Introduction
In the Spring of 1554, Queen Mary I was in tense negotiations to marry the King of Spain. Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devon, had been widely expected to wear the crown beside her, but now she charged him with conspiring with rebel Sir Thomas Wyatt and threw him in Tower; and on March 17th, he was joined by Mary’s half-sister Elizabeth, rumoured to be Edward’s new love. Yet Mary’s minders did not feel safe.
DURING this time, there used a little boy, the child of a man in the Tower,* to resort to their chambers, and many times to bring Her Grace flowers; which likewise he did to the other prisoners that were there. Whereupon naughty and suspicious heads thinking to make and wring out some matter thereof, called, on a time, the child unto them, promising him figs and apples, and asking, “When he had been with the Earl of Devonshire?” not ignorant of the child’s wonted frequenting unto him.*
The boy answered that “He would go by-and-by thither.” Further they demanded of him, “When he was with the Lady Elizabeth?” He answered, “Every day!” Furthermore they examined him, “What the Lord Devonshire sent by him to Her Grace?” The child said, “I will go [and] know what he will give to carry to her.” Such was the discretion of the child, being yet but three years of age.
“This same is a crafty boy!” quoth the Lord Chamberlain;* “what say you, my Lord Chandos?”
* That is, he was the son of one of the men employed in the Tower of London.
* Edward Courtenay (1526-1557), 20th Earl of Devon, was considered a threat to Henry VIII’s plans for an heir of his own body, and imprisoned following the execution of his father Henry, Marquess of Exeter, in 1539. Mary released him in 1553, and Edward rose rapidly in her favour; some courtiers already knelt to him as to a King. But long captivity had left its mark on him, and then came the negotiations with Philip II of Spain. Edward fell from grace, and made things worse by transferring his affections to Mary’s half-sister and very eligible rival Elizabeth. Mary took the opportunity afforded by the anti-Philip rebellions of Sir Thomas Wyatt the Younger (?1521-1544) in Kent and Sir Peter Carew (?1514-1575) in the West Country to charge Elizabeth and Edward with conspiracy, and throw Edward back into the Tower along with Elizabeth. Edward eventually went abroad, and died at Padua in 1557, possibly the victim of murder by poisoning.
* Sir John Gage (1479–1556). The Lord Chamberlain is the most senior officer of the Royal Household, who not only manages the Household but to this day plays an important role in politics by liaising with the House of Lords.
* John Brydges (1492-1557), 1st Baron Chandos. He was Lieutenant of the Tower of London, responsible for ensuring that Lady Jane Grey, named as his successor by Edward VI but outmanoeuvred by Mary, and Sir Thomas Wyatt, leader of an ill-fated rebellion in Kent, both came safely to their place of execution that year (1554).
Précis
In 1554, Mary I locked her half-sister Elizabeth up in the Tower along with Edward Courtenay, who had fallen from Mary’s graces. A three-year-old boy, son of an employee, had the run of the Tower and carried flowers and messages between Edward and Elizabeth, but Mary’s minders were unable to get the boy to reveal what passed between them. (59 / 60 words)
In 1554, Mary I locked her half-sister Elizabeth up in the Tower along with Edward Courtenay, who had fallen from Mary’s graces. A three-year-old boy, son of an employee, had the run of the Tower and carried flowers and messages between Edward and Elizabeth, but Mary’s minders were unable to get the boy to reveal what passed between them.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: although, besides, may, must, or, otherwise, since, until.
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