Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim
Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Mankie. Listener discretion advised Queen Elizabeth
Speaker 1: the First had spent the summer traveling across the country,
Speaker 1: visiting manors in Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk. Now at the
Speaker 1: end of September she was making one more stop, Wanstead Hall,
Speaker 1: the home of Elizabeth's favorite Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester. Now,
Speaker 1: if you know one thing about Queen Elizabeth the First,
Speaker 1: it was probably that she was the Queen of England.
Speaker 1: But if you know a second thing about Queen Elizabeth,
Speaker 1: it's her reputation as a virgin queen. Much to the
Speaker 1: chagrin of many of her advisers and nobles of the Kingdom.
Speaker 1: Elizabeth never married and never gave birth to an heir
Speaker 1: that would carry on the Tudor dynasty. Given the context,
Speaker 1: I think her reasoning is pretty easy to understand. Her father,
Speaker 1: King Henry the Eighth, didn't make the concept of marriage
Speaker 1: very appealing for a woman. His first wife was cast aside,
Speaker 1: his second, Elizabeth's mother, was beheaded, a third died in childbirth,
Speaker 1: his fourth cast aside again. His fifth beheaded, and the
Speaker 1: sixth managed to be okay, mostly because Henry died before
Speaker 1: he could do anything terrible to her. Elizabeth knew that
Speaker 1: marriage would fundamentally undermine her power, automatically making her subservience
Speaker 1: to her husband in the eyes of the court and
Speaker 1: the world, and a marriage would diminish the power she
Speaker 1: wielded by suggesting that she might be willing to marry
Speaker 1: someone for diplomatic reasons and or might be willing to
Speaker 1: make someone her air. And that's all to say nothing
Speaker 1: of the physical danger she would have been in had
Speaker 1: she carried and delivered a child. But just because Elizabeth
Speaker 1: never got married didn't mean she didn't enjoy male attention
Speaker 1: and romantic, if not physical, companionship. She did, particularly from
Speaker 1: Robert Dudley, who, almost from the moment of Elizabeth's ascension
Speaker 1: as queen was considered a royal favorite. Dudley would spend
Speaker 1: years trying to get Elizabeth to marry him. If you
Speaker 1: are a longtime listener of the show, you might remember
Speaker 1: an earlier episode we did on the mysterious death of
Speaker 1: a woman named Amy Robsart who fell down a staircase
Speaker 1: and broke her neck. That was Dudley's first wife, and
Speaker 1: so while in theory he was single again and eligible
Speaker 1: to marry the Queen, his wife's death was so mysterious
Speaker 1: and scandalous that it cast the type of pr paul
Speaker 1: that would have made a match between Dudley and Elizabeth
Speaker 1: a non starter. But still well, he was highly esteemed
Speaker 1: in court, spending plenty of time with and flirting with Elizabeth.
Speaker 1: When the Queen arrived that September day to Dudley's home,
Speaker 1: she wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary, a feast,
Speaker 1: of course, and time with her favorite who though she
Speaker 1: wouldn't marry him, she was still jealously protective of The feast.
Speaker 1: That night had another esteemed guest, Elizabeth's cousin Letise Knowles.
Speaker 1: It wasn't out of the ordinary for another courtly lady
Speaker 1: to be around, so I imagine at the time Elizabeth
Speaker 1: didn't give it too much thought. She didn't know that
Speaker 1: Dudley and Latisse had a secret that would upend both
Speaker 1: of their lives. Just two days earlier, without the Queen's permission,
Speaker 1: Dudley and Latisse had been secretly married, and so they
Speaker 1: sat down with her to dinner, knowing that the moment
Speaker 1: Elizabeth found out nothing would contain her wrath. I'm Danish
Speaker 1: forts and this is noble blood. It always struck me
Speaker 1: as a little hollow and anachronistic to call Elizabeth the
Speaker 1: First a feminist. Absolutely, she was a powerful woman in
Speaker 1: an incredibly patriarchal society who brilliantly played her hand and
Speaker 1: held down to her power in a way that most
Speaker 1: others would not have been able to, and so I
Speaker 1: absolutely understand the compulsion to point to her as a
Speaker 1: feminist symbol. But there's a distinction between a symbol and
Speaker 1: an individual, just as there's a distinction between a woman
Speaker 1: who gets to be powerful and a woman advocating for
Speaker 1: the structural advancement of women. As an individual, Elizabeth was
Speaker 1: really only the former, and when it came to family,
Speaker 1: it's hard to call her a girl's girl. She famously
Speaker 1: imprisoned and beheaded her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, and
Speaker 1: imprisoned another cousin, Lady Katherine Gray, in the Tower of London,
Speaker 1: for daring to get married without her permission in Elizabeth's defense.
