William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (13 September 1521–4 August 1598), was an English politician, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign (17 November 1558–24 March 1603), and Lord High Treasurer from 1572.

Reign of Elizabeth I of England

By that time Cecil had begun to trim his sails to a different breeze. He was in secret communication with Elizabeth before Mary died, and from the first the new Queen relied on Cecil as she relied on no one else. Her confidence was not misplaced; Cecil was exactly the kind of minister England then required. Personal experience had ripened his rare natural gift for avoiding dangers. It was no time for brilliant initiative or adventurous politics; the need was to avoid Scylla and Charybdis, and a via media (middle way) had to be found in Church and State, at home and abroad. Cecil was not a political genius; no great ideas emanated from his brain. But he was eminently a safe man, not an original thinker, but a counselor of unrivaled wisdom. Caution was his supreme characteristic; he saw that above all things England required time. He restored the fortunes of his country by deliberation. He averted open rupture until England was strong enough to stand the shock.

Related Topics:
Elizabeth - Minister - Scylla and Charybdis

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There was nothing heroic about Cecil or his policy; it involved a callous attitude towards struggling Protestants abroad. The Huguenots and the Dutch were aided just enough to keep them going in the struggles which warded danger off from England's shores. But Cecil never developed that passionate aversion from decided measures which became a second nature to his mistress. His intervention in Scotland in 1559–1560 showed that he could strike on occasion; and his action over the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, proved that he was willing to take responsibility from which Elizabeth shrank.

Related Topics:
Huguenots - Dutch - 1559 - 1560 - Mary, Queen of Scots

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Generally he was in favor of more decided intervention on behalf of continental Protestants than Elizabeth would admit, but it is not always easy to ascertain the advice he gave. He has left endless memoranda lucidly setting forth the pros and cons of every course of action; but there are few indications of the line which he actually recommended when it came to a decision. How far he was personally responsible for the Anglican Settlement, the Poor Laws, and the foreign policy of the reign, how far he was thwarted by the baleful influence of Leicester and the caprices of the Queen, remains to a large extent a matter of conjecture.

Related Topics:
Memoranda - Anglican Settlement - Poor Law - Foreign policy - Leicester - Caprice

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His share in the religious Settlement of 1559 was considerable, and it coincided fairly with his own somewhat indeterminate religious views. Like the mass of the nation, he grew more Protestant as time wore on; he was readier to persecute Papists than Puritans; he had no love for ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and he warmly remonstrated with John Whitgift over his persecuting Articles of 1583. The finest encomium was passed on him by the queen herself, when she said, "This judgment I have of you, that you will not be corrupted with any manner of gifts, and that you will be faithful to the state."

Related Topics:
Religious Settlement - Papist - Puritan - John Whitgift - 1583 - Encomium

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