01x04 - Earl of Essex - Fall of a Favourite

[bunniefuu]

It's a cool morning in February 1601.

Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex

is approaching the final moments
of his life.

Today, he will be ex*cuted
for the crime of "high treason".

Once a flamboyant favorite
of Queen Elizabeth I,

and a military hero...

the Earl of Essex
is now a convicted traitor.

The prosecution claimed
he tried to overthrow the regime.

My Christian brethren.

My sins are more in number
than hairs on my head.

Essex's story is one of ambition,
bravery and recklessness.

Forgive it us.

Forgive it me, most wretched of all.

It was a spectacular fall from grace,
hastened by his enemies...

Lord, into Thy hands
I commend my spirit.

...for which the Earl of Essex
paid the ultimate price.

I'm Dan Snow.

And I'm Professor Suzannah Lipscomb.

Together, we're investigating
the world of the Tudors

in a whole new way,
by starting at the grizzly end.

In this turbulent time
of shifting allegiances,

volatile politics
and a clash of religions,

many of the key players end up
with their heads on the block.

Now, we're gonna uncover
the critical moments

that led them to the executioner.

We'll discover fresh insights
and examine new evidence.

As far as the people around her
were concerned,

she was innocent.

And challenge
how we see these individuals

and this pivotal point
in Europe's history.

-So Cecil was doctoring the evidence?
-Absolutely.

Because understanding why these people
were convicted and k*lled

is to understand the Tudors.

Right, let's take a look at the map,
Suzie.

We've got Gravesend

across the way there,
and look at that.

Yes, the camp. So here we are.

We're starting our investigation

into how Robert Devereux,
Earl of Essex, lost his head,

at a place he came to
when at the very height of his powers.

The site of a famous moment
in English history.

That church you can see there,
so we're in the right place.

Fantastic. Let's go.

On 9th August 1588,
England feared the worst,

the Spanish Armada,
and an invasion of England.

Queen Elizabeth I
came to this high ground

near the mouth of the River Thames,

where her troops stood ready
to defend the country.

At her side that day
was the Earl of Essex.

This is the English camp.
What a great view of the Thames,

just curling around here
in this valley,

and that means that up here

we get one of the greatest speeches
in the history of England,

-Elizabeth's speech, your party trick.
-I'm gonna give it a go.

"I know I have the body
of a weak and feeble woman,

but I have the heart and stomach
of a king, and of a king of England.

I myself shall be your general,
judge, and rewarder

of all your virtues in the field.

We shall shortly have a famous victory
over these enemies of my God,

my kingdom and my people."

Suzie, that is so good!
I want to pick up my sword,

dash down towards the Thames
and protect the country.

I'm not the only one.
Everyone was profoundly affected.

Including a dazzling young man
with a bright future.

What do we know
about the Earl of Essex?

Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex,

is one of the people who rises
in that last decade of her reign.

He's made a name for himself
as a military hero.

He's 22 years old, she's 54,

and he has become
one of her favorites,

one of the people
who's close to the queen.

This matters because we have
a female monarch, she never marries,

and the men who are close to her
become important.

He had this extraordinary
glittering career,

but then, about 10 years later,
he was facing execution.

In those 10 years,
he has moments of great success

but he ends up on the scaffold,
and the question, I suppose, is why?

While Suzie heads off to find out
about how Essex secured his place

in Elizabeth's court,

I want to understand
what kind of man Essex was,

and to do that,
I'm seeking out the place

where he first made his name.

In the 16th century,
Europe was in religious turmoil,

but instability
can create opportunities.

And two years
before Elizabeth's speech at Tilbury,

Essex found
that it was his time to shine.

After years of upheaval, England under
Elizabeth had more or less settled

as a Protestant kingdom.

In September 1586,
English troops had arrived in Zutphen

to support
their Dutch Protestant allies

against the Spanish Catholic threat.

