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Sir Robert Cecil

The Right Honourable
The Earl of Salisbury
KG PC
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury by John De Critz the Elder (2).jpg
The Earl of Salisbury by John de Critz the Elder ca. 1602
Lord High Treasurer
In office
4 May 1608 – 24 May 1612
Monarch James I
Preceded by The Earl of Dorset
Succeeded by Commission of the Treasury
The Earl of Northampton, First Lord
Lord Privy Seal
In office
1598–1612
Monarch Elizabeth I
James I
Preceded by The Lord Burghley
Succeeded by The Earl of Northampton
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office
8 October 1597 – 1599
Monarch Elizabeth I
Preceded by In commission
Succeeded by In commission
Secretary of State
In office
5 July 1596 – 24 May 1612
Monarch Elizabeth I
James I
Preceded by William Davison
Succeeded by John Herbert
Personal details
Born Robert Cecil
(1563-06-01)1 June 1563
City of London, England
Died 24 May 1612(1612-05-24) (aged 48)
Marlborough, Wiltshire
England
Spouse(s) Lady Elizabeth Brooke
Relations The Lord Burghley (Father)
Residence Hatfield House
Alma mater St John's College, Cambridge

Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, KG, PC (1 June 1563? – 24 May 1612) was an English administrator and politician.

He was the younger son of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley by his second wife Mildred Cooke. His elder half-brother was Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, and the philosopher Francis Bacon was his first cousin.

Robert was small and hunchbacked, in an age which attached much importance to physical beauty in both sexes, and he endured much ridicule as a result : Queen Elizabeth called him "my pygmy", and King James I nick-named him "my little beagle". Nonetheless his father recognised that it was Robert rather than Thomas who had inherited his own political genius. While Burghley was fond of both his sons, he is said to have remarked that Robert could rule England, but Thomas could hardly rule a tennis court.

Cecil attended St John's College, Cambridge in the 1580s, but did not take a degree. He also attended "disputations" at the Sorbonne. In 1584 he sat for the first time in the House of Commons, representing his birthplace, the borough of Westminster. In 1589 Cecil married Elizabeth Brooke, the daughter of William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham, and his second wife, Frances Newton. Their son, William Cecil was born in Westminster on 28 March 1591 and baptised in St Clement Danes on 11 April. Elizabeth died when their son was six years old. They also had one daughter, Frances (1593–1644), who married Henry Clifford, 5th Earl of Cumberland.

He became an MP, elected to represent Westminster in 1584 and 1586 and Hertfordshire in 1589, 1593, 1597 and 1601.


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