Did Queen Elizabeth never sign the death warrant of Mary Queen of Scots?

History tells us that Queen Elizabeth signed the death warrant for Mary Queen of Scots, but told her secretary William Davison not to part with the document. Queen Elizabeth suggested on several occasions that Mary should be executed in some more secret way and, frankly, did not want another Queen's blood on her hands. She had Mary Queen of Scots in confinement for almost 20 years because she was hesitating to do anything drastic. History continues to say that Lord Burghley and the privy council decided to carry out the sentence at once and executed Mary on 8th February 1587. Queen Elizabeth was indignant when she received the news of the execution. She directed her wrath on Davison asserting that he did not follow her instructions to hold onto the document. Davison was tried, fined heavily, imprisoned, but later released. The Queen refused to employ him again and he died in 1608 after retiring to Stepney.
Francis Bacon had written a play in cypher called "The Historical Tragedy of Mary Queen of Scots" which contradicts the history books by saying that she did not sign the death warrant at all. An excerpt from this play is as follows:

Act V, Scene 1.--Palace of the Queen, Elizabeth and train.
     Q.E. "Fie, what a slug is Warwick, he comes not To tell us whether they will that she shall die or no. Ah! In good time here comes the sweating lord." (Enter Warwick.)
He announces the decision of "guilty." Enter Lords of Council; they present Elizabeth the warrant for Mary's death. She does not sign it.
     Q.E. "My lord, I promise to note it cunningly; But here come the ambassadors of our brothers of France and Spain."
Enter ambassadors, who plead for the life of Mary.
Scene 2.--Street in London. Enter Burleigh and Secretary of the Queen (Davison); met by Leicester. All enter a public house.

Scene 3.--Private room; Burleigh and Leicester force the Secretary to forge the Queen's name to the warrant for Mary's execution.


So which is true? Did Elizabeth really sign the document but use Davison as the scapegoat? She feared that Spain and France would combine forces to overthrow her reign and the death of Mary would be an event to initiate such forces. One would have to closely examine this signature with a signature known to be Queen Elizabeth's to determine if this one was indeed forged.

Was Amy Robsart's death suicide, accident or murder?

Amy Robsart was the wife of Robert Dudley. They married in 1550. She lived at Cumnor Place, Berkshire, while her husband attended court as Queen Elizabeth's master of the horse and the Queen's favorite. On Sept. 8th, Amy Robsart was found lying dead at the foot of the staircase with her neck broken. At the time of Amy's death, Queen Elizabeth was pregnant with Francis Bacon, Dudley's child. Elizabeth and Dudley were married previously while incarcerated in the Tower during Queen Mary's reign, but Dudley was married. In order to legitimize the child, the couple would need to marry when Dudley was not tied. Interestingly, the couple marry for a second time about two weeks after Amy Robsart's death. "Francis was born in the January following, Dudley marrying the Queen privately at the House of Lord Pembroke at the end of September." (Dodd, Alfred, The Marriage of Elizabeth Tudor, Rider & Co., London, 1940.)
Alfred Dodd writes in his book, The Marriage of Elizabeth Tudor, "It was generally believed at the time that she was murdered, and that Dudley, if not Elizabeth herself, was an accessory to the crime. This belief receives some support from certain discoveries made in the archives at Simancas, which indicate that a plot to poison her was actually entered into before her death. (Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Vol. VI, p. 566.)"
Robert Dudley rarely visited his wife and because of his neglect she spiraled into despair and depression. She most likely was aware of Dudley's ambitions and the Queen's high regard for him. In addition, she was said to have been ill with possibly breast cancer. All of these combine to form an unhappy, lonely person. It was a Sunday and she sent all the servants into town for a festival that was happening that day. When they returned, they found her at the bottom of the staircase. Did she throw herself down the stairs in hopes of throwing her life away? Did she just chance to slip and fall? Did Elizabeth's Secretary, William Cecil, Dudley's enemy, start rumors of murder and intentionally loosen the railing spindles in hopes that Amy would lean on them and fall?
Francis Bacon wrote some lines in cypher pertaining to the death of Amy Robsart. The following is an excerpt from Orville Owen's Sir Francis Bacon's Cipher Stories, Vol. II:
"Some did cry, 'Ayme! Ayme!'
'This, by his voice, should be my lord,' said she, And from the great chamber to the landing ran; And thinking the pillars steadfast and firmly stay'd, Did lean upon the rail and there awhile As on a pillory looking through she stood; But it, not capable to sustain a rush Or the impressure of her palm, went down. On the slippery standing She tremblingly a moment stood and cried to heaven; Then from human help exiled, with earnest moan She on the sudden headlong dropt Down, down, down to the hard court beneath, And her neck asunder broke And all the bowels in her body brast."

