The Earl of Essex's rebellion

Clips from the drama 'Elizabeth I' of the Earl of Essex's failed coup of 1601. The earl is played brilliantly by Hugh Dancy. Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex was one of Elizabeth's favourites. He was also step son to another of Elizabeth's favourite's -- Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (Dudley had married Essex's mother Lettice Knollys in 1581). Despite the fact that he was at one point the Queen's favourite, he became frustrated with the lack of power he had combined with his belief that his enemies exerted influence over the queen. After his military failure in Ireland, Essex returned home to an angry queen who did not renew his sweet wines lease thus leaving him in financially ruined. He acted rashly; on 3rd Feb 1601 a group of his ardent supporters met to discuss how to pre-empt his enemies and denounce them to the queen. Essex received a summons before the council on the 7th Feb and this rushed the conspirators plans. One group of his friends paid Shakespeare's company to stage the play Richard II and the performance boasted morale amongst the group. The following day n the 8th, 3 councillors and the earl of Worcester were sent to Essex House to demand to know why the earl of Essex had failed to come before the council. Essex had them locked up and marched with roughly 300 men into the city. They carried few weapons and did not wear proper armour. They called upon the citizens to aid them and hoped the city would turn out for their cause. However the lord mayor ordered that the gates be shut and troops loyal to enemies of Essex surrounded the demonstrators. By 3pm that day Essex's supporters had reduced to about 100 men with several casualties caused particularly at Ludgate. Essex rushed back to Essex House and the place was surrounded quickly by troops. By 9pm he surrendered and spent a night as a prisoner in Lambeth Place. The following morning he was taken to the Tower and many of his supporters were arrested. Essex was found guilty of treason and executed on 25th February. It took several strikes of the axe to remove his head.

Channel: Entertainment
Uploaded: November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am
Author: littlemisssunnydale

Length: 09:49
Rating: 5.00
Views: 2536

Tags: Dancy  Earl  Elizabeth  Essex  Helen  Hugh  Mirren  of  

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