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Amy Robsart
Most of you will know the story of the Earl of Leicester - Robert Dudley and the then Queen of England - Elizabeth 1st. The rumours surrounding Robert’s young wife, Amy Dudley, are also fairly well known.
She was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in their house in Oxford with a broken neck. Throughout history and also at the time of her death there has been speculation as to whether poor Amy was pushed or if she fell.
Her demise at the time could have been viewed as fortuitous as it freed Robert from an unwanted marriage, which meant that he was unencumbered and therefore available to marry the Queen.
It was generally known that he and the Queen were lovers. However, the circumstances surrounding Amy’s death and the gossip abounding at court at that time put paid to this idea. In fact the Queen even put some distance between herself and Lord Dudley, for at least a time after his wife’s death.
Amy’s father was Sir John Robsart, Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk, and a wealthy landowner. He lived at Syderstone Hall in Norfolk and this is where Amy spent her childhood. It is said that Amy’s initials can still be seen on the churchyard gate and also over the entrance to the church tower. Although, we have not had the opportunity of verifying this, yet. She was married to Robert Dudley, the younger son of John Dudley, the Duke of Northumberland, on June 5th 1550 at Sheen (Richmond) Palace. Both she and Dudley were then but 18.
It was a grand occasion with even the young King Edward VI attending the wedding. Not much is known of Amy other than that she was a quiet and charming young lady. After Elizabeth's 1 accession to the throne in November 1558 she made Robert Dudley Master of the Horse and it was widely known that she greatly favoured him.
So it was that he spent more time at court with the Queen than he ever did at his marital home with Amy. Which probably partially explains why the Dudleys had no children. It is widely believed that had Dudley been a bachelor at the time of Elizabeth’s succession to the throne wedding bells would have been rung out for him and Elizabeth. But a wife surely is of small consequence compared to a "throne" and in March 1560 even the Spanish Ambassador was writing about the affair between Robert and Elizabeth and the possibility of Dudley divorcing his wife and marrying the Queen.
Amy, who was then living in Oxfordshire, was very much aware of the speculation concerning her husband and the Queen and it is reported by her maid servant that she prayed to God each night to deliver her from the situation. Their home in Oxfordshire was Cumnor Place, a 14th Century hall built by the monks of Abingdon Abbey. After the dissolution of the monasteries Henry VIII gave Cumnor Hall to his physician George Owen. He subsequently leased it to Anthony Forster, a friend and servant of Robert Dudley. The Dudleys started living there, or rather Amy started living there in 1560.
It was the 8th September 1560 and Amy insisted that all her servants attend the fair at Abingdon, which was some three miles from the Hall, thus leaving her alone in the house. Though some say she was not alone!