The Cecils: The Dynasty and Legacy of Lord Burghley by David Lee

Author:David Lee
Format: epub

I have forborne in some respect, which should [be] private to myself, either to write or to come to your Lordship…I must let your Lordship understand this much, that is, until I can better satisfy or advertise myself of some mislikes I am not determined, as touching my wife, to accompany her. What they are, because some are not to be spoken of or written upon as imperfections…Some that discontented me I will not blazon or publish until it please me.

He continued that he wished to have no more ‘troubles and molestations’ in his life, and that ‘nor will I, to please your Lordship only, discontent myself’.

He also mentioned that he would not expose Anne publicly, but that he recommended that she stay with her parents in their residence. So, he was willing to be rid of his wife entirely, but not willing to expose her publicly, only to disgrace himself and his own prospects. He would not reveal exactly what the reason for his rejection of Anne and Elizabeth was, but his insistence of ‘molestations’ and ‘mislikes’ have led to differing conclusions. The first obviously being that Anne had indeed committed adultery, as according to Lord Howard, when Oxford returned from his travels two years later, he stated that Elizabeth could not have been his child, for when she was born he had ‘not lain with her for nearly a year before’. If what Howard mentioned had some truth to it, it would be entirely scandalous for the Cecil family. However, would it really have been likely or possible even, that the daughter of the most powerful man in the kingdom, and a woman of such great upbringing with more Christian zeal than the queen herself, would risk disgracing herself and her family by having an extra-marital affair? The lack of evidence suggests not. The Cecil family’s support for their daughter and insistence that Oxford return to her also implies that they believed her to be virtuous, whatever the reason for her husband’s ‘mislikes’.

There is also the overwhelming suggestion that Oxford was in fact homosexual, and that his mislike for his wife, therefore, was the fact that she was not to his sexual preference. It seems a step too far to suggest that Oxford would marry Anne, knowing that he would likely have to consummate the marriage and sire children, if he was entirely disgusted by her physically. Also, there is the fact that the pair apparently married due to their genuine desire for one another. Where the physical intimacy between the married couple went wrong is not clear. Nor can it be ruled out however, despite Read’s objections, that Edward de Vere had homosexual or at least bisexual tendencies. William himself later wrote in his memorandum of Oxford’s ‘inhumanity’ towards his wife [Anne]. Yet any notion of homosexuality or ‘sodomy’ was not remarked upon until some ten years later when Charles Arundel, an enemy of Oxford’s referred to the latter as ‘A buggering of a boy that his cook and many other boys’.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.