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Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury ( June 1, 1563 - May 24, 1612), son of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley and half-brother of Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, statesman, spymaster and minister to Elizabeth I of England and James I of England. Robert Cecil is the one who tore down most of the old palace of Hatfield House and built the new one.
Robert Cecil was vilified by some of his contemporaries and, as is still common today, some of his less attractive physical features were exaggerated to make an ideological point. His appearance in 1588 is described in Motley's History of the Netherlands this way: "A slight, crooked, hump-backed young gentleman, dwarfish in stature, but with a face not irregular in feature, and thoughtful and subtle in expression, with reddish hair, a thin tawny beard, and large, pathetic, greenish-coloured eyes, with a mind and manners already trained to courts and cabinets, and with a disposition almost ingenuous, as compared to the massive dissimulation with which it was to be contrasted, and with what was, in aftertimes, to constitute a portion of his own character..."
Queen Elizabeth is said to have referred to him as "my elf" or "my pigmy", the latter term not to his liking.Cecil was made Secretary of State following the death of Sir Francis Walsingham in 1590, and he became the leading minister after the death of his father in 1598, serving both Elizabeth and James as Secretary of State. James raised him to the peerage on August 20, 1603Events March 24 Death of Elizabeth I of England her cousin King James VI of Scotland succeeds her uniting the crowns of Scotland and England April 28 Funeral of Elizabeth I of England in Westminster Abbey July 17 or July 19 Sir Walter Raleigh arrested for as Baron Cecil of Essendon, before advancing him to Viscount Cranborne in 1604Events January 14 Hampton Court conference with James I of England, the Anglican bishops and representatives of Puritans September 20 Capture of Ostend by Spanish forces under Ambrosio Spinola after a three year siege. November 1 At Whitehall Palace in Lo and then Earl of Salisbury in 1605Events April 13 Tsar Boris Godunow dies Feodor II accedes to the throne May 16 Paul V becomes Pope June 1 Russian troops in Moscow imprison Feodor II and his mother. They are later executed June 20 Pretender Dmitri and his supporters march to Moscow July.
Cecile was extensively involved in matters of state security. The son of William Cecil, Lord Burghley (one of Elizabeth's spymasters) and a protege of Sir Francis Walsingham (Elizabeth's principal spymaster), he was trained by them in matters of spycraft as a matter of course.
In 1603Events March 24 Death of Elizabeth I of England her cousin King James VI of Scotland succeeds her uniting the crowns of Scotland and England April 28 Funeral of Elizabeth I of England in Westminster Abbey July 17 or July 19 Sir Walter Raleigh arrested for his brother-in-law Henry Brooke, Lord Cobham, was implicated in both the Bye PlotThe Bye Plot was a conspiracy by English Catholics to kidnap King James I of England and force him to repeal anti-Catholic legislation. The plot was revealed by English Jesuits in 1603, such as Father Henry Garnet, who informed the government because they and also the Main Plot, which were an attempt to remove James from the throne and replace him with Lady Arabella Stuart.
In 1605 Cecil was extensively involved in events surrounding the Gunpowder Plot, as naturally would be the case with someone in his position. There are some who argue that Cecil was in point of fact the eminence gris behind the plot itself, seeing it as a way to move James I's position from one of relative tolerance of the catholics to one of repression. A number of these arguments are interesting but ultimately inconclusive. Certainly it would not be the only occasion when the agenda of the British secret service was somewhat less desirable than would appear to be for the greater public good.
One of the arguments used to attempt to inculpate Cecil in the plot are the death-bed allegations of Robert Catesby's servant stating that Cecil and Catesby, one of the principal Gunpowder Plotters, met on three separate occasions in the period leading up to the events of the night of November 5 1605. This allegation may of course be entirely unfounded given that the witness may well have been attempting to smear Cecil.
More interesting however, are the circumstances of the death of another person arrested in connection with the Plot, Francis Tresham, who some argue may well have been an agent working for Cecil. His death was officially listed as one of natural causes, although some have argued that he was poisoned in order to prevent him from making revelations which would not have been in either Cecil or Lord Monteagle's interests.
| Preceded by: Sir Francis Walsingham | Secretary of State 1590–1612 | Followed by: Unknown |
| Preceded by: In Commission | Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1597-1599 | Followed by: In Commission |
| Preceded by: The Lord Burghley | Lord Privy Seal 1598–1608 | Followed by: The Earl of Northampton |
| Preceded by: The Earl of Dorset | Lord High Treasurer 1608–1612 | Followed by: In Commission |
| Preceded by: New Creation | Earl of Salisbury | Succeeded by: William Cecil |
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