Essex, Robert Devereux, Earl of, a favourite of Queen Elizabeth, born at Netherwood, Hereford; served in the Netherlands under Leicester, his stepfather; won the capricious fancy of Elizabeth; lost favour by marrying clandestinely the widow of Sir Philip Sidney, but was restored, and led a life of varying fortune, filling various important offices, till his final quarrel with the Queen and execution (1567‒1601).
Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by the Reverend James Wood (1907)
Essex * Essex, Robert Devereux, Earl of