Elizabeth's Rival

by Nicola Tallis

  An inventory of Lettice’s goods compiled after her death reveals that, despite Blount’s plundering of her jewel collection, she still owned a substantial number of pieces. These included two clocks, one of crystal and one in a gilt case, ‘seven diamond rings’, a ‘unicorn’s horn in gold’ and a ‘pomander and pearl chain’.5 Her wardrobe was also impressive, and she owned at least nine gowns – mostly expensive black – including ‘one black plush gown’.6 There were numerous undergarments and accompaniments, such as the ‘furred petticoat, with hares fur’, and the ‘three kirtles embroidered with gold’.7 She had always had expensive tastes.

  Lettice’s bedchamber was furnished with a great tester bed with scarlet curtains, while numerous chairs and a folding table were scattered elsewhere in the room. She would sit under a square canopy, next to which lay a trunk containing an assortment of objects that tell us about her everyday life and interests. There was a brush, an ‘hour glass of ebony’, two embroidered copies of the New Testament, ‘three purses of velvet, and about forty pairs of gloves’.8 She clearly still spent much of her time engaged in needlework, for there were also ‘divers laces, little bodkins, blue pins, silver pins, and a box of divers sorts of ribbons’, as well as an assortment of needles, scissors, silk and thread.9

  When she was at home and without visitors, Lettice did not lack for company. Her sister Katherine still resided with her at Drayton although it is unclear precisely when Katherine took up permanent residence; it was probably some time after the death of her second husband, Sir Philip Boteler, in 1592. The sisters had always been close to one another, and, like Lettice, Katherine had chosen not to remarry when she was widowed for the second time.

  ON 3 MARCH 1617, at Drayton Bassett, Lettice hosted the wedding of her granddaughter, Essex’s daughter, Frances Devereux, to Sir William Seymour. She may also have had a hand in organizing the match, for the Seymours were a reputable family – although William had already endured a turbulent history. The grandson of Lady Katherine Grey and her husband the Earl of Hertford, on 22 June 1610 William had been clandestinely married to King James’s cousin – and potential rival to the throne – Arbella Stuart.10 Arbella was the lady who in childhood Lettice and Leicester had once considered as a bride for their short-lived son, Lord Denbigh. When the King had discovered Arbella’s marriage he had displayed similar fury to that shown by Queen Elizabeth on so many occasions, and the couple had been thrown into separate imprisonment. William had managed to escape and fled into exile abroad, but Arbella was not so fortunate. She died a prisoner in the Tower in 1615, having never been reconciled with the King.11 Following her death William was able to return to England, where he was gradually restored to royal favour. He was particularly friendly with Lettice’s grandson and his bride’s brother, Robert, Earl of Essex, who had played a significant role in arranging the marriage.

  Before long Lettice also had the welfare of other of her grandchildren to consider, for in August 1619 she lost her only surviving child, Dorothy. Dorothy’s final illness was sudden, falling ill of a fever at Syon. Her husband Northumberland was still imprisoned in the Tower, becoming known as the Wizard Earl due to the scientific experiments in alchemy and astrology he conducted while there, but her younger daughter Lucy was by her side when the end came. Lettice was left heartbroken by the loss of her last surviving child, as were Dorothy’s family. Despite his imprisonment, Northumberland greatly mourned his wife and planned an impressive funeral for her. Lettice was not present as Dorothy’s body was floated down river on a barge from Syon to Petworth, where she was interred with great pomp in the Percy crypt.12 It would be another two years before her husband was eventually set at liberty, and during that time much had changed.

