In later years Burghley was to upbraid Oxford frequently for his prodigal extravagance.

He had earlier petitioned both the Queen and Burghley on the condemned Norfolk's behalf, to no avail, and it was reported that he had plotted to provide a ship to assist his cousin's escape attempt to Spain.

He allowed his wife to attend the Queen at court, but only when he himself was not present, and stipulated that Burghley must make no further appeals to him on Anne's behalf.

Burghley interceded for him, and he was released from the Tower on 8 June, but he remained under house arrest until sometime in July.

In a letter to Burghley three years later Oxford offered to attend his father-in-law at his house " as well as a lame man might "; it is possible his lameness was a result of injuries from that encounter.

Another of Oxford's men was slain that month, and in March Burghley wrote to Sir Christopher Hatton about the death of one of Knyvet's men, thanking Hatton for his efforts " to bring some good end to these troublesome matters betwixt my Lord and Oxford and Mr Thomas Knyvet ".

After intervention by Burghley and Sir Walter Raleigh, Oxford was reconciled to the Queen and his two-year exile from court ended at the end of May, on condition of his guarantee of good behaviour.

In June Oxford wrote to Burghley reminding him that he made an agreement with Elizabeth to relinquish his claim to the Forest of Essex for three reasons, one of which was the Queen's reluctance to punish Skinner's felony, which had caused Oxford to forfeit £ 20, 000 in bonds and statutes.

Between 1591 and 1592 Oxford disposed of the last of his large estates ; Castle Hedingham, the seat of his earldom, went to Lord Burghley, it was held in trust for Oxford's three daughters by his first marriage.

In March he was unable to go to court due to illness, in August he wrote to Burghley from Byfleet, where he gone for his health: ' I find comfort in this air, but no fortune in the court.

His mother's sister was married to William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, making Burghley Francis Bacon's uncle.

However, " farmer " is a common word, and " equivocation " was also the subject of a 1583 tract by Queen Elizabeth's chief councillor Lord Burghley, and of the 1584 Doctrine of Equivocation by the Spanish prelate Martin Azpilcueta, which was disseminated across Europe and into England in the 1590s.

This view was first expressed by Charles Wisner Barrell, who argued that De Vere " kept the place as a literary hideaway where he could carry on his creative work without the interference of his father-in-law, Burghley, and other distractions of Court and city life.

Oxfordian scholars respond that the concept of " equivocation " was the subject of a 1583 tract by Queen Elizabeth's chief councillor ( and Oxford's father-in-law ) Lord Burghley, as well as of the 1584 Doctrine of Equivocation by the Spanish prelate Martín de Azpilcueta, which was disseminated across Europe and into England in the 1590s.

* At 12, Oxford was made a royal ward and placed in the household of Lord Burghley, who was the Lord High Treasurer and Queen Elizabeth I's closest and most trusted advisor.

Oxfordians claim that Lord Burghley was the model for the character of chief minister Polonius in Hamlet.

* One of Hamlet ’ s chief opponents at court was Laertes, the son of Polonius, while Oxford continually sought the help of Robert Cecil, the son of Lord Burghley, to seek the queen's favour, with no results.

* Polonius sent the spy Reynaldo to watch his son when Laertes was away at school, and for similar reasons Burghley sent a spy to watch his son, Thomas, when he was away in Paris.

Sobran suggests that the so-called procreation sonnets were part of a campaign by Burghley to persuade Southampton to marry his granddaughter, Oxford's daughter Elizabeth de Vere, and says that it was more likely that Oxford would have participated in such a campaign than that Shakespeare would know the parties involved or presume to give advice to the nobility.

" William Camden wrote a history of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England and was granted access to the private papers of Lord Burghley and to the state archives.

On January 1576 Oxford wrote to Lord Burghley from Siena about complaints that had reached him about his creditors ' demands, which included the Queen and his sister, and directing that more of his land be sold to pay them.

He wrote to Burghley, enumerating years of fruitless attempts to amend his financial situation and complained: ' This last year past I have been a suitor to her Majesty that I might farm her tins, giving £ 3000 a year more than she had made.

In his letter to Lord Burghley dated 24 September 1575, he expressed a certain dislike of the country: " I am glad I have seen it, and I care not ever to see it any more ".

In 1572 the vacant post of Lord High Treasurer was offered to Leicester ; he declined and proposed Burghley, stating that the latter was the much more suitable candidate.

His vacant post was offered to Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, who declined it and proposed Burghley, stating that the latter was the more suitable candidate because of his greater " learning and knowledge ".

