The Earl of Essex's rebellion

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littlemisssunnydale
April 02, 2008

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. H...

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.

Category: Entertainment

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Hugh Dancy Helen Mirren Elizabeth Earl of Essex

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alonelychild (3 months ago) Show Hide

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what´s the actor´s name? the one in the horse with Essex at 5:33?

MissYBstar (3 months ago) Show Hide

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Bette Davis was the BEST Elizabeth :)

nightsongdw (4 months ago) Show Hide

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hugh dancy as essex
and eddie redmayne as southampton.... good combination... :)

324wilson (5 months ago) Show Hide

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Men like Essex should be beaten to dath, I believe. Same can be said about our today's politicans, who swear their loyalty to our Queen Elizabeth II and betray her country!

GIVE MONARCHY MORE POWER!!!

324wilson (7 months ago) Show Hide

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Helen Mirren is my fav. Elizabeth I after Glenda Jackson, of course!

SoILoveCheese2011 (10 months ago) Show Hide

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They shot a kid? Yikes

BRUTUALTRUTH (1 year ago) Show Hide

-6

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shobizzy (1 year ago) Show Hide

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Thank you for posting this. Hugh Dancy played the part of the Earl of Essex perfectly.

BellaGoth12 (1 year ago) Show Hide

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Thanks for posting these videos! Hugh Dancy bares a strong resemblance to the Earl of Essex.

My favorite part is when Essex has a stupid, bewildered look on his face when he confronts Elizabeth 1.

detchuck (1 year ago) Show Hide

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Elizabeth crafty & master strategic planning

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The Earl of Essex's rebellion

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