| Christopher Blount | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1555/1556 |
| Died |
March 18, 1601 Tower Hill, London |
| Cause of death | Decapitation |
| Place of burial | St. Peter ad Vincula, London |
| Nationality | English |
| Known for | Soldier and secret agent |
| Spouse(s) | Lettice Knollys |
| Parents |
Sir Thomas Blount Mary Poley |
Sir Christopher Blount (1555/1556[1] – 18 March 1601) was an English soldier, secret agent, and rebel. He served as a leading household officer of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester. A Catholic, Blount corresponded with Mary, Queen of Scots's Paris agent, Thomas Morgan, probably as a double agent. After the Earl of Leicester's death he married the Dowager Countess, Lettice Knollys, mother of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex. Blount became a comrade-in-arms and confidant of the Earl of Essex and was a leading participant in the latter's rebellion in February 1601. About five weeks later he was beheaded on Tower Hill for high treason.
Career[]
Blount's stepson, the Earl of Essex. Blount was a conspirator in the rebellion of 1601.
Christopher Blount was born in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, the younger son of Thomas Blount, a relative of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester on the Earl's mother's side, and one of his chief household officers until his death in 1568.[2] Blount's mother was Mary Poley from a Suffolk Catholic family. As a child Christopher Blount was sent to Louvain to be privately tutored by William Allen.[3] Despite being a Catholic, he was Gentleman of the Horse to the Earl of Leicester by 1584.[4] He corresponded with Thomas Morgan in Paris, the exiled agent of Mary, Queen of Scots. Apparently Blount offered to "do [her] notable service".[5] In his dealings with Morgan Blount probably had the backing of Leicester and Francis Walsingham, Queen Elizabeth's spymaster.[3] Leicester trusted Blount, calling him "Mr. Kytt" and caring for his well-being.[6] Blount served in the Netherlands Campaign from 1585 till 1587, when Leicester was Governor-General there.[7]
In the spring of 1589, about seven months after the Earl's death, Blount married his widow, Lettice Knollys, whom Queen Elizabeth hated for having married the Earl of Leicester.[8] Accordingly, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, Lettice's son and the new favourite of the Queen, termed this an "unhappy choice".[9] Lettice seems to have been very happy with her choice, as is shown by her later correspondence.[10] Lady Leicester (she continued to be styled thus) and Sir Christopher were busy repaying the Earl of Leicester's colossal debts and were engaged in numerous lawsuits because of this.[1]
Blount was Member of Parliament for Staffordshire, where he lived, in the Parliaments of 1593 and 1597; he was elected at the instance of the Earl of Essex, who was influential in the county.[11] In 1596, Blount was a colonel in the Cadiz expedition, and in 1597 in that to the Azores.[1] One of the main followers of the Earl of Essex, he became much involved in the latter's rebellion in 1601. On Sunday, 8 February, he tried to raise London, riding side by side with his stepson, the Earl, and was badly wounded in the cheek.[12] Following his arrest, he was carried on a litter to his trial, still weak from his hurt. He was beheaded about four weeks after Essex on Tower Hill for high treason.[1]
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Hammer 2008
- ↑ Adams 1995 p. 464
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Haynes 1992 p. 55
- ↑ Adams 1995 p. 463
- ↑ Jenkins 2002 pp. 299–300
- ↑ Jenkins 2002 p. 339; Adams 2002 p. 190
- ↑ Adams 2002 p. 333
- ↑ Lacey 1971 p. 15; Hammer 1999 p. 280
- ↑ Hammer 1999 p. 34
- ↑ Jenkins 2002 p. 366
- ↑ Lacey 1971 pp. 101–102
- ↑ Lacey 1971 p. 293
References[]
- Adams, Simon (1995): Household Accounts and Disbursement Books of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester Cambridge ISBN 0-521-55156-0
- Adams, Simon (2002): Leicester and the Court: Essays in Elizabethan Politics Manchester UP ISBN 0-7190-5325-0
- Hammer, P.E.J. (1999): The Polarisation of Elizabethan Politics: The Political Career of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex 1585–1597 Cambridge UP ISBN 0-521-01941-9
- Hammer, P.E.J. (2008): "Blount, Sir Christopher (1555/6–1601)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online edn. Jan 2008 (subscritption required) Retrieved 2010-04-04
- Haynes, Alan (1992): Invisible Power: The Elizabethan Secret Services 1570–1603 Alan Sutton ISBN 0-7509-0037-7
- Jenkins, Elizabeth (2002): Elizabeth and Leicester The Phoenix Press ISBN 1-84212-560-5
- Lacey, Robert (1971): Robert, Earl of Essex: An Elizabethan Icarus Weidenfeld & Nicolson ISBN 0-297-00320-8
The original article can be found at Christopher Blount and the edit history here.