The Fall of Phaeton, by Rubens
Like the Phaeton of mythology, as a youth Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, seemed to have everything one could desire – wealth, status, friends, attractive physical appearance, athletic ability, and talent as a writer and musician. Yet in many ways his life resembles Phaeton’s dramatic fall, and Oxford himself appreciated the parallel, signing a sonnet in 1591 ‘Phaeton to his friend Florio’.
The documents reprinted below illustrate Oxford’s fall from a position of wealth and power to a nadir in 1590-1. In 1591 he remarried, and in 1592 his first surviving male heir was born. From that time on Oxford gradually attempted to rebuild his fortunes, a project which met with little success during the reign of Elizabeth, but which took a marked turn for the better when James I became King of England. However it was cut short by Oxford’s death on 24 June 1604, only a year after King James’ accession.
DOCUMENTS IN THE LIFE OF EDWARD DE VERE, 17TH
EARL OF OXFORD, REPRINTED HERE FOR RESEARCH PURPOSES ONLY
1415
Last will and testament of Richard Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford, dated 6 August 1415, and acquittance issued to his widow and executrix Alice (Sergeaux) Vere on 22 September 1417
1442
Last will and testament of Edward Tyrrell of Downham, whose wife, Anne, was a first cousin of John de Vere (d.1462), 12th Earl of Oxford
1489
Plea of 13th Earl of Oxford before justices in eyre on 17 August 1489 for confirmation of liberties in Waltham Forest and the keeping of the house and park of Havering, later claimed by Oxford in his own lifetime and restored to him by King James
1509
Last will and testament, dated 10 April 1509, of John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford
Last will and testament, dated 23 April 1509, of Sir Robert Corbet, whose sister Elizabeth married Thomas Trentham, great-grandfather of Oxford's second wife, Elizabeth Trentham, and whose sister Mary was the great-grandmother of Southampton's wife, Elizabeth Vernon
1532
Last will and testament, dated 24 October 1532, of John Salter, whose daughter Jane married Sir William Sneyd, and whose grand-daughter, Mary Chetwynd, married Oxford's trustee, Ralph Sneyd, maternal uncle of Oxford's second wife, Elizabeth Trentham
1534
Letters patent of 23 March 1534 by which Henry VIII granted the great garden property at Aldgate to Lord Audley
1540
Account of annual rental values of lands inherited, both in possession and in reversion, by John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford, upon the death of his father John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford, on 20 March 1540
Last will and testament, dated 6 June 1540, of John Tyrrell of Heron, who is mentioned, along with his father and his brothers Charles and George, in the inquisition post mortem of John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford
1542
Last will and testament, dated 12 May 1542, of John Holland, one of the household chaplains of John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford
Last will and testament, dated 12 September and 6 October 1542, of John Neville (1493-1543), 3rd Lord Latimer, whose first wife was Dorothy de Vere (d.1527), sister and co-heir of John de Vere (1499-1526), 14th Earl of Oxford
1544
Extract from will of Lord Audley of 19 April 1544 re great garden property at Aldgate
1548
Licence dated 30 January 1548 from King Edward VI to John, 16th Earl of Oxford, authorizing alienation of manors to Edward, Duke of Somerset, Michael Stanhope, Thomas Darcy, and John Lucas
Exemplification dated 18 April 1548 of the fine of 10 February 1548 and 15 April 1548 by which the lands of the Oxford earldom were transferred to Somerset
Letter of 27 June 1548 from Sir Thomas Darcy to his first cousin, Sir Michael Stanhope, brother-in-law of the Protector Somerset, re preventing a marriage between the 16th Earl of Oxford and Mistress Dorothy
Last will and testament of Oxford's maternal grandfather, John Golding
Entry in parish register of Belchamp St. Paul of marriage of 16th Earl of Oxford and Margery Golding on 1 August 1548
1550
BL MS Add. 5751A, f. 283 (formerly 291)
Letter of 17 April 1550 to Sir Anthony Aucher re christening gift from Edward VI after Oxford’s birth on 12 April 1550
1552
First surviving last will and testament of John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford, dated 21 December 1552, with a memorandum dated 28 January 1554
Act of Parliament of 23 January 1552 by which the 16th Earl’s lands were restored to him after Somerset’s fraud and extortion
Copy made 17 May 1552 of Act of Parliament by which the 16th Earl’s lands were restored to him after Somerset’s fraud and extortion
1558
Last will and testament, dated 20 January 1558, of Ursula (nee de Vere) Knightley, niece of John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford (d.1513), and sister and co-heir of John de Vere, 14th Earl of Oxford (1499-1526)
Last will and testament, dated 27 March 1558, of Oxford's paternal uncle, Thomas, 1st Lord Darcy of Chiche
Last will and testament, dated 10 August 1558, of William, 2nd Lord Windsor (d.1558), whose son Edward, 3rd Lord Windsor (d.1575) married Oxford's half-sister, Katherine de Vere (d.1600); the will mentions her dowry and jointure
1562
HUNTINGTON LIBRARY MS HAP o/s Box 3(19)
Indenture of 1 July 1562 between the 16th Earl of Oxford and Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon, providing for a contract a marriage between Oxford and one of Huntingdon's sisters
Indenture of 2 June 1562 by which the 16th Earl appointed the Duke of Norfolk, Sir Robert Dudley, and Sir Thomas Golding as trustees of all his lands
Second surviving will of John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford, dated 28 July 1562 and probated 29 May 1563
Survey by the feodary John Glascock of the value of the 16th Earl’s of Oxford's lands in Essex
Program of studies drawn up for Oxford shortly after he came to live at Cecil House as the Queen's ward
List of all the lands and the office of Lord Great Chamberlain held by the 16th Earl at his death, together with their individual values, totalling £2321 1s 9d
1563
Inquisition post mortem taken at Stratford Langthorne in Essex on 18 January 1563, five months after the death on 3 August 1562 of John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford
PRO C 142/136/12 English translation
Inquisition post mortem taken at Stratford Langthorne in Essex on 18 January 1563, five months after the death on 3 August 1562 of John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford
List of 103 knights' fees held by John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford, at his death, valued at £6 1s 10d in total
Declaration of 16th Earl of Oxford's legal title to the properties left by him at his death
Receipt issued by Arthur Golding for one half year's rent for Oxford's manor of Colbrooke received on 22 May 1563 from John Dawe, bailiff
Certificate dated 24 May 1563 issued by John Purvey, feodary of Hertfordshire, for his survey of all the 16th Earl's lands in that county made pursuant to a commission directed to him after the 16th Earl's death on 3 August 1562
Receipt issued by Arthur Golding for one half year's rent for Oxford's manor of Christian Malford received on 26 May 1563 from Jerome Balborough, bailiff
Receipt issued by Arthur Golding for rents received in 1563 from the bailiffs of Oxford's manors of Colbrooke and Christian Malford
Arthur Golding’s petition of 28 June 1563 requesting the Archbishop of Canterbury to stay proceedings by Oxford’s half-sister, Lady Katherine Windsor
Oxford's letter re his studies written in French to Sir William Cecil on 19 August 1563
Account by Thomas Lee, deputy to Jerome Balborough, for Oxford's manor of Christian Malford for the year 29 September 1562 to 29 September 1563
