The death warrant of Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex.
In 1601, he led a failed rebellion against Queen Elizabeth to displace his enemies at court. Although he was a great favorite of hers, Elizabeth did not hesitate to sign the warrant as shown by her bold signature at the top.
The fatal document states that 'our pleasure is to have the head of the said Robert Earl of Essex cut off at the Green within our Tower of London'.
Their relationship was later romanticized, as in the 1939 film The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (based on Maxwell Anderson's play Elizabeth the Queen) starring Bette Davis and Errol Flynn.
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