The Queen's Agent: Francis Walsingham at the Court of Elizabeth I

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The Queen's Agent: Francis Walsingham at the Court of Elizabeth I Page 37

by John Cooper


  7 Philip’s sense of mission: Geoffrey Parker, ‘The Place of Tudor England in the Messianic Vision of Philip II of Spain’, TRHS 6th series, 12 (2002), 167–221. Peace negotiations: Read, Walsingham, III, 260–79. Since England was England: Howard to Walsingham 27 Jan. 1588, in John Knox Laughton (ed.), State Papers relating to the Defeat of the Spanish Armada (London, 1894–5), I, 48–50.

  8 Burghley’s disgrace: Stephen Alford, Burghley: William Cecil at the Court of Elizabeth I (New Haven and London, 2008), 291–5. For queen and country: Drake to Walsingham 2 Apr. 1587, in Corbett, Spanish War, 102–4. Cadiz and Sagres: Drake to Walsingham 27 Apr. 1587, in ibid., 107–9; Drake to Leicester 27 Apr. 1587, in Simon Adams (ed.), ‘The Armada Correspondence in Cotton MSS Otho E VII and E IX’, in Michael Duffy (ed.), The Naval Miscellany VI (Aldershot, 2003), 52–3; Drake to Walsingham 17 May 1587, in Corbett, Spanish War, 131–4; Kelsey, Queen’s Pirate, chapter 10.

  9 Defences: John Summerson, ‘The Defence of the Realm under Elizabeth I’, in H. M. Colvin (ed.), The History of the King’s Works (London, 1982), IV, part II, 402–14; Martin Biddle, H. M. Colvin and John Summerson, ‘The Defences in Detail’, in Colvin, King’s Works, 468–70 (Dorset coast), 471 (Harwich and Ipswich), 480–1 (Upnor), 518–27 (Portsmouth; see also TNA SP 12/168, fol. 20–1), 531–2 (Carisbrooke), 590–3 (Scilly) and 598–601 (Falmouth).

  10 Their surest defence: APC XVI (1588), 203; McDermott, Necessary Quarrel, 176–81. Dover harbour: BL Harley 6035, fol. 3r–v, 7r, 27v; Martin Biddle and John Summerson, ‘Dover Harbour’, in Colvin, King’s Works, 755–64; Eric H. Ash, Power, Knowledge and Expertise in Elizabethan England (Baltimore and London, 2004), chapter 2, ‘Expert Mediation and the Rebuilding of Dover Harbor’; Paul Ive, The Practise of Fortification (1589), STC 1708.5; Stephen Johnston, ‘Thomas Digges’ in Oxford DNB.

  11 Reaction to Cadiz: Pellegrini/Standen to Walsingham 16 July 1587, TNA SP 98/1, fol. 20–1; Stafford to Walsingham, TNA SP 78/17, fol. 249r. So great an exploit: Adams, ‘Armada Correspondence’, 55–8. Prepare in England: Drake to Walsingham 27 Apr. 1587, in Corbett, Spanish War, 107–9.

  12 Medina Sidonia: Garrett Mattingly, The Defeat of the Spanish Armada (London, 1959), 182–4. Parma’s orders: Jensen, ‘Worst-Kept Secret’, 639–40; Geoffrey Parker, ‘If the Armada had Landed’, History 61 (1976), 358.

  13 Prisoners in Bridewell: TNA SP 12/214, fol. 53, 55–65; APC XVI (1588), 200, 210–11. Valdés: Laughton, Spanish Armada, II, 27–9.

  14 But a device: Howard to Walsingham 24 Jan. 1588, in Laughton, Spanish Armada, I, 46–8; Adams, ‘Armada Correspondence’, 45–7; Mitchell Leimon and Geoffrey Parker, ‘Treason and Plot in Elizabethan Diplomacy: The Fame of Sir Edward Stafford Reconsidered’, EHR 111 (1996). Turkish fleet: TNA SP 78/18, fol. 243r.

  15 This is the year: Howard to Burghley and Walsingham 23 Feb. 1588, in Adams, ‘Armada Correspondence’, 68–70. Liberty and freedom: Hawkins to Walsingham 1 Feb. 1588, in Laughton, Spanish Armada, I, 58–62. Mammering: wavering or hesitating. We cannot long stand: BL Cotton Galba D. ii, fol. 192v.

  16 Signet payments: TNA SP 12/229, fol. 115.

  17 Bacon and fish: Fenner to Walsingham 3 Mar. 1588, in Laughton, Spanish Armada, I, 90–3. Oseley: Oseley to Walsingham 23 July 1588, in ibid., I, 301–2; Read, Walsingham, III, 292–3; McDermott, Necessary Quarrel, 364 n. 11. There goeth many English: BL Harley 168, fol. 160–1; Jason E. Eldred, ‘Imperial Spain in the English Imagination, 1563–1662’ (PhD thesis, University of Virginia, 2010), 167; Bertrand T. Whitehead, Brags and Boasts: Propaganda in the Year of the Armada (Stroud, 1994), 65–7.

