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(explorer)

Sir Robert Dudley (7 August 1574 – 6 September 1649) was an English explorer and cartographer. In 1594, he led an expedition to the West Indies, of which he wrote an account. The illegitimate son of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of , he inherited the bulk of the Earl’s estate in accordance with his father’s will, including Castle. In 1603–1605 he tried unsuccessfully to establish his in court. After that he left for- ever, finding a new existence in the service of the Grand Dukes of . There he worked as an engineer and shipbuilder and designed and published Dell'Arcano del Mare, the first maritime atlas to cover the whole world. He was also a skilled navigator and mathematician. In Italy he styled himself “ and Leicester”, as well as “”, a title recognized by the Emperor Ferdinand II.

1 Early life

Robert Dudley was the son of Robert Dudley, 1st and his lover Douglas Sheffield, daughter of [6] William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham. He Probable likeness of Robert Dudley, c. 1591 grew up in the houses of his father and his father’s friends but had leave to see his mother whenever she wished.[1] two ships by her father Robert, named the Leicester and His mother married Sir Edward Stafford in November the Roebuck. She soon died childless. 1579, and left for Paris. Leicester was fond of his son and often made trips to see him.[2] Dudley was given an excellent education and was enrolled at Christ Church, Oxford, in 1587 with the status of filius comitis, “Earl’s 2 Expedition to the West Indies son”. There, his mentor was Thomas Chaloner, who also became his close friend.[3] In 1588, when the Spanish Ar- In 1594, Dudley assembled a fleet of ships, including his mada threatened England, the 14-year-old Robert joined flagship the Beare, the Beare’s Whelpe and the his father, who was commanding the army at Tilbury pinnaces Earwig and Frisking. He intended to use them to Camp, preparing to resist a Spanish invasion, but on 4 harass the Spaniards in the Atlantic. The Queen did not September the Earl of Leicester died.[4] His will gave approve of his plans, because of his inexperience and the Dudley a large inheritance, including the castle and estate value of the ships. She did commission him as a general at Kenilworth and the lordships of Denbigh and Chirk, on but insisted that he sail to Guiana instead. the death of his uncle, Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of War- [5] Dudley recruited 275 veteran sailors, including the navi- wick. gator Abraham Kendal, and the captains Thomas Jobson In early 1591, Dudley was contracted to marry Frances and Benjamin Wood. Dudley’s fleet sailed on 6 Novem- Vavasour with the consent of Queen , who ber 1594, but a sudden storm separated the ships and liked Dudley very much but wished him to wait until drove the vessels back to different ports. Dudley sent he was older. Later that year Vavasour secretly mar- word to the captain of the Beare’s Whelp to join him in ried another man and was banished from court. In turn, the or Cabo Blanco and sailed again. At the 17-year-old Dudley married Margaret, a sister of Sir first, Dudley’s trip proved unlucky—the Earwig sank, and , in whose last voyage he had probably most of the vessels he encountered were friendly. Dudley invested. Dudley was excluded from court for this secret led only one raid in the Gulf of Lagos. In December the marriage, but only for a few days. Margaret was given expedition finally managed to capture two Spanish ships