BL MS Lansdowne 6/34, ff. 96-7
Letter of 11 October 1563 from Margery Golding to Sir William Cecil re rent corn for her household which Lord Robert Dudley's servants had forbidden the tenants to provide to her
Queen’s grant 22 October 1563 of Oxford’s lands to Lord Robert Dudley (later the Earl of Leicester) during Oxford’s minority
Court of Wards accounting for Oxford's lands for 1563-64
Letter of 7 December 1563 from John Chidley, bailiff of Thornecombe, to Thomas Williams, feodary of Devonshire, re collection of Oxford's rents for Thornecombe
Letter of 13 December 1563 from Robert Newdigate, feodary of Buckinghamshire, to Sir William Cecil re collection of Oxford's Michaelmas revenues in that county
Survey made in 1563 of rents and tenants of all Oxford’s lands in Cornwall
Note of rents and fines for certain of Oxford's tenements in Cornwall which were currently void
1564
Letter dated 28 January 1564 from Thomas Browne, feodary of Cornwall, to Sir William Cecil re revenues from Oxford's lands in Cornwall
Acquittance dated 12 February 1564 from Sir John Tyrrell acknowledging receipt of £15 pursuant to an annuity of £10 per annum granted to him by the 16th Earl in 1546
Dedicatory epistle to Oxford in Arthur Golding's Th' Abridgement of the Histories of Trogus Pompeius, published in May 1564 when Oxford was fourteen, a translation of Trogus, Pompeius. Historiae Philippicae
Account for repairs done at Colne House in Essex in 1563 and 1564 when Oxford's mother took up residence there after the death of the 16th Earl
Accounts for the years 1562-1564 for manors which Oxford inherited as joint purchaser and from which he received income during his minority
Last will and testament of Oxford's paternal aunt, Elizabeth de Vere, widow of Thomas, 1st Lord Darcy of Chiche
1565
Letter dated 10 February 1565 from Stephen Bagot, feodary of Staffordshire, to Sir William Cecil re rents received for Oxford's manor of Acton Trussell
Letter dated 7 May 1565 from Oxford's mother to Sir William Cecil requesting that money now due to come to Oxford as part of his inheritance under an order of the Court of Wards be entrusted to her and other persons of substance until he reaches his majority
Account by William Cooke of sums of money received by him to Oxford's use from bailiffs and farmers of Oxford's manors and from the feodary of Buckinghamshire in 1564 and 1565
Note dated 10 November 1565 recording the location of documents pertaining to Oxford's title to his lands
1566
Letter from Sir William Cecil and other officers of the Court of Wards to Leicester's servant. Robert Christmas, advising that the rent of £66 for Oxford's property of Colne Priory, a property included in the Queen's grant to Leicester, had been unpaid for three years
Memorandum of the prospective marriage of the Earl of Leicester and Queen Elizabeth at Oxford’s residence at London Stone on 2 April 1566
Last will and testament of Richard Tyrrell, which makes mention in an entail of the marriage of Oxford's mother, Margery Golding, to Charles Tyrrell
1567
Expenditures for Oxford's apparel for the 52-month period from 3 September 1562 to Christmas 1566, totalling £683 18s 10d
Report of coroner’s inquest taken 24 July 1567 on accidental death of Thomas Brinknell
Summary of revenues amounting to £1999 11-1/2d received on Oxford's behalf during the first 5-1/2 years of his wardship
Summary of revenues received in the Court of Wards in the year 1566-67 with respect to the possessions of royal wards including Oxford
1568
Last will and testament of Oxford's first cousin, Robert Darcy
1569
Dedicatory epistle to Oxford in Thomas Underdowne's An Ethiopian History, a translation from Latin published in 1569
BL MS Lansdowne 11/53, ff. 121-2
Letter written by Oxford on 24 November 1569 requesting Sir William Cecil to obtain licence from the Queen for him to serve in a military expedition
1570
Notes from February 1570 setting out the legal position in the case between Oxford and the Queen for the revenues from the lands of his mother, Margery Golding, after her death in 1568, and for revenues from lands which he inherited from his father in tail
Undated copy of part of SP 12/66/47
Dedicatory epistle to Oxford in the revised edition, published in 1570, of Arthur Golding's Th' Abridgement of the Histories of Trogus Pompeius, a translation of Trogus, Pompeius. Historiae Philippicae
Dedicatory epistle to Oxford in Edmund Elviden's The Most Excellent and Pleasant Metaphorical History of Peisistratus and Catanea, thought to have been published in 1570
Last will and testament of Oxford's stepfather, Charles Tyrrell, second husband of Oxford’s mother, Margery Golding, probated 4 May 1570
1571
Note recording the lands comprising the jointure of Margery Golding, Countess of Oxford, likely prepared in connection with Oxford's case against the Queen for the revenues from those lands after Margery Golding's death
Sir James Dyer’s judgement in Earl of Oxford’s case, 1571
Last will and testament, dated 12 May, apparently in the year 1571, of William Sneyd, maternal grandfather of Oxford's second wife, Elizabeth Trentham
Last will and testament, dated 31 May 1571, of Sir Thomas Pakington, whose son, John "Lusty" Pakington, was one of Queen Elizabeth's favourites, and among Oxford's circle of friends and acquaintances at court
Dedicatory epistle to Oxford dated 20 October 1571 in Arthur Golding's The Psalms of David and others, with M. John Calvin's Commentaries, a translation from the Latin of Calvin's In librum Psalmorum, Iohannis Calvini commentarius
Entry in the notebook of Oxford's maternal uncle, George Golding, recording the date of Oxford’s marriage to Anne Cecil
1572
Dedicatory Latin epistle dated 3 January 1571 [=1572] by Oxford to Bartholomew Clerke's Balthasaris Castilionis Comitis De Curiali siue Aulico, with a translation of Oxford's epistle by Dr. Dana F. Sutton
Letter of 28 May 1572 from Fenelon to Charles IX re Duc de Montmorency, who was to be met by Oxford and Leicester on his arrival in London.
Copy of Queen’s letters patent of 30 May 1572 licensing Oxford to enter into possession of his lands
Schedule for Oxford’s payment of fines assessed against him in the Court of Wards for wardship, mean rates, and livery
BL MS Lansdowne 14/84, ff. 185-6
Letter written by Oxford on 22 September 1572 asking Lord Burghley to procure him service either at sea or on the sea-coast
BL MS Lansdowne 14/85, ff. 186-7
Letter written by Oxford on 31 October 1572 in which he expresses his relief that Lord Burghley has now conceived a favourable opinion of him
Last will and testament, dated 21 November 1572, of Oxford's maternal uncle, Edmund Golding, half-brother of Oxford's mother, Margery Golding
List of fees and annuities paid out of Oxford’s estates circa 1572
Last will and testament, dated 20 December 1572, of Oxford's brother-in-law, Edward, 3rd Lord Windsor (d.1575)
1573
Letter of 30 April 1573 from Roger, Lord North, to Lord Burghley concerning Oxford's servant Booth
Letter of 11 May 1573 from Gilbert Talbot to his father, the Earl of Shrewsbury, mentioning Oxford as a favourite of the Queen
Last will and testament, dated 4 June 1573, of Roger Amyce, father of Oxford's servant, Israel Amyce, mentioning a deed poll by which the manor of Cranbrook, later purchased by Oxford, had been conveyed to Israel Amyce and his wife Martha
Letters patent of 11 June 1573 by which the Queen regranted the 'great messuage' at London Stone to Oxford after he had transferred legal title to it to the Queen by fine in Easter term 1573
Epistle to Oxford in Thomas Bedingfield's translation of Cardanus' Comfort, published in 1573
Dedicatory epistle and verses by Oxford in Thomas Bedingfield's translation of Cardanus' Comfort, published in 1573
Dedicatory epistle to Oxford in Thomas Twyne's The Breviary of Britain, published in 1573, a translation of Humphrey Llwyd's Commentarioli Descriptionis Britannicae Fragmentum (1572)
