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nHe cometh uponnyou with a tale, which holdeth children from play, and old men from thenchimney-corner.n
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nSirnP. Sidney Defence of Poesy.
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n There are stories told of intrigue, romance, and murder innhigh places and then there is the story of Thomas Overbury. Henwas born in 1581 at the splendidly named manor of Compton Scorpion,nWarwickshire to a well-placed family, entered Oxford University as a gentlemanncommoner at 14, graduated in 1598 and followed his father’s lead in enteringnthe legal profession.
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| Sir Thomas Overbury |
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nIn 1601, he went to Edinburgh on a pleasure trip, wherenhe was introduced to Robert Carr, then Earl of Dunbar, and immediately the twonyouths formed an inseparable friendship. Carr was a minor but accomplishednaristocrat, charismatic and astonishingly handsome, yet seriously lacking innintellect whereas Overbury was cultured, ambitious, worldly and fiercelynintelligent.
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| Sir Robert Carr |
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nThe pair returned to London together and moved easily in the courtncircle of the new King, James I, where Carr’s charm, aided by Overbury’s wit, ensurednhis rapid advancement. In 1606, Carr had the good fortune to break his leg whennhis horse fell on him in the tilting yard – good fortune indeed, as thisnbrought him to the attention of the King, who fell in love with the youngncourtier, nursing him himself and teaching him Latin in the meantime. The courtnof James I ran largely on a system of patronage and favouritism, and James hadna number of male favourites, his relationship with whom may or may not havenbeen physical – this is question where there are far too many grey areas tonexamine at present – but thereupon Carr’s advancement was meteoric.
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| King James I |
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nHe wasnknighted in 1607, and became a Gentleman of the Bed Chamber, was creatednViscount Rochester in 1611, made a Knight of the Garter, and in 1614 became thenEarl of Somerset and was made Privy Councillor. And it was said, in private andnin whispers, that whilst Rochester ran the King, Overbury ran Rochester. AsnCarr rose, so rose Overbury; he was knighted in 1608, and made a number ofndiplomatic missions to Europe. It is a measure of how favouritism worked thatnthe manor of Sherborne, formerly the home of a former royal favourite SirnWalter Raleigh and granted to be the hereditary inheritance thereof, wasnconferred instead on Carr at the suggestion of Robert Cecil, and when Raleigh’snwidow challenged this in law, a rigged bench of bishops found in favour of thenCrown and Lady Raleigh was paid derisory compensation in recompense. RobertnCecil, the Earl of Salisbury, was the King’s spymaster and the power behind thenthrone, making him the most powerful man in England. His death, in 1612,ncreated a power vacuum, and there was an unsightly scramble to take Cecil’snplace. At this point, it is necessary to introduce the Howard family into thenstory.
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| Frances Howard |
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nOn January 5th 1606, the fourteen-year-old Robert Devereux,nEarl of Essex, was married to the thirteen-year-old Frances Howard, daughter ofnthe Earl of Suffolk, and following the ceremony the young Earl was sent tonEurope to complete his education and his bride accompanied her mother to thenroyal court, which was not really the best location for the moral education anthirteen-year-old girl, especially one destined to grow into a notable beauty.nWhen Essex returned some five years later, hoping for matrimonial satisfactionnand conjugal bliss, he was dismayed to find she had no desire to pass thenremainder of her days with her ‘homely’ husband in his remote country pile. Shenhad other plans, which included the King’s favourite, Robert Carr, and she wasnaided in her schemes by her great-uncle, Henry Howard, 1st Earl ofnNorthampton, in working towards divorcing Essex.
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| Henry Howard – 1st Earl of Northampton |
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nThere were rumours ofnlove-philtres and wax figures, as belief in witchcraft was rife in James’snrealm, and further rumours of Essex’s impotence were heard; Frances underwentnan ‘examination’ by ten matrons to prove her virginity, although the woman whonwas examined was heavily veiled to ‘preserve her modesty’ and she is thoughtninstead to have been the daughter of Sir Thomas Monson. At first Overbury wasnonly too happy to help his friend Carr in his amorous adventures with thenflighty Frances, but his mind was changed when Carr announced his intentions tonmarry her. He tried persuading Carr by telling him about Frances’s previousndalliances, but Carr was having none of it, so Overbury did what any goodnfriend would do under the circumstances – he wrote a poem.
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| Thomas Overbury – A Wife |
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nA Wifendescribes what qualities a good wife should possess and, oddly, they arenexactly the opposite of the qualities possessed by Frances Howard, (it also containsnthe line,
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n“And all the carnall beauty of my wife,n
nIs but skin-deep,”n
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nthenfirst use of a ‘beauty is only skin deep’ adage in English). Overbury hoped hisnpoem would add weight to his warnings, but there was more to it than justntrying to dissuade his infatuated friend from an ill-advised marriage. If Carrnbecame involved with the Howards and their factional power-broking, it wouldnmean a proportionate decline in Overbury’s own power and influence, and ThomasnOverbury was still a proud and ambitious man. The matters of state that passednbefore Carr were far beyond his intellectual abilities and it was Overbury whondealt with them instead, giving him much greater access to power than he couldnever have desired. On the other hand, it also made him the repository of thensecrets of the King, Carr and the Howard family, which were secrets that thoseninvolved wished to remain very secret.
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| Frances Howard |
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nBut Overbury soon discovered the price of opposing thenHowards, as Northampton, the most sinister of men in a particularly sinisterntime, drew his dark plans to remove this source of opposition. A scheme wasnmade to assassinate Overbury, but as a prior pardon for the killer could not benassured, this was laid aside. One day, Carr and Overbury were walking past thenQueen’s chamber, who saw them and quipped, “There goes Rochester and hisngovernor,” and soon afterwards Overbury was heard laughing. The Queennthought he had overheard the comment and was laughing at her, so Overbury wasndetained, but he managed to persuade the authorities that he had been laughingnat a jest made by the King at dinner on the previous day, so he was released.
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| Queen Anne – wife of James I |
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nThen it was planned that Overbury was to be offered the position of ambassadornto France, but since he had no reason not to take the post, he was offeredninstead the position of ambassador to Muscovy, which he did refuse,nsaying he could not speak the language there. His former, and now false, friendnCarr had counselled him to refuse, insisting that he remain with him in Londonnand Overbury’s pride did the rest. The refusal was tantamount to treason, bynopposing the King’s wishes he made a traitor of himself and on April 21stn1613, he was sentenced to be held at the King’s ‘request’ in the Tower ofnLondon.
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| Sir Thomas Overbury |
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