Speaker 1: Both of those women had claims to the throne of England.
Speaker 1: Elizabeth's wrath in those cases, wasn't vindictive, maybe a little,
Speaker 1: but it was mostly political. That is not the case
Speaker 1: with Latis Knowles. Latis was no political threat to Elizabeth
Speaker 1: at all, but still in the end Elizabeth would grant
Speaker 1: her no mercy. Latis Knowles was also Elizabeth's cousin. Obviously
Speaker 1: we know Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry the eighth
Speaker 1: and Anne Boleyn. Latis was the granddaughter of Mary Bolin
Speaker 1: aka the other Bolin girl. Latis's grandfather was Mary Boln's husband,
Speaker 1: William Carey, But because Mary had had a physical relationship
Speaker 1: with King Henry the eighth, some more gossipy histories suggest
Speaker 1: the possibility that Latis was also descended from Henry, which
Speaker 1: would make Latis and Elizabeth even more closely related. Although
Speaker 1: I'm not quite sure what the name for that sort
Speaker 1: of cousin would be. It might be about now when
Speaker 1: you're wondering if it's just you or Latis's name sounds
Speaker 1: suspiciously close to Lettuce. Was there a Rapunzel situation happening
Speaker 1: with her parents, you might ask. The answer is no,
Speaker 1: it's far more ordinary. Latis was simply a shortened form
Speaker 1: for the Latin word for happiness. Letitia Latis was born
Speaker 1: on November sixth, fifteen forty three. It's a rare treat
Speaker 1: to know the actual day, and we know it because
Speaker 1: her father kept a Latin diary wrapped in calf binding,
Speaker 1: and in it he recorded Latisa's birth and the birth
Speaker 1: of his thirteen other children. Sometime likely in Latisa's late
Speaker 1: teenage years, around fifteen sixty one or sixty two, she
Speaker 1: married the nobleman Walter Devereaux, who would eventually become the
Speaker 1: Earl of Essex. But even early on, the rumors about
Speaker 1: Latis and Robert Dudley were circulating around court. A Spanish
Speaker 1: ambassador observed in fifteen sixty five that Robert Dudley was
Speaker 1: flirting with Latis at court to make Elizabeth jealous. If
Speaker 1: you were trying to make the Queen jealous, Latis would
Speaker 1: be a good choice to do that with. Not only
Speaker 1: was she regarded as one of the best looking women
Speaker 1: at court, but she also had red hair and didn't
Speaker 1: look dissimilar from Elizabeth I, aside from, you know, being
Speaker 1: a decade younger. But we also shouldn't give the ambassador's
Speaker 1: gossip too much weight, given that at the time that
Speaker 1: he was writing Latis was massively pregnant with her husband's child. Still,
Speaker 1: even that probably didn't stop Dudley from flirting. The gossip
Speaker 1: about a possible affair between Dudley and Latis only really
Speaker 1: began in earnest, almost a decade later, when Latisa's husband
Speaker 1: was over in Ireland after he put together a proposal
Speaker 1: for a plantation in Ulster. He Devereaux wouldn't return for
Speaker 1: a few years, and the rumors swirled in that time
Speaker 1: he was away, rumors that Latis had two children with
Speaker 1: her lover, Robert Dudley. There is no actual historical evidence
Speaker 1: that these children ever existed, and now feels like a
Speaker 1: good time to mention that a lot of anti Dudley's
Speaker 1: sentiment comes from a pro Catholic book called Lester's Commonwealth
Speaker 1: that was written in the fifteen eighties, which makes all
Speaker 1: sorts of wild accusations against Dudley, a man who happened
Speaker 1: to support Elizabeth the I's Protestant agenda. So it's possible
Speaker 1: that Lettis found comfort in the arms of Robert Dudley,
Speaker 1: Earl of Leicester while her husband Devereaux was away, but
Speaker 1: it's equally likely, in my opinion that she was just
Speaker 1: bopping around various castles in England, and later pro Catholic
Speaker 1: sources were looking to come up with whatever dirts against
Speaker 1: Dudley they could. Devereaux returned to England and then went
Speaker 1: back to Ireland, and on September twenty second, fifteen seventy six,
Speaker 1: he died of dysentery during an epidemic in Dublin. Of course,
Speaker 1: you can imagine what Lester's Commonwealth had to say about that.
