Families Klein, Ree, de Breed en de Vries van Terschelling » Robert Devereux (1565-1601)

Personal data Robert Devereux 

• He was born on November 10, 1565 in Netherwood, Hertfordshire, England.
• He was christened on November 29, 1566 in Netherwood, Thornbury, Herefordshire, England.
• Profession: 2nd Earl of Essex in Lord Lt. of Ireland.
• Nationality: Kingdom of England, England.
• He died on February 25, 1601 in Tower Green, Tower of London, Middlesex, England, he was 35 years old.

  Oorzaak: executed for treason

• He is buried on March 1, 1601 in Chapel of Saint Peter-ad-Vincula, Tower of London, London, Middlesex, England.
• A child of Walter Devereux and Lettice Knollys

Household of Robert Devereux

(1) He is married to Elizabeth Brydges.

They got married in the year 1590, he was 24 years old.

Child(ren):

1. Elizabeth Devereux  1584-1612
2. Henry Devereux  1590-1596
3. Walter Devereux  1591-1591
4. Robert Devereux  1591-1646 
5. Walter Devereux  1592-1641
6. Frances Devereux  1599-1679 
7. Dorothy Devereux  ????-1636
8. Penelope Devereux  ????-1599

(2) He is married to Frances Walshinghan.

They got married.

Notes about Robert Devereux

He was brought up on his father's estates at Chartley Castle, Staffordshire, and at Lamphey, Pembrokeshire, in Wales. His father died in 1576, and the new Earl of Essex became a ward of Lord Burghley. In 1577, he was admitted as a fellow-commoner at Trinity College, Cambridge; in 1579, he matriculated; and in 1581 he graduated as Master of Arts.^[3]

On 21 September 1578, Essex's mother married Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, Elizabeth I's long-standing favourite and Robert Devereux's godfather.^[4]

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 was to have several children, three of whom survived into adulthood. Sidney, who was Leicester's nephew, had died in 1586 at the Battle of Zutphen in which Essex had also distinguished himself. In October 1591, Essex's mistress, Elizabeth Southwell, gave birth to a son who survived into adulthood.^[5][6]

 

Essex was found guilty and, on 25 February 1601, was beheaded on Tower Green, becoming 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 was pardoned by the Earl of Essex himself (clearing him of the death penalty) on the condition that he became 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." 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 at the end shocked many by denouncing his sister 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 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. Capt. Lee, who had served in Ireland with the Earl, and who acted as go-between with the Ulster rebels, was tried and put to death the next day.

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 reinstated the earldom in favour of the disinherited son, Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex.

 

 

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Timeline Robert Devereux

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