BL MS Lansdowne 17/23, ff. 47-8
Letter of 1 November 1573 from Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex, to Lord Burghley, proposing a match between Essex' son Robert and Lord Burghley's daughter Elizabeth, and referring to the match between Oxford and Anne Cecil
Letter from Nicholas White to Lord Burghley of 4 November 1573 mentioning the ‘great bruit’ of Oxford’s coming into Ireland
1574
Indenture of 16 March 1574 containing articles of defeasance under which a recognizance of £4000 from Oxford to Lord Burghley of the same date would become void
Dedicatory epistle to Oxford in George Baker's 1574 translations of The Composition or Making of the Most Excellent and Precious Oil Called Oleum Magistrale . . . Also the Third Book of Galen of Curing of Pricks and Wounds of Sinews
BL MS Lansdowne 19/50, ff. 116-17
Letter of 7 November 1574 from Sir Thomas Smith to Lady Burghley reassuring her about the medicinal water which he has sent for Oxford's wife, Anne, during a serious illness
Copy of indenture of 10 December 1574 between Roger Kelke and Benedict Spinola re great garden property at Aldgate
Copy of indenture of 13 December 1574 by which Roger Kelke sold the great garden property at Aldgate to the Queen
Suit in Chancery by Edward Atslowe complaining of the cutting of timber by copyhold tenants on Oxford’s manors of Chesham Higham and Chesham Bury
1575
List of licences to travel including Oxford’s licence for one year issued in January 1575 and a one-year extension issued to him on 2 March 1576
TNA CP 25/2/129/1658/17ELIZIHIL, Item 23
Fine of 20 January 1575 by which Oxford transferred clear title to lands in Steeple and Mayland in Essex to John Gaywood for £40
Letters patent of 29 January 1575 by which Queen Elizabeth granted the great garden property at Aldgate to Benedict Spinola
Copy from 1607 of indenture of bargain and sale of 20 January 1575 between Oxford and Cordell, Bromley, & Hubberd
Indenture entered into by Oxford with five trustees on 30 January 1575 prior to his departure on his continental tour including a schedule of debts amounting to £9096 10s 8-1/2d
Dedicatory epistle to Anne, Countess of Oxford, in Geoffrey Fenton's The Golden Epistles, published in 1575, a translation of letters from the Spanish of Antonio de Guevara and other Latin, French and Italian authors
Indenture of 10 February 1575 involving a sale of land in Staffordshire by Oxford’s trustees Cordell, Bromley, and Hubberd
BL MS Lansdowne 19/83, ff. 181-2
Letter of 7 March 1575 from Dr. Richard Masters to Lord Burghley re Anne Cecil’s pregnancy
Verses to Anne, Countess of Oxford, likely written by a friend of the Cecil family shortly after the birth of Anne's daughter, Elizabeth, on 2 July 1575
Last will and testament, dated 24 October 1575, of Richard Blount, from whose widow, Margaret, Oxford leased the mansion of Fisher's Folly from sometime in 1579 until 1588, and who left Oxford's maternal uncle, George Golding, a ring of gold worth 40s
Excerpt describing Oxford’s chivalric challenge to all comers at Palermo in 1575 or 1576 from Edward Webbe’s 1590 book on his travels
1576
Dedicatory epistle to Anne, Countess of Oxford, in George Baker's The New Jewel of Health, published in 1576, a translation from the Latin of the second part of Konrad Gesner's Thesaurus Euonymi Philiatri de remediis secretis
Dedicatory epistle to Henry, Lord Compton, in The Paradise of Dainty Devises, published in 1576 by the printer Henry Disle, in which Oxford is mentioned on the title page, and as the author of eight songs in the collection
Last will and testament, dated 20 March 1576, of Oxford's maternal uncle, Henry Golding of Little Birch, half-brother of Oxford's mother, Margery Golding
Lord Burghley’s memo of 10 July 1576 re allegations against him concerning Oxford
Document of 12 July 1576 by which Oxford revoked all uses
1577
TNA CP 25/2/130/1665/19ELIZIIHIL, Item 31
Fine of 20 January 1577 by which clear title to the manor of Battles Hall in Essex passed from Oxford to Charles Arundel, and was restored by Arundel to Oxford, likely for the purpose of clearning the title after Oxford inherited the reversionary interest
Dedicatory epistle to Oxford in John Brooke's The Staff of Christian Faith, published in 1577, a translation from the French of the 1561 Belgic Confession (Confession de Foi des Eglises Reformees) written by Guy de Bres
Nuncupative will of William Sankey of East Barnet, alleged to have been a servant of Oxford's who was murdered, and whose widow, Mary, is alleged to have been the step-daughter of Oxford's maternal uncle, Henry Golding
Dedicatory epistle to Bartholomew Clerke in Gabriel Harvey's Rhetor, published in 1577, in which Oxford is referred to as 'a most noble and magnificent lord' and 'a courtier of unsurpassed excellence', translated from Harvey's Latin by Mark Reynolds
1578
Letters patent of 15 January 1578 by which the Queen granted Castle Rising and related properties to Oxford
Last will and testament, dated 30 April 1578, of Sir Ambrose Nicholas in which he mentions his purchase of Oxford's mansion at London Stone
Copy of Oxford's letter of 21 May 1578 to the commissioners for Martin Frobisher's third voyage to the Canadian Arctic, offering to invest £1000 to be secured by a bond due 29 September 1578
Oxford's indenture of 22 June 1578 for the sale of Castle Rising and related properties to Roger Townshend and Robert Buxton for £2396 13s 4d
Section dedicated to Oxford in Book IV of Gabriel Harvey's Gratulationes Valdinenses, a work presented to the Queen on Harvey's behalf by Leicester on 30 July 1578, and again presented in printed form at Hadham Hall on 15 September 1578
Dedicatory epistle to Anne, Countess of Oxford, in John Brooke's A Christian Discourse Upon Certain Points of Religion, published in 1578, a translation from the French version dedicated to Henri de Bourbon, 2nd Prince of Conde
1579
TNA CP 25/2/130/1672/21ELIZIHIL, Item 10
Fine of 20 January 1579 by which Oxford transferred clear title to lands in Stansted Mountfitchet in Essex to Edward Hubberd for £480
TNA CP 25/2/130/1672/21ELIZIHIL, Item 25
Fine of 20 January 1579 by which Oxford transferred clear title to lands in Bowers Gifford in Essex to Hugh Beeston and Geoffrey Crome for £180
TNA CP 25/2/130/1673/21ELIZIEASTER, Item 16
Fine of 9 February and 6 May 1579 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the manor of Langdon Hills in Essex to Thomas Mildmay for £310
Dedicatory epistle to Oxford in Geoffrey Gates' The Defence of Military Profession, published in 1579
Dedicatory epistle and English and Latin verses to Oxford in Anthony Munday's The Mirror of Mutability, or Principal Part of the Mirror for Magistrates, published in 1579
Dedicatory epistle to Oxford's father-in-law, Lord Burghley, in John Brooke's A Brief and Clear Confession of the Christian Faith, a translation from the French
TNA CP 25/2/131/1674/21ELIZITRIN, Item 22
Fine of 15 June 1579 by which Oxford transferred clear title to lands in Maldon and Woodham Mortimer in Essex to William Twedy for £280
TNA CP 25/2/131/1674/21ELIZITRIN, Item 12
Fine of 29 June 1579 by which Oxford's uncle, Robert Vere, transferred clear title to the manors of Kennington and Wennington in Essex to William Ayloffe for £680, manors in which Robert Vere held only a life estate while Oxford held the reversionary interest
TNA CP 25/2/131/1675/21/22ELIZITRIN, Item 10
Fine of 6 July and 6 October 1579 by which Oxford transferred clear title to lands in Rainham, Wennington and Aveley in Essex to William Ayloffe and his son, William Ayloffe, for £16
Last will and testament of Jasper Fisher, one of the Six Clerks of Chancery, from whose widow, Margaret, Oxford leased the mansion of Fisher's Folly in St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate, from 1579-80 until 1588