Speaker 1: In case you can't imagine, it's that Letis and Robert
Speaker 1: Dudley murdered her husband, possibly because he was already planning
Speaker 1: on taking furious revenge on Dudley for fathering a child
Speaker 1: with his wife. And of course this murder would be
Speaker 1: no big deal for Robert Dudley, who, if you'll recall
Speaker 1: Amy Robsart and her tragic fall down the stairs, had
Speaker 1: obviously already killed his own first spouse. It's the type
Speaker 1: of story that's good if you're a Catholic who wants
Speaker 1: to present a key Protestant figure as the embodiment of evil.
Speaker 1: But there was an official investigation concluding that Devereaux died
Speaker 1: of natural causes. One piece of evidence, though, that Devereaux
Speaker 1: and Latise might have been estranged by this point, is
Speaker 1: that he barely referred to his wife in his will.
Speaker 1: In fact, Latisse would be forced to spend time writing
Speaker 1: letters to try try to get her meager jointure increased,
Speaker 1: even threatening to sue out a writ of dower if
Speaker 1: it wasn't increased, which thankfully it was. Latis observed the
Speaker 1: customary two year morning period until September twenty first, fifteen
Speaker 1: seventy eight, almost two years to the day exactly when
Speaker 1: her husband died. When the thirty four year old widow
Speaker 1: married Robert Dudley at a private country house in Wanstead
Speaker 1: before a notary, One witness noted that she wore a
Speaker 1: loose gown, which some take as a hint that there
Speaker 1: might have been a growing reason that the wedding needed
Speaker 1: to take place sooner rather than later. That theory gets
Speaker 1: a little more credence by the fact that there was
Speaker 1: a larger second wedding later at another estate. At this point,
Speaker 1: for Dudley, it had been more than ten year years
Speaker 1: since his first wife, Amy died, though he had tried
Speaker 1: his best to get Elizabeth to marry him in the time,
Speaker 1: since even he must have realized that it was just
Speaker 1: never going to happen. It certainly seems like he and
Speaker 1: Latis were genuinely in love, But if Dudley were still
Speaker 1: holding a candle for the Queen, there's something to be
Speaker 1: said for his choice of marrying her cousin who bore
Speaker 1: her a famous resemblance. Obviously, both Latis and Dudley knew
Speaker 1: that Elizabeth would not be happy about the marriage. There
Speaker 1: was a reason they didn't ask her for her royal consent.
Speaker 1: Elizabeth wasn't going to marry Dudley, but she definitely wouldn't
Speaker 1: want Latis to marry him. For Latitsa's part, she kept
Speaker 1: a very low profile in the early days of their marriage.
Speaker 1: She's very demure, very mindful, continuing to use the title
Speaker 1: Countess of Essex from her first husband and still living
Speaker 1: with her father. That winter, for New Year's Elizabeth, Dudley
Speaker 1: and Latis were still on good terms. Latis was received
Speaker 1: at court and gave the Queen a chain of amber
Speaker 1: with gold and pearl. Dudley gifted Elizabeth tons of jewels,
Speaker 1: including buttons with his family crust and lover's nods, but
Speaker 1: the couple would only be able to keep their secret
Speaker 1: for so long, Robert Dudley's many enemies began spreading the
Speaker 1: word of the secret wedding, and even Mary, Queen of Scott,
Speaker 1: who was imprisoned but not yet executed at this point,
Speaker 1: knew about the scandalous marriage. It was only a matter
Speaker 1: of time before the couple would face Elizabeth's wrath. Elizabeth
Speaker 1: at this time was doing her classic move of considering
Speaker 1: that she might marry someone for diplomatic reasons, and in
Speaker 1: the summer of fifteen seventy nine, the maybe would be
Speaker 1: groom was the Duke of Anjou. The French ambassador was
Speaker 1: facing an uphill battle trying to arrange the match. It
Speaker 1: was extremely unpopular and the Queen's favorite, Dudley, opposed it.
