Robert Dudley, styled Earl of Warwick
Encyclopedia
Sir Robert Dudley was an English
explorer and cartographer. In 1594, he led an expedition to the West Indies, of which he wrote an account. The illegitimate son of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
, he inherited the bulk of the Earl's estate in accordance with his father's will, including Kenilworth Castle
. In 1603–1605 he tried unsuccessfully to establish his legitimacy in court. After that he left England
forever, finding a new existence in the service of the grand duke
s of Tuscany
. There he worked as an engineer and shipbuilder and designed and published Dell'Arcano del Mare
, the first maritime atlas
to cover the whole world. He was also a skilled navigator
and mathematician. In Italy he styled himself "Earl of Warwick and Leicester", as well as "Duke of Northumberland", a title recognized by the Emperor Ferdinand II
.
and his lover Lady Douglas Sheffield
, daughter of William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham
. He grew up in the houses of his father and his father's friends, but had leave to see his mother whenever she wished. Lady Sheffield married Sir Edward Stafford
in November 1579, and left for the Continent. Leicester was fond of his son and often made trips to see him. Dudley was given an excellent education and enrolled into Christ Church, Oxford
in 1587 with the status of filius comitis, Earl's son. There his mentor was Thomas Chaloner
, who also became his close friend. In 1588, when the Spanish Armada
threatened England, the 14-year-old Robert joined his father, who was commanding the army at Camp Tilbury
, preparing to resist a Spanish invasion. On 4 September the Earl of Leicester died. The Earl's will gave Dudley a large inheritance, including the castle and estate at Kenilworth
and the lordships of Denbigh
and Chirk
, on the death of his uncle, Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick
.
In early 1591, Dudley made a formal contract to marry Frances Vavasour with the consent of Queen Elizabeth, who liked Dudley very much but wished him to wait until he was older. Frances married someone else secretly later that year and was banished from court. In turn, the 17-year-old Dudley married Margaret Cavendish, sister of Sir Thomas Cavendish
—in whose last voyage he had probably invested. Dudley was excluded from court for this secret marriage, but only for a few days. His father-in-law, Robert Cavendish, gave Margaret two ships, the Leicester and the Roebuck. She soon died without having children.
Beare, the Beare's Whelpe and the pinnaces Earwig and Frisking. He intended to use them to harass the Spaniards in the Atlantic. The Queen did not approve of his plans because of his inexperience and the value of the ships. She did commission him as a general but insisted that he sail to Guiana
instead.
Dudley recruited 275 veteran sailors, including the navigator Abraham Kendal, and the captains Thomas Jobson and Benjamin Wood. Dudley's fleet sailed on 6 November 1594, but a sudden storm separated the ships and drove the vessels back to different ports. He sent word to the captain of the Beare's Whelp to join him in the Canary Islands
or Cabo Blanco and sailed again. At first Dudley's trip proved unlucky—the Earwig sank and most of the vessels they encountered were friendly. Dudley led only one raid in the Gulf of Lagos. In December the expedition finally managed to capture two Spanish ships at Tenerife
. Dudley renamed them Intent and Regard, manned them with his sailors and put Captain Woods in charge. He sailed to Cabo Blanco, expecting to meet the Beare's Whelpe there, but it did not show up. Dudley's fleet sailed to Trinidad
and anchored at Cedros Bay on 31 January 1595. There he discovered an island that he claimed for the English crown and named Dudleiana. Then he sailed to Paracoa Bay for repairs and made a reconnaissance to San Jose de Oruna but decided not to attack it. Dudley divided his forces, sending the Intent and Regard to the north. In Trinidad Dudley recruited a Spanish-speaking Indian who promised to escort an expedition to a gold mine up the Orinoco River. The expedition led by Captain Jobson returned after two weeks—as it turned out, their guide had deserted them and they had struggled back. Dudley returned to Trinidad.
