Robert Cecil, 1st earl of SalisburyArticle Free Pass Robert
Cecil, 1st earl of Salisbury, also called (1591–1603) Sir Robert
Cecil, or (from 1603) Baron Cecil of Essendon, or (from 1604)
Viscount Cranborne (born June 1, 1563, London—died May 24, 1612,
Marlborough, Wiltshire, Eng.), English statesman who succeeded
his father, William Cecil, Lord Burghley, as Queen Elizabeth I’s
chief minister in 1598 and skillfully directed the government
during the first nine years of the reign of King James I. Cecil
gave continuity to the change from Tudor to Stuart rule in
England. Trained by his father in the craft of statesmanship, he
entered the House of Commons in 1584 and in 1588 was sent on his
first diplomatic mission abroad. After the death of Queen
Elizabeth’s secretary of state, Francis Walsingham, in 1590,
Cecil gradually took over the work of secretary of state,
although he was not formally appointed to the office until July
1596. During this period Cecil’s chief rival for power was the
Queen’s favourite, Robert