DUDLEY, Robert, EARL OF LEICasTeR, Eng lish courtier: b. 24 June 1532 or 1533; d. Corn bury, Oxfordshire, 4 Sept. 1588. He was th,e fifth son of John Dudley, Duke of Northum berland, and though involved in the criminal designs of his father and included in the sen tence of attainder passed against him on the ac cession of Mary, was pardoned and employed by that queen. After Elizabeth ascended the throne Dudley soon acquired the distinction of being her favorite. Offices, honors and wealth were showered on him. He was appointed master of the horse, knight of the Garter and privy councillor; and received grants of the princely domains of Kenilworth, Denbigh and Chirk Castle. In 1564 he was created Baron Denbigh and Earl of Leicester, and was the same year elected chancellor of Oxford Univer sity, having previously been chosen to the same office at Cambridge. He commanded the ex
pedition to the Low Countries in 1585-87 in which he showed no military capacity; and in 1588 was appointed captain-general of the queen's forces to resist the Armada. Cordially de tested by the old nobility, he was simply a crea ture of the queen, who was for long credited with an intention to marry him; but who pro posed a marriage (1563) between him and Mary of Scotland. In spite of Queen Elizabeth's fa vor, he sent presents to the imprisoned Queen Mary and was privy to the Norfolk plot, antici pating at that time the fall of Elizabeth. The tragic death of his first wife, Amy Robsart, who was found dead at the foot of the stairway at Cumnor Place, has been laid to his charge, with out, however, conclusive evidence. Consult Scott's (Kenilworth.'