William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley was an English statesman, the chief adviser of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State and Lord High Treasurer from 1572. In his description in the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, A.F. Pollard wrote, "From 1558 for forty years the biography of Cecil is almost indistinguishable from that of Elizabeth and from the history of England."
Portrait attributed to Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger
Coat of arms of William Cecil as found in John Gerard's The herball or Generall historie of plantes (1597)
Portrait of William Cecil, c. after 1570
Engraving of Queen Elizabeth I, William Cecil and Sir Francis Walsingham, by William Faithorne, 1655
Elizabeth I was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last monarch of the House of Tudor.
The Darnley Portrait, c. 1575
Elizabeth's parents, Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Anne was executed within three years of Elizabeth's birth.
A rare portrait of a teenage Elizabeth prior to her accession, attributed to William Scrots. It was painted for her father in c. 1546.
Elizabeth's guardian Thomas Seymour, Baron Seymour of Sudeley, may have sexually abused her.