The man
in charge of the English forces

was Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester

and with him, on his first campaign,
was his stepson

and military protégé,
the 20-year-old Essex.

There was a low fog hanging
over the landscape that morning,

but as it started to burn off,

Essex noticed powerful formations
of Spanish infantry advancing.

This is
one of their legendary tercios,

a sort of square
of densely packed infantrymen

carrying long spears,

five meters in length called pikes
with very sharp tips.

And they advance as a mass
and try and drive

another mass of infantrymen
off the field.

You can see an amazing illustration,
image from the siege of Zutphen.

This was called "Push of Pike,"
they get so close,

just pushing and shoving
like a rugby scrum,

both sides seeking the upper hand.

Essex is not deterred by the strength
of these Spanish units.

He decides to launch a charge
and he shouts,

"For the honor of England,
my fellows, follow me!"

And off he goes,
galloping towards the Spanish lines.

He manages to crash
through the front two ranks.

He shattered his lance
on a Spaniard's armor.

Then he takes out his sword
and set about himself on either side.

This was reckless, thrilling bravery.

And I've heard I can get even closer
to Essex's exploits in battle,

because a recent archaeological dig
has unearthed some amazing objects.

Wow, look at this.
That's a lot of finds.

A lot of finds and only a few percent
of the total of finds.

Really?

Excitingly, they've found items
from the site of Essex's camp,

everything from musket ba*ls
and coins to lice combs.

This is all from just opposite
of the town,

where the Dutch
and English camps were situated.

We have this tiny piece of silver.

-It's a button and has a Tudor Rose.
-Look at that!

A Tudor rose. Wow.

Because it's silver, it's not
off a common foot soldier,

but it has to be from a nobleman,
an officer.

And the nice thing about this is that
on the famous portrait of Essex,

he wears those Tudor rose buttons.

One can presume that either Essex
or one of his noble colleagues

wore this silver button
and lost it in the camp.

Fantastic. That could have been worn
by Essex himself.

We have to use some fantasy,
but yes, it's possible.

So these are all from the camp.

What about the b*ttlefield itself?
Is this a pike tip there?

-Yeah, that's a pike.
-Razor sharp.

It takes a lot of courage
to charge into these, doesn't it?

Yeah. If you want to be a hero,
you have to take some risks.

Get famous or die trying.

One of the greatest casualties
of the campaign

was soldier, courtier and poet,
Sir Philip Sidney,

one of the most famous and revered men
in the Elizabethan age.

The death of Sidney,
a towering presence at court,

would leave a void,

and I've come across
evidence of someone

who would attempt to fill the gap.

This is the memorial

to Sir Philip Sidney
on the spot where he fell.

It says here, he was a poet,
a warrior, a courtier and a diplomat.

You can see why Essex
was so inspired by him

and wanted to follow in his footsteps.

It does seem like
the feeling was mutual

because I've got a copy
of Philip Sidney's will here

and it says, "I give to my beloved
and much honored Lord,

the Earl of Essex, my best sword."

That's quite a statement.

Swords were precious.

They're the embodiment
of the warrior spirit.

You hand them from father to son,
down the generations.

This is Sidney, one of the most
important figures at court,

and he is saying, "This is my heir.
This is my successor."

Essex's bravery on the b*ttlefield,

and the endorsement of his peers
got him noticed back home.

But how did Essex go
from young w*r hero

to one of the most powerful
and influential men in England,

and the inner circle
of Queen Elizabeth?

In 1586, Essex returned
from the Netherlands a w*r hero.

He was soon made Master of the Horse
and Knight of the Garter.

Elizabeth also granted Essex
a lucrative license,

allowing him to make huge profits
on imported sweet wines.

On top of that, it seems he'd won

the personal affection
of the Queen, Elizabeth.

I've uncovered
a tantalizing piece of evidence

that illustrates that perfectly.

It's from a letter from Anthony Bagot,
he's writing to his father, Richard.

