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
- Part III Emancipation 1571–1574
- 15 Majority and Marriage
- 16 Country Muses
- 17 Country Matters
- 18 Murder
- 19 Mayhem
- 20 Wanderlust
- 21 Desperadoes
- 22 Flight
- 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
15 - Majority and Marriage
from Part III - Emancipation 1571–1574
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Abbreviations
- Acknowledgements
- Editorial Procedures
- Introduction
- Part I Roots 1548–1562
- Part II Youth 1562–1571
- Part III Emancipation 1571–1574
- 15 Majority and Marriage
- 16 Country Muses
- 17 Country Matters
- 18 Murder
- 19 Mayhem
- 20 Wanderlust
- 21 Desperadoes
- 22 Flight
- 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
At the approach of his twenty-first birthday, Oxford was poised to escape the constraints of wardship. The Queen proposed a celebratory tournament at Greenwich in Lent (Ash Wednesday fell this year on 28 February), as noted by the French ambassador on 23 January:
They say that the day after tomorrow [the Queen] will go down to Greenwich for the rest of the winter, where the tournament-place is already in preparation for this coming Lent, in which Oxford and Sir Charles Howard will be among the combattants.
But the tournament was postponed to the beginning of May.
In March Oxford's name appeared among ‘Friends’ in a Catholic memorandum; two months later a similar list was compiled in respect of the Ridolfi plot:
1. Friendly: – Duke of Norfolk, Marquis of Vincestri, Earls of Arandel, Oxford, Huestmorland, Nortumberland, Scialusberi, Darbi, Vorcestrie, Cumberland (a child), Pembruc, Sudampton, Viscount Montacute, Baron [] Award …
Norfolk of course was still a prisoner, Northumberland and Westmorland still outlaws.
On Monday 2 April, ten days from his majority, Oxford walked in procession for the opening of the Queen's Third Parliament, which would sit until 29 May:
The procession to Westminster was led by the fifty Gentlemen Pensioners all mounted and carrying their gilt battle-axes. After them followed, in order, the Knights of the Bath, the Barons of the Exchequer, the Judges, the Master of the Rolls, the Attorney and Solicitor General, the Lords Spiritual, the Lords Temporal, and finally the Archbishop of Canterbury. Then came the officers of State; the Marquess of Northampton with the Hat of Maintenance; the Lord Admiral Clinton, who was acting Lord Steward for the day; the Earl of Oxford, Lord Great Chamberlain; and the Earl of Worcester, who deputised as Earl Marshal in the enforced absence of the Duke of Norfolk.
As the service at Westminster Abbey concluded, the procession made its way to Westminster Hall:
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- Monstrous AdversaryThe Life of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, pp. 68 - 76Publisher: Liverpool University PressPrint publication year: 2003