The Polarisation of Elizabethan Politics: The Political Career of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, 1585–1597(Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History)

The final decades of the reign of Elizabeth I were marked by the meteoric career of her last great favourite, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex (1565-1601), and the outbreak of bitter political divisions at Court and across the realm. This revisionist study challenges the traditional 'romantic' image of Essex as a military incompetent and political dabbler. Studying his career between his arrival at court in 1585 and his appointment as earl marshal at the end of 1597, the book casts Essex in a new light and re-examines his role in the outbreak of factionalism in Elizabethan politics. Using an unparalleled range of manuscript and printed sources it explores the forces which drove Essex's career, why true political success remained frustratingly beyond his grasp, and how his efforts to achieve this success helped to fuel the polarisation of Elizabethan politics.

Table of Contents:
Preface; Introduction: 'A playboy of the western world'?; Part I. Into the Fateful Circle: 1585–92: 1. 'My lord of Essex'; 2. 'Yowr sonne most ready to doe yowr service'; 3. 'To whom muche is geven …'; Part II. The Quest for Greatness: 1593–7: 4. 'One of her Majestie's privy councillors'; 5. 'Matters of intelligence'; 6. 'The shepheard of Albion's Arcadia'; 7. 'My lord of Essex and his men'; 8. 'Your Majestie's creture and vassall'; 9. 'Yf we lyved not in a cunning world …'; Conclusion: 'A greater worke then ever any gentleman'; Bibliography.

Review :
'This is the first time that the bulk of Essex's career has been reconstructed from something like the totality of the surviving manuscript documentation, and for Elizabethan historians Hammer's achievement is a major event'. London Review of Books '... a major re-evaluation of the decade of the 1590s.' The Journal of Ecclesiastical History '... a lively, interesting, and important book'. The English Historical Review 'All those wanting to know about the earl's career, the character of English court society and politics, or the state of international relations at the end of the sixteenth century will find important new information and insights in it ... Readers of this present volume will eagerly await a sequel.' Journal of Modern History 'Parliamentary historians will find this study invaluable for its thoughtful analysis of the late Elizabethan political scene and will appreciate its firm base in a wide range of manuscript sources.' Parliamentary History