On 12 March Dudley's fleet sailed north, where they finally captured a Spanish merchantman. Then it sailed to Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico
, waited for suitable prey for some time and then sailed towards Bermuda
. A storm blew the Beare north to near what is now New England before the fleet finally reached the Azores
. Low on provisions and working guns, Dudley sailed for home but met a Spanish man-of-war on the way. Dudley managed to outmanoeuvre and cripple it in a two-day battle but decided not to board it. The Beare arrived at St. Ives, Cornwall at the end of May 1595 and Dudley heard that Captain Woods had taken three ships.
The next year, 1595, Dudley joined Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex
to serve as a commander of the Nonpareil in the expedition against Cadiz
. He was later knighted for his conduct in that battle although what he did was not recorded. Shortly afterwards he married Alice Leigh, daughter of Sir Thomas Leigh
.
In 1597 Dudley sent Captain Woods to China with the Beare and Beare's Whelp, but they never returned.
and Earl of Warwick
, as well as to inherit his deceased uncle Ambrose Dudley's
estate of Warwick Castle
. The case came before the Star Chamber
in 1604–1605 and aroused great public interest. 90 witnesses for Dudley and 57 for the widowed Countess of Leicester, Lettice Knollys
, appeared. Dudley won, and possibly pressured, his mother to support his cause, so she declared in writing (she did not attend the trial personally) that Leicester had solemnly contracted to marry her in Cannon Row, Westminster
in 1571, and that they were married at Esher
, Surrey
, "in wintertime" in 1573. Yet all of the ten putative witnesses ("besides others") to the ceremony were long dead since. Neither could she remember who the "minister" was, nor the exact date of the marriage. The Star Chamber rejected the evidence and fined several of the witnesses. It was concluded that Sir Robert Dudley had been duped by Thomas Drury, who in his turn had sought "his own private gains". King James ratified the judgement and it was handed down on 10 May 1605. In 1621 an official investigation in Tuscany
, Dudley's new country, concluded that Dudley's "friends maintain that his father married Lady Sheffield, but they are unable to account for her marriage during his lifetime, an act so injurious to the alleged legitimacy of her son."
Dudley left England in July 1605 by Calais. His lover and cousin Elizabeth Southwell accompanied him, disguised as a page. She was a daughter of Sir Robert Southwell and Lady Elizabeth Howard, who was a granddaughter of Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham
, Dudley's uncle. The couple declared that they had converted to Catholicism
. Dudley married Elizabeth Southwell in Lyon
in 1606, after they had received a papal dispensation because they were blood relatives, and they first settled in Florence
. He began to use his father's title of Earl of Leicester and his uncle's title of Earl of Warwick.
Dudley designed and built warships for the arsenal of Tuscany and became a naval advisor to Ferdinand I, Grand Duke of Tuscany, of the Medici family. He received an annuity of 2,000 ducat
s. In 1608 Dudley convinced the Duke to send the privateer galleon Santa Lucia Buonaventura to Guiana and northern Brazil in the only tentative of Italian colonization in the Americas.
and his estate was confiscated. He continued contacts with the English court through Sir Thomas Chaloner, who was now a chamberlain to Henry, Prince of Wales. He corresponded with the young Prince on the subjects of navigation
and shipbuilding
and in 1611 tried to broker a marriage between him and Caterina, daughter of Duke Ferdinand. Meanwhile, Henry Frederick had taken a fancy to Kenilworth Castle, calling it "the most noble and magnificent thing in the midland parts of this realm". Wanting it, he was willing to buy it from Dudley and agreed in 1611 to pay £14,500, with Dudley to hold the office of constable
of the castle for his lifetime. When Henry died in 1612, only £3,000 had been paid, and it is unclear whether Dudley ever received it. The new Prince of Wales, Charles
, then took possession of the castle but failed to pay the balance owing. In 1621, he got an Act of Parliament
allowing Dudley's wife to sell the estate to him for £4,000.