Robert Cecil Murdered Queen Elizabeth Tudor

I came across a very interesting account of an incredible story of murder in a cypher written by Francis Bacon. The cypher story tells of how Robert Cecil drugged Queen Elizabeth and then strangled her to death. The cypher story can be found in the book, Sir Francis Bacon's Cipher Stories, Part 2, by Orville W. Owen, pp174-189, Howard Publishing Co., New York, 1894.
The above picture shows Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, (1 June 1563 -- 24 May 1612). who was the son of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley. Robert Cecil served Queen Elizabeth as her Secretary of State and he later served James I.
The excerpt I found is as follows: 

". . . At the end her death was miserable, Terrible and revolting to human nature, In that her melancholy desire of life And impatience of sickness Wore the appearance of lunacy."
"Stay a little, your lordship. I think you mentioned that Cecil Rid her of life. Hasten on to the account. Come, come sir! It is unseasonable and puerile hurry To snatch at the first apple that comes within reach; For though it be true that this beast, By the sufferance of the highest King of kings, By the skillful use of poison did disable her, And then by violent means bereft her of life.. . . "
Francis Bacon is having a discourse with the physician who attended Queen Elizabeth. He recounts their conversation in the cypher as follows:
"Didst thou, doctor, hear this singular speech?"
"O, yes, I heard all, and more too. I heard Master Cecil say, 'Let her not live.' Then they come unto me and commanded me to begone. So I yield, being sore dismayed, And go lamenting out. And I fear me That they killed her after I was expelled."
"But, loyall sir, Was not someone else there? Didst thou leave these varlots alone with her?"
"There was a lady, sir, near her."
"Indeed! What may be her name?"
"I did hear her called Grace."
"I sought out this maid And call at her house, which doth stand By Christ Church, and said to her, 'I hear you did chance to see The death of the queen?'"
"Why, sir, why, man, I understand you not. Speak softly. I will be lost, quite lost, If that devil knew mine eyes Did see him slaying her. Who told you , sir?"
"Be patient; I am loathe to tell you Whence it come, But I must know the truth; therefore Dally not with me, But give me the cruel story."
"Sir, give me leave, I beseech you, To show it by some mighty precedent. Some three ages since the king Had a servant that served him Long and faithfully. Well, one night 'T is said, sir, this good man's life Was taken by his foe."
"But how? Say how. Show not how quaint an orator you are, But answer; who was the man?"
"Sir, you that are so shrewd, cannot you guess Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester's name?"
"Upon my soul, They did kill him in bed."
"Thus didst he, our sovereign, With his hands about the circle of her neck, The villain did stifle her, Sealing the sweet breath that was embounded In her beautious clay."
"Did he with his hands Choke his dear lady sovereign?"
"These two eyes beheld this evil murder."
"I pray thee, what did the creature do first?"
"After the physician had hurried out He locked the doors."
"List to me; If the doors were locked and you Shut out, how did you see?"
"I was not shut out. I did not go when they bid us to, But hid myself under the desk That's covered with Turkish tapestry, Which stands in her chamber, Where I saw The whole vile murder committed. O, dear heaven! I saw him cast her on her back, And in spite of her bootless fight, He with his cruel hands Her fair throat did strongly bind. The shamefast band may not be shaken off, Though she strongly struggled Both with foot and hand, And with all the might she had She strove him to withstand and save her life. The vile villain Reviled her, and bathed in blood and sweat The sunshine of her clear countenance First did win away in luckless death. Still did he hold her Till she was still in death. Then when he discovered that his force Her life had reaved, He, like a dead man, frozen stood. Then in a twinkling, all in deadly fear, He ran unto the closed door, The key did turn, rudely thrust it open And did fly from forth the chamber. Behind his back I crouch as he passed by, And with trembling heart Softly slide after him. I fear his roving eye may on me glance, And sir, I thought How easily the villain might Thrust on me the bloody crime. The very thought turned my blood cold. Ah! Woe is me! I might have tried to call for help And save her life."
"A plague on you! Why did you not?"

By the Mind Shall I Be Seen

"This illustration is a facsimile from a Rosicrosse Emblem Book, Peacham's Minerva Britanna. It carries a secret Francis Bacon signature indicating the hidden man behind the stage curtain who wrote the immortal Shakespeare plays. He says in effect: 'Though you cannot see me, I shall be known by my mind to those who wish to find me.'
He was known to the Fraternity of the literary Rosicrosse as the Head of the Secret Orders; and Thomas Powell, a contemporary, wrote some verses identifying him as Shakespeare. He refers to Francis Bacon's Emblem in the line: 'Oh give me leave to pull the Curtayne by.'" Dodd, Alfred, The Martyrdom of Francis Bacon (London, Rider & Co.).

