Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset
James I | |
---|---|
Preceded by | The Lord Burghley |
Succeeded by | The Earl of Salisbury |
Personal details | |
Born | 1536 Buckhurst, Sussex Kingdom of England |
Died | 19 April 1608 Westminster, London Kingdom of England | (aged 71–72)
Spouse | Cicely Baker |
Children | 7, including Robert and William |
Parent(s) | Richard Sackville Winifred Brydges |
Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset (1536 – 19 April 1608) was an English statesman, poet, and dramatist. He was the son of
Biography
Early life
Thomas Sackville was born at Buckhurst, in the parish of Withyham, Sussex. His mother Winifrede was the daughter of Sir John Bridges, Lord Mayor of London. He was educated at St John's College, Cambridge, where he obtained his M.A., and Hertford College, Oxford.[1] He joined the Inner Temple, and was called to the bar.[2]
Political career
He first entered the House of Commons in 1558 as one of the knights of the shire for Westmorland. In 1559 he was elected for East Grinstead, and then in 1563 for Aylesbury.[3]
In 1566 Sackville travelled to
In 1572, he was one of the peers who sat on the trial of
In 1586 he was selected to convey to Mary, Queen of Scots, the sentence of death confirmed by the English Parliament. In 1587 he went as ambassador to the United Provinces, upon their complaint against the Earl of Leicester; but, although he performed his trust with integrity, the favourite had sufficient influence to get him recalled; and on his return, he was ordered to confinement in his own house, for nine or ten months.[5] He incurred Queen Elizabeth's displeasure by what she called his "shallow judgement in diplomacy". However his disgrace was short, for in 1588 he was presented with the Order of the Garter, and was sent again to the Netherlands in 1589 and 1598.[2]
In 1591, Sackville was elected chancellor of the
King James confirmed him in the office of lord treasurer, and in 1604 he was created Earl of Dorset.[2]
In 1604, Sackville bought
In April 1607 he wrote to
Literary and commercial
In addition to his political career, Sackville is remembered for his literary contributions. With Thomas Norton, he was an author in 1561 of the first English play to be written in blank verse, Gorboduc, which deals with the consequences of political rivalry. It was performed as part of the Christmas festivities (1560–1561) by the society of the Inner Temple, and afterwards on 18 January 1561 before Elizabeth at Whitehall.
He also contributed to the 1563 edition of The Mirror for Magistrates, with the poem Complaint of Henry, Duke of Buckingham. Sackville's first important literary work was the poem Induction, which describes the poet's journey to the infernal regions, where he encounters figures representing forms of suffering and terror. The poem is noted for the power of its allegory and for its sombre stateliness of tone.
Sackville acquired a large fortune through his land dealings in many counties, as well as from his investments in the iron foundry business. He was an advocate of stronger enforcement of the
In around 1587, Sackville was granted a royal licence to commission a suit of armour from the royal workshops at Greenwich. The finely etched, blued and gilt armour, a garniture for the field, is one of the finest and best-preserved examples of the Greenwich school of armour-making. It is now part of the Wallace Collection in London.
He died suddenly at the council table, having apparently suffered a stroke, referred to as "a dropsy on the brain". His funeral took place at Westminster Abbey, and he is buried in the Sackville family vault at Withyham Parish Church, East Sussex.
Family
In 1555, Sackville married Cicely Baker, daughter of the leading politician Sir John Baker and his second wife Elizabeth Dineley.[16] They had seven children, including his heir Robert, and Sir William Sackville, knighted by Henry IV of France.[17]
A daughter Anne married Sir Henry Glemham, and Mary married Lord Bergavenny. John Chamberlain recorded their reputation for learning in April 1606, as "complete women for learning, language, and all other rare qualities."[18]
References
- ^ "Sackville, Thomas (SKVL571T)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ a b c d e Chisholm 1911, p. 432.
- ^ "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
- ^ William Steven, The History of the High School of Edinburgh (Edinburgh, 1849), p.16: Hercules Rollock, 'Sylva VI: ad Generosissimum equitem, Torquatum Thomam Sacvillum', Bridging the Continental Divide, University of Glasgow
- ^ The Life of Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset (1536–1608). Luminarium.org. Retrieved 17 March 2011
- ^ HMC Salisbury Hatfield, vol. 20 (London, 1930), p. 144.
- ^ HMC Salisbury Hatfield, vol. 20 (London, 1930), pp. 237, 240–1.
- ^ HMC Salisbury Hatfield, vol. 20 (London, 1930), pp. 348-9: Edmund Lodge, Illustrations of British History, vol. 3 (London, 1791), pp. 206–13.
- ^ Henry Benjamin Wheatley, Peter Cunningham, London Past and Present: Its History, Associations, and Traditions, p. 515. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
- ^ Jon Lander, A Thousand Years of Village News, (Jon Lander, 1999), p. 15
- ^ HMC Salisbury Hatfield, vol. 17 (London, 1938), pp. 349–50.
- ^ HMC 7th Report (More Molyneux) (London, 1879), p. 668.
- ^ Natasha Awais-Dean, 'Jewellery', Erin Griffey, Early Modern Court Culture, (Routledge, 2022), pp. 369-370.
- ISBN 1-84176-970-3.
- ^ Sir James Mann, Wallace Collection Catalogues: European Arms and Armour (London: The Wallace Collection, 1962), pp. 78–83, pls. 43–5.; A. V. B. Norman, Wallace Collection Catalogues: European Arms and Armour Supplement (London: The Wallace Collection, 1986), pp. 33–6.
- ^ Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/40547. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ Norman McClure, Letters of John Chamberlain, vol. 1 (Philadelphia, 1939), p. 227.
Sources
- Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. .
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Dorset, Earls, Marquesses and Dukes of". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 431–434. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- Reginald W. Sackville West (editor) (1859), Works
- Zim, Rivkah (2007), "Religion and the Politic Counsellor: Thomas Sackville, 1536–1608", .
External links
- Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset(in English)
- Induction by Thomas Sackville