Anthony Fortescue facts for kids

Anthony Fortescue (died 1570 or 1571) was an English man involved in a secret plot against the queen. For a long time, people thought he was the third son of sir Adrian Fortescue. However, that Anthony Fortescue was living in Padua, Italy, when the plot happened in 1562. This article is about the Anthony Fortescue who was the conspirator.

Who Was Anthony Fortescue?

Anthony Fortescue married Katherine Pole on May 20, 1544. Katherine was the daughter of sir Geoffrey Pole and the niece of Cardinal Reginald Pole. This means Anthony was also brother-in-law to his fellow plotters, Arthur Pole and Edmund Pole.

Family Connections

The Anthony Fortescue who was Sir Adrian's son was born around 1535 or 1536. This means he would have been too young to get married in 1544. The Anthony Fortescue involved in the plot was likely born around 1525 or earlier. He, Arthur, and Edmund Pole probably died in 1570. Katherine Fortescue, Anthony's wife, later married Ralph Henslowe, which suggests Anthony died sometime between August 1570 and November 1571.

Working for Cardinal Pole

According to a historian named John Strype, Anthony Fortescue worked for Cardinal Pole. He was in charge of the Cardinal's household when Pole returned to England and became the Archbishop of Canterbury. When Fortescue was arrested, he was living in Lambeth, a part of London. This fits with Strype's information, as Cardinal Pole often stayed at his palace in Lambeth when he was in London. This connection also suggests that Anthony Fortescue was a witness when Elizabeth Stafford, the Duchess of Norfolk, signed her will in 1558, because she also lived in Lambeth.

The 1562 Conspiracy

Anthony Fortescue is mainly remembered for his part in a secret plan in 1562. However, there was an earlier stage of this plot in 1558. On November 22, 1558, the Queen's special council, called the Privy Council, ordered the arrest of Anthony Fortescue and two men named Kele and Prestal. They were all released just three days later.

The Dangerous Plan

The main events leading to the plotters' arrest on October 11, 1562, are explained in official documents from February 1563. Their plan was to declare Arthur Pole the Duke of Clarence, a special title he felt he had a right to. With this title, he would ask for help from a powerful French family called the Guises. They hoped the Guises would send an army with him to Wales. Once in Wales, Arthur would declare Mary Queen of Scots the rightful queen of England. Edmund Pole was supposed to marry Mary Queen of Scots as part of this plan. Then, they would march on London. They were said to have planned this on September 1, 1562.

How They Were Caught

Besides Anthony Fortescue and the Pole brothers, five other men were involved. They were John Prestall, Humphrey Barwyke, Edward Cosyn, Richard Byngham, and Antony Spencer. All of them lived in London, except Fortescue, who lived in Lambeth. The plot was secretly discussed at Fortescue's home. On September 10, Prestall and Cosyn tried to use magic to help their plan. On September 16, Fortescue and Barwyke told the French and Spanish ambassadors about their ideas and asked for their support.

On October 10, Prestall and Cosyn traveled to Europe to continue the plot. On October 11, Fortescue hired a man named Henry Watson to bring his boat to St Olave's Wharf in London. This boat would take them to a ship from Flanders that was waiting at Gravesend. From there, they planned to sail to Europe. But as they waited at a tavern called the Dolphin, they were discovered and arrested. It turned out that Barwyke had been a spy all along.

Trial and Punishment

The plotters caught at St Olaves were sent to the Tower of London for the winter. Their trial began on February 26. Everyone except Fortescue said they were innocent. However, the court found them all guilty and sentenced them to be executed at Tyburn. But the queen pardoned them, meaning she forgave them and changed their punishment to life in prison. The Pole brothers stayed in the Tower and were still alive in 1568, but they seemed to have died soon after. Some people thought Fortescue was released, but there's no clear proof. Either way, Anthony Fortescue, the conspirator, died in 1570 or 1571.

Another Anthony Fortescue

There was another Anthony Fortescue, who was not involved in the plot. He was the third son of sir Adrian Fortescue and his second wife, Anne Reade. After his father was executed in 1539, his mother married Thomas Parry. Thomas Parry later worked for Princess Elizabeth.

A Different Path

In 1549, at age 14, this Anthony Fortescue went to Winchester College, Hampshire. He was from Brightwell, Oxfordshire, where the Parrys lived. He even wrote a Latin poem when King Edward VI visited the college in 1552. He then went to New College, Oxford, around 1552 and earned a law degree in 1559. However, he left Oxford soon after. He was one of about twenty students who were removed from New College in 1560 because they refused to attend the English church services. Fortescue then went straight to Padua, Italy, where he became an important member of the English community at the university from 1561 onwards.

Even though he was not in England, his mother gave him the right to collect income from the church in Symondsbury, Dorset, in 1563. But by 1572, he had given up this income. His older brother, Thomas Fortescue, looked after Anthony's belongings, including his books. When Thomas wrote his will in 1608, he said that all of Anthony's books should be kept safe for him. What happened to them after that is not known.