The Bagots are
an English gentry family

and here's the bit I'm interested in.

So this is about Elizabeth.
It says, "When she is abroad,

nobody near her but my Lord of Essex,

and at night, my lord, at cards
or one game or another, with her,

that he cometh not to his own lodging
till the birds sing in the morning."

So, we're being told they're literally
spending the night together,

"playing cards."

Although, "nobody near her",
so who knows what's going on.

At this moment, Essex was 21
and Elizabeth was 53.

I want to understand the real nature
of their relationship.

Professor Susan Doran has studied
the men who rose to become

Elizabeth's inner circle,
her favorites and how they fell.

Sue, we talk about monarchs
in the 16th century having favorites.

What does it mean to be a favorite?

It means that the courtier
is an intimate of the monarch,

spends a lot of time with them,
has easy access to the monarch,

plays cards with them,
dances with them,

and that they are the recipients
of royal patronage.

When the monarch is a woman
and the favorite is a man,

there's often a bit of a sexual

or romantic playfulness
in their relationship.

I'm not suggesting at all
that they're sexual partners

or that they even would want to be,

but there is that kind of magnetism
and dynamic.

So we know that he was at w*r
in the Netherlands.

How else does he rise
to her attention?

After the Battle of Zutphen,

he comes back
as Sir Philip Sidney's heir.

So, he's seen in a very different
light and he has, then I think,

the beginnings
of a charismatic quality about him,

and I think
the queen responds to that.

Essex's relationship with the queen
would bring him

increasing influence and power.

In 1593, he was made
a Privy Councilor.

This was a cabinet
of Elizabeth's top advisors

and included William Cecil,
Lord Burghley

and his son, Robert Cecil.

Robert Cecil and Essex
were close in age

and had known one another
since childhood.

Now they were competing
for the queen's attention.

What was the substance of the rivalry
between Essex and Robert Cecil?

Of course,
there was the personal rivalry

in that each of them not only wanted
to get the top jobs in government,

but there was also
an ideological difference,

which may've stemmed
from their characters.

The Cecils were cautious,
they were concerned about money,

they recognized that Spain
was a much more powerful state

than England was,

and they didn't want England
to try and overreach itself

by committing to a real
full-blooded w*r against Spain.

Whereas Essex, both temperamentally
and ideologically,

believed that
Spain should be destroyed,

and also that they should take the w*r
to the heart of Spain.

Essex starts vying with Cecil
around this time

because everyone knows that
Burghley is old, he's got gout,

he's not gonna last much longer.

So the big question arises,

who is gonna be
Secretary of State when he goes?

Burghley clearly wants it
to be his son, Robert Cecil.

Essex thinks
it'd be a terrible choice,

not least because it's not him.

Essex's hopes were thwarted.

In 1596, Robert Cecil
was made Principle Secretary,

the most powerful position
in the cabinet.

This infuriated Essex,

but then an opportunity arose
that would shake things up.

In 1598, the Privy Council met
to choose a new Lord Deputy of Ireland

to deal with a rebellion there
against English rule.

Essex wanted to send
one of Cecil's close allies to Ireland

to reduce his rival's influence
at court.

By the same token, Cecil wanted
to send one of Essex's men instead.

When the Queen sided with Cecil,
Essex flew into a rage.

They had this furious argument
and Essex turned his back on her,

which is something that you never do
to a monarch,

and Elizabeth was so angry

that she cuffed him,
absolutely unheard of,

and he puts his hand to his sword.

Luckily, the Earl of Nottingham
prevents him from drawing it.

It would've been an act of treason
had he done so.

And to make it even worse,
when Essex stormed out,

he didn't come back to apologize,

he wouldn't attend court,
he was absent.

He said, "My honor has been touched
and I am not the queen's sl*ve."

You've painted a picture of a man
in Essex who was c*ck.

Do you think in the end it's his
hubris that leads to his downfall?

Yes, I do. I think it's his character.