  BY THE TIME of Dorothy’s death, both of her daughters were married and assured of promising futures. Her eldest daughter, Dorothy, was married to Robert Sidney, the great-nephew of Lettice’s husband Leicester.13 This must have been greatly pleasing to Lettice, for Dorothy’s husband would later inherit the title of Earl of Leicester, ensuring that she became known as Countess of Leicester in the same manner as her grandmother.14 Lucy, the younger of Lettice’s granddaughters, had been married to James Hay, a widower with two children who was created Earl of Carlisle in 1622. Lucy’s father was greatly opposed to this marriage, but his imprisonment in the Tower at the time it took place – 6 November 1617 – prevented him from doing more than voicing his objections.15

  IN 1622, LETTICE was nearly eighty years old. She had now outlived three husbands and all of her children, much to her great sorrow. At this time it is little wonder that her thoughts had turned to making provisions for the future, and on 15 October she made her will. Despite her age she described herself as being ‘in perfect health and memory’, although in her letters during this period she often referred to her ‘shaky hand’.16 The will was drawn up in the presence of three people, all of whom were members of her household: Richard Chamberlain, Humphrey Coles and Grace Kettle, and began with a heartfelt declaration: ‘first I bequeath my soul to God my Creator assuredly hoping that through the death and passion of Christ Jesus my only Saviour, Redeemer and Intercessor in whom I steadfastly believe that through his bloodshedding all my sins are remitted and washed away.’17

  At this time her will served no further purpose, for death had yet to claim her. Its next victim was in fact the King, James I, who died at Theobalds – the same house to which Lettice and Leicester had once retreated following the death of Lord Denbigh – on 27 March 1625. James’s cultivated son Prince Henry had died unexpectedly from typhoid in 1612, and it was his unlikely son, Charles, who now succeeded him.

  During his childhood his charismatic brother, Henry, had overshadowed Charles and, as such, nobody had ever expected him to succeed. He was a great contrast to some of the more imposing monarchs under which Lettice had lived, and his reign would not be a success. Shortly after his father’s death, Charles I married the French Catholic Princess, Henrietta Maria, a greatly unpopular match. It seems improbable that Lettice ever became acquainted with the new King and Queen, for there was certainly no longer any place for her at court. Nevertheless, she would doubtless have heard about them from her grandchildren, many of whom were active there. Her granddaughter Lucy, Countess of Carlisle, was particularly favoured, and was a great friend of the Queen’s. Lettice described Lucy as her ‘noble daughter’, but the events of the court no longer concerned her; they were now nothing more than a mere matter of gossip.18

  She was still in remarkably good health in spite of her advancing years, and was well respected by the local community at Drayton Bassett. Elizabeth Jenkins refers to her becoming ‘an active and highly thought-of old lady, good to the poor and a brisk and benevolent grandmother’.19 This was certainly the way in which she wanted to be remembered, and her epitaph made reference to her charitable dealings, and in her will she left £100 (£9,000) to ‘the poor at Warwick’.20

  THE WORLD AS Lettice had known it was rapidly changing: many of her nineteen grandchildren were now parents themselves, something that can only have served to heighten her awareness of her age. As the 1620s turned to the 1630s, death became a growing consideration, for most of Lettice’s friends and acquaintances were now gone. Yet in 1632 the contemporary John Pory had reported that she was still able to walk a mile a day, a testament to her general wellbeing. That same year, however, on 25 May, her brother William, ennobled as Earl of Banbury by Charles I, died. He was taken home to Rotherfield Greys, and buried in the church beneath the monument that he had built in honour of their parents. More tragedy came later that year when her beloved sister Katherine also died and she was closely followed by her sister Anne the following year. Both her brother and her sisters had been younger than Lettice, and it was not long before she too began to feel her age.

  TWO YEARS AFTER the death of her brother, Lettice’s health had begun to fail fast. In November 1634, she reached the extraordinary age of ninety-one, but it quickly became apparent that
it would be the last year she would celebrate. The precise nature of her final illness is unknown, but it was ‘upon Christmas Day in the morning’, that Lettice closed her eyes on the world for the final time at Drayton Bassett. Bourchier Devereux claimed that several of her family members were by her side at the end, and this is certainly possible. A contemporary recalled that her death ‘instantly put a great part of this court and town into mourning’, the only recorded remark her death drew.21 What is undeniable is that she had lived a full life, endured heartache and tragedy of the deepest kind, and experienced highs and lows on an extraordinary scale. Bourchier Devereux summarized in terms that are remarkably accurate: ‘Whatever were her faults, she was a warm and affectionate mother and friend; and possessed a courage no danger could daunt, a spirit no misfortune could cast down.’22 She had outlived all of her siblings save one, Francis, to who she left the sum of £100 (£9,000) in her will.23 More poignantly perhaps, she was the last of the great Elizabethan survivors: of all of those who had played a role at court, who had shone and made their mark on the pages of English history, it was Lettice who had outlived them all.

