Ancient and Medieval Traitors - Back-stabbers, turncoats and conspirators (True Crime) by Gordon Kerr Page A
Authors: Gordon Kerr
came as a great blow to the man who had once been one of Elizabeth’s greatest friends and he fought for the next year to regain her favour. In 1600 the Earl of Essex felt that he had taken just as much as he could from his old friend. After the queen had refused to renew the lease and patent on his farm wines, he decided to make his own bid for power.
A C OUP A GAINST THE Q UEEN
In 1601 Devereux rallied various supporters of his scheme, mainly dissatisfied nobles and soldiers but also the more influential support of James VI of Scotland, who he proposed to be placed upon the throne of England. The group marched into London with the expectation of being greeted by followers of their cause but because no such support was realised, the rebellion collapsed and they were tried for treason. He was sentenced to death later that year and it was with regret that Queen Elizabeth signed his death warrant.
Although the Earl of Essex had been a close friend of the queen for much of her later life, he had also revealed himself to be an impulsive and fiery person and, as a consequence, made some bad decisions which led to his downfall. The queen was forced to take serious action against all those who betrayed her, and the blow fell hardest when she was forced to put her own friends to death. However, Devereux had betrayed her and should have known not to offend the monarch, having been witness to her behaviour for many years.
Guy Fawkes and Associates
Guy Fawkes was born in 1570, the only son of Edward Fawkes of York and his wife, Edith Blake. His background was very religious because his father was a proctor of the ecclesiastical courts. His mother’s side had descended from the Harrington family who were aldermen and eminent merchants of York. Fawkes was secure in his connections and had his youth filled with many influential figures. As a young man Fawkes began to develop a very strong religious conviction under the tutelage of John Pulleyn, a devout Catholic whose teachings had a lasting effect upon his young pupil. What also emerged throughout this time was that Fawkes had become an increasingly impulsive and difficult person to be around, and he began to have disagreements with contemporaries, even from his youth. He did not feel a strong allegiance to his country and continuously sought opportunities overseas. After he had come of age in 1591 he hastily sought out chances to spend his generous inheritance and with his cousin he moved to Flanders in 1593. As a devout Catholic, Fawkes was angry that he was not able to worship freely in England under the rule of the Protestant Queen Elizabeth, and he sought opportunities abroad to bring the English government to its knees.
F AWKES IN THE S PANISH A RMY
After a short period of time in Flanders, Fawkes quickly enrolled in the Spanish army under Archduke Albert of Austria, who later became governor of the Netherlands. Guy Fawkes was greatly respected within the Spanish army and proved himself to be both a great fighter and a powerful leader when he was offered a post of command when the Spaniards took Calais in 1596. He also attracted considerable attention with his own appearance; a commanding man with a great frame and flaming red hair, he was marked out from the rest of the Spanish army simply by the way he looked. His dedication to the army was noted primarily through his popularity amongst the other soldiers, as he promptly shifted his allegiance to the Spanish, and more importantly Catholic, side.
Such was Fawkes’s dedication that he attracted the attention of some very important backers, Lord Stanley being one of the most prominent. Stanley allowed Fawkes a brief leave from the Spanish army in order to visit the Spanish King Philip II in person, and reveal to him the position of the Catholics in England. King Philip was concerned about the prevalence of Protestantism in England at this time as all evidence of Catholicism had been
A C OUP A GAINST THE Q UEEN
In 1601 Devereux rallied various supporters of his scheme, mainly dissatisfied nobles and soldiers but also the more influential support of James VI of Scotland, who he proposed to be placed upon the throne of England. The group marched into London with the expectation of being greeted by followers of their cause but because no such support was realised, the rebellion collapsed and they were tried for treason. He was sentenced to death later that year and it was with regret that Queen Elizabeth signed his death warrant.
Although the Earl of Essex had been a close friend of the queen for much of her later life, he had also revealed himself to be an impulsive and fiery person and, as a consequence, made some bad decisions which led to his downfall. The queen was forced to take serious action against all those who betrayed her, and the blow fell hardest when she was forced to put her own friends to death. However, Devereux had betrayed her and should have known not to offend the monarch, having been witness to her behaviour for many years.
Guy Fawkes and Associates
Guy Fawkes was born in 1570, the only son of Edward Fawkes of York and his wife, Edith Blake. His background was very religious because his father was a proctor of the ecclesiastical courts. His mother’s side had descended from the Harrington family who were aldermen and eminent merchants of York. Fawkes was secure in his connections and had his youth filled with many influential figures. As a young man Fawkes began to develop a very strong religious conviction under the tutelage of John Pulleyn, a devout Catholic whose teachings had a lasting effect upon his young pupil. What also emerged throughout this time was that Fawkes had become an increasingly impulsive and difficult person to be around, and he began to have disagreements with contemporaries, even from his youth. He did not feel a strong allegiance to his country and continuously sought opportunities overseas. After he had come of age in 1591 he hastily sought out chances to spend his generous inheritance and with his cousin he moved to Flanders in 1593. As a devout Catholic, Fawkes was angry that he was not able to worship freely in England under the rule of the Protestant Queen Elizabeth, and he sought opportunities abroad to bring the English government to its knees.
F AWKES IN THE S PANISH A RMY
After a short period of time in Flanders, Fawkes quickly enrolled in the Spanish army under Archduke Albert of Austria, who later became governor of the Netherlands. Guy Fawkes was greatly respected within the Spanish army and proved himself to be both a great fighter and a powerful leader when he was offered a post of command when the Spaniards took Calais in 1596. He also attracted considerable attention with his own appearance; a commanding man with a great frame and flaming red hair, he was marked out from the rest of the Spanish army simply by the way he looked. His dedication to the army was noted primarily through his popularity amongst the other soldiers, as he promptly shifted his allegiance to the Spanish, and more importantly Catholic, side.
Such was Fawkes’s dedication that he attracted the attention of some very important backers, Lord Stanley being one of the most prominent. Stanley allowed Fawkes a brief leave from the Spanish army in order to visit the Spanish King Philip II in person, and reveal to him the position of the Catholics in England. King Philip was concerned about the prevalence of Protestantism in England at this time as all evidence of Catholicism had been
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