He has this very strong sense of honor
that came from his lineage,

it came from his military career,

and he just believed
that even the monarch,

even Elizabeth really
did not have the right to treat him

as if he was
some kind of lowly servant.

It seems to me
that up until this point,

Essex had taken the Queen's favor
almost for granted.

Surely now he'd overstepped the mark,

or at least seriously damaged
his relationship with the Queen.

But crucially,
with this outburst, I wonder,

had he played into the hands
of his bitter rival, Robert Cecil?

Essex had fallen out of favor

and needed to make amends
to restore his reputation

and standing with the queen.

The problem of the Irish rebellion
hadn't gone away,

Essex felt the only option
was to take it on himself.

He'd won acclaim
on the b*ttlefield before,

could military prowess
be his redemption?

Essex had fought many battles
for Queen and country,

but was he ready
for what was coming in Ireland?

A land full of hardened rebels,

who were determined
to resist English rule.

This is Cahir Castle
in county Tipperary.

Essex came to Ireland in 1599

and raised the biggest force yet
deployed in Ireland, over 17,000 men,

to take on the Irish rebels
led by Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone.

There's something
I've been told to look for,

that's testament to Essex's time here.

There it is. Look at that.

It's a cannonball sticking out
the side of the tower,

and the story goes

that that cannonball was fired
by the English forces

from just over there, and bang,

it got wedged in that stonework
and it's still there today.

It's actually a culverin ball,
a different kind of a*tillery piece.

It's been there 400 years,

fired by troops under the command
of the Earl of Essex.

But is this just part of the mythology
of Essex, the brave soldier?

Because when Essex came here,
he knew the real enemy, Tyrone,

was actually 200 miles away,
in the north of Ireland.

I want to understand
what really happened in Ireland

and what impact it had

on Essex's precarious relationship
with the queen.

Who built this castle?

This was actually 13th century,
built by the Butlers.

Dr. James O'Neill has studied
the Irish uprising,

also known as the Nine Years w*r.

It's all about the north of Ireland,

but we're in the south,
what's going on here?

Was Cahir Castle very important?

If you're asking Essex at the time,
he said it was really important.

No one else really did.
The way Essex looked at it,

it's important because he can take it,
that's why it's important to him.

He wants to put an English flag
on top of this castle

then he can report back
to his queen success?

And that's exactly what his plan is.
He has clear, achievable goals.

Pity was, they weren't
anyone else's goals.

How does it go down here
at the castle?

Essex turns up on 25th of May
to besiege the castle.

When he gets here,
there's only eight Irish.

-Only eight?
-But because he doesn't surround

the whole position,
reinforcements get brought in.

They finally get the cannons
firing on the 29th.

It's a medieval castle,
it's not built to take cannon fire.

So the walls start to crumble,

and they're all ready
to storm the castle.

The Irish aren't gonna wait for that,

so on the evening of the 30th,
they break out.

So when Essex enters the castle
he's unopposed.

He's captured the castle
but he's no Alexander the Great.

In his head, he probably is.

But no,
he's captured an abandoned castle

and writes this letter to the queen
saying what a wonderful job he's done.

She wrote back in no uncertain terms

that she was disgusted that he'd make
something large of what she called

"taking an Irish castle
off a rabble of rogues."

She goes on, "By the way,
as you're boasting about this,

France is watching, Rome is watching,
more importantly, Spain is watching."

So not only is he
a liability in Ireland,

he's a liability across Europe.

The taking of Cahir Castle
was an easy win for Essex,

and Elizabeth saw right through him.

Far from winning her favor,
he was rapidly losing it.

Exasperated,
Elizabeth sent Essex north

to face the real threat,
the Earl of Tyrone.

But by now Essex's army, racked
by disease, plagued by desertion,

was a quarter of its former strength

and outnumbered two to one
by Tyrone's forces.

Rather than risk defeat,
Essex made a bold call.

He took it upon himself
to negotiate a truce.

