that man. 

Still, there were points of religion on which Queen Elizabeth and Parker clashed. Parker was a family man, and Elizabeth was skeptical of the clergy's involvement in the institution of marriage. Once, when taking leave of Lambeth Palace, Elizabeth, in her typical wit, mused on how to bid Mrs. Margaret Parker adieu, saying, "Madam, I may not call you; mistress I am ashamed to call you, so I know not what to call you; but I thank you." (Palmer, 29)

Parker leaves behind a legacy as an honest and faithful servant God, and one of forefather's of the Protestant faith in England. He was also a steadfast, hardworking servant of the queen, undertaking considerable religious responsibilities which Elizabeth preferred to distance herself from. Parker's collection of 55 volumes of religious works, housed in the Parker Library at Corpus Christi, Cambridge, are a priceless resource to those who study Reformation and 16th century history.

Sources:

Palmer, Michael. Reputations: Elizabeth I. The Bath Press, 1988. Print.

Denny, Joanna. Anne Boleyn: A New Life of England's Tragic Queen. Portrait, 2005. Print.

Life of Parker by John Strype, published 1711 and re-edited for Claredon Press in 1821. All three volumes are now available online HERE.

On This Day in Elizabethan History: The Signing of the Treaty of Troyes

On this Day in Elizabethan History, The Treaty of Troyes was signed between the English and the French after the siege of the city of Le Havre. Le Havre was known in the 16th century as both Franciscopolis and The Harbor of Grace.

The previous year, the First War of Religion had started in France, and the French Protestants, known as the Huguenots, were being persecuted by their countrymen, and more specifically the House of Guise. The Huguenots appealed to the greatest Protestant Queen in Europe, Queen Elizabeth, for help. Despite Elizabeth's skepticism in involving her country in foreign affairs, she decided to send military aid to the city of Le Havre, which the Huguenots were attempting to hold under a siege; the siege was led by the Catholic Francois, Duke de Guise. The Huguenots had promised to give Le Havre to Queen Elizabeth if she would help them (Wagner, 89). This was a tantalizing proposition, since her sister Queen Mary I had lost England's last foreign land possession, Calais in 1558 before she died.


A portrait of Queen Mary of England. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

Elizabeth chose Ambrose Dudley, the Earl of Warwick to lead the relief force of 6,000 men. Warwick was the brother of her longtime friend and favorite Robert Dudley. Robert had himself expressed interest in delivering the Huguenots and thus the city of Le Havre in Queen Elizabeth's name, but she denied him permission to part from her.

A portrait of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, c. 1564, the same year when the Treaty of Troyes was signed between the English and the French. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.



An engraving from 1620 by Willem de Passe of Ambrose Dudley, the Earl of Warwick (1530-1590). Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons.  Image public domain.

Once the Earl of Warwick arrived in October, it became clear that the situation was less than hopeful. Warwick and his soldiers waited for further instructions from the Queen, and by March 18th of the following year the French had solved their own dispute by agreeing to a truce, negotiated in part by Catherine de Medici after the death of her son the Duke de Guise. The treaty that brought about the end of the First War of Religion was called the Edict of Amboise. Elizabeth instructed Warwick to hold Le Havre until the French agreed to make an exchange for it with the English ancestral city of Calais (Wagner, 182). Unfortunately for Warwick and his men, the Huguenots, in a desperate attempt to prove their new-found loyalty to the Guise family, turned against the English.



A detail of a portrait of Queen Catherine de Medici, depicted in her mourning attire, after she was widowed in 1559 upon the death of her husband King Henri II of France. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.


Warwick bravely held the poorly fortified medieval city until July of 1563 when, with his men dying of plague around him, and his wife back in England having died in his absence, Queen Elizabeth granted him permission to surrender the city and return home (Wagner, 308). In a further affront by the French, the Earl of Warwick was dishonorably shot in the leg amidst negotiations, and the wound festered so badly that by the time he arrived in Portsmouth, he was gravely ill. Warwick would recover, but the bullet wound would bother him for the rest of his life, and it tragically prevented him from accepting any of the honorable military posts that Queen Elizabeth considered him for. However, he would serve as commissioner at the trial of Thomas Howard, the 4th Duke of Norfolk, for treason (Wagner, 89).



A 16th century portrait of Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, likely from 1564, the same year that the Treaty of Troyes was signed.  The Latin inscription, if original, gives us this clue, since it says " in the 49th year of his age". Artist unknown. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.


