Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter
Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, 2nd Baron Burghley (* May 5, 1542; † February 7, 1623 ) was an English soldier and statesman.
Life
He was the eldest son of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley and his first wife Mary. A half-brother was Robert Cecil. First, he was taught with other descendants of the family of tutors. To complete his training, his father sent him with a companion to Paris. There, Thomas Cecil was more towards the fun and fewer graduate. His cavalier travel led him on to Antwerp, Speyer, Heidelberg and Frankfurt, before he returned to England in 1563.
Through the influence of his father Thomas Cecil 1563 was a deputy in the House of Commons. He represented Stamford in Lincolnshire. This seat has traditionally been occupied by members of the Cecil family. The place he took then two more times (1571, 1572). The first two electoral periods he did not participate in the debates. In his subsequent election periods he was a member of numerous committees and participated in the debates.
His father arranged 1564 marriage to Dorothy Neville. This was a daughter of Lord Latimer of Belvoir Castle. The couple had thirteen children together. Among them were five sons and eight daughters. Among them was the deputy and military Edward Cecil.
Thomas Cecil took part in the suppression of a revolt of the Earls in the North of England as commander of 300 riders in 1569. In 1573 he helped the Scottish regent James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton Edinburgh Castle take. During a tournament Elizabeth I. Thomas Cecil hit 1575 knighted.
In the years 1584 and 1586 he represented Lincolnshire in the House of Commons. When Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester in 1585 troops to support the anti-Spanish rebels led to the Netherlands, Thomas Cecil was a cavalry officer there. He soon became the governor controlled by the English port city of Brielle. For health reasons he had to give up the post soon. In 1588 during the invasion attempt of the Spanish Armada, he was a colonel in a unit in defense of the queen. 1592 and 1597 he was Member of Parliament for Northamptonshire.
In 1590 Thomas Cecil took over the possession of the Manor of Wimbledon. He had a new representative manor house with large garden and vineyard create. The Queen was there a frequent guest. He was appointed by her to the Lord President of York or President of the Council of the North. Thus, the duty was connected to track down secret Catholics. This task he has complied with rather sloppy. After his father's death in 1598 Thomas Cecil succeeded him as 2nd Baron Burghley.
In 1601 he supported as Colonel-General his brother Robert Cecil in the suppression of the rebellion of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex. Thanks to Thomas Cecil was admitted to the Order of the Garter. After James I. had ascended the throne, he was appointed a member of the Privy Council. In the year 1605 the king raised him to the Earl of Exeter while his brother Robert Earl of Salisbury was.
His first wife died in 1609. Already in 1610 he married Frances Smith. From this marriage came out a prematurely deceased daughter.
In poor health he withdrew more and more from the public back, even if the king visited him at Wimbledon in 1616. A year later, he was confronted with the fact that his wife, Frances, was accused of a plot to let the poison Lady Lake wife of a high official. Thomas Cecil appealed to the king, and this itself took over the Presidency of the Court of Star Chamber. The court declared the accused innocent, while Lady Lake and her husband were living long imprisoned in the Tower of London.
At his death Thomas Cecil was one of the richest men in England, and possessed with Wimbledon, Burghley House and Exeter House in the beach three large locks with the associated property. He has generously supported the Clare College, Cambridge.
He was buried along with his wife and some of his children in Westminster Abbey. At reminds him a tomb.