Letter written on 25 August 1579 by Philip Sidney in response to advice from Sir Christopher Hatton that the 'tennis-court quarrel' between Sidney and Oxford should be made up
1580
TNA CP 25/2/131/1676/22ELIZIHIL, Item 8
Fine of 20 January 1580 by which Oxford transferred clear title to lands in Doddinghurst in Essex to Richard Stoneley for 130 marks
TNA CP 25/2/131/1676/22ELIZIHIL, Item 10
Fine of 20 January 1580 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the manor of Mountnessing in Essex to Sir John Petre for £480
TNA CP 25/2/131/1677/22ELIZIEASTER, Item 2
Fine of 18 April 1580 by which Oxford transferred clear title to lands in Gibcrack, Purleigh and Sandon in Essex to Robert Petre for £40
TNA CP 25/2/131/1677/22ELIZIEASTER, Item 3
Fine of 18 April 1580 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the manor of Maldon in Essex to William Twedy for 130 marks
TNA CP 25/2/131/1677/22ELIZIEASTER, Item 6
Fine of 18 April 1580 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the manor of Gutteridge in Essex to George Knightley for £220
TNA CP 25/2/131/1677/22ELIZIEASTER, Item 9
Fine of 18 April 1580 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the manor of Battles Hall in Essex to John Byrd for 400 marks
TNA CP 25/2/131/1677/22ELIZIEASTER, Item 17
Fine of 18 April 1580 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the manor of Bentfield Bury in Essex to Edward Hubberd for £400
TNA CP 25/2/131/1677/22ELIZIEASTER, Item 19
Fine of 18 April 1580 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the manor of Doddinghurst in Essex to Richard Stoneley for £360
TNA CP 25/2/131/1677/22ELIZIEASTER, Item 28
Fine of 18 April 1580 by which Oxford transferred clear title to lands in sixteen villages in the area of Maldon in Essex to Richard Brooke and Nicholas Lambert for 130 marks
TNA CP 25/2/131/1677/22ELIZIEASTER, Item 34
Fine of 18 April 1580 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the manor of Gobions in Essex to Edward Lawrence for £600
TNA CP 25/2/131/1677/22ELIZIEASTER, Item 36
Fine of 18 April 1580 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the manors of Waltons and Netherhall in Essex to George Golding and his wife, Mary, for £320
TNA CP 25/2/131/1677/22ELIZIEASTER, Item 23
Fine of 2 May 1580 by which Leicester transferred clear title to the manors of Wanstead and Stonehall in Essex to Thomas Skinner for £40, a transaction related to Leicester's later purchase of the manors of Cranbrook and Rayhouse from Oxford on 9 June 1585
TNA CP 25/2/131/1678/22ELIZITRIN, Item 22
Fine of 13 and 30 May 1580 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the manor of Great Canfield in Essex to John Wiseman for 400 marks
TNA CP 25/2/131/1678/22ELIZITRIN, Item 20
Fine of 30 May 1580 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the manor of Fingrith in Essex to Richard Branthwaite for £200
TNA CP 25/2/131/1678/22ELIZITRIN, Item 26
Fine of 30 May 1580 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the manor of Wakes Colne in Essex to Israel Amyce and William Tiffin for 400 marks
TNA CP 25/2/131/1678/22ELIZITRIN, Item 28
Fine of 30 May 1580 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the manor of Bumpstead Hall in Essex to William Stubbing for an annuity of £30 to Oxford and his heirs
Recovery of 11 May 1580 between Oxford and Sir William Cordell and Edward Cordell for the manor of Barwicks in Toppesfield
Petition of Julio Borgarucci for commission on sale of great garden property at Aldgate to Oxford, and answer of Benedict Spinola
Indenture of 15 June 1580, sale by Benedict Spinola of great garden and messuage at Aldgate to Oxford
Epitaph on the death on 12 July 1580 of Benedict Spinola from whom Oxford purchased the great garden property at Aldgate
Oxford’s appointment of a council of six officers on 17 September 1580 consisting of William Daniel, Richard Branthwaite, Edward Hubberd, Israel Amyce, George Golding and John Mynors
Dedicatory epistle to Oxford in John Hester's A Short Discourse of the Excellent Doctor and Knight, Master Leonardo Fioravanti, Bolognese, Upon Surgery, a translation from Italian published in 1580
Dedicatory epistle to Oxford in John Lyly's Euphues and his England, published in 1580
Dedicatory epistle to Oxford in Anthony Munday's Zelauto, published in 1580
Dedicatory epistle to Anne, Countess of Oxford, in Abraham Fleming's The Epistle of the Blessed Apostle Saint Paul, published in 1580, a translation from the Latin of Neils Hemmingsen's Commentarius in epistolam Pauli ad Ephesios
Copy of a warrant dated 4 November 1580 by which Oxford authorized the payment of £200 per annum to his estranged wife, Anne Cecil, by his receiver-general, Edward Hubberd
Allegations against Oxford in Lord Henry Howard's hand, with additions and a lengthy note to Howard in the hand of Francis Southwell, perhaps composed shortly after Southwell's examination by the authorities on or about 25 December 1580
Allegations against Oxford in Charles Arundel's hand with additions and corrections in another hand, perhaps composed when Howard and Arundel were at the house of the Spanish ambassador, Mendoza, on 26 and 27 December 1580
Statement to the Privy Council by Charles Arundel concerning his secret meeting with Oxford at court on the night of 25 December 1580, likely written by Arundel on 28 December 1580 after he and Lord Henry Howard had given themselves up to the authorities
Allegations against Leicester attributed to Oxford, written in the hand of Charles Arundel in late December 1580 or early January 1581
Letter dated 30 December 1580 in which Thomas Norton suggests to Sir Christopher Hatton that 'the gentleman in restraint' (likely Charles Arundel, who was in Hatton's custody) be examined concerning the authorship of treasonous books and other matters
1581
Dedicatory epistle dated 1 January [1581] to Philip Howard, Earl of Surrey, in Thomas Churchyard's A Light Bundle of Lively Discourses Called Churchyard's Chance, in which Churchyard promises to dedicate his next book to Oxford
Letter from Lord Henry Howard to Queen Elizabeth containing allegations against Oxford, written by Howard at the Queen's commandment shortly after 30 December 1580
A second letter from Lord Henry Howard to Queen Elizabeth containing allegations against Oxford, in particular an allegation that Oxford had vaunted of receiving sexual favours from the Queen, written by Howard at the Queen's commandment
Excerpt from letter from Thomas Norton to Sir Francis Walsingham endorsed 10 January 1580 [=1581], enclosing interrogatories which had already been administered to Lord Henry Howard by the Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas Bromley
Letter from Michel de Castelnau, Sieur de Mauvissiere, to King Henri III dated 11 January 1581 mentioning Oxford's allegations against Lord Henry Howard and Charles Arundel
Letter from Michel de Castelnau, Sieur de Mauvissiere, to Queen Catherine de Medici of 11 January 1581 mentioning Oxford's allegations against Lord Henry Howard and Charles Arundel
Transcript by M. Armand Baschet of part of BN 15973, ff. 387v-392v above
Letter endorsed 12 January 1580 [=1581] in which Lord Henry Howard requests Sir Francis Walsingham to speak favourably for him to the Queen, and mentions that Oxford's message that he would be revenged on Howard was sent on 16 December 1580
Interrogatories to be administered to Charles Arundel concerning events which long predate Howard and Arundel's flight to the house of the Spanish ambassador Mendoza on the night of 25 December 1580, and which appear to advance Leicester's interests
Answers in Charles Arundel's hand to interrogatories in SP 12/151/47, ff. 105-106
Notes in Oxford's hand for interrogatories to be administered to Lord Henry Howard and Charles Arundel
PRO SP 12/151/43, ff. 95-95v, 97
Answers in Charles Arundel's hand to SP 12/151/42, ff. 96-96v and SP 15/28/2, f. 3