  18 Ply up and down: Walsingham to Howard 9 June 1588, in Laughton, Spanish Armada, I, 192–3. Had understood their plot: Howard to Walsingham 13 June 1588, in ibid., I, 195–9. Isle of Wight: ibid., I, 190–2. Whole plot and design: Walsingham to Sussex 24 July 1588, in Adams, ‘Armada Correspondence’, 80–2; APC XVI (1588), 168, 176.

  19 Catholics and the Armada: APC XVI (1588), 167–8, 214, 218–19; McDermott, Necessary Quarrel, 244–7.

  20 Some great shot: Howard to Walsingham 21 July 1588, in Laughton, Spanish Armada, I, 288–9. Privy council orders: APC XVI (1588), 166–7, 174, 176, 183, 186–7, 191. Crescent formation: Mattingly, Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 236–7. Fireships: McDermott, Necessary Quarrel, 266–8.

  21 Public prayers: APC XVI (1588), 172; Whitehead, Brags and Boasts, 82–4, 94–5; David Cressy, ‘The Spanish Armada: Celebration, Myth and Memory’, in Jeff Doyle and Bruce Moore (eds), England and the Spanish Armada (Canberra, 1990), 157–9.

  22 Army in Essex: Burghley to Walsingham 19 July 1588, in Laughton, Spanish Armada, I, 284–5; APC XVI (1588), 198, 208–9; Neil Younger, ‘If the Armada had Landed: A Reappraisal of England’s Defences in 1588’, History 93 (2008), 328–54; Adams, ‘Armada Correspondence’, 80 n. 1.

  23 Camp at Tilbury: TNA SP 12/213, fol. 90r, 113–14; James Aske, Elizabetha Triumphans (1588), STC 847 (amain, with full force or speed); Leah S. Marcus, Janel Mueller and Mary Beth Rose (eds), Elizabeth I: Collected Works (Chicago and London, 2000), 325–6; Miller Christy, ‘Queen Elizabeth’s Visit to Tilbury in 1588’, EHR 34 (1919), 43–61. McDermott, Necessary Quarrel, 279–81 dates the visit as 7–8 August, but Walsingham wrote to Burghley describing events ‘at the court, in the camp’ on 9 August. Rumours of Parma’s departure: Adams, ‘Armada Correspondence’, 87–8. This place breedeth courage: Walsingham to Burghley 9 Aug. 1588, in Laughton, Spanish Armada, II, 82–3.

  24 Harvest: APC XVI (1588), 221–2. Fought more with your pen: Seymour to Walsingham 18 Aug. 1588, in Laughton, Spanish Armada, II, 126–7. Half doings: Walsingham to Burghley 8 Aug. 1588, BL Harley 6994, fol. 138. Oliver Pigge: Cressy, ‘Celebration, Myth and Memory’, 158, 160.

  25 Armada portraits: Roy Strong, Gloriana: The Portraits of Queen Elizabeth I (London, 1987), 132–3; Kevin Sharpe, Selling the Tudor Monarchy (New Haven and London, 2009), 381–2. Gift exchange and Barn Elms: John Nichols, The Progresses and Public Processions of Queen Elizabeth (New York, 1973), III, 8–9, 27–8; Lisa M. Klein, ‘Your Humble Handmaid: Elizabethan Gifts of Needlework’, Renaissance Quarterly 50 (1997), 459–93. Windebank: Read, Walsingham, III, 326, 349, 447–8.

  26 Such emulation: Penry Williams, The Later Tudors: England 1547–1603 (Oxford, 1998), 341. After her majesty’s decease: Walsingham to Sidney 7 Sep. 1588, in Read, Walsingham, III, 338–9. Pretendeth to be a king: ibid., 343–4.

  27 Azores: Howard to Walsingham 27 Aug. 1588, TNA SP 12/215, fol. 104. Lisbon expedition and Essex: Walsingham to Windebank 2 May 1589, TNA 12/224, fol. 12; Lane to Walsingham 27 July 1589, TNA SP 12/225, fol. 77–8; Kelsey, Queen’s Pirate, chapter 12. Contraband: Read, Walsingham, III, 350–2.

  28 Working in bed: BL Harley 6994, fol. 189r. Wonderfully overthrown: Read, Walsingham, III, 424. Essex as Sidney’s heir: Paul E. J. Hammer, ‘Robert Devereux, second Earl of Essex’ in Oxford DNB.

