Amy Robsart (7 June 1532 – 8 September 1560) was the wife of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, best-known for her suspicious death in 1560.
Biography[]
Amy Robsart was born in Norfolk, England on 7 June 1532, and she came from a firmly Protestant family. In 1550, she married the similarly-aged Robert Dudley, in a "love match", as the two of them genuinely loved each other. However, Dudley became Master of the Horse to Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1558, and, a year later, Dudley became Elizabeth's lover. Robsart became desperate to reclaim her husband, seducing Lord Lionel into backing Dudley's appointment as ambassador to France before Queen Elizabeth insulted Dudley in front of the Privy Council to keep him in England as her lover at the cost of his reputation. On 8 September 1560, her husband had her pushed her down a staircase at Cumnor Palace while he was at Windsor Castle with the Queen, making him eligible to marry the Queen; however, the suspicion cast upon him prevented him from marrying the Queen and threatening her reputation.