1 2 4 IN ITALY

at . Dudley renamed them Intent and Regard, ceremony were long since dead. Neither could she re- manned them with his sailors, and put Captain Woods member who the “minister” was, nor the exact date of the in charge. He sailed to Cabo Blanco, expecting to meet marriage.[8] The Star Chamber rejected the evidence and the Beare’s Whelpe there, but it did not show up. Dud- fined several of the witnesses. It was concluded that Sir ley’s fleet sailed to Trinidad and anchored at Cedros Bay Robert Dudley had been duped by Thomas Drury, who in on 31 January 1595. There he discovered an island that his turn had sought “his own private gains”.[9] King James he claimed for the English crown and named Dudleiana. I ratified the judgement and it was handed down on 10 Then he sailed to Paracoa Bay for repairs and made a May 1605. In 1621 an official investigation in Tuscany, reconnaissance to San Jose de Oruna but decided not to Dudley’s new country, concluded that Dudley’s “friends attack it. Dudley divided his forces, sending the Intent maintain that his father married Lady Sheffield, but they and Regard to the north. In Trinidad Dudley recruited a are unable to account for her marriage during his life- Spanish-speaking Indian who promised to escort an expe- time, an act so injurious to the alleged legitimacy of her dition to a gold mine up the Orinoco River. The expedi- son.”[10][note 1] tion led by Captain Jobson returned after two weeks—as it turned out, their guide had deserted them and they had struggled back. Dudley returned to Trinidad. 4 In Italy On 12 March Dudley’s fleet sailed north, where it finally captured a Spanish merchantman. It then sailed on to Cabo Rojo, in , waited for suitable prey for some time and, then sailed towards . A storm blew the Beare north to near what is now New England before the fleet finally reached the Azores. Low on pro- visions and working guns, Dudley sailed for home, but he met a Spanish man-of-war on the way. He managed to outmanoeuvre and cripple it in a two-day battle, but decided not to board it. The Beare arrived at St Ives in Cornwall at the end of May 1595, and Dudley heard that Captain Woods had taken three ships. The next year, 1596, Dudley joined Robert Devereux, 2nd , to serve as commander of the Non- pareil in an expedition against Cadiz. He was later knighted for his conduct in the Capture of Cadiz, al- though what he did is not recorded. Shortly afterwards he married Alice, daughter of Sir Thomas Leigh of Stoneleigh. In 1597 Dudley sent Captain Woods to China with the Beare and Beare’s Whelp, but they never re- turned.

3 Claiming legitimacy

Dudley claimed to have been told in May 1603 by a shad- owy adventurer called Thomas Drury that his parents had been secretly married.[7] He began trying to establish his claim to the peerages of Earl of Leicester and Earl of Warwick, as well as to the property of his deceased uncle Ambrose Dudley, including his estates. The case came before the Star Chamber in 1604–1605 and aroused great public interest. Ninety witnesses ap- peared for Dudley and fifty-seven for the widowed Count- Archduchess Maria Magdalena of Austria, one of Dudley’s ess of Leicester, . Dudley persuaded, and Medici patrons perhaps pressured, his mother to support his cause. She declared in writing (she did not attend the trial in person) Dudley left England in July 1605 by Calais. His lover that Leicester had solemnly contracted to marry her in and cousin Elizabeth Southwell accompanied him, dis- Cannon Row, Westminster, in 1571, and that they were guised as a page. She was a daughter of Sir Robert South- married at Esher, , “in wintertime” in 1573. Yet well and Lady Elizabeth Howard, who was a granddaugh- all of the ten putative witnesses (“besides others”) to the ter of Charles Howard, 1st , Dud- 3 ley’s uncle. The couple declared that they had converted rectory as a manual for the Tuscan Navy but it was never to Catholicism. Dudley married Elizabeth Southwell in published. In 1631, his wife Elizabeth died the day after Lyon in 1606, after they had received a papal dispensa- giving birth to her last child. Several of their 13 children tion because they were blood relatives, and they first set- married into the Italian nobility. In 1644, King Charles tled in . He began to use his father’s title of Earl I created Dudley’s second wife Alice Duchess of Dud- of Leicester and his uncle’s title of Earl of Warwick. ley for life and recognized Dudley’s legitimacy but did Dudley designed and built warships for the arsenal of Tus- not restore his titles and estate. Robert Dudley died on cany and became a naval advisor to Ferdinand I, Grand 6 September 1649 outside Florence in Villa Rinieri (now Villa Corsini a Castello). He was buried at San Pancrazio Duke of Tuscany, of the Medici family. He received an annuity of 2,000 ducats. In 1608 Dudley convinced the in Florence. Duke to send the privateer galleon Santa Lucia Buonaven- Dudley bequeathed his estate to Ferdinando II de' Medici, tura to Guiana and northern Brazil in the only tentative of Grand Duke of Tuscany. His collection of scientific in- Italian colonization in the Americas. struments is on display at the (Galileo Mu- seum, formerly the Institute and Museum of the History of Science) in Florence. 4.1 Attempts at reconciliation