  29 Speedy easing: TNA SP 12/231, fol. 116. Selling land: inquisition post mortem, 27 Sep. 1592, printed in E. A. Webb, G. W. Miller and J. Beckwith, The History of Chislehurst: Its Church, Manors, and Parish (London, 1899), 361–2; for Mylles see also Read, Walsingham, II, 319–20, 336 and III, 45. Walsingham’s death: The Private Diary of Dr John Dee, ed. J. O. Halliwell (London, 1842), 33 (16 April according to Dee’s own version of new-style dating); Alexandra Walsham, Providence in Early Modern England (Oxford, 1999), 240. Bingham’s letter: Rory Rapple, Martial Power and Elizabethan Political Culture: Military Men in England and Ireland, 1558–1594 (Cambridge, 2009), 285.

  30 Walsingham’s will: PRO, PROB 11/75, fol. 262v–263r. Bradford and Barnes: Webb, History of Chislehurst, 361–2. Burial inscription: Henry Holland, Monumenta Sepulchraria Sancti Pauli (1614), STC 13583.5, 17–19, ‘ut a multis periculis patriam liberavit, servarit Rem-publicam, conformarit pacem’. Pillar of our common wealth: Thomas Watson, An Eglogue upon the Death of the Right Honorable Sir Francis Walsingham (1590), STC 25121; Albert Chatterley, ‘Thomas Watson’ in Oxford DNB.


  Acknowledgements

  Neil Belton at Faber and Faber has been a heroically patient editor, incisive and gracious in his comments. This was his idea for a book; I hope it has been worth the wait. Kate Murray-Browne helped to make it a better-written story than it would otherwise have been. Numerous colleagues, friends and family have assisted along the way. Robert Armstrong, Jason Eldred, Jonathan Fagence and Matthew Grimley kindly commented on drafts. Simon Ditchfield translated Tomasso Sassetti’s Italian account of Francis Walsingham and the Sieur de Briquemault, and Stuart Carroll helped me understand the geography of sixteenth-century Paris. Advice and encouragement was offered by Kenneth Bartlett, Claire Booth, John Bossy, Jonathan Blunden, Jon Crawford, Thomas Healy, Jan James, Harry Kelsey, Peter Mancall, Bill Sherman, Penry Williams and Jonathan Woolfson. Blair Worden lent me his copy of Conyers Read’s three-volume biography of Walsingham, and Stephen Alford arranged for me to see the portrait in King’s College, Cambridge. Aspects of the argument were tested out in seminars at the Universities of Cambridge, London, Liverpool and York. A Francis Bacon Fellowship at the Huntington Library gave me time to read about western planting; Juan Gomez and the staff of the Ahmanson Reading Room were hospitable beyond the call of duty. My deepest debt of gratitude is to Suzanne Fagence Cooper, who read the entire book in draft and coaxed me to complete it.

  Index

  Abington, Edward, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

  Agarde, Francis, 1, 2

  agents, see spies

  Alençon, Francis Hercules, Duke of: age, 1, 2, 3;

  appearance, 1;

  arrival in London, 1, 2;

  character, 1;

  death, 1;

  Elizabeth’s response to proposal, 1, 2;

  French views of English marriage, 1;

  imprisonment, 1, 2;

  marriage treaty, 1, 2;

  pet name, 1, 2;

  privy council’s views of match, 1, 2;

  prospective suitor for Elizabeth, 1, 2, 3;

  relationship with Dutch, 1, 2;

  religious beliefs, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5;

  role in wars of religion, 1;

  Walsingham’s communications with, 1;

  Walsingham’s view of match, 1, 2, 3

  Allegory of the Tudor Succession, 1, 2, 3, 4

  Allen, William, Cardinal: career, 1;

  college for English missionary priests, 1, 2, 3, 4;

  Defence of English Catholics, 1, 2;

  distinction between Catholics and heretics, 1;

  organisation of English mission, 1, 2;

  plans for invasion of England, 1;

  view of Somerville plot, 1;

  vision of English mission, 1, 2

  Alley, William, Bishop of Exeter, 1

  Alva, Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, Duke of, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

  America: Carleill’s proposals, 1;

  Davis’s expeditions, 1;

  Dee’s legal justifications for English colonisation, 1;

  Elizabeth’s investment, 1;

  English plantations, 1, 2, 3;

  English settlement policy, 1;

  Florida, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6;

  French interests, 1, 2;

  Gilbert’s expedition, 1, 2;

  Hakluyt’s role in colonisation, 1, 2;

  north-west passage, 1;

  Peckham’s Catholic colony plans, 1;

  Rhode Island, 1, 2;

  Roanoke settlement, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6;

  Spanish interests, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5;

  voyage to, 1;