Allegations against Oxford in Charles Arundel's hand, perhaps intended as a letter to the Queen, written after Arundel had been examined on interrogatories prepared from Oxford's notes
Extensive allegations against Oxford in Charles Arundel's hand, organized under nine headings
Speech spoken by Oxford's page at a tournament at Whitehall on 22 January 1581 in which Oxford took part as the Knight of the Tree of the Sun
BL MS Lansdowne 99, ff. 259a-64b
Oxford’s response as the Knight of the Tree of the Sun to Philip Howard's challenge as Callophisus, issued in the form of a printed broadside
Last will and testament, dated 3 February 1581, of Oxford's first cousin, John, 2nd Lord Darcy of Chiche
Fine of 9 February and 12 April 1581 by which clear title to the castle of Camps and the manors of Castle Camps and Fowlmere passed from Oxford to Thomas Skinner for £1200
Letter of 23 March 1581 in which Sir Francis Walsingham advises the Earl of Huntingdon of Anne Vavasour's imprisonment in the Tower after the birth of her illegitmate son by Oxford on the night of 21 March 1581, and of attempts to apprehend Oxford
Dedicatory epistle of 6 May 1581 to Oxford in Thomas Stocker's Divers Sermons of Master John Calvin, a translation from the French of Plusieurs sermons touchant la divinite humanite et nativite de nostre Seigneur Jesus Christ
TNA CP 25/2/131/1682/23ELIZITRIN, Item 31
Fine of 22 May 1581 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the manors of Waltons and Netherhall in Essex to George Golding and his wife, Mary, for £320
Letter of 12 July 1581 in which Sir Francis Walsingham advises Lord Burghley that the Queen is insistant that Oxford be reconciled with his wife Anne before the Queen will restore his liberty
Letter of 13 July 1581 in which Lord Burghley thanks Sir Christopher Hatton for his intervention with the Queen, and urges that Oxford not be forced to reconcile with his wife as a condition of being granted his liberty
BL MS Lansdowne 33/6, ff. 12-13
Letter of 13 July 1581 in which Oxford urges Lord Burghley to remind the Queen of her promise that he is to be restored to liberty
Letter of 14 July 1581 in which Sir Francis Walsingham advises Lord Burghley of his efforts to secure Oxford's liberty and of the Queen's insistance that Oxford publicly accuse Lord Henry Howard and Charles Arundel
Copy of a letter endorsed 20 July 1581 in which Lord Henry Howard requests assistance in securing his liberty, and mentions that whenever the subject is broached to the Queen, she demands a face to face confrontation between himself and Oxford
Answers by Charles Arundel, miscellaneous accusations by him against Oxford, and a letter by Arundel to an unnamed friend, all in Arundel's hand, dating from July and August 1581 while Arundel was under house arrest at Sutton in West Sussex
PRO SP 12/155/44, ff. 84-84bis
Letter written by Lord Henry Howard on 14 September requesting Sir Francis Walsingham to further his suit for reinstatement in the Queen's favour, and accusing Leicester of having caused Oxford to make an allegation against Howard concerning a prophecy
Letter of 19 October 1581 from Thomas, Earl of Sussex, to Charles Arundel, then under house arrest in Sutton in Sussex and still under suspicion by the Queen
Letter of 27 October 1581 written by Lord Henry Howard to Leicester from Highgate, asking to be reconciled to him, and currying favour by claiming he had stayed Oxford's hand against Leicester in the past
PRO CP 25/2/131/1683/23/24ELIZIMICH, Item 10
Fine of 27 October 1581 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the manor of Earls Fee in Essex to Humphrey Dreywood and Robert Dreywood for £180
Oxford’s lawsuit in Chancery of 11 November 1581 as guardian of 4-year-old Henry Bullock to put a stop to fraud by Bullock’s uncle, Richard Wiseman
Letter of 3 December 1581 written by Lord Henry Howard after his release from house arrest to Sir Francis Walsingham at court, indicting that rumours have reached him of a fresh attempt to shake and undermine his liberty
BL MS Lansdowne 104/63, ff. 164-165
Copy in Lord Burghley's hand of a letter dated 7 December 1581 to Oxford from his estranged wife Anne, expressing her love for him and hope to be returned to his favour
BL MS Lansdowne 104/64, ff. 166-167
Copy in Lord Burghley's hand of a letter dated 12 December 1581 to Oxford from his estranged wife Anne, expressing her willingness to bear his adverse fortune, and alluding to Oxford's warning about Lady Drury
Dedicatory epistle to Anne, Countess of Oxford, in An Exposition Upon the Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians, a translation of Expositio super Epistolam Sancti Pauli ad Epheseos, published on 24 December 1581
Letter from Mendoza to King Philip II of 25 December 1581 re Lord Henry Howard and Charles Arundel
1582
PRO CP 25/2/131/1684//24ELIZIHIL, Item 6
Fine of 20 January 1582 by which Oxford transferred clear title to a yearly rent of £12 from the manors of Tendring Hall and Garnons to William Drury for £240
PRO CP 25/2/131/1684//24ELIZIHIL, Item 13
Fine of 20 January 1582 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the manor of Flanderswick to William Lewin, Anthony Luther and Thomas Gooche for 400 marks
BL MS Cotton Appendix 47, f. 5
Entry dated 3 February 1582 in the diary of Richard Madox mentioning that Oxford and his wife Anne had been reconciled
Entry from the parish register of St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate, recording the burial of Oxford's man, Robert Breninges, who was slain in the fray between Oxford and Anne Vavasour's uncle, Thomas Knyvet, on 21 February 1582
BL MS Cotton Appendix 47, f. 7v
Entry dated 3 March 1582 in the diary of Richard Madox mentioning the fray on 21 February 1582 between Oxford and Anne Vavasour's uncle, Thomas Knyvet, in which both Oxford and Knyvet were hurt, and Oxford's man Robert Breninges was slain
Letter from Mendoza to King Philip II of 6 March 1582 re Lord Henry Howard
Excerpt from a letter dated 17 March 1582 from Walsingham's secretary, Nicholas Faunt, to Anthony Bacon, mentioning the fray of 21 February 1582 in which Oxford and Anne Vavasour's uncle, Thomas Knyvet, had both been hurt, Oxford 'more dangerously'
Dedicatory epistle to Oxford and poem mentioning Oxford in Thomas Watson's The EKATOMPATHIA or Passionate Century of Love, published in 1582
TNA CP 25/2/131/1686/24ELIZITRIN, Item 26
Fine of 11 June 1582 by which Oxford transferred clear title to lands in Essex to John Mayer for £43
TNA CP 25/2/131/1686/24ELIZITRIN, Item 36
Fine of 11 June 1582 by which Oxford transferred clear title to lands in Essex to Edward Glascock for £428
TNA CP 25/2/131/1686/24ELIZITRIN, Item 41
Fine of 11 June 1582 by which Thomas Skinner and his wife, Blanche, transferred clear title to the manors of Wanstead and Stonehall to Leicester for £80, a transaction related to Leicester's purchase of Cranbrook and Rayhouse from Oxford on 9 June 1585
Statement by Roger Townshend of events leading up to an affray on 18 June 1582 between one Gastrell, purporting to be one of Oxford's men, and Thomas Knyvet's men
Statements taken on 22 and 24 June 1582 from four witnesses to an affray on 18 June 1582 between one Gastrell, purporting to be one of Oxford's men, and Thomas Knyvet's men
PRO SP 12/154/12, ff. 22-22bis
Statements taken on 24 and 26 June 1582 from two witnesses to an affray on 22 June 1582 between one Gastrell, purporting to be one of Oxford's men, and Thomas Knyvet's men
Letter written 27 July 1582 by Sir Christopher Hatton to Lord Chancellor Thomas Bromley conveying the Queen's request for Bromley's reasons for actions taken in connection with Thomas Knyvet's trial for the killing of Oxford's man Robert Breninges
Letter written 28 July 1582 by Lord Chancellor Thomas Bromley responding to the Queen's request that Bromley provide reasons for actions he had taken in connection with Thomas Knyvet's trial for the killing of Oxford's man Robert Breninges