Two Left Arms and a Mask

"The portrait in the title page of the first folio edition of the plays published in 1623, which was drawn by Martin Droeshout is cunningly composed of two left arms and a mask. Martin Droeshout, its designer, was, as Mr. Sidney Lee tells us, but 15 years of age when Shakespeare died. He is not likely therefore ever to have seen the actor of Stratford, yet this is the 'Authentic,' that is the 'Authorized' portrait of Shakespeare, although there is no question--there can be no possible question--that in fact it is a cunningly drawn cryptographic picture, showing two left arms and a mask.
"Every tailor will admit that this [indicating the figure's right arm] is not and cannot be the front of the right arm, but is, without possibility of doubt, the back of the left arm.
"[The image] shows the front of the left arm, and you at once perceive that you are no longer looking at the back of the coat but at the front of the coat.
"[Examining the face], you see the mask. Especially note that the ear is a mask ear and stands out curiously; note also how distinct the line showing the edge of the mask appears. Perhaps the reader will perceive this more clearly if he turns the page upside down.
"The reader having seen the separate portions, will, I trust, be able now to perceve that this portrait is correctly characterized as cunningly composed of two left arms and a mask.

"While examining this portrait, the reader should study the lines that describe it in the Shakespeare folio of 1623, a facsimile of which is here inserted." Sir Edwin Durning-Lawrence, Bacon is Shakespeare (New York, The John McBride Co., 1910)

Francis Bacon's Labours

One of the books that changed my life when I read it was Alfred Dodd's, The Martyrdom of Francis Bacon. Following is a quote from that book (pp. 31-32) which nicely sums up Bacon's drive of revealing Truth and educating the masses with his philosophy.

"Under the cloak of the Secret Literary Society Francis Bacon built up his "forms," the dramatic creation of personalities; speaking his own thoughts to the world through their mouths. Now can be better understood his saying: 'Motley's the only wear: it is my only suit . . .'

'Invest me in my Motley: give me leave
To speak my Mind, and I will through and through
Cleanse the foul body of th' infected world
If they will patiently receive my medicine.'
--As You Like It

"So . . . in the 'despised weed' (disguise) of a dramatist, Shakespeare, he 'procured the good of all men.' Through his stories he tried to uplift common humanity educationally and ethically, giving his countrymen, in his open works as well as his concealed ones, a vocabulary of some twenty thousand words. He painted broad canvasses of life that taught the triumph of goodness and the dethronement of evil . . . great epics of moral power. He showed in the most practical manner, to succeeding generations of scholars, that he knew how to hold the mirror up to Nature, because he knew the secret of applied metaphysics, the interpretation of Nature according to the Novum Organum, i.e., part III. In short, he demonstrated that he fully understood the laws that govern human nature, and how to blend creative effort along definite lines in order to produce characters in art form, the various 'forms' that live in the Great Plays. Had he openly declared his views that he put into the mouths of his various characters, Francis Bacon would have been brought into conflict with Church and State. He wrote his views under the mask of a living man, as Sir Nicholas had done. This man was buried in the heart of the country . . . literally buried in Stratford Church--and had been for seven years--when Part IV of the 'Types and Models,' interpretive of Nature, were mysteriously produced in 1623 under the title of Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories and Tragedies. This book contains the various 'forms' of mental and moral passion--of 'Light and Heat'--to illustrate his experimental natural philosophy."

Bacon's Cryptic Headpieces

This ornament was placed at the head of the "1609 Sonnet Quarto," and is a specimen of Rosicrosse symbolism. The light A and dark A design is one of a family of headpieces (fourteen in all) peculiar to books which the Rosicrosse Literary Society had some connection, especially in the latter part of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. The same blocks were used by printers far apart and were supplied by a central organization.
The light and dark shading of the "A A's" ear-marked the book as one that contains in the shadow more than is openly revealed. They are designed in the form of ladders or a winding staircase . . . a Masonic symbol.
 The center ornament is an urn which, emblematically, contains the ashes of a dead personality. Underneath the urn is the shuttle of time supported by a partially unwound skein . . . the thread of fate. A key on the point of entering the lock completes the base . . . indicating that with this sonnet key Shakespeare unlocks his heart. The urn supports a basket vase which holds floral emblems. On the right-hand side is a palm branch. The mystical palm at once associates itself with Solomon's Temple: "Upon each post were palm trees . . . palms to the arches . . . and palms to the seven steps."
On either side of the urn is a single leaf or fleur-de-lis of purity . . . a Rosicrucian emblem.
On the bottom right appears a very clearly marked scroll "T", emblematic of the "Sacred Word" known to Royal Arch Companions.  (Dodd, Shakespeare, Creator of Freemasonry, plate IX)