In 1618, James I transferred the Earldoms of Leicester and Warwick to others. In 1620, Dudley convinced Grand Duchess Maria Maddalena, wife of the new duke Cosimo II, to ask her brother Emperor Ferdinand II
, to recognize his claim to his grandfather's title of Duke of Northumberland
. Dudley succeeded on 9 March 1620, and James I severed all negotiations for conciliation.
's breakwater
and harbour fortifications, draining local swamps, and building a palace in the heart of Florence. He also designed new galleys, and he wrote his memoirs of navigation and seamanship between 1610 and 1620. Later, Dudley incorporated his notes into six volumes of Dell'Arcano del Mare
(The Secret of the Sea), self-published in 1646–1647. He also wrote a Maritime Directory as a manual for the Tuscan Navy but it was never published. In 1631 his wife Elizabeth died the day after giving birth to her last child. Several of his 13 children with her married into the Italian nobility. In 1644 King Charles I
created Alice Dudley, Duchess of Dudley for life—without significant prerogatives—and recognized Dudley's legitimacy but did not restore his titles and estate. Robert Dudley died on 6 September 1649 outside Florence in Villa Rinieri. He was buried at San Pancrazio in Florence.
(Secrets of the Sea). It includes a comprehensive treatise on navigation and shipbuilding and it has become renowned as the first atlas of sea charts of the world. Dell'Arcano del Mare consists of six known volumes that illustrate Dudley's knowledge of navigation, shipbuilding
and astronomy
and it includes 130 original maps, all his own creations and not copied from existing maps, which was unusual for the period. Originally published at Florence in 1645 in Italian, they represent a collection of all contemporary naval knowledge. The atlas also includes a proposal for the construction of a fleet of five rates (sizes) of ships, which Dudley had designed and described. Dell'Arcano del Mare was reprinted in Florence in 1661 without the charts of the first edition. The distinctive character of Dudley's charts was influenced by the Italian baroque engraver
Antonio Francesco Lucini. Later mapmakers chose not to copy Dudley's style and so it became a unique and rare relic in the history of cartography. Lucini recorded that he had spent 12 years and 5,000 pounds of copper to produce the plates.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
explorer and cartographer. In 1594, he led an expedition to the West Indies, of which he wrote an account. The illegitimate son of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, KG was an English nobleman and the favourite and close friend of Elizabeth I from her first year on the throne until his death...
, he inherited the bulk of the Earl's estate in accordance with his father's will, including Kenilworth Castle
Kenilworth Castle
Kenilworth Castle is located in the town of the same name in Warwickshire, England. Constructed from Norman through to Tudor times, the castle has been described by architectural historian Anthony Emery as "the finest surviving example of a semi-royal palace of the later middle ages, significant...
. In 1603–1605 he tried unsuccessfully to establish his legitimacy in court. After that he left England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
forever, finding a new existence in the service of the grand duke
Grand Duke
The title grand duke is used in Western Europe and particularly in Germanic countries for provincial sovereigns. Grand duke is of a protocolary rank below a king but higher than a sovereign duke. Grand duke is also the usual and established translation of grand prince in languages which do not...
s of Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
. There he worked as an engineer and shipbuilder and designed and published Dell'Arcano del Mare
Dell'Arcano del Mare
Dell'Arcano del Mare by Sir Robert Dudley is a 17th century maritime encyclopedia, the sixth part of which comprises a maritime atlas of the entire world, which is the first such in print, the first made by an Englishman, and the first to use the Mercator projection...
, the first maritime atlas
Atlas
An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a map of Earth or a region of Earth, but there are atlases of the other planets in the Solar System. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats...
to cover the whole world. He was also a skilled navigator
Navigator
A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation. The navigator's primary responsibility is to be aware of ship or aircraft position at all times. Responsibilities include planning the journey, advising the Captain or aircraft Commander of estimated timing to...
and mathematician. In Italy he styled himself "Earl of Warwick and Leicester", as well as "Duke of Northumberland", a title recognized by the Emperor Ferdinand II
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand II , a member of the House of Habsburg, was Holy Roman Emperor , King of Bohemia , and King of Hungary . His rule coincided with the Thirty Years' War.- Life :...
