The name Robert Devereux is perhaps not as recognizable as some other Elizabethan courtiers, but he was certainly an important man to Queen Elizabeth I. After the death of her longtime favorite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, Elizabeth found another (much younger) love. It's no secret that Elizabeth had many favorites at court - though Leicester is undoubtedly the most famous - but this one in particular met quite a different end than was normal. He certainly did not die in the queen's good graces, and he didn't enjoy her favor and love up until his last breath. No, instead he died a traitor - fallen far from the favor and love he had once known from the aging and beloved queen.
He was the son of Walter Devereux and Lettice Knollys - (yes, the same Lettice Knollys that became Robert Dudley's second wife! That makes Robert Devereux Leicester's stepson.) To trace his family line back, he was also the great grandson of Mary Boleyn - his mother was her granddaughter. His bloodlines were impressive and well-known, and to be the stepson of Robert Dudley certainly put him in the queen's sights.
