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The Essex Rebellion
During the last years of her reign, Elizabeth had a turbulent relationship with the handsome, young Earl of Essex. The stepson of Elizabeth's trusted courtier Robert Dudley, Essex shared Dudley's ambition but not his loyalty. Attempting to gain power, Essex alternately pleaded and whined to the queen. His military expeditions brought him fame as a dashing soldier but ultimately produced few results.
At the end of the 1590s, Essex led a disastrous campaign to subdue rebels in Ireland. When he returned home, he faced disgrace. In frustration, Essex led an insurrection aimed at controlling the government. At Elizabeth's orders, he was executed on February 25, 1601, roughly two years before Elizabeth's own death. Elizabeth was clearly fond of Essex, who was thirty-three years younger than she, but it was not the romantic obsession portrayed in later novels and films.
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