Referring to more recent events, Edward Chaney suggested that Pandosto ( and therefore Winter's Tale ) at least echoed the Earl of Oxford's suspicions about the paternity of his daughter ( grand-daughter of Lord Burghley ) and that a Sicilian connection ( which is at least a literary one ) would have rendered a conscious echo more likely.

On the same day he said to Burghley: " We must not lose one hour of time ... Let her Majesty trust no more to Judas ' kisses ; for let her assure herself there is no trust to French King nor Duke of Parma.

The most famous buildings are large show houses constructed for courtiers, and characterised by lavish use of glass, as at " Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall ", Wollaton Hall and Hatfield House and Burghley House, the style continuing into the early 17th century before developing into Jacobean architecture.

Among ancient mansions are Castle Ashby, the seat of the Comptons, the oldest portion belonging to the reign of Henry VIII ; Althorp, the seat of the Spencers, of various dates ; Drayton House, of the time of Henry VI ; the vast pile of Burghley House, Stamford, founded by Lord Burleigh ( 1553 ), but more than once altered and enlarged ; Kirby Hall, a beautiful Elizabethan building once the residence of Sir Christopher Hatton ; and Lilford Hall a fine example of a Jacobean mansion.

The last Olympic Games that included the long, or " classic ", three-day format was the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, while Rolex Kentucky, the Badminton Horse Trials, and Burghley Horse Trials ran their last long format three-day in 2005.

Cecil favoured the suit of Francois, Duke of Anjou in 1578 – 1581 for Elizabeth's hand, while Leicester was among its strongest opponents, even contemplating exile in letters to Burghley.

Alan Haynes describes him as " one of the most strangely underrated of Elizabeth's circle of close advisers ", while Simon Adams, who since the early 1970s has researched many aspects of Leicester's life and career, concludes: " Leicester was as central a figure to the ' first reign ' Elizabeth as Burghley.

As an athlete, Burghley was a very keen practitioner who placed matchboxes on hurdles and practised knocking over the matchboxes with his lead foot without touching the hurdle.

Really large un-fortified or barely fortified houses began to take over from the traditional castles of the crown and magnates during the Tudor period with vast houses such as Hampton Court Palace and Burghley and continued until the 18th century-with houses such as Kedleston Hall and Holkham Hall.

This refers to what had happened after the Earl of Warwick died in 1590, when the town petitioned Burghley for the right to name the vicar and schoolmaster and other privileges but Greville bought the lordship for himself.

Kevin Kiernan argues that Nowell most likely acquired it through William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, in 1563, when Nowell entered Cecil ’ s household as a tutor to his ward, Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford.

Elizabeth set out to rule by good counsel, and she depended heavily on a group of trusted advisers led by William Cecil, Baron Burghley.

With the exception of Lord Burghley, the most important politicians had died around 1590: The Earl of Leicester in 1588, Sir Francis Walsingham in 1590, Sir Christopher Hatton in 1591.

A bitter rivalry between the Earl of Essex and Robert Cecil, son of Lord Burghley, and their respective adherents, for the most powerful positions in the state marred politics.

Elizabeth's senior advisor, Burghley, died on 4 August 1598.

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, the Queen's Secretary of State and Oxford's father-in-law, c. 1571.

In addition, Cecil had been elevated to the peerage as Lord Burghley in February 1571, increasing his daughter's value as a member of the peerage, so the negotiations were cancelled.

Burghley gave Oxford a marriage settlement of land worth £ 800, and a cash settlement of £ 3, 000.

The following summer Oxford planned to travel to Ireland, but the financing he expected from Burghley did not arrive ; at this point, his debts were estimated at a minimum of £ 6, 000.

On 15 December, the Duchess of Suffolk wrote to Burghley describing a plan she and Mary had devised to arrange a meeting between Oxford and his daughter.

The work consists of four ‘ books ’, the first addressed to the Queen, the second to Leicester, the third to Lord Burghley, and the fourth to Oxford, Sir Christopher Hatton, and Leicester's nephew Philip Sidney, with whom he would famously quarrel.

He appealed to Burghley to intervene with the Queen on his behalf, but his father-in-law repeatedly put the matter in the hands of Sir Christopher Hatton.

Widowed, weary of the unsettled life of a courtier, and anxious to provide for his children and himself, Oxford wrote to Burghley outlining a plan to purchase the manoral lands of Denbigh, in Wales, if the Queen would consent, offering to pay for them by commuting his £ 1, 000 annuity and agreeing to abandon his suit to regain the Forest of Essex.

His father-in-law, Lord Burghley, died on 4 August 1598 at the age of 78, leaving substantial bequests to Oxford's two unmarried daughters, Bridget and Susan.