Letter written 2 August 1582 by Sir Christopher Hatton indicating the Queen's pleasure at Lord Chancellor Bromley's reply to her request for reasons for his actions taken in connection with Thomas Knyvet's trial for the killing of Oxford's man Robert Breninges
Copy of indenture of 13 November 1582 between Oxford and Thomas Skinner providing for Oxford’s repurchase of Castle Camps and Fowlmere
BL MS Lansdowne 36/ 76, ff. 192-3
Letter from Oxford’s servant, John Lyly, to Lord Burghley re Oxford’s displeasure
1583
Fine of 20 January 1583 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the manors of Overhall and Netherhall in Suffolk to Richard Peacock and Rowland Martin for £800
TNA CP 25/2/131/1688/25ELIZIHIL, Item 2
Fine of 20 January 1583 by which Oxford transferred clear title to two mills and lands in Essex to Robert Pinder for £120
TNA CP 25/2/131/1688/25ELIZIHIL, Item 25
Fine of 20 January 1583 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the manors of Stansted Mountfitchet and Burnells in Essex to John Southall, father-in-law of Oxford's receiver-general Edward Hubberd, for £480
TNA CP 25/2/131/1688/25ELIZIHIL, Item 29
Fine of 3 February 1583 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the manor of Easton Hall in Essex to John Gardiner, Anthony Watson and Michael Gardiner for 400 marks
Letter written by Lord Burghley on 12 March 1583 to Sir Christopher Hatton acquainting him with the facts concerning the false allegations made to the Queen against Oxford by Thomas Knyvet and his men
Letter written by Lord Burghley on 18 March 1583 to Sir Christopher Hatton intimating that he has heard from Leicester that Oxford is not to be reinstated in the Queen's favour
Letter written by Sir Christopher Hatton on 19 March 1583 in which he advises Lord Burghley that he sees some hope of Oxford reinstatement in the Queen's favour
Entry in the parish register of St. Nicholas church, Castle Hedingham, recording the burial of Oxford's infant son on 9 May 1583
Letter written by Sir Walter Raleigh on 10 May 1583 in which he advises Lord Burghley of his efforts to have Oxford reinstated to the Queen's favour, and of the fact that someone has 'strangely' persuaded the Queen otherwise
BL MS Lansdowne 38/62, ff. 158-9
Letter written by Oxford on 20 June 1583 requesting Lord Burghley to intercede in the matter of Lord Lumley's payment to the Queen
TNA CP 25/2/132/1691/25/26ELIZIMICH, Item 39
Fine of 6 October 1583 by which Thomas Skinner and his wife, Blanche, transferred clear title to the manors of Wanstead and Stonehall to Leicester for £80, a transaction related to Leicester's purchase of Cranbrook and Rayhouse from Oxford on 9 June 1585
Excerpt from Camden's Annales Rerum Anglicarum et Hibernicarum Regnante Elizabetha, published in 1615, mentioning the flight from England of Oxford's foe Charles Arundel shortly after the arrest of Francis Throckmorton on 13 November 1583
TNA CP 25/2/132/1691/25/26ELIZIMICH, Item 31
Fine of 18 November 1583 by which Oxford transferred clear title to twelve knights' fees in Essex and Hertfordshire to Peter Palmer
Oxford's receipt dated 30 November 1583 for £13,400 for the sale of the manors of Castle Camps and Fowlmere in Cambridge and the manors of Overhall and Netherhall and the park of Lavenham in Suffolk
Oxford's deed of 9 December 1583 in fulfilment of indentures entered into on 30 November 1583 for the sale of his manors of Overhall and Netherhall in Lavenham in Suffolk to Richard Peacock and Rowland Martin
1584
TNA CP 25/2/132/1692/26ELIZIHIL, Item 1
Fine of 20 January 1584 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the manors of Tilbury-juxta-Clare, Nortofts and Skaths in Essex to Israel Amyce for £640
TNA CP 25/2/132/1692/26ELIZIHIL, Item 13
Fine of 20 January 1584 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the park of Colne in Essex to Roger Harlakenden for £800
TNA CP 25/2/132/1692/26ELIZIHIL, Item 35
Fine of 20 January 1584 by which Sir Thomas Heneage and his wife, Anne, transferred clear title to the manor of Bretts in Essex to Roger Townshend, who sold it shortly thereafter to Oxford, perhaps in part payment for Wivenhoe, Battleswick and Great Bentley
TNA CP 25/2/132/1692/26ELIZIHIL, Item 43
Fine of 20 January 1584 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the manor of Great Yeldham in Essex to Thomas Plome and Edmund Plome for £600
TNA CP 25/2/132/1693/26ELIZIEASTER, Item 39
Fine of 6 May 1584 by which Israel Amyce and his wife Martha transferred clear title to the manors of Cranbrook and Rayhouse in Essex to Oxford for £300
TNA CP 25/2/132/1693/26ELIZIEASTER, Item 43
Fine of 6 May 1584 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the manor of Vaux in Essex to Israel Amyce for £300
TNA CP 25/2/132/1693/26ELIZIEASTER, Item 51
Fine of 6 May 1584 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the manors of Wivenhoe, Battleswick and Great Bentley in Essex to Roger Townshend for £2513
TNA CP 25/2/132/1693/26ELIZIEASTER, Item 46
Fine of 18 May 1584 by which Thomas Skinner and his wife Blanche transferred clear title to Wanstead and Stonehall in Essex to Leicester for £80, a transaction related to Leicester's later purchase of Cranbrook and Rayhouse from Oxford on 9 June 1585
TNA CP 25/2/132/1694/26ELIZITRIN, Item 19
Fine of 29 May and 15 June 1584 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the manor of Hayes in Essex to Thomas Willows and John Pratt for 400 marks
TNA CP 25/2/132/1694/26ELIZITRIN, Item 26
Fine of 15 June 1584 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the manor of Little Yeldham in Essex to John Mabbe for £300
TNA CP 25/2/132/1694/26ELIZITRIN, Item 24
Fine of 29 June 1584 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the manor of Sheriffs in Essex to Richard Bowser for £180
Account dated 1 July 1584 estimating expenses at court for Oxford's wife, Anne Cecil, and her two daughters at £232 17s 8d for one year
Ode to Oxford in John Southern's Pandora, The Music of the Beauty of His Mistress Diana, published on 20 June 1584
Epitaphs by Anne, Countess of Oxford, on the death of her infant son, Lord Bulbeck, who was buried at Castle Hedingham on 9 May 1583, published in 1584 John Southern's Pandora, The Music of the Beauty of His Mistress Diana
Dedicatory epistle to Oxford in Robert Greene's Gwydonius, The Card of Fancy, published in 1584
BL MS Lansdowne 42/39, ff. 97-8
Letter written by Oxford on 30 October 1584 in which he advises Lord Burghley that purchasers of his lands, fearful that the Queen might extend against the lands for his debt to the Court of Wards, have requested that they be permitted to repay the debt
Indenture of 24 November 1584 by which Oxford grants John Lyly a perpetual yearly rent of £30 13s 4d
PRO CP 25/2/132/1696/27ELIZIHIL, Item 30
Fine of 25 November 1584 and 20 January 1585 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the manors of Lamarsh and Crepping Hall to Christian Turner
1585
Indenture dated 4 January 1585 providing that Richard Peacock and Rowland Martin will enter into a recovery under which Roger Townshend and Thomas Owen will be seised of Oxford's former manors in Lavenham to the use of the heirs of Thomas Skinner
BL MS Lansdowne 99/93, ff. 252-253
Letter endorsed 19 January 1584 [=1585] from Anne Vavasour's only brother, Thomas, challenging Oxford to a duel
Interrogatories and depositions of 19 and 20 January 1585 in the Key v. Masterson lawsuit concerning the legitimacy of the marriage of the 16th Earl and Margery Golding
Indenture of 2 February 1585 by which Oxford granted privileges to his copyhold tenants of the manor of Grays in Sible Hedingham
Excerpt from the translator's additions to the French edition of Leicester's Commonwealth, published in early 1585, in which mention is made of Leicester's attempt to nourish discord between Oxford and his wife Anne