When Elizabeth heard of this,
she was enraged.

Essex had agreed the truce
without witnesses

and without her say-so.

Essex's Irish adventure had misfired
both for him and for his country.

He'd come with the biggest army
yet deployed, the most money,

the most g*ns, the most reputation,

and he'd come
and he'd achieved nothing.

In English terms,
it'd been a disaster,

for the Irish, more of him, please.

This feels like a major turning point.

Ireland was a huge setback,
both for England and for Essex.

His status as a royal favorite
had already slipped,

and now his reputation
as a military hero,

the foundation of it all,
was in tatters.

With the queen angered,

Essex was worried his adversaries
would be poisoning her against him.

Disobeying orders, Essex
decided to race back to England.

Essex was in trouble
with the queen once more,

and he assumed that was being
stirred up by his enemies,

particularly Cecil.

He believed he had to go
and see the queen in person,

but could he win her over,
and save his own skin yet again?

It's daybreak and the Earl of Essex
is racing towards the Royal Palace

where the queen is waking up.

Not only had he infuriated the queen

with his handling
of the Irish rebellion,

he'd also now deserted his post.

He knew the longer he was away

the more chance Cecil had
to poison the queen against him.

Essex had one card left to play,

his close personal relationship
with Elizabeth.

He was still one of her favorites.
If he could just get her alone,

away from the interfering busybodies
on her privy council,

perhaps he could explain himself.

Tudor palaces had a filtering system,

with each room
getting you closer to the queen,

but Essex stormed through them all.

The presence chamber,
the privy chamber,

until finally
the most intimate space of all.

Essex burst
into the Queen's bedchamber.

He was an absolute state
from his long ride.

We're told that
he was full of dirt and mire.

His face was covered in mud and sweat

and there in front of him
was the queen.

Her hair was still about her face,

so she didn't have
her iconic red wig on

or her famous white makeup

or her jewels and fine dresses.

This was not Gloriana,

instead, here was just an aging,
vulnerable, greying lady.

Essex was sent away,

but later that morning,
she heard him out.

Elizabeth reacted
with surprising calm,

but the mood soon turned sour.

He'd let her down before,

but the mistakes in Ireland
had been political, military,

this was a personal betrayal,
and she was having none of it.

His case was handed over
to the Privy Council.

Cecil and his ministers
drew up a list of charges.

Among them was "bursting
into the queen's bedchamber".

But also, there are other charges
that talk about him

as rash, disobedient, presumptuous.

Really quite a good summary
of his character.

Essex was arrested.

Cecil wanted
to bring charges of treason,

but despite his failings in Ireland
and having burst into her bedchamber,

Elizabeth must have still
held some affection for him,

because, amazingly,
she let him off the hook.

She gave Essex his freedom
although it came at a heavy price.

He was banished
from attending court ever again,

and his valuable sweet wines license,

practically his only source of income,
was revoked.

Essex was free, but he was humiliated
and financially ruined.

Yet perhaps
there was still a way back.

The charismatic Essex was popular

up and down the country
for his military exploits.

In his inner circle, he had supporters
who sympathized with his plight,

and disliked Robert Cecil's influence
over the queen.

They felt that something
needed to be done.

And that something began
in the unlikeliest of places,

somewhere where
William Shakespeare made his name,

The Globe Theater.

I love this space.

Wow.

It's always like going back in time.

This amazing place is a replica
of the original Globe,

where many of Shakespeare's plays
were performed for the first time.

-Hi, Suzannah.
-Hello.

Welcome to the Globe.

I'm meeting Shakespearean scholar,
Dr. Will Tosh, to find out why a play

staged in the Globe
was in any way relevant

to the Earl of Essex's
precarious situation.

Will, take me back to that moment
in February 1601.

It would've looked very like this.

It would've been cold,
probably like today.

Shakespeare's company,
The Lord Chamberlain's Men,

are getting ready to perform
Shakespeare's play, Richard II.

