Essex Earls----

Robert Devereaux
2nd Earl of Essex
@Wikipedia

Robert Devereux

(1565-1601)

2nd Earl of Essex

1576-1601

English aristocrat

Favourite of Elizabeth I

Son of Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex & Lettice Knollys.

Husband of Frances Walsingham, mar 1590, daughter of Sir Francis Walsingham

First encounter with Elizabeth I of England.

" . . . In 1584, being in his 17th year, he appeared at the court of queen Elizabeth, who immediately honoured him with singular marks of favour, as he was not only her relation, but the son of one of her most faithful servants, the son-in-law of her favourite Leicester, and a very handsome and accomplished youth. . . ." (A Universal Biography, 3rd Series: 255)

Two-timing Earl .

" . . . By this time Essex was the most audacious and worldly figure in late Elizabethan court. But only was his wife Frances (nee Walsingham; formerly Sidney) pregnant, but he was having affairs with four maids of honour simultaneously. . . ." ('Untamed Desire'': 43)

Unchaste manner of life.

" . . . Lady Bacon had a short time before regretted in a letter to her son, namely, 'thy Earl's unchaste manner of life,' or to the share Essex had in the marriage of Southampton. The names of at least four ladies of the Court were, however, coupled with his: Elizabeth Southwell, who indeed bore him a son, named Walter Devereux, Lady Mary Howard, Mrs. Russell, and the 'fairest Brydges.' Which of these ladies was, at the period in question, the object of his affections, we cannot say; but it is certain that each, in her turn, excited the jealousy of Elizabeth, and gave poor Lady Essex many a heart-ache." (Lives and Letters of the Devereux ,Earls of Essex: 475)

Devereux's personal & family background.

"Robert was born on November 10, 1566 in the family of Walter Devereux, Earl of Essex, a former governor of Ireland, and Laetitia Knollys, Elizabeth's cousin (from her mother, Anne Boleyn). After the mysterious death of her husband Leticia Essex secretly married a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I, Earl of Leicester." (The 100 Best Articles)

Physical appearance & personal qualities.

"Essex was in person tall and well-proportioned, with a countenance which, though not strictly handsome, possessed, on account of its bold, cheerful and amiable expression, a wonderful power of fascination. He was a patron of literature, and himself a poet. His carriage was not very graceful, but his manners are said to have been 'courtly, grave and exceedingly comely.' He was brave, chivalrous, impulsive, imperious sometimes with his equals, but generous to all his dependants and incapable of secret malice;  and these virtues, which were innate and which remained with him to the last, must be regarded as somewhat counterbalancing . . . the follies and vices created by temptations which were exceptionally strong." (Luminarium)

Robert Devereux
2nd Earl of Essex

His lovers were:

1) Elizabeth.

" . . . At about the same time her niece, also Elizabeth, the goddaughter of the queen and Robert Dudley's cousin once removed, arrived at court as yet another adolescent maid. . . ." ('Untamed Desire': Sex in Elizabethan England: 43)

2) Elizabeth Southwell (1567-1602)

Maid-of-honour 1588/89

Natural Offspring:

Walter Devereux (1591-1641)

Lover 1567-1602 or 1591

"One of them, Elizabeth Southwell, half-sister to the mariner Sir Robert Southwell, was also pregnant and gave birth to a boy, who was taken into the Essex clan. . . ." ('Untamed Desire'': 43)

". . . One of the maids, Elizabeth Southwell, even became pregnant by Essex in 1591.  However, he was, for the moment, shielded from the potentially disastrous consequences of all his amorous pursuits. Thomas Vavasour took the blame for 'Mrs Southwell['s] lamnes in her legg', enduring the queen's anger and a brief spell of imprisonment for his alleged misconduct.  Nevertheless, this affair would return to haunt Essex in his later career" (Hammer: 95)

3) Lady Mary Howard.

4) Mistress Russell.

5) Mistress Bridges.

"On the 11th February, we hear that 'it is spied out by some, that my Lord of Essex is again fallen in love with his fairest B.: it cannot choose but come to Her Majesty's ears, and then he is undone.' . . . The lady in question was Mrs. Brydges, a maid of honour and celebrated beauty, who had been in some disgrace the preceding April on this account.  

Elizabeth Paulet

Countess of Essex

(d.1656)

Wife of: Robert Devereaux, 3rd Earl of Essex.

Her lover was:

Sir Thomas Uvedale

"In 1630, Essex married Elizabeth Paulet, but six years later this marriage collapsed because of her adultery with Sir Thomas Uvedale. When Elizabeth gave birth to a son in November 1636, many believed Uvedale to be the father. Essex once again became the laughing-stock of the court. He accepted the child as his own and even forgave the countess, but when the child died the following month Essex despairingly gave up all hope of a successful marriage and an heir to his title." (BCW Project)