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301:, whom she advised about a reform of the French royal household. By Stafford she had two sons, who both died young. The ambassador honoured his wife greatly, but had to cope with the fact that she was still emotionally agitated by remembrances of the Earl of Leicester. Stafford was politically opposed to Leicester, and the personal tensions aggravated this rivalry.
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You must think it is some marvellous cause, and toucheth my present state very near, that forceth me thus to be cause almost of the ruin of mine own house ... my brother you see long married and not like to have children, it resteth so now in myself; and yet such occasions is there ... as if I should
347:
was, nor the exact date of the marriage. As an explanation for marrying Edward
Stafford, she asserted that Leicester had tried to poison her and, "life being sweet", she had determined to marry "for safeguard of her life". The Star Chamber rejected the evidence and fined several of the witnesses. It
231:
He continues, proposing that she accept one of the suitors for her hand, who she had so far declined for his sake: "The choice falls not oft, and yet I know you may have now of the best; and it is not my part to bid you take them ... so it were not mine honesty to bid you refuse them." He would help
261:
in the garden, where
Leicester wanted her to "disavow the marriage", offering her seven hundred pounds a year, but she had passionately rejected the offer. Leicester became furious, saying he could as well part from her, leaving her penniless. Upon some reflection, she accepted the offer at last.
351:
Sir Edward
Stafford died while the proceedings in the Star Chamber were in progress. Required to answer questions for the case, he maintained that Sir Robert Dudley had "terrified" his mother into supporting him against her deep reservations. Stafford wrote that he had asked his wife in December
265:
In 1604 Lady
Sheffield claimed that she had refused to surrender the custody of their son, Robert, for fear that his father, Leicester, would have him killed. However, there is no trace of any disagreement over young Robert's upbringing and whereabouts. He grew up in Leicester's and his friends'
240:
There are two sisters now in the court that are very far in love with him, as they have long been; my Lady
Sheffield and Frances Howard. They (of like striving who shall love him better) are at great wars together and the queen thinketh not well of them, and not the better of
222:. At some point in the following years, Leicester wrote her a remarkable letter, pondering on the history of their love and explaining to her the reasons why he could not marry, not even to beget a legitimate heir; it would result in his "utter overthrow":
232:
her, in case she wanted to marry elsewhere for reasons of respectability: "for when you have made your election you shall find me a most willing and ready friend to perform all good offices toward you". On 11 May 1573, the court correspondent
352:
1579, on the Queen's command, if she had been contracted to
Leicester, to which "she answered with great vows, grief and passion that she had trusted the said earl too much to have anything to show to constrain him to marry her."
252:
It is unclear how long
Leicester's affair with Lady Sheffield continued, but nearly thirty years later her version of events was that Leicester had wanted to end their relationship around 1578, before his marriage to
379:, but again, it remained unresolved. Historians have had differing views on the problem: While Derek Wilson believes in a marriage (Wilson 1981 p. 326), it has been rejected by, for example,
150:
Seventeen years after
Leicester's death she claimed in litigation that she had secretly been his wife, although she had herself remarried while Leicester was still alive.
343:, "in wintertime" in 1573. Yet all of the ten putative witnesses ("besides others") to the ceremony were long dead since. Neither could she remember who the
331:. Lady Sheffield did not attend the trial in person, but she declared in writing that Leicester had solemnly contracted to marry her in Cannon Row,
170:
159:
100:
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and aroused great public interest between 1604 and 1605. The court heard ninety witnesses for Dudley and fifty-seven for
Leicester's widow,
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249:
was born. Leicester acknowledged the paternity of his "base son" and was very fond of him, caring much for his well-being and education.
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After the death of Queen
Elizabeth in May 1603, Lady Sheffield's son, Sir Robert Dudley, began trying to claim his father's and his
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was concluded that Sir Robert Dudley had been duped by Thomas Drury, who in his turn had sought "his own private gains".