This wasn't a new play.

Shakespeare wrote Richard II
in about 1595.

The theater company wouldn't normally
be staging a six-year-old history play

that had fallen
out of their repertoire.

But a couple of days previously,

three or four of Essex's followers
had said,

"Would you perform Richard II?"

The theater company said,
"Look, it's not gonna sell.

It's not in our interests."

Essex's followers say, "We'll give
you 40 shillings, two pounds,

if you put it on for us."

So on that Saturday, about 10 or 11
of Essex's followers come to the Globe

and watch Richard II.

What did Essex's men hope to achieve
by staging this play?

So by this point in Elizabeth's reign,

the comparison between Elizabeth
and Richard wasn't a unique one.

Like this medieval predecessor,

she was a monarch
without an obvious heir,

and she was a monarch who,
it was said,

was kind of swayed
by particular counselors

and some of those counselors were
regarded as evil or kind of malignant.

So this probably explains
why Essex's followers

thought that Shakespeare's play
would have been a kind of...

a way to stimulate
the audience at the Globe.

I suppose there's a question about

whether they were hoping
to rouse the populace.

I think that must've been
somewhere in the planning for this

but it seems to me quite unlikely
that the Earl of Essex, who's a...

really a kind of old school
aristocrat authoritarian,

would have wanted the city
to rise in chaos.

We don't know for certain

what Essex's men intended
by staging that provocative play.

Although in hindsight, we can see
how bad it must have looked.

In Elizabethan England,
a play about a childless monarch

who loses the crown to a usurper

was a dangerous choice
of entertainment.

Essex wasn't at the performance,

and we don't even know
if he knew about it

but choosing this play
could be interpreted by Cecil

and his cohort as a sign
that Essex was intending to make

his own bid for Elizabeth's throne.

And that threat would
soon seem all too real,

because the very next day,
on the streets of London,

the beleaguered Essex
would stage an armed rebellion.

By 1601, Elizabeth I was 67.

She'd been on the throne for 42 years.

Her one-time favorite,
the young Earl of Essex,

was banned from court,

and unable to counter
Robert Cecil's influence

over the queen.

He must have felt
he only had one option.

On the 8th of February 1601,

Essex and his supporters left his home
to launch a rebellion.

Was it yet another rush of blood
to the head?

He had around 300 men.
That just wouldn't be enough

to get control of the queen
and her council.

And so he marched east
to the city of London,

hoping to pick up around 1,000
of London's trained armed militiamen.

Then collectively, they would march
back to the court at Whitehall

and take control of the government.

Almost immediately,
it all started to unravel.

His small band of men
seemed unclear of the plan.

Onlookers,
who he'd hoped would join in,

were just bemused.

And the thousand extra armed men
he expected never materialized.

Cecil and the council
sent troops to cut him off.

Eventually,
Essex retreated to his house,

where he surrendered and was arrested.

The so-called Essex Rebellion
had lasted a matter of hours.

Did Essex want to overthrow
Queen Elizabeth

and take the crown for himself?

Or is there more to this
than meets the eye?

I want to find out
what really happened that day.

What were Essex's aims,
and what were those of his enemies?

All the names suggest... Is this
where Essex House would've been?

Yes, it is.

I'm meeting Dr. Alexandra Gajda
at the place where it all began.

She thinks the clue to Essex's motive

lies in the way
he and his men acted that day.

Most of the reports say they walk
with their swords raised aloft,

which is an indication they do not
mean to perpetuate any violence.

They come in peace. But as they do so,
they say "Come and join us,

because we are saving the country
from this conspiracy

that is going to subvert
the true succession,

and sell our crown to Spain,

and to ensure that a Spanish Catholic
is next on the throne to England."

And Essex shouts "Your liberty
and your religion are endangered."

Essex was appealing to a fear
common to many in England.

