Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Abbreviations
- Acknowledgements
- Editorial Procedures
- Introduction
- Part I Roots 1548–1562
- Part II Youth 1562–1571
- 8 London Wardship
- 9 Early Teens
- 10 First Blood
- 11 Restless Youth
- 12 Best Friends
- 13 Necromancer
- 14 Oxford's Letters
- Part III Emancipation 1571–1574
- Part IV Exploration 1574–1576
- Part V Alienation 1576–1579
- Part VI Intrigue 1579–1580
- Part VII Sedition 1580–1581
- Part VIII Release 1581–1585
- Part IX Reiteration 1586–1591
- Part X Renewal 1592–1595
- Part XI Re-engagement 1595–1599
- Part XII Decline 1600–1604
- Part XIII Aftermath 1604–1613
- Notes
- Appendix: Oxford's Letters and Libel Documents
- Bibliography
- Index
- Liverpool English texts and Studies
10 - First Blood
from Part II - Youth 1562–1571
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Abbreviations
- Acknowledgements
- Editorial Procedures
- Introduction
- Part I Roots 1548–1562
- Part II Youth 1562–1571
- 8 London Wardship
- 9 Early Teens
- 10 First Blood
- 11 Restless Youth
- 12 Best Friends
- 13 Necromancer
- 14 Oxford's Letters
- Part III Emancipation 1571–1574
- Part IV Exploration 1574–1576
- Part V Alienation 1576–1579
- Part VI Intrigue 1579–1580
- Part VII Sedition 1580–1581
- Part VIII Release 1581–1585
- Part IX Reiteration 1586–1591
- Part X Renewal 1592–1595
- Part XI Re-engagement 1595–1599
- Part XII Decline 1600–1604
- Part XIII Aftermath 1604–1613
- Notes
- Appendix: Oxford's Letters and Libel Documents
- Bibliography
- Index
- Liverpool English texts and Studies
Summary
On Wednesday 23 July 1567, at seventeen years and three months, in the back yard of Cecil House, Oxford killed a man. Entering the yard between seven and eight o'clock in the evening with Edward Baynam, a Westminster tailor, Oxford practised the science of defence with rapiers. Thomas Brincknell, an undercook, evidently in the Cecil household, happened by. Whether by Brincknell's unwanted interference or by Oxford's deliberate act, the Earl's foil pierced the thigh of the unarmed man, and Brincknell was dead before midnight. His body was carried to Cecil House, to await the coroner.
The next day Middlesex coroner Richard Vale convened an inquest of 17 jurymen. Cecil recalled the affair and the verdict in his retrospective Diary (ii, 764):
Thomas Bryncknell, an under Cook, was hurt by the Erle of Oxford at Cecillhouss, wherof he dyed, and by a Verdict found felo de se, with running upon a Poynt of a Fence Sword of the said Erle.
The coroner's report, in Latin, may be summarized thus:
Inquisition taken in the parish of St Martins in the Fields 24 July 1567 before Richard Vale, coroner, upon a viewing of the body of Thomas Brincknell, of Westminster, yeoman, lying dead, by seventeen jurymen (named), who affirm that on 23 July 1567 between seven and eight in the evening Edward Earl of Oxford and Edward Baynam, tailor of the same city, were together in the back yard of the residence of Sir William Cecil in the same parish, meaning no harm to anyone. Each had a sword, called a foil, and together they meant to practice the science of defence. Along came Thomas Brincknell, drunk, … who ran and fell upon the point of the Earl of Oxford's foil (worth twelve pence), which Oxford held in his right hand intending to play (as they call it). In the course of which, with this foil Thomas (Brincknell) gave himself a wound to the front of his thigh four inches deep and one inch wide, of which he died instantly. This, to the exclusion of all other explanations, was the way he died.
The report states further that Brincknell had not kept God before his eyes, but rather had been driven to this act of desperation at the instigation of and seduced by the Devil.
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- Monstrous AdversaryThe Life of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, pp. 47 - 48Publisher: Liverpool University PressPrint publication year: 2003