.
Early life
Robert Dudley was the son of the Earl of LeicesterRobert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, KG was an English nobleman and the favourite and close friend of Elizabeth I from her first year on the throne until his death...
and his lover Lady Douglas Sheffield
Lady Douglas Sheffield
Douglas Sheffield , Baroness Sheffield, née Howard, was an English noblewoman and the mother of the explorer and cartographer Sir Robert Dudley, illegitimate son of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester...
, daughter of William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham
William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham
William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham , was the eldest son of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk by his second wife, Agnes Tilney...
. He grew up in the houses of his father and his father's friends, but had leave to see his mother whenever she wished. Lady Sheffield married Sir Edward Stafford
Edward Stafford (diplomat)
Sir Edward Stafford was an English MP, courtier and diplomat to France during the time of Elizabeth I.He was involved in abortive negotiations for a proposed marriage between Elizabeth and Francis, Duke of Anjou....
in November 1579, and left for the Continent. Leicester was fond of his son and often made trips to see him. Dudley was given an excellent education and enrolled into Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
in 1587 with the status of filius comitis, Earl's son. There his mentor was Thomas Chaloner
Thomas Chaloner (naturalist)
Sir Thomas Chaloner was an English naturalist.-Life:He was the son of statesman and poet Sir Thomas Chaloner. He was tutor to Prince Henry, son of James I, and was also responsible for introducing alum manufacturing to England. He was Member of Parliament for St Mawes in 1586 and for Lostwithiel...
, who also became his close friend. In 1588, when the Spanish Armada
Spanish Armada
This article refers to the Battle of Gravelines, for the modern navy of Spain, see Spanish NavyThe Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English...
threatened England, the 14-year-old Robert joined his father, who was commanding the army at Camp Tilbury
Tilbury
Tilbury is a town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. As a settlement it is of relatively recent existence, although it has important historical connections, being the location of a 16th century fort and an ancient cross-river ferry...
, preparing to resist a Spanish invasion. On 4 September the Earl of Leicester died. The Earl's will gave Dudley a large inheritance, including the castle and estate at Kenilworth
Kenilworth
Kenilworth is a town in central Warwickshire, England. In 2001 the town had a population of 22,582 . It is situated south of Coventry, north of Warwick and northwest of London....
and the lordships of Denbigh
Denbigh
Denbigh is a market town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. Before 1888, it was the county town of Denbighshire. Denbigh lies 8 miles to the north west of Ruthin and to the south of St Asaph. It is about 13 miles from the seaside resort of Rhyl. The town grew around the glove-making industry...
and Chirk
Chirk
Chirk is a small town and local government community, the lowest tier of local government, part of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It has a population of over 4,000....
, on the death of his uncle, Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick
Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick
Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick, KG was an English nobleman and general, and an elder brother of Queen Elizabeth I's favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester...
.
In early 1591, Dudley made a formal contract to marry Frances Vavasour with the consent of Queen Elizabeth, who liked Dudley very much but wished him to wait until he was older. Frances married someone else secretly later that year and was banished from court. In turn, the 17-year-old Dudley married Margaret Cavendish, sister of Sir Thomas Cavendish
Thomas Cavendish
Sir Thomas Cavendish was an English explorer and a privateer known as "The Navigator" because he was the first who deliberately tried to emulate Sir Francis Drake and raid the Spanish towns and ships in the Pacific and return by circumnavigating the globe...
—in whose last voyage he had probably invested. Dudley was excluded from court for this secret marriage, but only for a few days. His father-in-law, Robert Cavendish, gave Margaret two ships, the Leicester and the Roebuck. She soon died without having children.
