Sir Nicholas Throckmorton

Abstract

The death of Edward VI was a disaster for young Sir Nicholas on the threshold of a brilliantly promising career; a personal favourite with the boy-king, he was certainly not so with his sister Mary or even, as we shall see, with Elizabeth. The princess Mary knew him as the bearer of unpleasant messages from her brother putting pressure on her to conform to the laws of the country with regard to religion.¹ (She had no intention of doing so.) The intimate circle surrounding Edward were taken by surprise by the strength of the reaction in favour of Mary — not of her Catholicism, but of her right to the crown: she was the legitimate heir. And they were swept off their feet by the rapidity of events.