James I revoked Dudley’s travel license in 1607. When he ordered Dudley to return home to provide for his de- serted wife and family, Dudley refused. He was declared an outlaw and his estate was confiscated. He contin- ued contacts with the English court through Sir Thomas Chaloner, who was now a chamberlain to Henry, Prince of Wales. He corresponded with the young Prince on the subjects of navigation and shipbuilding and in 1611 tried to broker a marriage between him and Caterina, daugh- ter of Duke Ferdinand. Meanwhile, Henry Frederick had taken a fancy to , calling it “the most noble and magnificent thing in the midland parts of this realm”. Wanting it, he was willing to buy it from Dudley and agreed in 1611 to pay £14,500, with Dudley to hold the office of constable of the castle for his lifetime. When Henry died in 1612, only £3,000 had been paid, and it is unclear whether Dudley ever received it. The new Prince of Wales, Charles, then took possession of the castle but failed to pay the balance owing. In 1621, he got an Act of Parliament allowing Dudley’s wife to sell the estate to him for £4,000. In 1618, James I granted the Earldoms of Leicester and Warwick to others. In 1620, Dudley convinced Grand Dell'Arcano del Mare: chart of Portugal Duchess Maria Magdalena, wife of the new duke Cosimo II, to ask her brother, the Emperor Ferdinand II, to rec- ognize his claim to his grandfather’s title of Duke of Northumberland. Dudley succeeded on 9 March 1620, and James I severed all negotiations for conciliation. 5 Dell'Arcano del Mare

The most important of Dudley’s works was Dell'Arcano 4.2 Later years del Mare (Secrets of the Sea). It includes a comprehen- sive treatise on navigation and shipbuilding and it has be- In addition to shipbuilding, Dudley was busy with many come renowned as the first atlas of sea charts of the world. projects in Tuscany, including the 's breakwater Dell'Arcano del Mare consists of six known volumes that and harbour fortifications, draining local swamps, and illustrate Dudley’s knowledge of navigation, shipbuilding building a palace in the heart of Florence. He also and astronomy and it includes 130 original maps, all his designed new galleys, and he wrote his memoirs of own creations and not copied from existing maps, which navigation and seamanship between 1610 and 1620. was unusual for the period. Originally published at Flo- Later, Dudley incorporated his notes into six volumes rence in 1645 in Italian, they represent a collection of of Dell'Arcano del Mare (The Secret of the Sea), self- all contemporary naval knowledge. The atlas also in- published in 1646–1647. He also wrote a Maritime Di- cludes a proposal for the construction of a fleet of five 4 9 EXTERNAL LINKS

rates (sizes) of ships, which Dudley had designed and de- • Rickman, Johanna (2008): Love, Lust, and License scribed. Dell'Arcano del Mare was reprinted in Florence in Early Modern England: Illicit Sex and the Nobility in 1661 without the charts of the first edition. The dis- Ashgate Publishing ISBN 0-7546-6135-0 tinctive character of Dudley’s charts was influenced by • the Italian baroque engraver Antonio Francesco Lucini. Role, Raymond E. (2003): “Sir Robert Dudley Later mapmakers chose not to copy Dudley’s style and so Duke of Northumberland” in History Today March it became a unique and rare relic in the history of car- 2003 tography. Lucini recorded that he had spent 12 years and • Warner, G.F (1899): The Voyage of Robert Dudley 5,000 pounds of copper to produce the plates. to the West Indies, 1594–1595 Hakluyt Society • Wilson, Derek (1981): Sweet Robin: A Biography of 6 Footnotes Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester 1533–1588 Hamish Hamilton ISBN 0-241-10149-2 [1] In the nineteenth century, the question of Sir Robert Dud- ley’s legitimacy was again raised in the House of Lords, but again, it remained unresolved. Historians have had 9 External links differing views on the problem: While Derek believes in a marriage (Wilson 1981 p. 326), it has been rejected • Dudley, Robert Jr: Dell'arcano del mare. Digitized by, for example, Conyers Read (Read 1936 p. 23), Jo- copy of The National Library of Finland. hanna Rickman (Rickman 2008 p. 51), and Simon Adams (Adams 2008b).