Pallas Athena

The Athena Giustiniani, a Roman copy of a Greek statue of Pallas Athena (Vatican Museums)

Known in Mythology as Pallas Minerva, Athene, or Athena, which means Virgin. She was the Goddess of Wisdom, War and the Liberal Arts and Sciences; was produced from Jupiter's brain without a mother. The olive, the emblem of peace, belongs to her. She is usually represented as wearing a helmet, her right hand holding a speare to strike at a serpent near her feet, the owl and the cock being her favourite birds symbolically.
Athena was known as the spear-shaker among the ancient Greeks. They placed her statue on their temples. When the rays of the sun danced on her spear, it seemed as though Athena was shaking it . . . hence her name, the Spear-Shaker.
"AthenA" was Francis Bacon's muse. He calls her "the tenth muse ten times more in worth than those old nine the rhymers invocate". (Sonnet 38). There were supposed to be nine muses only. He used the first and last letters of her name as head pieces to mark books connected with the Rosicrosse. There were many different designs of this double "A.A.". Numerous books in their era bear the signal,  including the authorized edition of the James Bible and the Shakespeare Plays. One "A" was printed light and the other "A" was dark to indicate that while there was much open and straightforward in the book there was also much in the shadow which could only be discovered by searching. (Dodd, The Martyrdom of Francis Bacon, p. 176)

Robert Dudley and Elizabeth Tudor Married in the Tower of London

Robert Dudley and Elizabeth Tudor were imprisoned in the Tower of London together for separate offenses during the reign of Queen Mary, Elizabeth's older sister. It is said that they became very close during their predicament.  Following is a quote from Alfred Dodd's book, The Marriage of Elizabeth Tudor.
"According to Froude (England, Vol. VI, p. 220), Elizabeth had been Dudley's playfellow in childhood. Whether so or not, they both met in the Tower under the shadow of the scaffold, for neither of them had any expectation of coming out alive. Their common fate naturally drew them together. As prisoners of note they were allowed a certain amount of freedom in the grounds. Deventer von Kunow, in Francis Bacon, Last of the Tudors, says that "a chronicle in the Tower states that the couple were married there by a monk" (p. 11). Yet Dudley was then a married man.

Anne Boleyn's Speech at Her Execution

May 19, 1536, 8:00 o'clock in the morning

"Good Christian people, I am come hither to die, for according to the law, and by the law I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it. I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that, whereof I am accused and condemned to die, but I pray God save the king and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never: and to me he was ever a good, a gentle and sovereign lord. And if any person will meddle of my cause, I require them to judge the best. And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me. O Lord have mercy on me, to God I commend my soul."

After being blindfolded and kneeling at the block, she repeated several times: "To Jesus Christ I commend my soul; Lord Jesus receive my soul."

Recorded by Edward Hall (spelling modernized)

Queen Anne Boleyn's Remains

An alternative burial site for Anne is Salle Church, Norfolk, England. An eye-witness, Crispin, Lord of Minherve, a foreign diplomat in London, noted fourteen days after Anne's death that her body had been taken to Norfolk.

A book that was published in 1877 by Doyne C. Bell describes the excavations of the graves in St. Peter ad Vincula at the Tower of London. It is titled Notices of the Historic Burials in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula in the Tower of London With an Account of the Discovery of the Supposed Remains of Queen Anne Boleyn (1877, John Murray, Albermarle St.).

Fifteen hundred bodies were buried under the floor of the nave. Of all of them only 33 could be identified. A quote from Bell's book describes Dr. Mouat's examination of the bones thought to be those of Anne Boleyn, "The bones found in the place where Queen Anne is said to have been buried are certainly those of a female in the prime of life, all perfectly consolidated and symmetrical and belong to the same person. The bones of the head indicate a well-formed round skull, with an intellectual forehead, straight orbital ridge, large eyes, oval face, and rather square full chin. The remains of the vertebra and the bones of the lower limbs indicate a well-formed woman of middle height with a short and slender neck. The ribs shew (sic) depth and roundness of chest. The hand and feet bones indicate delicate and well-shaped hands and feet, with tapering fingers and a narrow foot."