ABSTRACT
The last sad act of Elizabeth’s long reign was the rebellion of the Earl of Essex. Essex was a handsome and ambitious soldier-courtier whom the queen found charming, if not fascinating. But he was neither a lucky nor an intelligent commander, and his attempts to draw Spain’s teeth, and then to subdue Ireland, were both pathetically unsuccessful. Undaunted, Essex lobbied hard for Lord Burghley’s position as Secretary of State and Lord Privy Seal when the latter died in August 1598. But he was not appointed: instead, Burghley’s son, the hunchbacked Robert Cecil took his father’s place, indicating Essex’s virtual defeat in the feud between these two ambitious courtiers.
