ABSTRACT
In the course of the chapter, I hope to reveal a depth of opposition on the part of the Leicester faction to the Queen that has been previously underestimated. As a preliminary, it must be stressed (as previous studies have stressed) how critical a moment this July of 157 5 was for the Dudley/Sidney fortunes. Robert Dudley had serious hopes of marrying the Queen, and it is clear that some of the events had been planned with a view to giving her an opportunity to accept him. 2 The fact that he had secretly married Lettice, formerly Countess of Essex, was not an obstacle. Dudley had already repudiated one former wife; and it is clear from the fact that Lettice's family insisted on a marriage ceremony for her in 1578 that they had had doubts about the strength of her claim. Had Dudley become the Queen's consort, Philip Sidney, his nephew and heir, would have become effectively heir to the throne. The Queen was too old for child-bearing, and in any case, the point of the marriage would have been to let power pass peacefully to the Dudley clan, as they had for two generations believed it should. 3
Edmund Dudley had served his monarch as right-hand man; and John Dudley had been effectively uncrowned king in Edward VI's reign. Both had come to grief. Edmund had been executed in 1510, accused of plotting to seize power from the King and Council. John (Robert's father) put Lady Jane
Grey on the throne for nine days when Edward VI died, after marrying her to his son Guildford. Both John and Guildford were executed as a result.4 What the Dudleys now wanted was a guarantee of future power without having to raise open rebellion.