Expedition to the West Indies
In 1594, Dudley assembled a fleet of ships, including his flagship the galleonGalleon
A galleon was a large, multi-decked sailing ship used primarily by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries. Whether used for war or commerce, they were generally armed with the demi-culverin type of cannon.-Etymology:...
Beare, the Beare's Whelpe and the pinnaces Earwig and Frisking. He intended to use them to harass the Spaniards in the Atlantic. The Queen did not approve of his plans because of his inexperience and the value of the ships. She did commission him as a general but insisted that he sail to Guiana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
instead.
Dudley recruited 275 veteran sailors, including the navigator Abraham Kendal, and the captains Thomas Jobson and Benjamin Wood. Dudley's fleet sailed on 6 November 1594, but a sudden storm separated the ships and drove the vessels back to different ports. He sent word to the captain of the Beare's Whelp to join him in the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
or Cabo Blanco and sailed again. At first Dudley's trip proved unlucky—the Earwig sank and most of the vessels they encountered were friendly. Dudley led only one raid in the Gulf of Lagos. In December the expedition finally managed to capture two Spanish ships at Tenerife
Tenerife
Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...
. Dudley renamed them Intent and Regard, manned them with his sailors and put Captain Woods in charge. He sailed to Cabo Blanco, expecting to meet the Beare's Whelpe there, but it did not show up. Dudley's fleet sailed to Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
and anchored at Cedros Bay on 31 January 1595. There he discovered an island that he claimed for the English crown and named Dudleiana. Then he sailed to Paracoa Bay for repairs and made a reconnaissance to San Jose de Oruna but decided not to attack it. Dudley divided his forces, sending the Intent and Regard to the north. In Trinidad Dudley recruited a Spanish-speaking Indian who promised to escort an expedition to a gold mine up the Orinoco River. The expedition led by Captain Jobson returned after two weeks—as it turned out, their guide had deserted them and they had struggled back. Dudley returned to Trinidad.
On 12 March Dudley's fleet sailed north, where they finally captured a Spanish merchantman. Then it sailed to Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, waited for suitable prey for some time and then sailed towards Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
. A storm blew the Beare north to near what is now New England before the fleet finally reached the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
. Low on provisions and working guns, Dudley sailed for home but met a Spanish man-of-war on the way. Dudley managed to outmanoeuvre and cripple it in a two-day battle but decided not to board it. The Beare arrived at St. Ives, Cornwall at the end of May 1595 and Dudley heard that Captain Woods had taken three ships.
The next year, 1595, Dudley joined Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG was an English nobleman and a favourite of Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following a poor campaign in Ireland during the Nine Years' War in 1599...
to serve as a commander of the Nonpareil in the expedition against Cadiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
. He was later knighted for his conduct in that battle although what he did was not recorded. Shortly afterwards he married Alice Leigh, daughter of Sir Thomas Leigh
Sir Thomas Leigh
Sir Thomas Leigh was Lord Mayor of London in 1558.He is the ancestor that links Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Prince Harry of Wales and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge as cousins...
.
In 1597 Dudley sent Captain Woods to China with the Beare and Beare's Whelp, but they never returned.
Claiming legitimacy
In May 1603 Dudley was apparently told by a shadowy adventurer called Thomas Drury that his parents had been secretly married. He began trying to establish his claim to the titles of Earl of LeicesterEarl of Leicester
The title Earl of Leicester was created in the 12th century in the Peerage of England , and is currently a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1837.-Early creations:...
and Earl of Warwick
Earl of Warwick
Earl of Warwick is a title that has been created four times in British history and is one of the most prestigious titles in the peerages of the British Isles.-1088 creation:...