With Elizabeth aging,
childless and with no named heir,

the concern was that when she died,
the old enemy Spain would muscle in,

seize the crown,
and return England to Catholicism.

Essex wanted James VI of Scotland
named as the heir to the throne.

As well as being
Elizabeth's distant cousin,

he was a devout protestant.

Essex has written a letter
to James VI saying that,

if James doesn't act now with him,

then James's title to the throne
of England is going to be overthrown.

We know James took it very seriously
because at this point,

James decided to send
a couple of ambassadors to London

to consult with Essex,

and if they found Essex's
arguments plausible, to work with him.

One of those arguments

was that they needed to remove
damaging influences

from around Elizabeth,
chief among them, Robert Cecil.

Essex believed
Cecil was too soft on Spain,

so to ensure James's succession

and prevent a Spanish takeover,
Cecil would have to go.

And of course, this was also about

Essex regaining
his influence and status.

This is a power struggle
really between Essex and Cecil.

Who is going to actually
be in control of politics

and government under the new monarch?

People think Essex was
aiming for the throne himself.

This was a rebellion against
a political rival, not the queen.

Yes, absolutely.

There's a succession issue,

but there's a power struggle
about who will be the kingmaker.

Whoever loses that struggle,
you're not gonna be out of office,

-you may end up dead.
-Absolutely.

Essex's rebellion
was portrayed by his enemies

as an attempt
to seize the crown for himself,

but that wasn't true.

On that day, he wanted
to get Elizabeth away from Cecil,

a man he thought was dangerous
for Queen and country,

and get himself back on top.

Yet again, all Essex achieved

was to give more ammunition
to his old foe Cecil.

It's such a brutal demonstration
of Tudor power politics.

To lose is to die,

and in this case, there was only
gonna be one loser, the Earl of Essex.

Essex was imprisoned
at the Tower of London.

Eleven days later,
he was on trial for high treason.

For Cecil to get him
out of the picture,

he needed to prove that
Essex was after Elizabeth's crown.

I've come to the National Archives
to investigate the official narrative

used by Cecil to nail
Essex's guilt beyond doubt.

Harking back to Ireland,

Cecil accused Essex
that when he'd met Tyrone

without the queen's permission,

he'd secretly promised him
"a good share in England".

That could only mean one thing,

that Essex was planning a rebellion
to overthrow Elizabeth,

and he would reward Tyrone afterwards.

I'm meeting Dr. Hiram Morgan

who has uncovered
some extraordinary evidence

that shows all was not as it seemed.

-Hello, Hiram.
-Hello.

-Lovely to meet you.
-Pleased to meet you.

Glad you've come to see
the original documents.

Yes, me too.

Hiram has tracked down documents used
by Cecil to prepare for Essex's trial,

and he's found a detail missing
in the official published account

concerning Tyrone's hopes
for a share in England.

Here we go.
"So the said Tyrone would have...

-A good share."
-"....a good share in England."

But the first passage here says that

Tyrone was expecting
a Spanish invasion

of the south of England in 1599.

As a Catholic,
Tyrone was in alliance with Spain,

who was at w*r with England.

So, he's gonna get major benefit

from a Spanish intervention
in England.

Okay. So, what does this
have to do with Essex then?

This document has been marked up
by, of all people, Robert Cecil.

He marks the whole passage
and he said, "This need not be read."

Wow. So this is Cecil's handwriting.

Right. That's Cecil's handwriting.

And he is saying that this explanation
for why Tyrone says he's gonna have

a great share,
involving the Spanish invasion,

this should not,
this need not be read at the trial?

-Is this for use of evidence?
-That's the case.

By removing any mention
of a Spanish invasion,

it suddenly sounds like
Essex's rebellion could be the reason

behind Tyrone's hopes
of a good share in England.

-Cecil is doctoring the evidence?
-Absolutely.

And when it comes
to the treason trial in 1601,

there's at least
two pieces of evidence

and probably several others
that have been doctored

and tampered with as well.

