Edward Arden
Edward Arden (c. 1542–1583) was an English nobleman and head of the Arden family, who became a Catholic martyr.
Arden lived in Park Hall, Castle Bromwich, an estate near modern-day Birmingham. He was a recusant Catholic and kept a priest, Hugh Hall, at his house disguised as a gardener. Arden's son-in-law, John Somerville, hatched a plan to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I, but was arrested long before he could attempt it. A purge of Arden's household ensued, and Arden, who may not have known of Somerville's plan, was executed and decapitated.[1]
Arden was related to Mary Arden, mother of William Shakespeare.[2]
Life
He was the head of a Warwick family; his father William died in 1545, and Edward succeeded his grandfather Thomas Arden in 1563. He kept to the old faith and maintained in his home, Park Hall at Castle Bromwich, a priest named Hall, in the disguise of a gardener. This priest influenced John Somerville, Edward Arden's son-in-law, who had had indirect contact with Mary Queen of Scots (she had visited Coventry in 1569).[3]
Somerville talked of shooting the Queen of England, and set out for London. He was arrested, put to the rack, and confessed, implicating his father-in-law in his treason and naming the priest as the instigator. All three were tried and sentenced to death. Somerville strangled himself in his cell (?). Arden was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Smithfield on 20 December 1583,[4] but the priest was spared. Arden's and Somerville's heads were set on London Bridge beside the skull of the Earl of Desmond.[3]
William Camden in his Annals reflected contemporary opinion by saying that Arden's execution was attributable to the malice Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, bore towards him. Somerville was thought insane by Lord Burghley.[5]
Marriage and issue
Arden married Mary Throckmorton (died 1603), the daughter of Sir Robert Throckmorton and his first wife, Muriel Berkeley, daughter of Thomas (1472–1533), 5th Baron Berkeley, by Eleanor Constable (c. 1485 – 1527), daughter of Sir Marmaduke Constable, by whom he had a son and two daughters:[4]
- Robert Arden.
- Margaret Arden, who married John Somerville, by whom she had two daughters, Elizabeth and Alice.[6]
- Katherine Arden, who married Sir Edward Devereux, of Castle Bromwich, son of Walter Devereux, 1st Viscount Hereford.
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
Edward Arden — An English Catholic, executed during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, b. 1542 (?); d. 1583. He was the head of a family which had been prominent in Warwickshire for six centuries, having succeeded to the estates on the death of his grandfather, Thomas Arden, in 1563. In 1575 he was high sheriff of the county. His father, William Arden, was a second cousin of Mary Arden of Wilmcote, the mother of Shakespeare. In 1583, Arden was indicted in Warwick for plotting against the life of the Queen, as were also his wife, his son-in-law, John Somerville, and Father Hugh Hall, a chaplain whom he maintained in the disguise of a gardener at his home, Park Hall. Somerville, who was said to be weak-minded, was incensed over the wrongs of Mary, Queen of Scots, and openly uttered threats against Elizabeth. He was arrested and when put on the rack implicated the others in a conspiracy to assassinate the Queen. They were arrested and Arden was taken to London, where he was arraigned in the Guildhall, 16 December, 1583. He was convicted, chiefly on the evidence of Hall, and was executed at Smithfield, 30 December, 1583. Somerville, who was also condemned to die on the same day, was found strangled in his cell the day before Mrs. Arden and Hall were released. It is generally conceded that Arden was the innocent victim of a plot. He died protesting his innocence and declaring that his only crime was the profession of the Catholic religion. Dugdale, quoting from Camden's "Annals of Queen Elizabeth," attributes Arden's prosecution to the malice of Leicester, whose displeasure he had incurred by open criticism of the Earl's relations with the Countess of Essex before their marriage. He had further irritated Leicester by disdaining to wear his livery and by denouncing him as an upstart. It is supposed that Hall was suborned to involve Arden in the alleged plot.
HARRISON, in Dict. Nat. Biog., II, 74; GILLOW, Dict. Eng., Cath., I, 57.
References
- Back to citation Greenblatt, Stephen. Will in the World. New York: Norton, 2004, pp. 157–8.
- Back to citation "20 December - Edward Arden, "victim of a grave iniquity" or conspirator?". The Tudor Society. 20 December 2020. “Arden, who was related to William Shakespeare's mother, Mary Arden, and married to a member of the Throckmorton family, had been found guilty of treason, after being implicated in Somerville's plot to kill the queen.”
- Back to citation occurrence 3.0 Back to citation occurrence 3.1 "Arden, Edward". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
- Back to citation occurrence 4.0 Back to citation occurrence 4.1 Wizeman I 2004.
- Back to citation Wizeman, William. "Arden, Edward". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/633. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
- Back to citation Wizeman II 2004.
Bibliography
- Wizeman, William (2004). "Arden, Edward (1533–1583)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/633. Retrieved 28 August 2013. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.) (subscription required) The first edition of this text is available at Wikisource: "Arden, Edward". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
- Wizeman, William (2004). "Somerville, John (1560–1583)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/26022. Retrieved 28 August 2013. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.) (subscription required) The first edition of this text is available at Wikisource: "Somerville, John". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
- Attribution