, as well as to inherit his deceased uncle Ambrose Dudley's
Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick
Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick, KG was an English nobleman and general, and an elder brother of Queen Elizabeth I's favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester...
estate of Warwick Castle
Warwick Castle
Warwick Castle is a medieval castle in Warwick, the county town of Warwickshire, England. It sits on a bend on the River Avon. The castle was built by William the Conqueror in 1068 within or adjacent to the Anglo-Saxon burh of Warwick. It was used as a fortification until the early 17th century,...
. The case came before the Star Chamber
Star Chamber
The Star Chamber was an English court of law that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster until 1641. It was made up of Privy Counsellors, as well as common-law judges and supplemented the activities of the common-law and equity courts in both civil and criminal matters...
in 1604–1605 and aroused great public interest. 90 witnesses for Dudley and 57 for the widowed Countess of Leicester, Lettice Knollys
Lettice Knollys
Lettice Knollys , Countess of Essex and Countess of Leicester , was an English noblewoman and mother to the courtiers Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex and Lady Penelope Rich; through her marriage to Elizabeth I's favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, she incurred the Queen's undying...
, appeared. Dudley won, and possibly pressured, his mother to support his cause, so she declared in writing (she did not attend the trial personally) that Leicester had solemnly contracted to marry her in Cannon Row, Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
in 1571, and that they were married at Esher
Esher
Esher is a town in the Surrey borough of Elmbridge in South East England near the River Mole. It is a very prosperous part of the Greater London Urban Area, largely suburban in character, and is situated 14.1 miles south west of Charing Cross....
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, "in wintertime" in 1573. Yet all of the ten putative witnesses ("besides others") to the ceremony were long dead since. Neither could she remember who the "minister" was, nor the exact date of the marriage. The Star Chamber rejected the evidence and fined several of the witnesses. It was concluded that Sir Robert Dudley had been duped by Thomas Drury, who in his turn had sought "his own private gains". King James ratified the judgement and it was handed down on 10 May 1605. In 1621 an official investigation in Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
, Dudley's new country, concluded that Dudley's "friends maintain that his father married Lady Sheffield, but they are unable to account for her marriage during his lifetime, an act so injurious to the alleged legitimacy of her son."
In Italy
Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham
Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham , known as Howard of Effingham, was an English statesman and Lord High Admiral under Elizabeth I and James I...
, Dudley's uncle. The couple declared that they had converted to Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
. Dudley married Elizabeth Southwell in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
in 1606, after they had received a papal dispensation because they were blood relatives, and they first settled in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
. He began to use his father's title of Earl of Leicester and his uncle's title of Earl of Warwick.
Dudley designed and built warships for the arsenal of Tuscany and became a naval advisor to Ferdinand I, Grand Duke of Tuscany, of the Medici family. He received an annuity of 2,000 ducat
Ducat
The ducat is a gold coin that was used as a trade coin throughout Europe before World War I. Its weight is 3.4909 grams of .986 gold, which is 0.1107 troy ounce, actual gold weight...
s. In 1608 Dudley convinced the Duke to send the privateer galleon Santa Lucia Buonaventura to Guiana and northern Brazil in the only tentative of Italian colonization in the Americas.
Attempts at reconciliation
James I revoked Dudley's travel license in 1607. When he ordered Dudley to return home to provide for his deserted wife and family, Dudley refused. He was declared an outlawOutlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
and his estate was confiscated. He continued contacts with the English court through Sir Thomas Chaloner, who was now a chamberlain to Henry, Prince of Wales. He corresponded with the young Prince on the subjects of navigation
Navigation
Navigation is the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks...
and shipbuilding
Shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...
and in 1611 tried to broker a marriage between him and Caterina, daughter of Duke Ferdinand. Meanwhile, Henry Frederick had taken a fancy to Kenilworth Castle, calling it "the most noble and magnificent thing in the midland parts of this realm". Wanting it, he was willing to buy it from Dudley and agreed in 1611 to pay £14,500, with Dudley to hold the office of constable
Constable
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions.-Etymology:...
of the castle for his lifetime. When Henry died in 1612, only £3,000 had been paid, and it is unclear whether Dudley ever received it. The new Prince of Wales, Charles
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
, then took possession of the castle but failed to pay the balance owing. In 1621, he got an Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
allowing Dudley's wife to sell the estate to him for £4,000.
