Salisbury, Robert Cecil, 1st earl of
Salisbury, Robert Cecil, 1st earl of,
1563–1612, English statesman; son of William Cecil, Baron BurghleyBurghley or Burleigh, William Cecil, 1st Baron, 1520–98, English statesman.
..... Click the link for more information. . He entered Parliament and came gradually to rank second only to his father as adviser to Queen Elizabeth IElizabeth I,
1533–1603, queen of England (1558–1603). Early Life
The daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, she was declared illegitimate just before the execution of her mother in 1536, but in 1544 Parliament reestablished her in the succession after
..... Click the link for more information. . About 1589 he began to perform the duties of secretary of state, and he was officially appointed to that position in 1596. He became chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster in 1597 and in 1598 succeeded his father as principal secretary, despite the rivalry of Francis BaconBacon, Francis,
1561–1626, English philosopher, essayist, and statesman, b. London, educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and at Gray's Inn. He was the son of Sir Nicholas Bacon, lord keeper to Queen Elizabeth I.
..... Click the link for more information. and the 2d earl of EssexEssex, Robert Devereux, 2d earl of
, 1567–1601, English courtier and favorite of Queen Elizabeth I. Succeeding to the earldom on the death (1576) of his father, he came under the guardianship of Lord Burghley and
..... Click the link for more information. .
The fall and execution of Essex in 1601 cleared the way for Cecil to enter into secret negotiations with James VI of Scotland and arrange the latter's peaceful accession to the English throne as James IJames I,
1566–1625, king of England (1603–25) and, as James VI, of Scotland (1567–1625). James's reign witnessed the beginnings of English colonization in North America (Jamestown was founded in 1607) and the plantation of Scottish settlers in Ulster.
..... Click the link for more information. on the death of Elizabeth (1603). After the accession of James, Cecil was created Baron Cecil (1603), Viscount Cranborne (1604), and earl of Salisbury (1605). His influence over James was due to his abilities, not, as in the case of the earl of SomersetSomerset, Robert Carr, earl of,
1587?–1645, Scottish favorite of James I of England. His family name also appears as Ker. He may have accompanied James to England as a page in 1603, but he appears to have spent some time in France before returning to the English court.
..... Click the link for more information. and the 1st duke of BuckinghamBuckingham, George Villiers, 1st duke of
, 1592–1628, English courtier and royal favorite. He arrived (1614) at the English court as James I was tiring of his favorite, Robert Carr, earl of Somerset.
..... Click the link for more information. , to a personal ascendancy over the king. For the remainder of his life virtually the entire administration of the government was in his care.
The duties of lord treasurer devolved upon Salisbury in 1608. He exhibited great financial skill, reducing the king's debt and attempting to restrain James's extravagance. However, his practice of levying impositions (customs duties) without parliamentary consent raised a storm in Parliament. In 1610, Salisbury negotiated the so-called Great Contract with Parliament, by which James was to receive a settled income in return for abandoning his feudal revenues. The agreement was broken off, however, because of mutual suspicions.
In foreign affairs Salisbury ended (1604) the war with Spain and thereafter attempted to maintain a balance of power between France and Spain. After 1604 he received a pension from Spain, but his hope that England might lead a Protestant alliance led him to support the marriage (1612) of James's daughter Elizabeth to the elector palatine. Salisbury planned and had built the great Jacobean mansion Hatfield House in Hertfordshire.