On this day in Tudor history, 10th November 1565, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, was born.
This great-grandson of Mary Boleyn and stepson of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, rose from ambitious courtier to Elizabeth I's beloved favourite - charming, bold, and impossible to ignore. But his pride and defiance would destroy him.
In this video, I trace the rise and ruin of the queen’s "darling of her old age": his dangerous ambition, his disastrous rebellion, and the shocking betrayal that ended with an axe on Tower Green.
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