Speaker 1: The ambassador, in a peak of stubbornness, told the Queen
Speaker 1: that Dudley had quote no right to prevent this marriage
Speaker 1: or even try, given that he had married your kinswoman secretly.
Speaker 1: That's all there was to it. Elizabeth was furious. Her
Speaker 1: first instinct was to want to send Robert Dudley and
Speaker 1: Latisan Knowles to the Tower of London. Thankfully, her courtiers
Speaker 1: talked her out of that, but Elizabeth's anger wasn't going anywhere.
Speaker 1: According to one story, Elizabeth smacked Latis on the ear
Speaker 1: and shouted at her, as but one son lighted the earth,
Speaker 1: there would be but one one queen in England. And
Speaker 1: even more infuriating, Latis wouldn't back down or apologize. She
Speaker 1: had made a love match, and she was proud of
Speaker 1: her husband. However she might have felt about losing her
Speaker 1: friendship with her cousin, outwardly, Latisse would never show remorse.
Speaker 1: Her love for Dudley was worth whatever it had cost,
Speaker 1: and she would keep her head held high. The Spanish
Speaker 1: ambassador wrote of Latis, Yet still she is as proud
Speaker 1: as ever, rides through cheapside, drawn by four milk white steeds,
Speaker 1: with four footmen in black velvet jackets and silver bears,
Speaker 1: the symbol of the Dudley family on their backs and breasts,
Speaker 1: two knights and thirty gentlemen before her, and coaches of
Speaker 1: gentle women, pages and servants behind it, so that it
Speaker 1: might be supposed to be the queen or some foreign
Speaker 1: prince or ambassador. In other words, Latisa's behavior was delightfully brazen,
Speaker 1: and if there was ever a chance that Elizabeth might
Speaker 1: have forgiven her Letisa's complete lack of remorse made that
Speaker 1: chance disappear. It seemed she no longer cared whether she
Speaker 1: incurred the Queen's displeasure. Dudley, on the other hand, very
Speaker 1: much did care. He didn't really regret his marriage to Latise.
Speaker 1: It seemed like they were in love. He wanted marriage
Speaker 1: and an heir, and, as he wrote in a letter
Speaker 1: to a colleague, quote, I have lost both youth and liberty,
Speaker 1: and all my fortune reposed in Elizabeth. Elizabeth had taken
Speaker 1: and taken, and she was never going to marry him.
Speaker 1: What was Dudley supposed to do? Still? Latis left London
Speaker 1: for the countryside, and though Dudley was originally vanished from
Speaker 1: court to Elizabeth pretty quickly forgave him and enjoyed him
Speaker 1: back at court where she could pretend he wasn't married.
Speaker 1: Although there were new spikes in Elizabeth's fury when Dudley
Speaker 1: and Latis began actually living together a few years later,
Speaker 1: Elizabeth's anger at Letisse never abated. When Dudley tried to
Speaker 1: get one of Latis's daughters from her first marriage wed
Speaker 1: to James the first Elizabeth shot the suggestion down and
Speaker 1: said she would never allow James to marry quote the
Speaker 1: daughter of such a she wolf. But soon Elizabeth's displeasure
Speaker 1: would be eclipsed by an even greater challenge in the
Speaker 1: lives of Latis and Dudley. In fifteen eighty four, their
Speaker 1: three year old son died. To say it was a
Speaker 1: tragic loss would be an understatement. At this point, Latis
Speaker 1: was forty four years old, and so the death of
Speaker 1: their son marked the end of dudley hopes for continuing
Speaker 1: his family line. Even still, Elizabeth was said to be
Speaker 1: upset when Dudley went to comfort his wife in their grief,
Speaker 1: and Elizabeth was made even more upset by the fact
Speaker 1: that Latis accompanied her husband on vacation the following year,
Speaker 1: and there were rumors that Latis was going to accompany
Speaker 1: Dudley to the Netherlands, where he was Governor General, with
Speaker 1: quote such a train of ladies as her majesty had none.