  Walsingham’s investment, 1

  Anjou, Henry, Duke of, see Henry III

  Antonio, Don (Portuguese pretender), 1, 2, 3

  Appeals, Act of (1533), 1

  Appleyard, John, 1

  Arabella Stuart, 1

  Arden, Edward, 1, 2, 3

  Arden, Margaret, 1

  Arden, Mary, 1

  Arthur, King, 1, 2

  Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, 1

  Arundel, Charles, 1

  Arundel, Philip Howard, Earl of, 1

  Arundell, Sir John, 1, 2

  Arundell family, 1

  Ascham, Roger, 1

  Ashley, John, 1

  Ashley, Kat, 1, 2

  Aske, James, 1

  Atkinson, Master, 1

  Aylmer, John, Bishop of London, 1

  Aysgarth, Wensleydale, 1

  Babington, Anthony: aims of plot, 1;

  arrest, 1, 2, 3;

  background and character, 1;

  communications with Mary Queen of Scots, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8;

  confessions, 1, 2;

  conspiracy, 1, 2, 3;

  execution, 1, 2;

  fellow conspirators, 1, 2;

  interrogation, 1, 2, 3;

  interview with Walsingham, 1;

  lands given to Raleigh, 1, 2;

  plan to assassinate Elizabeth, 1, 2;

  religious views, 1, 2;

  trial, 1

  Babington family, 1

  Babington plot: aims, 1;

  conspirators, 1, 2;

  Elizabeth’s response to, 1;

  Gifford’s role, 1, 2, 3, 4;

  importance of, 1;

  regicide plans, 1, 2;

  reporting of, 1, 2;

  spoils of, 1, 2;

  Walsingham’s role, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

  Bacheler, Daniel, 1

  Bacon, Sir Nicholas, 1, 2

  Bailly, Charles, 1

  Baines, Richard, 1, 2

  Bale, John, 1

  Ballard, John: arrest, 1;

  Babington plot, 1, 2, 3, 4;

  execution, 1;

  information on invasion of England, 1, 2, 3;

  regicide plans, 1, 2;

  Savage’s plot, 1;

  trial of Mary Queen of Scots, 1, 2, 3

  Barn Elms house, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

  Barnes, Sir George, 1

  Barnewell, Robert, 1, 2

  Barton, Elizabeth, 1

  Basel, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

  Beale, Robert: advice on managing the queen, 1;

  career, 1, 2, 3, 4;

  education, 1;

  execution of Mary Queen of Scots, 1, 2;

  home, 1, 2;

  on intelligence network, 1, 2;

  paperwork concerns, 1;

  on privy council, 1;

  relationship with Walsingham, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5;

  St Bartholomew’s Day massacre, 1, 2, 3;

  ‘Treatise of the Office of a Councillor’, 1, 2;

  trial of Mary Queen of Scots, 1;

  view of Mary Queen of Scots, 1;

  Walsingham’s letters, 1;

  wife (Edith St Barbe), 1

  Beaton, James, Archbishop of Glasgow, 1, 2, 3, 4

  Beauchamp, Lord Edward, 1

  Becket, St Thomas, 1, 2

  Becknor, Thomas, 1

  Bedford, Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of, 1, 2, 3, 4

  Bell, James, 1

  Bell, Thomas, 1

  Berden, Nicholas (Thomas Rogers), 1, 2

  Bess of Hardwick, see Shrewsbury, Elizabeth, Countess of Bingham, Richard, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

  Bizari, Pietro, 1

  Blois, treaty of (1572), 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

  Boleyn, Anne, 1, 2, 3

  Boleyn, Mary, 1

  Bonner, Edmund, Bishop, 1

  Borough, William, 1

  Bossiney, Cornwall, 1

  Bossy, John, 1

  Bothwell, James Hepburn, 4th Earl of, 1, 2, 3

  Bourchier, Sir George, 1

  Bridewell prison, 1

  Bright, Timothy, 1, 2

  Briquemault, Sieur de, 1, 2

  Bryskett, Lodowick, 1

  Bucer, Martin, 1, 2, 3

  Buchanan, George, 1

  Buckhurst, Lord, 1

  Bullinger, Heinrich, 1

  Burghley, William Cecil, Baron of: Alençon marriage negotiations, 1, 2, 3;

  Anjou marriage negotiations, 1, 2;

  Babington plot, 1;

  Blois treaty, 1;

  bond of association, 1, 2,
3;

  calendar policy, 1;

  career, 1, 2, 3, 4;

  Catholic recusant policy, 1;

  character, 1;

  defences against Spanish Armada, 1;

  education, 1;

  on Elizabeth’s health, 1;

  The Execution of Justice in England, 1, 2, 3;

  execution of Mary Queen of Scots, 1, 2, 3;

  finances, 1, 2, 3;

  fishing policy, 1;

  homes, 1;

  intelligence sources, 1, 2, 3;

  Irish concerns, 1;

  knighted, 1;

  life during Mary’s reign, 1, 2;

  lord treasurer, 1;

  map collection, 1;

  marriage, 1, 2;

 

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