Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Abbreviations
- Acknowledgements
- Editorial Procedures
- Introduction
- Part I Roots 1548–1562
- Part II Youth 1562–1571
- Part III Emancipation 1571–1574
- Part IV Exploration 1574–1576
- Part V Alienation 1576–1579
- Part VI Intrigue 1579–1580
- Part VII Sedition 1580–1581
- Part VIII Release 1581–1585
- 52 Starting Over
- 53 Quarrels and Killings
- 54 Oxford's Literary Circle
- 55 To Give the Earl Warning
- 56 I Am that I Am
- 57 Use not thy Birth for an Excuse
- Part IX Reiteration 1586–1591
- Part X Renewal 1592–1595
- Part XI Re-engagement 1595–1599
- Part XII Decline 1600–1604
- Part XIII Aftermath 1604–1613
- Notes
- Appendix: Oxford's Letters and Libel Documents
- Bibliography
- Index
- Liverpool English texts and Studies
57 - Use not thy Birth for an Excuse
from Part VIII - Release 1581–1585
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Abbreviations
- Acknowledgements
- Editorial Procedures
- Introduction
- Part I Roots 1548–1562
- Part II Youth 1562–1571
- Part III Emancipation 1571–1574
- Part IV Exploration 1574–1576
- Part V Alienation 1576–1579
- Part VI Intrigue 1579–1580
- Part VII Sedition 1580–1581
- Part VIII Release 1581–1585
- 52 Starting Over
- 53 Quarrels and Killings
- 54 Oxford's Literary Circle
- 55 To Give the Earl Warning
- 56 I Am that I Am
- 57 Use not thy Birth for an Excuse
- Part IX Reiteration 1586–1591
- Part X Renewal 1592–1595
- Part XI Re-engagement 1595–1599
- Part XII Decline 1600–1604
- Part XIII Aftermath 1604–1613
- Notes
- Appendix: Oxford's Letters and Libel Documents
- Bibliography
- Index
- Liverpool English texts and Studies
Summary
On 19 January 1585 Anne Vavasor's brother (?)Thomas sent a written challenge to Oxford, evidently in response to provocation by Oxford's men:
If thy body had bene as deformed as thy mind is dishonorable my house had bene yet vnspotted and thy self remayned with thy cowardise vnknowne. I speake this that I feare thow art so much wedded to that shadow of thine that nothing canne haue force to awake thy base and sleapye spyrytes. Is not the reveng[e] alredy taken of thy vildnes [=vileness] sufficyent but wylt thou yet vse vnworthy instrumentes to provoke my vnwytting mynd? or dost thow feare thy self and therfore hast sent thy forlorne kindred whom as thow hast left nothing to inheryte so thow dost thrust them vyolently into thy shamefull quarelles? If yt be so (as I too much doubt) then stay at home thy self and send my abusers. but yf ther be yet left any sparke of honour in the[e], or iott [=jot] of regard of thy decayed reputation, vse not thy byrth for an excuse for I am a gentleman but meete me thy self alone and thy lacky to hould thy horse for the weapons I leaue them to thy choyse for that I challendge, and the place to be apoynted by vs both at our meeting which I think may convenyently be at Nuington or els where thy self shalt send me word by this bearer. by whom I expect an answere
Vavasor refers to an unnamed male relative of Oxford's – perhaps one of his many Vere cousins – as ‘that shadow of thine’, ‘thy forlorne kindred whom … thow hast left nothing to inheryte’, and ‘thy lacky’: perhaps this was the unidentified ‘Vere’ named by Sir Francis Knollys back in 1580. Oxford turned the challenge over to Burghley, who endorsed it as ‘a lewd lettre from Vavaser to the Erl of Oxford’. That Oxford would overlook such a torrent of abuse shows how thoroughly the Queen had tamed him.
On 4 March Mendoza wrote to the King of Spain:
It is understood that they are going to discuss with the king of Scotland the release of the Queen, his mother, if they can come to terms on the matter.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Monstrous AdversaryThe Life of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, pp. 295 - 299Publisher: Liverpool University PressPrint publication year: 2003