  Several weeks after Lettice’s death, on 17 January 1635, her will was proven. Not only had she considered her family while making her final bequests, but she had also made provision for her servants, giving orders that following her death her household was to be maintained for one month, in order that ‘my servants in that time may the better provide for themselves’.24 Even though she claimed to own very little, her wealth at the time of her death was substantial, totalling more than £6,000 (£535,000).

  An inventory of her goods compiled soon afterwards reveals the extent of the luxury that Lettice had become accustomed to living in throughout the course of her long life. Many of her belongings had been in her possession since the time of her marriage to Leicester, and perhaps even prior to it. She had not lived on quite the same scale as Queen Elizabeth once had, but she still had plenty in terms of material wealth. As such, the bequests that she made to ‘some few of my friends and special regard to my servants’, served to provide more than ‘some little memory’.25 Her first bequest was a touching one for her ‘dear Grandchild’ and executor, Robert. To him she left ‘my great diamond that I usually wear of my thumb, as my best jewel to my worthiest child hoping he will accept of what else I may leave him’.26 Robert was one of the few to receive a personal bequest, for Lettice continued to relate that ‘For the rest of my grandchildren I have nothing worthy to give them, but do heartily pray to God to bless them all and theirs.’27

  ‘My body I commit to decent and Christian burial without pomp at the discretion of my executors and to be laid at Warwick by my dear Lord and husband the Earl of Leicester with whom I desire to be entombed.’28 These were the instructions Lettice had left in her will for the manner of her burial, and two months after her death, in February 1635, her request was granted. The magnificent double tomb shared by the couple still survives, made of alabaster and marble, and mounted with the effigies that show them both resplendent in their coronets.29 Close by is the tomb of ‘the Noble Imp’, while Lettice’s brother-in-law Ambrose, Earl of Warwick, lies parallel.

  Next to Lettice’s double tomb the epitaph written by Gervase Clifton, husband of her granddaughter Penelope Rich, can still be seen.30 This offers the best summary of her life, from one who knew her well. The most poignant lines relate

  There you may see that face, that hand,

  Which once was the fairest in the land.

  She that in her younger years,

  Matched with two great English peers;

  She that did supply the wars

  With thunder, and the court with stars.

  She that in her youth had been,

  Darling to the maiden Queen;

  Till she was content to quit

  Her favour, for her favourite.

  The last two lines accurately convey the strength of Lettice’s feelings for both Elizabeth and Leicester, and the double tomb – still as impressive now as it was at the time of its construction – serves as a tangible reminder of the reason Lettice became Elizabeth’s rival. It shows a couple who once outraged the Queen of England – perhaps even broke her heart. As such, there is much truth in the statement that ‘Queen Elizabeth hated Lettice Devereux bitterly, and it was all because of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.’31 It is therefore both poignant and significant that the female figures that adorn either side of the double tomb are said to represent War and Peace.

  In Lettice’s veins almost certainly ran the royal blood of the Tudors, and she is likely to have been the illegitimate granddaughter of Henry VIII. As such, the woman who feared her as a rival was not only her kinswoman, but also her aunt. During her lifetime, though, Lettice had loved Leicester dearly, and it is fair to say that he was the true love of her life. So much so that she was prepared to risk losing the Queen’s favour in order to join her life with his, but in return he had never been fully hers. She had always been forced to share him. To all outward appearances she predominantly accepted this without complaint, and did not let it affect her marital relationship. There is no doubt that Leicester had loved her in return, but his allegiance to – and love for – Elizabeth inevitably divided his loyalties. As a result, he was always forced to put the Queen’s needs before those of his wife. Death had ultimately separated Elizabeth and Leicester, but Lettice was determined that her union would live on in memory. It is therefore she who triumphantly shares both his tomb and his association in death: she, Lettice Knollys, the woman who had won Leicester’s heart – the very same that had once belonged to Elizabeth.