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293:, was very influential with the Queen. From 1583 until 1591 Edward Stafford served as English ambassador to the court of
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297:; his wife accompanied him to Paris. There Lady Sheffield became a prominent figure in society and a special friend of
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359:. In her will she left a black velvet bed among other things to her "honourable and beloved son Sir Robert Dudley".
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Not long after the death of John, Lord Sheffield, in December 1568, his widow began an affair with
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In the 19th century, the question of Sir Robert Dudley's legitimacy was again raised in the
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383:(Read 1936 p. 23), Johanna Rickman (Rickman 2008 p. 51), and Simon Adams (Adams 2008).
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observed that the Earl of Leicester was pursued by Lady Douglas and her sister:
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Love, Lust, and License in Early Modern England: Illicit Sex and the Nobility
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online edition January 2008 (subscription required) Retrieved 2010-04-03
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Sweet Robin: A Biography of Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester 1533â1588
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that his parents had been secretly married. The case ended up in the
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online edition Jan 2008 (subscription required) Retrieved 2010-04-03
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online edition May 2008 (subscription required) Retrieved 2010-04-03
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houses, having "leave to see" his mother whenever she wished.
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257:, the widowed Countess of Essex. She claimed they had met at
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Invisible Power: The Elizabethan Secret Services 1570â1603
319:. He said he had been told by a shadowy adventurer called
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The Voyage of Robert Dudley to the West Indies, 1594â1595
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Douglas Howard was at court by about 1559, probably as a
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Monarchy and Matrimony: The Courtships of Elizabeth I
669:"Sheffield , Douglas, Lady Sheffield (1542/3â1608)"
730:A Letter from Robert, Earl of Leicester, to a Lady
647:"Dudley, Robert, earl of Leicester (1532/3â1588)"
542:
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355:Douglas Sheffield died in early December 1608 at
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594:Jenkins 2002 pp. 285â286, 325; Haynes 1992 p. 44
732:The Huntington Library Bulletin No.9 April 1936
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285:On 29 November 1579 Douglas Sheffield married
160:William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham
101:William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham
16:Lover of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
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158:Douglas Howard was the eldest daughter of
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227:marry I am sure never to have favour.
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525:Warner 1899 p. vi; Wilson 1981 p. 246
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83:Elizabeth Butler, Countess of Ormonde
213:Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
164:Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox
134:Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
840:Howard family (English aristocracy)
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190:Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormonde
182:John Sheffield, 2nd Baron Sheffield
180:. In 1560 she married a rich peer,
70:John Sheffield, 2nd Baron Sheffield
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184:. They had a son and a daughter:
128:; 1542/1543 â 1608), was an
659:"Dudley, Sir Robert (1574â1649)"
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505:Illustrations of British History
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612:Warner 1899 pp. xl–xli
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835:17th-century English people
171:Charles Howard of Effingham
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820:16th-century English women
281:, son of Douglas Sheffield
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154:Family and first marriage
132:noblewoman, the lover of
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299:Catherine de' Medici
810:Daughters of barons
739:Ashgate Publishing
633:Warner 1899 p. xlvi
585:Jenkins 2002 p. 298
564:Jenkins 2002 p. 249
546:Jenkins 2002 p. 217
473:Read 1936 pp. 23â24
295:Henry III of France
287:Sir Edward Stafford
74:Sir Edward Stafford
785:English baronesses
715:The Phoenix Press
709:Jenkins, Elizabeth
624:Warner 1899 p. xlv
603:Warner 1899 p. xli
491:Wilson 1981 p. 207
437:Rickman 2008 p. 51
428:Rickman 2008 p. 49
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516:Warner 1899 p. vi
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279:Sir Robert Dudley
217:Queen Elizabeth's
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419:Adams 2008c
357:Westminster
333:Westminster
196:Love affair
48:Westminster
779:Categories
684:Routledge
640:References
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391:Citations
363:Footnotes
345:clergyman
259:Greenwich
220:favourite
66:Spouse(s)
37:1542/1543
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80:Issue
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686:ISBN
315:and
241:him.
45:1608
42:Died
34:Born
122:nÊe
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