In 1618, James I transferred the Earldoms of Leicester and Warwick to others. In 1620, Dudley convinced Grand Duchess Maria Maddalena, wife of the new duke Cosimo II, to ask her brother Emperor Ferdinand II
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand II , a member of the House of Habsburg, was Holy Roman Emperor , King of Bohemia , and King of Hungary . His rule coincided with the Thirty Years' War.- Life :...
, to recognize his claim to his grandfather's title of Duke of Northumberland
Duke of Northumberland
The Duke of Northumberland is a title in the peerage of Great Britain that has been created several times. Since the third creation in 1766, the title has belonged to the House of Percy , which held the title of Earl of Northumberland from 1377....
. Dudley succeeded on 9 March 1620, and James I severed all negotiations for conciliation.
Later years
In addition to shipbuilding, Dudley was busy with many projects in Tuscany, including the LivornoLivorno
Livorno , traditionally Leghorn , is a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of approximately 160,000 residents in 2009.- History :...
's breakwater
Breakwater (structure)
Breakwaters are structures constructed on coasts as part of coastal defence or to protect an anchorage from the effects of weather and longshore drift.-Purposes of breakwaters:...
and harbour fortifications, draining local swamps, and building a palace in the heart of Florence. He also designed new galleys, and he wrote his memoirs of navigation and seamanship between 1610 and 1620. Later, Dudley incorporated his notes into six volumes of Dell'Arcano del Mare
Dell'Arcano del Mare
Dell'Arcano del Mare by Sir Robert Dudley is a 17th century maritime encyclopedia, the sixth part of which comprises a maritime atlas of the entire world, which is the first such in print, the first made by an Englishman, and the first to use the Mercator projection...
(The Secret of the Sea), self-published in 1646–1647. He also wrote a Maritime Directory as a manual for the Tuscan Navy but it was never published. In 1631 his wife Elizabeth died the day after giving birth to her last child. Several of his 13 children with her married into the Italian nobility. In 1644 King Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
created Alice Dudley, Duchess of Dudley for life—without significant prerogatives—and recognized Dudley's legitimacy but did not restore his titles and estate. Robert Dudley died on 6 September 1649 outside Florence in Villa Rinieri. He was buried at San Pancrazio in Florence.
Dell'Arcano del Mare
The most important of Dudley's works was Dell'Arcano del MareDell'Arcano del Mare
Dell'Arcano del Mare by Sir Robert Dudley is a 17th century maritime encyclopedia, the sixth part of which comprises a maritime atlas of the entire world, which is the first such in print, the first made by an Englishman, and the first to use the Mercator projection...
(Secrets of the Sea). It includes a comprehensive treatise on navigation and shipbuilding and it has become renowned as the first atlas of sea charts of the world. Dell'Arcano del Mare consists of six known volumes that illustrate Dudley's knowledge of navigation, shipbuilding
Shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...
and astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
and it includes 130 original maps, all his own creations and not copied from existing maps, which was unusual for the period. Originally published at Florence in 1645 in Italian, they represent a collection of all contemporary naval knowledge. The atlas also includes a proposal for the construction of a fleet of five rates (sizes) of ships, which Dudley had designed and described. Dell'Arcano del Mare was reprinted in Florence in 1661 without the charts of the first edition. The distinctive character of Dudley's charts was influenced by the Italian baroque engraver
Engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...
Antonio Francesco Lucini. Later mapmakers chose not to copy Dudley's style and so it became a unique and rare relic in the history of cartography. Lucini recorded that he had spent 12 years and 5,000 pounds of copper to produce the plates.
External links
- Dudley, Robert Jr: Dell'arcano del mare. Digitized copy of The National Library of Finland.