And presumably, Elizabeth I
would have had no idea?

She wouldn't have known
the manipulation of these documents

'cause they were in Cecil's control.

In one deft move,
Cecil had not only incriminated Essex

but ensured that Elizabeth
would not want to save him this time.

It seems to me
that Essex had made huge

and damaging mistakes
before the rebellion.

His failure in Ireland,
those outbursts against Elizabeth,

one could argue that
Cecil didn't need to destroy Essex,

he'd already done it himself.

But by tampering with the evidence,
Cecil was leaving nothing to chance.

The Earl of Essex's trial
began on 19th February 1601.

Robert Cecil's doctored document

was one of the many pieces of evidence
in the case against him.

The trial lasted barely a day.

Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex
was found guilty of high treason

and sentenced to death.

Traitors were supposed to be hanged,
disemboweled while still alive,

and then cut into four pieces.

But Elizabeth herself granted Essex
a merciful "simple beheading".

I'm meeting back up with Dan,
here at the Tower of London,

the place where Essex awaited his fate
and where, it's said,

he had a final opportunity
to cheat death.

I've got one last story for you,
though it may just be a story.

Apparently, at some point
after a quarrel,

Elizabeth had given Essex a ring
and said that if he ever transgressed

and needed forgiveness, he should
just send that ring back to her

and all would be forgiven.

-Get out of jail free card.
-Exactly.

So the story goes that whilst
he was here, Essex took that ring,

and he went to a window,
threw it down to a pageboy,

and says, "Take this
to so-and-so noblewoman,

and she'll take it to the queen,
and I'll be let off the hook."

But the pageboy takes it
to the wrong woman,

a woman who is not an Essex supporter,

who hangs on to the ring
and so, of course, Essex dies.

There's something very Essex...

It's amateurish, romantic,
ultimately a failure.

-It really sums up his career.
-It does rather, doesn't it?

I remember being told
Essex wanted to become king.

I don't think that's true.

I think he found himself
in a difficult position

and made shocking decisions
trying to get out of it.

I don't think Essex was guilty,
but two things could be true at once.

Essex was reckless and foolish,

but he was also the victim
of political machinations.

He's got powerful enemies at court,
like Cecil, ready to jump on those.

Yes. I was really shocked by how
Cecil tampered with the evidence.

Essex was paving the path
for his destruction himself,

but Cecil gets in there to make sure.

It's brought home
is just how dangerous it is

to be a player at the Tudor court.

You're playing for the highest stakes.

You can reach the heights,
but can pay with your life.

Thomas More said,
"These be king's games,

and for the most part
played on scaffolds."

Now we know
how Essex reached this point,

it's time to revisit
his final moments.

At eight o'clock, he makes
the short walk towards Tower Green.

The Queen has granted him
a private execution

within the Tower walls

to spare him the indignity
of a large crowd outside,

showing perhaps,
she still had affection for him.

But Queen Elizabeth I
and Robert Cecil

are not among the small number
who witness Essex's final speech.

My Lords,

and you, my Christian Brethren.

My sins are more in number than...

hairs on my head.

I have been puffed up with pride,

vanity and love
of this wicked world's pleasures.

Lord Jesus, forgive it us,

and forgive it me,

most wretched of all.

Though Essex had been
hot-headed and reckless,

he believed his intentions
were always noble.

And the bravado
Essex showed in his life...

Lord, into Thy hands
I commend my spirit.

...is evident once more...

Executioner.

...as he faces his death.

Strike home!

Two years later, at the age of 69,

Elizabeth died, leaving no named heir.

James VI of Scotland was crowned
James I of England in 1603.

And Robert Cecil,
the architect of Essex's downfall,

became the new king's
most senior and trusted councilor.

Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex,

was buried just yards away
from his execution site.

Essex's reckless bravery
and hot-headedness

had propelled him
to the very pinnacle of Tudor society,

but those same qualities

had also ultimately
proved his undoing.