Robert Devereux

Anden jarl af Essex. Anførte mislykket forsøg på at nedslå opstand i Irland. Dronning Elizabeths sidste store kærlighed. Han var 34 år yngre end hun, smuk, selvsikker, og stolt. Alligevel underskrev hun hans dødsdom. Søn af Walter Devereux, 1. Jarl af Essex.

• Kinsale, 1601

Devereux, Robert (1567-1601), 2. Jarl af Essex. Engelsk statsmand, Elisabeths bekendte yndling; kom 1584 til hoffet og gjrode ved sin ånd og elskværdighed stærkt indtryk på dronningen; efter jarlen af Leicesters død 1588 blev Essex hendes yndling og genstand for den halvgamle dronnings påtrængende kærlighed. Essex ægtede hemmeligt imod Elisabeths vilje Sir Philip Sidneys enke og havde ofte vanskeligt ved at underordne sig dronningens vilje. Alligevel vandt han stor politisk indflydelse i national antispansk retning og blev ved sin tapperhed og ridderlighed folkets erklærede yndling. 1596 deltog Essex med admiral Howard i ekspeditionen mod Cadiz, der erobredes og plyndredes. 1599 fik hans misundere samt sendt som statholder til Irland for at dæmpe en opstand. Han sluttede en våbenstilstand, vendte tilbage mod Elisabeths ordre for at værge sig mod sine fjender, blev derfor forvist, sluttede sig til Jakob VI af Skotland, søgte at vække opstand i London, blev fængslet og henrettet. (HK3/1921)

Robert Devereux, favourite of Queen Elizabeth I of England, is the best-known of the many holders of the title "Earl of Essex".

Born at Netherwood in 1566, Devereux was brought up largely on his father's estate in Wales, and was educated at Cambridge. In 1580, following the death of the first earl, his mother married Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, long-standing favourite of the queen. Essex did military service under his stepfather before himself 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 - who had died at the Battle of Zutphen, in which Essex had distinguished himself.

Essex's star was in the ascendant. In 1591, he was given command of a force sent to the assistance of the Protestant King Henry IV of France. In 1596, he distinguished himself once again, by the capture of Cadiz. In the meantime, he had effectively become the queen's foreign secretary and favourite, especially in the period after Leicester's death in 1588. However, he overreached himself when he attempted an expedition to the Azores, and failed again as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, a post which Elizabeth had forced on him because she felt he was becoming too haughty.

Having permanently fallen out with the queen, Essex unwisely attempted a political coup, raising a rebellion and attempting to seize control of the city of London on February 8, 1601. He was arrested, convicted of treason, and executed at the Tower of London on February 25, 1601.

Devereux's title was inherited by his son, Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex.