"open to such a foreseeable scandal. Amy Robsart Amy Dudley (née Robsart) (7 June 1532 – 8 September 1560) was the first wife of Lord Robert Dudley, favourite of Elizabeth I of England. She is primarily known for her death by falling down a flight of stairs, the circumstances of which have often been regarded as suspicious. Amy Robsart was the only child of a substantial Norfolk gentleman and at nearly 18 married Robert Dudley, a son of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland. In 1553 Robert Dudley was condemned to death and imprisoned in the Tower of London, where"
"career and ""vice versa"". When his first wife, Amy Robsart, fell down a flight of stairs and died in 1560, he was free to marry the Queen. However, the resulting scandal very much reduced his chances in this respect. Popular rumours that he had arranged for his wife's death continued throughout his life, despite the coroner's jury's verdict of accident. For 18 years he did not remarry for Queen Elizabeth's sake and when he finally did, his new wife, Lettice Knollys, was permanently banished from court. This and the death of his only legitimate son and heir were heavy blows."
"poisoned by his wife, who had used up his fortune turning Ham House into a grand palace and now needed new sources of income with which to pay off her creditors. There is no evidence to back up such a claim however and it must be seen that Elizabeth's reputation has suffered from its subsequent association with that of her second husband, John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale, whom it was said she charmed even as her husband 's health deteriorated. Tollemache travelled to France in search of cures for his debilitating sickness, but died in Paris. In 1670 Elizabeth"
"Hugh Robsart, Amy's father, to assist him in laying his daughter's case before the queen. Returning to London, Tressilian's servant, Wayland Smith, cured the Earl of Sussex of a dangerous illness. On hearing about this from Walter Raleigh, Elizabeth at once set out to visit Leicester's rival, and it was in this way that Tressilian's petition, in Amy's behalf, was handed to her. The queen was agitated to learn of this secret marriage. Varney was accordingly summoned to the royal presence, but he boldly declared that Amy was his wife, and Leicester was restored to the queen's favour. Tressilian's servant"
"again called Varney. The notion that Amy Robsart was murdered gained new strength with the discovery of the Spanish diplomatic correspondence (and with it of poison rumours) by the Victorian historian James Anthony Froude. Generally convinced of Leicester's wretchedness, he concluded in 1863: ""she was murdered by persons who hoped to profit by his elevation to the throne; and Dudley himself … used private means … to prevent the search from being pressed inconveniently far."" There followed the Norfolk antiquarian Walter Rye with ""The Murder of Amy Robsart"" in 1885: here she was first poisoned and then, that method failing,"
"variously implicated in real conspiracies - including the Gunpowder Plot - to overthrow the monarch and restore the Catholic faith. Somerville married Margaret Arden, the daughter of Sir Edward Arden of Park Hall by Mary Throckmorton (d.1603), the daughter of Sir Robert Throckmorton and his first wife, Muriel Berkeley, by whom he had two daughters, Elizabeth and Alice. John Somerville (conspirator) John Somerville (1560–1583) was the son of John Somerville (d. in or after 1579), of Edstone, Warwickshire, and Elizabeth Corbett of Lee, Shropshire. Somerville publicly exclaimed his desire and intention to assassinate Elizabeth I of England. However, it is"
"alcoholism. Cream wrote a note to the prominent physician Dr. William Broadbent accusing him of poisoning Matilda Clover and demanding cash. Broadbent sent his letter to Scotland Yard. On 2 April 1892, after a vacation in Canada, Cream was back in London where he attempted to poison Lou Harvey (née Louise Harris) who, being suspicious of him, pretended to swallow the pills he had given her. She secretly disposed of them by throwing them off a bridge into the River Thames. On 11 April, Cream met two prostitutes, Alice Marsh, 21, and Emma Shrivell, 18, and talked his way into"
"rumour seems only to have come about as a direct result of the political tensions of James' reign and of his descendant, Mary Queen of Scots, in an attempt to blacken the reputation of both James III and the Stewart dynasty (for comparison, see the rumours that James had poisoned his wife Margaret of Denmark). Though there are few contemporary references to her, later writers were unsympathetic in their descriptions of the princess, in particular peerage writers of the nineteenth century. John Riddell called her ""a person, although young and beautiful, of depraved character, being even charged with too much"
"there was a controversial double wedding. The first marriage united the Catholic Rookwood and Protestant Drury families and the second marriage was between Elizabeth Drury of Lawshall and Robert Drury of Hawstead. Thirty years later Elizabeth is named on the list of Papist recusants who had refused to attend Church of England services. Ambrose Rookwood of Coldham Hall was involved in the Catholic conspiracy to blow up King James I and his Parliament. Rookwood had one of the finest studs of horses in the country and was invited to join the Gunpowder Plot conspiracy as his horses might be necessary"
"I. The book's ""Author's Note"" cites the uncertainty as to the accuracy of her conjectures and lists her evidence for presuming them true for the sake of telling her story. Amy Robsart, who was Robert Dudley's wife, was found dead in 1560. She had sent away her servants for the day, and on their return, was found lying on the floor at the foot of a flight of stairs, presumably with a broken neck. At the time, many people believed that Dudley had had her killed so he would be free to marry Queen Elizabeth. The coroner's inquest returned a"
"killing Amy Robsart after long and fruitless efforts to poison her (with and without his master's knowledge) has been revived by George Bernard and by Chris Skidmore on the basis that Verney appears in both the c. 1563 chronicle by John Hales (also called ""Journal of Matters of State"") and the 1584 libel ""Leicester's Commonwealth"". This coincidence has as often been evaluated as no more than a tradition of gossip, poison being a stock-in-trade accusation in the 16th century. That Robert Dudley might have influenced the jury has been argued by George Bernard, Susan Doran, and by Chris Skidmore. The"
"is associated with the Arthurian legend, and was mentioned in Sir Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur, published in England in the 15th century. Elaine, maid of Astolat, drowned herself for the love of Sir Lancelot, Knight of the Round Table. The Feez family appears to have had some fascination for the legend - Adolph Feez's first child, born on 7 March 1890, was christened Elaine. Adolph Feez, for whom Astolat was commissioned, was born in Brisbane in 1858, son of Rockhampton businessman and politician Colonel Albrecht Feez and Sophia Milford, daughter of Moreton Bay's first Supreme Court Judge Samuel Milford. Educated"
"the Lord Harrington and his wife"". Under the care of Lord Harington at Coombe Abbey, Elizabeth met Anne Dudley, with whom she was to strike up a lifelong friendship. Part of the intent of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was to assassinate Elizabeth's father and the Protestant aristocracy, kidnap the nine-year-old Elizabeth from Coombe Abbey, and place her on the throne of England—and presumably the thrones of Ireland and Scotland—as a Catholic monarch. The conspirators chose Elizabeth after considering the other available options. Prince Henry, it was believed, would perish alongside his father. Charles was seen as too feeble (having"
"he was poisoned in anticipation of his release from custody. Following Perrot's imprisonment some of his Irish favourites had been replaced in their council seats by English appointees, who fully equated the Protestant cause with the state and inclined to hard dealings with Gaelic Ireland. Fitzwilliam felt free to pursue a policy opposed in crucial aspects to Perrot's, and the lords of Ulster (including Hugh O'Neill) suffered increasing government encroachment on their territories until the outbreak of the Nine Years War (1595–1603). Perrot married firstly Anne Cheyne (d.1553) (daughter of Sir Thomas Cheyne by his first wife, Frideswide Frowyk, daughter"
"the pretense of ill-planned attempts to profit from them. From the start of the series of crimes Cream wrote blackmail notes to prominent people; and the poisoning of his one known male victim, Daniel Stott, was committed with the hope that Stott's wealthy widow would share the deceased's estate with Cream. In addition to the five poisonings Cream was convicted for, he is suspected in the murder of his wife Flora Brooks in 1877, and at least four other women who died in his care while undergoing abortions. In the 2015 BBC One television series ""River"", Cream appears frequently to"
"Baron Mordaunt, at Drayton in Northamptonshire, and for this Keyes gained the use of horses and other amenities. English Catholics had hoped that the persecution of their faith would end when the apparently more tolerant King James I succeeded Queen Elizabeth I, but Robert Catesby, a Catholic zealot from Ashby St Ledgers, remained unimpressed by the new royal dynasty. He therefore planned to kill James by blowing up the House of Lords with gunpowder, following which he would help incite a popular revolt to install James's daughter, Princess Elizabeth, as titular Queen. His role being to guard the gunpowder and"
"to Chesterfield. His first wife was Lady Anne Percy, daughter of Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland; she died on 29 November 1654 with no surviving children. Together Elizabeth and Chesterfield had one daughter, Lady Elizabeth Stanhope, later Countess of Strathmore, although the child's paternity was in doubt. According to Samuel Pepys, theirs was a marriage of convenience, but Chesterfield, despite his own past conduct with Barbara Villiers, became jealous when rumours spread that his wife was having affairs with both James Hamilton and James, Duke of York, with whom she is said to have been caught ""in flagrante delicto""."
"England, and the Duchess gave birth to a daughter named Charlotte Mary in August 1682; Charlotte Mary's death three weeks later, according to the French ambassador, robbed James of ""hope that any child of his can live""—all James's sons by Anne Hyde, his first wife, died in infancy. James's sadness was dispelled by his revival in popularity following the discovery of a plot to kill the King and him. The objective of the plot, known as the Rye House Plot, was to have Monmouth placed on the throne as Lord Protector. The revival was so strong that, in 1684, James"
"Throckmorton Plot The Throckmorton Plot was an attempt, in 1583, by English Roman Catholics to murder Queen Elizabeth I of England and replace her with her first cousin once removed, Mary, Queen of Scots. The plot is named after the key conspirator, Sir Francis Throckmorton (a cousin of Elizabeth ""Bess"" Throckmorton, Elizabeth's first lady in waiting); Francis confessed to the plot under torture. The plot aimed to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I, who had ruled England since 1558. The Roman Catholics wished to free her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots, who had been held under house arrest in England since 1568,"
"involve pretending to kidnap girls from the streets of London and place coffins outside of their houses with a view to terrifying their servants. His infamy as a gambler was considerable at the time, including his wager that he could consume a large live tomcat in one sitting; however, he did not do so. He was heavily in debt before marrying, but instead of ""marrying into money"" as was common for nobility at the time, he married Charlotte Goulding, niece of the infamous Letty Lade, and the daughter of a sedan chair man on 7 June 1792. After his death"
"verdict of ""misfortune"" (accident). Dudley surely knew that if he killed his wife the suspicion aroused would ruin any chance of marrying the queen. (Other theories include William Cecil the queen's secretary, or Queen Elizabeth herself ordering the death of Amy Dudley.) Recent investigation has brought up the possibility that Amy Robsart simply fell down the stairs. She is reported as having had an ailment in her breast (which Amy insists is the pain of a broken heart in the book), possibly breast cancer or an aortic aneurism. As these conditions can lead to brittle bones, she may have died"
"the Queen. Another scene shows the Queen's paranoia about the great danger she feels she is in while the Armada is attacking England, with the Queen forcing Bess to taste her food to check for poison. Elizabeth Raleigh Elizabeth, Lady Raleigh (""née"" Throckmorton; 16 April 1565 – ""circa"" 1647) was Sir Walter Raleigh's wife and a Gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber to Queen Elizabeth I of England. Their secret marriage precipitated a long period of royal disfavour for both her and her husband. Elizabeth, known also as ""Bess"", was the daughter of the diplomat Sir Nicholas Throckmorton and Anne Throckmorton"
"and Puritan parties. The active part he took in promoting the execution of Sir Walter Raleigh aroused particular animosity. He was attacked by popular pamphleteers— Thomas Scott's extravagant propaganda, ""Vox populi"" was widely believed— and the dramatist Thomas Middleton made him a principal character in the strange political play ""A Game at Chess"", which was suppressed by order of the council. The Howards were Gondomar's principal friends at court; Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton (died 1614), Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, Lord High Treasurer, whose daughter was married to James's favourite, Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham, Lord"
"and crossed himself, before being hanged and then subjected to the latter part of his sentence. The other four plotters were executed the following day, in Old Palace Yard. John Grant (Gunpowder Plot) John Grant (c. 1570 – 30 January 1606) was a member of the failed Gunpowder Plot, a conspiracy to replace the Protestant King James I of England with a Catholic monarch. Grant was born around 1570, and lived at Norbrook in Warwickshire. He married the sister of another plotter, Thomas Wintour. Grant was enlisted by Robert Catesby, a religious zealot who had grown so impatient with James's"
"shared by most modern historians. He remained Elizabeth's closest favourite, but with respect to her reputation she could not risk a marriage with him. A tradition that Sir Richard Verney, a follower of Robert Dudley, organized Amy Dudley's violent death evolved early, and ""Leicester's Commonwealth"", a notorious and influential libel of 1584 against Robert Dudley, by then Earl of Leicester, perpetuated this version of events. Interest in Amy Robsart's fate was rekindled in the 19th century by Walter Scott's novel, ""Kenilworth"". The most widely accepted modern explanations of her death have been breast cancer and suicide, although a few historians"
"have probed murder scenarios. The medical evidence of the coroner's report, which was found in 2008, is compatible with accident as well as suicide and other violence. Amy Robsart was born in Norfolk, the heiress of a substantial gentleman-farmer and grazier, Sir John Robsart of Syderstone, and his wife, Elizabeth Scott. Amy Robsart grew up at her mother's house, Stanfield Hall (near Wymondham), and, like her future husband, in a firmly Protestant household. She received a good education and wrote in a fine hand. Three days before her 18th birthday she married Robert Dudley, a younger son of John Dudley,"
"of the eponymous doctor, who deliberately administers a lethal morphia overdose to his (German-Jewish) wife in the hope of being able to marry his (Gentile) mistress, the mother of his illegitimate daughter. It was bruited at the time of publication that the fictional Jewish Dr Phillips (named Dr Abrams in a pre-publication draft) was based on the real-life (Jewish) surgeon Ernest Abraham Hart, then editor of the ""British Medical Journal"", whose first wife had died by ""accidental poisoning"" in 1861. Mrs Aria insisted that ""Dr Phillips"" had ""fluttered the dovecotes of Maida Vale, rattled the skeletons in the cupboards and"
"might also provoke political instability or even insurrection. In the spring of 1559, it became evident that Elizabeth was in love with her childhood friend Robert Dudley. It was said that Amy Robsart, his wife, was suffering from a ""malady in one of her breasts"" and that the Queen would like to marry Dudley if his wife should die. By the autumn of 1559, several foreign suitors were vying for Elizabeth's hand; their impatient envoys engaged in ever more scandalous talk and reported that a marriage with her favourite was not welcome in England: ""There is not a man who"
"by then too much involved in the case and declined the royal assignment so James had him imprisoned. Overbury had been poisoned with sulphuric acid in the form of copper salts. Edward Coke and Francis Bacon worked together in the trial of the poisoners, which began in 1615. By the time it was over in early 1616, Frances had been found guilty of having hired the poisoners and orchestrated the murder. Robert claimed ignorance but was sentenced to death with his wife as an accomplice. James commuted the sentences to imprisonment. The couple were eventually released but never regained their"
"Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby. The plan was to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament on 5 November 1605, as the prelude to a popular revolt in the Midlands during which James's nine-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, was to be installed as the Catholic head of state. Catesby may have embarked on the scheme after hopes of securing greater religious tolerance"
"January 1936, after his physician, Lord Dawson of Penn, gave him an injection of morphine and cocaine that may have hastened his death. Queen Mary's eldest son ascended the throne as Edward VIII. She was now the queen mother, though she did not use that style, and was instead known as ""Her Majesty Queen Mary"". Within the year, Edward caused a constitutional crisis by announcing his desire to marry his twice-divorced American mistress, Wallis Simpson. Mary disapproved of divorce, which was against the teaching of the Anglican church, and thought Simpson wholly unsuitable to be the wife of a king."
"by marrying his first wife, Queen Mary, from whom Elizabeth was not descended. The same year, Sigismund betrothed Elizabeth to the Habsburg Duke Albert V of Austria, then aged 14. Queen Barbara was very unpopular among the nobility, who resented her sympathy for the Hussites, forerunners of the Protestant Reformation. In 1418, they accused her of having committed adultery while her husband was attending the Council of Constance. The resulting strain in the royal marriage led to the queen's banishment and confinement, first in Várad and subsequently in Szakolca, between 1418 and 1419. The fact that Elizabeth accompanied her mother"
"John Grant (Gunpowder Plot) John Grant (c. 1570 – 30 January 1606) was a member of the failed Gunpowder Plot, a conspiracy to replace the Protestant King James I of England with a Catholic monarch. Grant was born around 1570, and lived at Norbrook in Warwickshire. He married the sister of another plotter, Thomas Wintour. Grant was enlisted by Robert Catesby, a religious zealot who had grown so impatient with James's lack of toleration for Catholics that he planned to kill him, by blowing up the House of Lords with gunpowder. Grant's role in the conspiracy was to provide supplies"