The 1590s witnessed enormous political success for Robert Devereux as he rose progressively from being a leading royal favourite and courtier, to military command in Europe (with varying success), to the Privy Council, and then to the title of Earl Marshall in 1597. Nonetheless, from the mid-1580s the Earl was exploring multiple routes by which he might showcase his various talents as warrior, spymaster, diplomat and court strategist in international conflicts. This chapter focuses upon the ways in which a pre-eminent courtier such as Essex gained access to power networks through military campaigning, acts of patronage and extravagant self-promotion. Paying particular attention to his elite identities as military commander, royal favourite and cabalist, this chapter explores how the Earl sought to eclipse Elizabeth herself on the European stage of power politics.

Taking its lead from a famous scene in 2 Henry IV and drawing upon the latest historical scholarship, this chapter surveys the modernization of England’s military capacity during the reign of Elizabeth I. By contrast with the success of England’s naval revival, the parallel effort to overhaul the antiquated county militia system and to create armies for service abroad achieved only partial success. While bows and bills were gradually replaced by guns and pikes and a proportion of each county’s militia was formed into “trained bands,” the sheer scale of the effort meant that the modernization of England’s military capacity on land always remained a frustratingly incomplete endeavor. Even so, Elizabeth’s privy council and the lord lieutenants of the counties made greater progress in this effort than has typically been recognized and managed to sustain war on multiple fronts over a period of more than twenty years.