Essex's Rebellion

Common card · No. 449778

Essex's Rebellion was an unsuccessful rebellion led by Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, in February 1600/1601 (O.S./N.S.) against Queen Elizabeth I and the English court faction led by Sir Robert Cecil to gain further influence at court. Essex was a former favourite of the queen who had lost her favour by his failure as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland over the previous two years. The rebellion took place entirely in London, and lasted a single day, the 8th of February, by the end of which Essex surrendered, having completely failed to rouse the citizenry. Essex and four of his most prominent supporters were tried and executed, while others captured were imprisoned or fined. The government had had at least some awareness that a rebellion was coming, and were able to act promptly with sufficient forces to bottle up the conspirators in Essex's house in central London, leaving them little choice but to surrender.

Read on Wikipedia · Image After Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, Public domain