Last will and testament, dated 26 May 1585, of Alice Golding, the widow of Oxford's maternal uncle, Henry Golding
Entry of 16 June 1585 in an account book of Robert, Earl of Leicester, for $50 in part payment for the manor of Cranbrook which Leicester had purchased from Oxford on 9 June 1585
Last will and testament, dated 2 December 1585, of Oxford's nephew, Frederick, 4th Lord Windsor
1586
Excerpt commending Oxford as the best of the court poets from William Webbe’s Discourse of English Poetry
BL MS Lansdowne 50/22, ff. 49-50
Lettter written by Oxford on 25 June 1586 requesting Lord Burghley to lend him £200 so that he can pursue a suit to the Queen, likely the suit by purchasers of his lands to repay his debt to the Court of Wards for fear of extents by the Queen
Queen Elizabeth’s Privy Seal warrant of 26 June 1586 granting Oxford an annuity of £1000 ‘until such time as he shall be by us otherwise provided for to be in some manner relieved’
Last will and testament, dated 19 October 1586, of Thomas Trentham, father of Oxford's second wife, Elizabeth Trentham, containing a clause providing for her marriage portion of £1000 payable at 500 marks per year for three years
Dedicatory epistle to Oxford in Angel Day's The English Secretary, wherein is contained a perfect method for the inditing of all manner of epistles and familiar letters, published in 1586, the first letter-writing manual written in English
1587
Letter from Lord Burghley of 5 May 1587 requesting Sir Francis Walsingham to obtain a firm answer from the Queenwith respect to her grant to Oxford of the lands of Edward Jones
Indenture of 10 May 1587 by which John Lyly sold his grant from Oxford of £30 13s 4d yearly rent to Edward and Jane Hubberd for £250
Letter of 13 May 1587 from Lord Burghley to Sir Francis Walsingham with respect to the Queen's grant to Oxford of the lands of Edward Jones
Indenture dated 16 May 1587 by which Oxford granted a 1000-year lease of Swetney wood to Thomas Harrington, yeoman, of Sible Hedingham
1587 suit by purchasers to Lord Burghley that leaseholders be required to repay a proportionate share of Oxford’s £3300 debt to the Court of Wards
Recognizance by John Lyly of 20 May 1587 to guarantee performance of C 54/1275 above
Queen Elizabeth’s letters patent of 1 July 1587 granting the lands of the Babington conspirator Edward Jones to Oxford's brother-in-law Robert Cecil and Oxford's servant Hugh Beeston for Oxford’s benefit
Oxford’s grant of 3 July 1587 of Castle Hedingham to the Queen on condition that she regrant it to him and his heirs by his wife, Anne Cecil; includes Oxford’s bond of 3 July 1587 for £4000 and the fine of 7 October 1587 by which clear title passed to the Queen
Letter from Lord Burghley to Thomas Fanshawe requesting delivery of evidences of lands and bonds of Edward Jones
Extract from Leicester's will dated 1 August 1587 mentioning thirteen parcels of land formerly belonging to the manor of Cranbrook which Leicester had purchased from Oxford in 1585
PRO CP 25/2/133/1707/29/30ELIZIMICH, item 45
Fine of 6 October 1587 by which Oxford transferred clear title to Castle Hedingham to the Queen
Schedule of recognizances and statutes acknowledged by Oxford in the Court of Chancery from 1571 to 1587 amounting in total to almost £150,000
Unsigned note circa 1587 with respect to recognizances encumbering lands in Cheshire sold by Oxford to Sir Christopher Hatton
Unsigned note circa 1587 in Lord Burghley's hand with respect to a problem in the drafting of the letters patent authorizing the purchasers of Oxford's lands to repay his debt to the Queen in the Court of Wards
Draft proviso intended to resolve the problem mentioned in Lord Burghley's note above
Unsigned letter on Oxford's behalf to Sir Christopher Hatton answering certain objections to the draft letters patent by which purchasers of Oxford's lands would repay his debt to the Queen in the Court of Wards
Draft bond to be entered into by purchasers of Oxford's lands with respect to rights of execution assigned to them by the Queen under letters patents in 1589/90
1588
Nuncupative will, dated 8 February 1588, of Oxford's maternal uncle, William Golding of Belchamp St Paul, brother of Oxford's mother, Margery Golding
Letter from Lord Burghley of 8 March 1588 directing that Castle Hedingham be taken into the Queen’s hands by extent to preserve it from ‘utter spoil’
Lease dated 16 May 1588 by which Oxford leased the manor of Aveley to the Queen for two years in satisfaction of a debt of £200
Letters patent of Queen Elizabeth of 8 June 1588 regranting Colne Priory and Bretts to Oxford
Excerpt from Camden's Annales Rerum Anglicarum et Hibernicarum Regnante Elizabetha, published in 1615, mentioning Oxford as among those who hired ships at their own expense to fight the Spanish Armada
Dedicatory epistle to Oxford in Anthony Munday's Palmerin D' Oliva, a translation from Spanish, Italian, and French published in 1588
1589
BL Lansdowne MSS 77/ 8, ff. 198-198v
Undated letter from Roger Harlakenden to Lord Burghley re properties purchased from Oxford and lease of Colne priory
Excerpts from The Art of English Poesy in which Oxford is named among court poets, and is said to deserve ‘the highest prize’ for comedy and interlude
Last will and testament, dated 24 September 1589, of John Stubbe, husband of Oxford's first cousin, Anne Vere, daugher of Oxford's uncle, Aubrey Vere
1590
Lease of Lavenham made 13 April 1590 by the Queen to Oxford’s servant, Arthur Milles
Interrogatories administered to Wilfred Luty in Easter term 1590 in Queen Elizabeth's lawsuit against Richard Payne concerning Oxford's lease of the manor of Aveley
Dedicatory sonnet to Oxford in the first edition of Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queen, published in 1590
Excerpt from The Rare and Most Wonderful Things Which Edward Webbe, an Englishman born, hath seen and passed in his troublesome travels, published in 1590, describing Oxford's challenge to all comers at Palermo in 1576
BL MS Lansdowne 63/71, ff. 181-2
Letter written by Oxford on 5 August 1590 in which he requests permission from Lord Burghley to dispose of his lease of Aveley in order to redeem leases at Castle Hedingham
BL MS Lansdowne 63/76, ff. 191-2
Letter written by Oxford on 8 September 1590 in which he advises Lord Burghley of difficulties with one Bellingham, and mentions that Thomas Skinner has attempted to obtain a composition to settle matters resulting from his fraud against Oxford
Judgment granted to Thomas Skinner on 20 October 1590 against Oxford for 2000 marks pursuant to a recognizance acknowledged by Oxford in Chancery on 17 September 1580
Another copy of PRO C 43/10/340, i.e. judgment granted to Thomas Skinner on 20 October 1590 against Oxford for 2000 marks
Letter from Henry Lok to Lord Burghley of 6 November 1590 explaining his reasons for leaving Oxford’s service
Chancery petition of Christopher Marshall dated 10 November 1590 against Thomas Skinner and Nicholas Mynne re Queen’s extents against manor of Castle Camps
Chancery petition of Sir Roger Townshend and others against Sir William Waldegrave and Thomas, Lord Darcy of Chiche, to restrict the latter’s use of statutes for £6000 from Oxford
1591
BL MS Lansdowne 68/6, ff. 12-13
Letter written by Oxford on 18 May 1591 in which he thanks Lord Burghley for punishing Hampton for his part in the Skinner fraud, and broaches a plan to purchase the demesnes of Denbigh which the Queen is selling to one Carmarden and one Middleton
Certificate of 20 June 1591 re payments of Thomas Skinner to Court of Wards
BL MS Lansdowne 68/11, ff. 22-3, 28
Letter written by Oxford on 30 June 1591 requesting Lord Burghley's assistance in remedying the consequences of the fraud perpetrated by Thomas Skinner which had been brought about with the connivance and furtherance of Thomas Hampton