7 Citations

[1] Adams 2008a; Adams 2008b

[2] Warner 1899 p. vi; Wilson 1981 p. 246

[3] Wilson 1981 p. 246

[4] Warner 1899 p. viii

[5] Wilson 1981 pp. 336–337

[6] National Portrait Gallery Retrieved 2012-06-11

[7] Warner 1899 p. xli

[8] Warner 1899 pp. xl–xli; Adams 2008b

[9] Warner 1899 p. xlvi

[10] Adams 2008a

8 References

• Adams, Simon (2008a): “Dudley, Sir Robert (1574–1649)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biog- raphy online edn. Jan 2008 (subscription required) Retrieved 2010-04-03

• Adams, Simon (2008b): “Sheffield , Douglas, Lady Sheffield (1542/3–1608)" Oxford Dictionary of Na- tional Biography online edn. Jan 2008 (subscription required) Retrieved 2010-04-03

• Read, Conyers (1936): A Letter from Robert, Earl of Leicester, to a Lady The Huntington Library Bulletin No.9 April 1936 5

10 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

10.1 Text

• Robert Dudley (explorer) Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert%20Dudley%20(explorer)?oldid=638973759 Contributors: Deb, Skysmith, Timwi, PBS, Wjhonson, Nunh-huh, Mboverload, R. fiend, Gdr, ClockworkLunch, PFHLai, Necrothesp, Icairns, Faedra, D6, Rich Farmbrough, Apyule, Merenta, Craigy144, Surnólë, IanClysdale, Edinborgarstefan, Bachrach44, Grafen, Rmky87, Caerwine, Mais oui!, Curpsbot-unicodify, SmackBot, Rrius, TimBentley, RandomCritic, Rtrac3y, Cydebot, Dreadpiratetif, Arthur Ellis, Darklilac, Jh- sounds, Xn4, JaGa, Laura1822, Gwern, Elinor.Dashwood, Johnbod, Buster650, Curtangel, Wikibiohistory, Maelgwnbot, ClueBot, Alexbot, Stratopastor, Elphaba18, Boleyn, Dthomsen8, Surtsicna, Addbot, Micjon, Bikerpbl, Lightbot, Ptbotgourou, Xqbot, Fti74, Buchraeumer, DefaultsortBot, Moonraker, Schwede66, Rovvenkrantz, John of Reading, WikitanvirBot, Old1980s, Taliesin717, Helpful Pixie Bot, Fritzel- blitz, ProudIrishAspie, VIAFbot, Nimetapoeg, Rob at Houghton and Anonymous: 28

10.2 Images

• File:Arcano_del_Mare_northern_Portugal_Anton_Francesco_Lucini_Robert_Dudley_(1646).jpg Source: http://upload. wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Arcano_del_Mare_northern_Portugal_Anton_Francesco_Lucini_Robert_Dudley_%281646% 29.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Carta particolare del Oceano che cominciacon la cost dic. Roxo e Finisce con il capo di Mogera ni Portgalo (Florence, 1646) Original artist: Anton Francesco Lucini (1610-1670), Robert Dudley (1573-1649) • File:Commons-logo.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: ? Contributors: ? Original artist: ? • File:Tiberio_Titi,_maria_maddalena_d'austria.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Tiberio_Titi% 2C_maria_maddalena_d%27austria.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Unknown Original artist: Tiberio di Tito • File:Unknown_man,_formerly_known_as_Sir_Thomas_Overbury_from_NPG.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ commons/c/cf/Unknown_man%2C_formerly_known_as_Sir_Thomas_Overbury_from_NPG.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: National Portrait Gallery, London: NPG 2613 Original artist: Unknown

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