  EPILOGUE

  AT THE TIME of Lettice’s death the world as she had known it had long since disappeared. England had evolved into a country that was barely recognizable from the one into which she was born, made all the more apparent by the fact that the succession of James I had united both Scotland and England under one monarchy. Although James had called himself Rex Pacificus (King of Peace), by 1634 England was embroiled in yet another war: the Thirty Years’ War which pitted Protestant nations against Catholic. Tastes were becoming more sophisticated, noticeable in the fashions and architecture of the country: both James I and Charles I employed the talented Inigo Jones, who built the Queen’s House at Greenwich in the Italian style of Palladio, and the Banqueting House which attached itself to Elizabeth’s former Palace of Whitehall. Both James I and Charles I relied heavily on favourites – more so than Elizabeth had ever done. This proved to be disastrous, and Charles’s favourite, the Duke of Buckingham (who had also been a favourite of James I’s), had been murdered as a result of the influence he wielded over the King.

  Although her children and many of her grandchildren had made their mark on the world, few of them made the same impact as Lettice. She had lived through the reigns and witnessed the stories of seven monarchs (including Lady Jane Grey), and though she was now gone, the world continued to turn. Her family and the later generations remained heavily involved in the events of the court and the country, and would continue to be so long after her death.

  The personal rule of Charles I descended into chaos, and in 1642 the country broke out in Civil War as King and Parliament vied for control. Lettice’s grandchildren and family found themselves embroiled in the tangled web that was about to ensue. It was a war that did not take family loyalties into consideration, and – in this instance – cousins found themselves on opposing sides.

  With the exception of her younger brother Francis, Lettice had outlived all of her siblings. Francis died in 1648, leaving behind him many children that included a daughter, Lettice, who married the prominent Parliamentarian John Hampden in 1640. Lettice’s beloved grandson, Robert Devereux, third Earl of Essex, became Captain-General of the Parliamentarian forces, but did not succeed in achieving military glory. Neither did he live to see the end of the war; on 10 September 1646 he died at Essex House after suffering from a stroke. It was later reported that his funeral he
arse and effigy had been ‘most shamefully handled’ and despoiled, probably at the hands of some ‘notorious cavaliers’.1 Despite a second marriage to Elizabeth Paulet, Robert died childless, and his title of Earl of Essex passed to Walter Devereux, a cousin of Robert’s grandfather and Lettice’s first husband.2

  Penelope’s eldest son, Robert Rich, inherited the title of Earl of Warwick when his father – who had purchased the earldom for £10,000 (£979,000) – died in 1619. He was an adventurer, who travelled to the West Indies before returning to England in time for the Civil War. Like his cousin, Warwick supported Parliament and was on good terms with Oliver Cromwell. Such good terms that his grandson and namesake, Robert Rich, was later married to Cromwell’s daughter, Frances. He died on 19 April 1658, the same year as Cromwell.

  Warwick’s younger brother, Henry, followed in the footsteps of other members of his family by becoming a royal favourite of Charles I. He was created first Earl of Holland, but later became dangerously embroiled in the Civil War and was accused of changing sides. At the beginning of spring 1649 – just a few weeks after the execution of Charles I – Holland was condemned for high treason and sentenced to death. His brother Warwick petitioned for his life, but to no avail. He was executed at New Palace Yard, Westminster, on 9 March.

  Like his elder half-brothers, Mountjoy Blount was also successfully raised to the peerage. In 1627 he was created Earl of Newport, and he too fought in the Civil War. Unlike either of his half-brothers or his cousin Essex, Newport was a staunch Royalist, and loyally served Charles I until he was taken prisoner at the beginning of 1646. He survived to witness both the end of the Civil War and the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, dying on 12 February 1666 in Oxford. He was buried in Christ Church Cathedral in the city.