Lord Burghley’s notes on top portion of Oxford’s letter of 30 June 1591 re Oxford’s debt and forfeitures to the Court of Wards
Lord Burghley’s notes on bottom portion of Oxford’s letter of 30 June 1591 re Oxford’s debt and forfeitures to the Court of Wards
Dedicatory epistle to Oxford in John Farmer's Divers & Sundry Ways of Two Parts in One, to the Number of Forty, upon one Plainsong, published in 1591
Last will and testament, dated 4 October 1591, of Elizabeth Golding, wife of Oxford's maternal uncle, Sir Thomas Golding (d.1571)
PRO CP 25/2/135/1723/33/34ELIZIMICH, item 74
Fine of 25 November 1591 by which Oxford transferred clear title to the honour and castle of Hedingham and the manors of Hedingham, Shetleford, and Parkes to Lord Burghley and his heirs
Licence of 2 December 1591 authorizing Oxford to alienate the manors of Castle Hedingham and Gosfield to Lord Burghley and to Oxford's three daughters Elizabeth, Bridget, and Susan Vere
1592
Commission of 9 January 1592 granted by Oxford to Roger Harlakenden for the sale of Colne Priory
Pardon of alienation dated 27 January 1592 for Oxford’s sale of Castle Hedingham to Lord Burghley and his heirs in Michaelmas term 1591 without licence
Indenture of 7 February 1592, sale of Colne Priory by Oxford to Richard Harlakenden
TNA CP 25/2/135/1725/34ELIZIEASTER, Item 44
Fine of 12 April 1592 by which Oxford and his second wife, Elizabeth Trentham, transferred clear title to the manors of Castle Hedingham and Gosfield to Lord Burghley and his heirs and to Oxford's three daughters Elizabeth, Bridget, and Susan
Copy of letters patent of 14 April 1592 granting Queen Elizabeth’s reversionary interest in Colne Priory to Theophilus Adams and Thomas Butler
TNA CP 25/2/135/1725/34ELIZIEASTER, Item 43
Fine of 5 May 1592 by which Oxford and his second wife, Elizabeth Trentham, transferred clear title to the rectory of Messing to George Maxey for 160 marks
Map prepared by Israel Amyce, taken from Louis Thorn Golding's An Elizabethan Puritan
1593
Oxford's revocation on 3 December 1593 of his earlier commission to Lewin, Harlakenden, & Tiffin re Earls Colne grammar school, & his reappointment of Adams as schoolmaster
Oxford’s replication in his Chancery suit against Roger and Richard Harlakenden for either reconveyance of Colne Priory or for compensation for fraud and breach of trust in the sale
1594
Memorandum of 1594 re repayment of Oxford’s debt of £3300 to the Court of Wards and extents for repayment of Oxford’s debt for forfeitures
BL MS Lansdowne 76/74, ff. 168-9
Letter written by Oxford on 7 July 1594 requesting Lord Burghley's assistance in rectifying certain abuses in his office of Lord Great Chamberlain
1595
Last will and testament, dated 1 February 1595, of Oxford's paternal uncle Robert Vere (d.1598), brother of John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford
Memorandum by Oxford on 9 March 1595 asking Lord Burghley's furtherance in a suit to the Queen for a licence to transport tin and lead, for which Oxford offers the Queen £500 a year
Letter written by Oxford to Lord Burghley on 20 March 1595 outlining a plan to equal the artficially high offer of £10,000 by which his competitors, including Lord Buckhurst, had earlier driven him out of the bidding for the tin monopoly
Letter written by Oxford to Lord Burghley on 23 March 1595 responding to questions as to how his offer for the tin monopoly compares to that made by Lord Buckhurst
Letter written by Oxford to Lord Burghley on 25 March 1595 responding to further questions as to how his offer for the tin monopoly compares to that made by Lord Buckhurst
Letter written by Oxford on 28 March 1595 citing Richard Carmarden as his source for figures concerning the quantity of tin, and stating that Lord Buckhurst now claims that his offer was only intended to be for £4000 over the Queen's current £3000 revenues
BL MS Lansdowne 86/66, ff. 169-70
Memorandum by Oxford, likely dating from late March 1595, stating that Lord Buckhurst now claims that his offer for the tin monopoly of £7000 was intended as £4000 over and above the £3000 of revenues currently received by the Queen
Letter written by Oxford to Lord Burghley's secretary Michael Hicks on 28 March 1595 re the annual production of tin in Devon and Cornwall
Letter written by Oxford to Lord Burghley on 1 April 1595 with his firm offer to increase the Queen's revenues from tin from £3000 to £10,000, and the names of the merchants associated with him in the venture
Letter written by Oxford to Lord Burghley on 9 April 1595 advising that the merchants named in his letter of 1 April 1595 have backed out, having been dissuaded by members of the Turkey Company which transported most of England's export tin
Letter written by Oxford on 13 April 1595 after both his and Lord Buckhurst's backers for the tin monopoly had deserted them, proposing a new plan for the tin monopoly for the consideration of the Queen, Lord Burghley, and Lord Buckhurst
Letter written by Oxford to Lord Burghley on 17 April 1595 mentioning deceptive practices by Richard Carmarden, and that Lord Buckhurst has abandoned his suit for the tin monopoly
Memorandum from Oxford on 4 June 1595 to Lord Burghley in which he refutes Richard Carmarden's reasons why the Queen should accept Lord Buckhurst's offer of £4600 for both the pre-emption and transportation of tin
Letter written by Oxford on 7 June 1595 to Lord Burghley advising of the dishonesty of Richard Carmarden and suggesting a means by which the Queen can obtain an accurate estimate of the annual production of tin in Cornwall
Letter written by Oxford on 13 June 1595 to Lord Burghley requesting that Alderman John Catcher be sent down to Cornwall to work with Middleton in obtaining an accurate estimate of the annual production of tin in Cornwall
Letter written by Oxford on 14 June 1595 to Lord Burghley reiterating his request that an order be sent by the Queen to Sir Francis Godolphin directing that no tin be bought or sold till the midsummer coinage, and that agents be appointed for Cornwall and London
Letter written by Oxford on 15 June 1595 to Lord Burghley reiterating his request that an order be sent by the Queen directing that no tin be bought or sold till the midsummer coinage, and that the tin be sold by agents, realizing a profit of £20,000
Letter written by Oxford on 5 August 1595 re Middleton's return from Cornwall and bribes offered by Lord Buckhurst to Oxford's agents and co-offerors for the tin monopoly to persuade them to abandon him, thus hindering the Queen's service
Oxford’s bill of complaint in Chancery of 1 July 1595 against Thomas Coe and his sons Roger and Edward for non-payment of rent under a lease of the rectory of Walter Belchamp & for recovery of documents, and answer of Thomas Coe
Complaint in 1595 against any 'innovations' in the tin trade, perhaps instigated by those who had originally offered Queen Elizabeth 1000 marks for the tin monopoly in 1594 and had been forced to raise their offer to a point at which it had become unprofitable
Memorandum by Oxford which appears to date from the end of 1595, listing the prices paid by the tin merchants per 1000 pounds of tin from 1571 to midsummer 1595, and discussing the Queen's attempt to exercise her pre-emption in 1595
1596
Letter written by Oxford on 14 March 1596 in response to a letter from Lord Burghley with unspecified questions about the suit for the tin monopoly based on Oxford's notes on pre-emption
Agreement dated 16 June 1596 between the Company of Pewterers and Henry Jackman that Jackman would be the Company's agent for a period of one year to pursue the Company's suit to the Queen that no tin should be exported from England in blocks
Undated memorandum by Oxford re the revival of the 'suit of bars' on behalf of the Pewterers
1597
Chancery petition of Roger Harlakenden dated 25 November 1597 against Samuel Cockerell