Though the Earl of Warwick and his men were finally home, the English involvement with Le Havre and the French was not over until the Treaty of Troyes was signed on April 11th of 1564. Elizabeth's two ambassadors in France, Sir Nicholas Throckmorton and Sir Thomas Smith negotiated the terms of the treaty. The final document did not dictate the return of Calais to the English crown, though the French did frustratingly acknowledge the English's right to Calais in it, based on the 1559 Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis (Wagner 54, 309). Elizabeth would not even get to keep the city of Le Havre; instead, she was paid 120,000 crowns, which was 20,000 crowns less than she had originally loaned the Huguenots.


A detail of Queen Elizabeth from The Clopton Portrait, c. 1560-65. This is how Elizabeth was depicted during the time of the English involvement with Le Havre. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

Still, the Treaty of Troyes was somewhat victorious in that it improved relations between England and France for some time. In 1572 the two countries would sign The Treaty of Blois, which recognized the growing threat of Spain and bound France and England to support one another in the tumult ahead (Wagner 31, 309).

Queen Elizabeth had tried to recover Calais for England; its historical and strategic significance for England was certainly not lost on her. Interestingly, Calais was also the same city that King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn had visited together, and it is probably the city where Elizabeth herself was conceived (Denny).

Elizabeth was not a woman to easily forget, and her experience with the Huguenots further developed what would come to be a characteristic apprehension to getting involved in foreign affairs, such as with the Dutch in the near future. None of Queen Elizabeth's councilor's were able to persuade her to aid the Huguenot's in their struggle against the French Crown and The Catholic League ever again (Wagner, 309).

A composite image of Elizabeth's parents, King Henry VIII and Queen Anne Boleyn. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons. Image public domain.

Sources:  

Wagner, John A. The Historical Dictionary of the Elizabethan World. Print.

  

(Pages 31, 54, 89-90, 182, 308-309)

Denny, Joanna.  Anne Boleyn: A New Life of England's Tragic Queen. De Capo Press, 2007. Print.

         

England as Religious Haven, and its Influence on Economic Growth

     Foreigners with special skills, and those who were masters at their trades had been encouraged by the monarchy to settle in England since the Middle Ages. For instance, Queen Phillipa of Hainault notably sponsored Flemish weavers and wool merchants to take up residence in her adopted country. Foreign tradesmen sometimes assimilated well into their new communities, but other times they were seen as a threat by the native English and their businesses were boycotted in hopes that they would suffer financially and leave the country.

A detail from a 14th century illustration of Philippa of Hainault at her coronation. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons Image public domain.

 
     Tudor and Elizabethan England brought new reasons for immigrants from the Continent to settle in England, and also for Englishmen to flee persecution from their own government. This was all due to a succession of regime changes that affected religious tolerance. It all started with Henry VIII’s ever changing mind on matters of religion, and then the differing opinions of his three children. Depending on the given month and year, either Catholics or Protestants had reason to worry. In King Edward’s brief reign, many reformers eager to help establish a new Protestant kingdom flocked to England, only to flee again in fear during the reign of Queen Mary.

The atrocities suffered under Queen Mary's reign were still a very recent memory. This woodcut from Foxe's Book of Martyrs shows the burning of the elderly Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons Image public domain.Picture acquired through Wikimedia Commons Image public domain.

     Queen Elizabeth established herself as someone who “wish(ed) not to open windows into men’s souls.” While Elizabeth herself was a Protestant, and upheld the Church of England that her father had established, her religious policy was much more moderate than either of her siblings, and England saw itself filled with both faiths again. Elizabeth’s own advisors were a mix of Catholic and Protestant, with some even leaning toward Puritanism, which Elizabeth herself was wary of. 

     From the 1560’s onward, England accepted Protestant refugee’s of the religious wars that were tearing apart Spain, Italy, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. In 1553, the French Ambassador supposed that there were 15,000 French, Dutch and German Protestants in the City of London alone. King Philip of Spain’s ambassador would report in 1560 that the Flemish Protestants in England came to a grand total of 10,000. By 1568, between 7 and 8 percent of the people dwelling in London and its surrounding borough’s were refugee’s and tradesmen from France and the Netherlands.

     One of the many tasks of the Privy Council was to find towns where these immigrant families could be settled peacefully. For instance, in 1565, the Privy Council sent 30 immigrant families to Nowich, and by 1579, they had grown to represent 1/3 of the city’s population.

     While there were periods in Elizabeth’s reign where native born citizens took issue with prosperous immigrant tradesmen, (For instance, the Flemish wool merchants mentioned in the first paragraph were extremely affluent by the 16^th century, and many of their competitors petitioned against them) for the most part, these immigrants were a vital component to the diverse, robust and steadily growing economy in England, an economy that would enable England to catch up and compete with the other Continental superpowers; England’s economy in the latter half of the 16^th century is undoubtedly one of Elizabeth’s greatest achievements.

Sources: 

Statistics taken from D.M.Palliser's The Age of Elizabeth: England Under the Later Tudor's. Print.