Speaker 1: I mean, who did she think she was? Robert Dudley
Speaker 1: died in fifteen eighty eight. Just a few years later,
Speaker 1: possibly of malaria. He provided for Latis generously three thousand
Speaker 1: pounds a year and six thousand pounds of additional furniture
Speaker 1: and valuable home goods, which should have made her a
Speaker 1: very wealthy widow, except Dudley also left her the burden
Speaker 1: of massive debts, and he had an illegitimate child from
Speaker 1: before their marriage that was trying to weasel his way
Speaker 1: into claiming legitimacy and the inheritance. In order to settle
Speaker 1: Dudley's estates, Latis sold off Lesterhouse actually sold it to
Speaker 1: her son from her first marriage, Robert Devereaux. Incidentally, it
Speaker 1: was around this time that Latis's son, Robert, who was
Speaker 1: now the Earl of Essex, was becoming a court favorite
Speaker 1: with Elizabeth. I'm going to call him Essex because that's
Speaker 1: usually how he's referred to, and there are a lot
Speaker 1: of Roberts in this story. He Essex actually took Dudley's
Speaker 1: position as Master of the Horse, and after Dudley's death,
Speaker 1: he got control of Dudley's royal monopoly on sweet wines,
Speaker 1: which provided him a nice income. It seemed that Elizabeth
Speaker 1: did not hold a grudge against Latis's son, even while
Speaker 1: he's herself was never forgiven for the crime of marrying
Speaker 1: Elizabeth's favorite. This could be the end of Latis's story
Speaker 1: with her husband. The Queen's favorite dead, but her still
Speaker 1: banished from court and never to be forgiven. But Letis
Speaker 1: has such a strange and tragic third act that if
Speaker 1: you'll indulge me, the story just must continue fairly Quickly
Speaker 1: after Dudley's death, Latise married for a third time, this
Speaker 1: time to a man twelve years younger, a soldier named
Speaker 1: Sir Christopher Blunt. Throughout all of this, Elizabeth's grudge against
Speaker 1: Latise continued. As I mentioned, Latis's oldest son from her
Speaker 1: first marriage had actually established himself quite well in court,
Speaker 1: and he tried to get his mother and Elizabeth back
Speaker 1: on good terms. He arranged a meeting, and though Elizabeth
Speaker 1: largely ignored Latise, she did allow her to kiss her hand,
Speaker 1: which wasn't nothing, although it wasn't all uphill progress. In
Speaker 1: fifteen ninety nine, Latisa's son, Essex, would be briefly imprisoned
Speaker 1: in house arrest after a disastrous stint in London, and
Speaker 1: Latis tried to advocate for her son's release by sending
Speaker 1: Elizabeth a gown that cost one hundred pounds. Elizabeth rejected
Speaker 1: the gown and this time would not even permit Latis
Speaker 1: to kiss her hand. If you're wondering why Essex was imprisoned.
Speaker 1: The short version is Essex was Lord Lieutenant in Ireland
Speaker 1: and without the Crown's permission, made a humiliatingly bad truce
Speaker 1: with the leader of the Irish chieftains and came back
Speaker 1: home in a move that was pretty universally characterized as desertion.
Speaker 1: The house arrest was eventually lifted, but Essex didn't get
Speaker 1: back the sweet wine monopoly that he held previously. All
Speaker 1: of this set off a chain of events in which
Speaker 1: Essex was left bitter and angry at Elizabeth I and
Speaker 1: her government, and in a desperate fit of self aggrandizement,
Speaker 1: he made a truly terrible decision. Essex and a group
Speaker 1: of followers, including Lettis's new husband, Christopher Blunt, decided that
Speaker 1: they were going to march through the city and force
Speaker 1: an audience with the Queen and demand that she changed
Speaker 1: her government. Essex thought he could rally the people behind him.
