The Suspicious Death of Amy Robsart

[Welsh Wench]

To those who know Tudor and Elizabethan history, we know there was a rumour of a love affair between Robert Dudley and Queen Elizabeth.
But one of the things that stood in the way was....HIS WIFE!

Amy Robsart Dudley was found dead at the bottom of a staircase.

Was it an accident? Suicide? Murder?

What say you?

An in-depth look at it is here....

http://www.elizabethfiles.com/did-robert-dudley-murder-amy-robsart/3611/

[LadyFae]

I firmly believe that Amy Robsart was murdered- I am just completely not sure by whom!  It COULD have been her husband in a fit of desparation and rage (Amy wasn't dying fast enough for him, perhaps?) I think he is the *best* suspect, though I doubt he personally did the deed. 
I'm not really sure how, if Amy had committed suicide, she would have been able to strike two sufficient blows to her own head to kill herself before falling down the stairs!
I don't think it was suicide and I doubt it was accidental.  Murder is the most plausible explaination, in my mind.

[Taffy Saltwater]

As a cancer (non-Hodgkins lymphoma) survivor which had metastasized to my pelvis & lower spine, I can say from experience that a simple fall could cause major fractures.  I simply twisted at the waist and my pelvis broke - massive breaks - in 3 separate places (to the point where the "good news" was that I'd never walk again) and my spine had numerous micro fractures.

Whether or not cancer-driven fractures were the cause of her death is debatable, but not impossible if she was suffering from cancer.

[Welsh Wench]

http://www.thehistoryfiles.com/amy-robsarts-death-part-i-accident-or-suicide/433/


http://www.thehistoryfiles.com/amy-robsarts-death-part-ii-the-improbability-of-murder/478/

Oh, if only they had Court TV then....

[DonaCatalina]

I have always leaned towards Amy's death not being an accident. It was too convenient for Dudley and his position at court. A court of inquest looking at the autopsy today, 2 blows to the head an no other injuries, woul immediately return an indictment of murder by person or persons unknown. Autopsies down on people who died from a fall include an injuries above the hat brim line as well as simultaneous injuries all over the body.In other words, if you fall hard enough to crack your skull, other bits will get broken first.

[Lady Mikayla of Phoenicia]

http://www.thehistoryfiles.com/amy-robsarts-death-part-i-accident-or-suicide/433/


http://www.thehistoryfiles.com/amy-robsarts-death-part-ii-the-improbability-of-murder/478/

Oh, if only they had Court TV then....

or Bones!

[Welsh Wench]

Amy Robsart and Dudley's marriage was considered a 'carnal' one.
Translation: They had the hots for each other.

BUT ten years later--Her funeral cost Robert £500; but he was not present.

I don't know if he was instrumental in her death but I am betting that the scandal caused Elizabeth to back off.
And why should she share the crown of England with him?

Why buy a steak when you get the bull for free?

Did I really say that?

[DonaCatalina]

Elizabeth toyed with the idea of marriage, but she never intended to marry anyone. This was something Robert Dudley only came to really believe later in life. The Earl and Queen Elizabeth had a stormy relationship that followed a predictable pattern. Every time that her advisors managed to get Elizabeth to consider a foreign suitor, Dudley would take up with another woman to make Elizabeth jealous. His mistake with Amy Robsart was that he thought he could marry her, have her and keep it a secret from the queen. His banishment from court did not last long after Amy's death. That alone was motive enough for Robert Dudley to buy her murder.

[Welsh Wench]

This was a interesting fact regarding the staircase--

In relation to the jury's and other explanations of Amy's death it may be useful to look at the evidence about the staircases at Cumnor Place. The "dog-leg design" of staircase known to have been in the north-west corner of the building giving access to the upper rooms "is entirely consistent" with it having been such a pair of stairs. This staircase was drawn by Lysons and appears to show the four radiating treads of the first flight making a right angle turn to the west up to a square landing; the second flight made a ninety degree turn to the east, followed by a few treads in a straight line to the top. The drawing shows only thirteen or fourteen steps in all. The contemporary Chronicler quoted above says the pair of stairs was by report only eight steps. The Lysons staircase, however, may have been built after 1560, replacing an earlier one; but there can only have been a fairly short flight in any pair of stairs in Cumnor Place. The others in the building were probably all straight flights.

http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/external/cumnor/articles/inman-robsart.htm

If I am following this correctly, it sounds like it had some landings and twists and turns. With all that bouncing around, Amy Robsart should have sustained other injuries for an accident.

Another question is this--
if you are going to murder someone by pushing them down the stairs, how can you be so sure you would kill them instead of just injuring them? That's a pretty big assumption there.

[DonaCatalina]

My reading is that the 'falling down the stairs' theory was plausible at the time. But The head injury is consistent with a double blow from a cudgel, one to stun and the second to kill. Again,looking at modern forensics' reports would show similar findings. Her body was likely staged at the foot of the stairs for the servants to find..

[Welsh Wench]

I too thought the double wounds to the head were suspicious.

Amy and Dudley lived hand to mouth and on the generosity of her parents until their death. Amy, as an only child, inherited all.

Dudley became a favorite and Master of the Horse, cementing a position at Court.
If Amy were dead.....look who inherits all.

I found this on Youtube. No one can take Glenda Jackson's place as the best Elizabeth there ever was.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtkH0EfGCCM

[DonaCatalina]

What I didn't mention earlier is that there are reasons why the 'double tap' is still thought to be the mark of a professional killing.
People who accidently hit someone draw back after the first blow. People who are emotionally involved in the killing don't stop at two, i.e.Lizzie Borden took an axe, and gave her mother forty whacks.

[Lady Gryphon]

Where is Grissom when you need him most  LOL

Murder in the "Court" was always and still is a convenient way to get rid of a partner you don't need or want anymore.  But that is a subject for another thread.  Anything is possible when the Queen is involved willingly or no.

[DonaCatalina]

I don't think the Queen was involved. As Wenchie mentioned, the daughter of Anne Boleyn was very aware of how opinion could turn against her. But I think she was willing to allow herself to believe Dudley's explanation for Amy's death.
Anyone else besides Robert Dudley would have been exonerated in the 'Court of Public Opinion' by his unimpeachable alibi. But he had done little in his life to ingratiate himself to most of England's powerful men or even the general population. So as a matter of course when his enemies whispered murder, the people who were jealous of Dudley were happy to believe that he had murdered Amy. Queen Elizabeth, who realized the strength of this belief, had a much cooler relationship with Dudley from that point.
And who knows? Most of the nobles had paid spies on their staffs, one of them may have employed the same agents that assasinated Amy. The rumors may have had a basis in direct knowledge.

[Welsh Wench]

I think suicide can be ruled out. If you are serious about it, jump out a turret window and make sure you get the end result.
A fall down the stairs isn't a sure bet.

Interesting that one of Elizabeth's favorites was Robert Devereux, Dudley's stepson.
Devereaux was beheaded for treason in the end.

[Welsh Wench]

I came across this--

Along the pathway to marriage he broke several hearts including Lady Douglas' sister, Frances Howard, Queen Elizabeth I and not to mention many of her ladies in waiting. When it all comes down to it, Dudley was the equivalent of a 'gold-digger'. He wanted royalty and wealth, and was not afraid to take off his pants to get it.

I like that last sentence!

http://www.renaissancefestival.com/forums/index.php?topic=15837.0;topicseen