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ARABELLA STUART (1575-1615)

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Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 1046 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ARABELLA See also:

STUART (1575-1615)  , daughter of See also:Charles See also:Stuart, See also:earl of See also:Lennox, younger See also:brother of See also:Lord See also:Darnley and of See also:Elizabeth, daughter of See also:Sir See also:William See also:Cavendish and " Bess of Hardwick," is interesting historically as having been (by strict See also:pedigree) next in See also:succession to See also:James VI. of See also:Scotland to the thrones of See also:England and Scotland, after See also:Queen Elizabeth . Her See also:father's See also:mother was See also:Margaret See also:Douglas, the daughter of See also:Henry VIL's daughter, Queen Margaret of Scotland, and the earl of See also:Angus . She was See also:born in 1575 and See also:early became the centre of the intrigues of those who in Elizabeth's reign refused to accept James as her successor . Various suitors for her See also:hand were proposed, including Henry IV. of See also:France, the earl of See also:Northumberland, and E'sme Stuart, See also:duke of Lennox . In 1590 a See also:plot was formed by the moderate See also:section of the See also:Roman 'Catholics of marrying her to Ranuccio, eldest son of the duke of 'See also:Parma, who was descended from See also:John of Gaunt, and of raising her with See also:Spanish support to the See also:throne . She was in consequence regarded with suspicion and disfavour by Elizabeth and closely watched and guarded at Hardwick by the See also:dowager countess of See also:Shrewsbury . In 1602 the queen's suspicions, were increased by the See also:discovery of a plot to marry Arabella to See also:Edward, eldest son of Lord See also:Beauchamp, who as See also:grandson of Edward Seytnour, earl of See also:Hertford, and of See also:Lady See also:Catherine See also:Grey (younger See also:sister of Lady Jane Grey), was See also:heir to the throne after Elizabeth according to the will of Henry VIII . According to other accounts the intended See also:husband wa§ See also:Thomas See also:Seymour, a younger son of the earl of Hertford . Arabella entered with ardour into the project, and planned an See also:escape from Hardwick with the aid of her See also:chaplain Starkey, who after its failure committed See also:suicide . In See also:December she wrote secretly to Lord Hertford proposing her See also:marriage with his grandson, but the latter immediately informed the See also:council . In See also:February 1603 another See also:attempt at escape failed, and she was then transferred to the care of the earl of See also:Kent at Wrest See also:House . The anxiety' and anger aroused by her conduct was reputed to be the cause of Elizabeth's See also:death the same See also:year .

When James I. had gained secure See also:

possession of the throne, Arabella was received at See also:court and treated with favour, and she showed her fidelity to James by revealing a communication made to her by the conspiratorsin the See also:Main and Bye Plots, in which her name had been used without her See also:sanction . Every effort, however, was made to prevent her marriage . She is described at this See also:time by Scaramelli, Venetian secretary in See also:London, as " of See also:great beauty and remark-able qualities, being gifted with many accomplishments, among them being the knowledge of Latin, See also:French, Spanish, See also:Italian, besides her native See also:English "; as having " very exalted ideas, having been brought up in See also:firm belief that she would succeed to the See also:crown," as limited in means, of the Puritan persuasion, and very proud, insisting on a See also:precedence over the princesses, though ordered back by the See also:master of the ceremonies and in consequence being expelled from the court . A little later she is called " a See also:regular termagant " and in 1607 " not very beautiful."' In December 1609 she planned an escape with Sir See also:George Douglas to Scotland, apparently with a view of arranging a marriage with See also:Stephen Bogdan, pretender to See also:Moldavia, and on the See also:scheme being discovered she was arrested . She was, however, restored to favour, granted a See also:pension of £1600 a year by James, and given xo,000 crowns to pay her debts . But on the 2nd of February 1610 she became engaged to William Seymour, younger brother of Edward, and grandson of Lord Hertford, a suitor especially forbidden by James . A promise was exacted from them by the privy council that they would not marry without the See also:king's consent, but nevertheless they were secretly married on the 22nd of See also:June at See also:Greenwich . Immediately it was known the culprits were imprisoned, Arabella at See also:Lambeth and her husband in the See also:Tower . In 1611 she was placed in See also:charge of the See also:bishop of See also:Durham . Her application for a See also:writ of habeas corpus was refused, and on the 16th of See also:March she See also:left London, progressing however, on See also:account of illness and prostration, only as far as See also:Barnet . She escaped on the 3rd of June 161 1 disguised in See also:man's clothing, and succeeded in getting on See also:board a See also:ship See also:bound for See also:Calais . Meanwhile her husband had also effected his escape and was sailing towards the French See also:coast .

Their two See also:

ships were See also:drawing together when " a great See also:wind arose and prevented them from seeing each other ever more."2 Soon afterwards the unfortunate Arabella was captured and brought back to the Tower, where she spent the See also:rest of her unhappy career . James was See also:deaf , to all intercession in her favour, and is reported to have answered the queen when See also:pleading for her that " she had eaten of the forbidden See also:fruit." In See also:November 1613 a new plot for her escape failed . Abandoning at last all See also:hope she sank into See also:melancholy, See also:ill See also:health, and, according to some accounts, See also:insanity, and died a victim to See also:state policy on or about the 25th of See also:September 1615 . She was buried in the See also:tomb of See also:Mary Queen of Scots in Henry VII.'s See also:chapel in See also:Westminster See also:Abbey .... There appears to be no support for the statement that a See also:child was born to her . Her husband, after awaiting her in vain at See also:Ostend, went on to See also:Paris . He returned to England in 1616 after his wife's death and was restored to favour . He married in 1618 Frances, daughter of See also:Robert Devereux, earl of ' See also:Essex, became earl of Hertford by the death of his grandfather in 1621, and See also:marquess in 164o . He took an active See also:part in the See also:civil See also:war in Charles I.'s reign, was See also:governor of the See also:prince of See also:Wales, and at the Restoration the dukedom of See also:Somerset was revived in his favour . He died in 166o, and, on the failure of his male descendants in the See also:person of his son John, 4th duke, the dukedom of Somserset passed to the descendants of his brother, See also:Francis, See also:Baron Seymour of See also:Trowbridge, and, on the extinction of the latter's male See also:line to the See also:elder See also:branch of the Seymour See also:family, descended from Sir Edward Seymour of See also:Berry See also:Pomeroy, See also:Devon . See also The See also:Life and Letters of Arabella Stuart, by E . T .

See also:

Bradley (18891, which supersedes the Life by E . See also:Cooper (1866) .

End of Article: ARABELLA STUART (1575-1615)
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