On June 26, 1586, Queen Elizabeth signed a Privy Seal Warrant in which she instructed her Exchequer to pay an annuity of 1,000 pounds annually to her “right trusty and well beloved Cousin the Earl of Oxford.”
Surprisingly, this large monetary gift from the parsimonious Queen
Elizabeth to her supposedly extravagant courtier has been largely
ignored by historians.
This document was commented upon only once in the 17th century and then forgotten until its publication in 1928 in Captain Bernard Ward’s biography of the seventeenth Earl of Oxford.
The historical quiescence is odd given that this large annuity was to
continue indefinitely, and the inclusion of a non-accountability clause made it all the more of an anomaly.
The implications of the Queen’s Warrant have yet to be fully explored, and new documentation has been found that may contribute to our understanding of these payments from the Royal Exchequer to the Earl of Oxford.
A talk given at the 2016 Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship Conference in Boston.
Bonner Cutting is a regular presenter at authorship conferences, and has researched a variety of subjects dealing with the Shakespeare Authorship Question.
In addition to her work on the Last Will and Testament of William Shaksper of Stratford and her transcript of the will published
in the Shakespeare Authorship Coalition’s Shakespeare Beyond Doubt? Exposing an Industry in Denial, she has lectured on Lady Anne Clifford’s Triptych, the Van Dyke portrait of Susan Vere at Wilton House, censorship and punishment in early modern England, and the 16th century feudal system known as wardship.
Bonner holds a B.F.A. degree from Tulane University in New Orleans and a Masters of Music in piano performance from McNeese State University in Lake Charles, LA.
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