Speaker 1: In short he could not, and fairly quickly the group
Speaker 1: were treated back to essex House, where they surrendered. Two
Speaker 1: weeks later, Essex was convicted of treason. Both he and
Speaker 1: Sir Christopher Blunt, Latis's son and her husband would be
Speaker 1: beheaded at the Tower of Life, London. Ironically, it had
Speaker 1: been Essex who had appointed the very executioner who would
Speaker 1: take his head. The executioner had been convicted of rape,
Speaker 1: but Essex had kept him from the death penalty on
Speaker 1: the condition he become an executioner. Unfortunately, it did not
Speaker 1: seem like he was very good at the job, given
Speaker 1: that it took thirty strokes to remove Essex's head. Latisse
Speaker 1: was left in a terrible and precarious position. Not only
Speaker 1: were her son and husband just convicted of treason and executed,
Speaker 1: but that husband had also left her pretty much broke
Speaker 1: before that by spending all of her money. Thankfully, Latisse
Speaker 1: would have one major stroke of luck a new regime.
Speaker 1: Elizabeth the First died and the new king, James the sixth,
Speaker 1: did not hold the same grudges as his kinswoman did
Speaker 1: helpfully to one of Latis's daughters from her first marriage,
Speaker 1: was in favor with James's wife, Anne of Denmark. James
Speaker 1: wiped out the remains of Dudley's debts and restored the
Speaker 1: Essex lands to Latise, and though she would still have
Speaker 1: to fight against Dudley's illegitimate son, she was able to
Speaker 1: do so successfully, and eventually there was a formal ruling
Speaker 1: in her favor. Latise Knowles lived fifteen more years, dying
Speaker 1: at the age of ninety one on Christmas Day, the
Speaker 1: quote last survivor of the Great Elizabethans. She requested that
Speaker 1: she be buried with her second husband, Robert Dudley, the
Speaker 1: Queen's favorite and hers. That's the story of Latis Knowles.
Speaker 1: But keep listening after a brief sponsor break to hear
Speaker 1: about some more of the insane rumors that swirled around
Speaker 1: her love life. Plenty of scandalous rumors surrounded Ltisnoles and
Speaker 1: Robert Dudley, and plenty of them, especially with regards to Dudley,
Speaker 1: were politically motivated, whether by his Catholic enemies or by
Speaker 1: people who were jealous of his power over Elizabeth in court. Obviously,
Speaker 1: we've already talked about the suspicious death of Dudley's first wife,
Speaker 1: Amy Robsart, and then the death of Latis's first husband,
Speaker 1: which caused a downe slew of rumors that Latis and
Speaker 1: Dudley had conspired to murder him so that they could
Speaker 1: be together. But there were even accusations Latis killed her
Speaker 1: second husband too. During the restoration, there would be a
Speaker 1: horror story written about how Dudley planned on killing Latise
Speaker 1: because she was having an affair, but she managed to
Speaker 1: kill him first. But the story of Dudley and Latis
Speaker 1: working together to kill Latice's first husband, Devereaux, is the
Speaker 1: most famous of the would be scandals involving Latise. The
Speaker 1: rumors were so well known at the time and in
Speaker 1: the decades following that some have speculated that William Shakespeare
Speaker 1: was actually inspired by them. That he heard a story
Speaker 1: about a man killing a woman's husband and then marrying her,
Speaker 1: and then the adult son from that first marriage making
Speaker 1: his way at court while dealing with that, and decided
Speaker 1: to write a play called Hamlet. Noble Blood is a
Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Mankey.
Speaker 1: Noble Blood is hosted by me Danish Forts, with additional
Speaker 1: writing and researching by Hannah Johnston, Hannah Zewick, Courtney Sender,
Speaker 1: Julia Melani, and Armand Cassam. The show is edited and
Speaker 1: produced by Noehmy Griffin and rima il Kaali, with supervising
Speaker 1: producer Josh Thain and executive producers Aaron Mankey, Alex Williams,
Speaker 1: and Matt Frederick. Four more podcasts from iHeartRadio. Visit the
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
Speaker 1: favorite shows.