Robert Carr 1st Earl Somerset politician favorite King James I England 1606 Overbury broke break his leg injury tilting match
Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset, (c. 1587; 17 July 1645), was a politician, and favourite of King James I of England. In 1606, most likely at the arrangement of Overbury, Carr happened to break his leg at a tilting match, at which the king was present. According to Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, the king instantly fell in love with the young man, even helping nurse him back to health all the while teaching him Latin. Entirely devoid of all high intellectual qualities, Carr was endowed with good looks, excellent spirits, and considerable personal accomplishments. These advantages were sufficient for James, who knighted the young man and at once took him into favour. In 1607, an opportunity enabled the king to confer upon him a more substantial mark of his affection. Sir Walter Raleigh had, through his attainder, forfeited his life-interest in the manor of Sherborne, even though he had previously executed a conveyance by which the property was to pass on his death to his eldest son. Unfortunately for Raleigh this document was rendered worthless by a flaw which gave the king eventual possession of the property. Acting on his Secretary of State, the Earl of Salisbury’s suggestion, James conferred the manor on Carr. The case was argued at law, and in 1609 judgment was unsurprisingly given for the Crown. Apparently Lady Raleigh received some inadequate compensation, and Carr at once entered on possession. Carr's influence became such that in 1610 he was instrumental in persuading the king to dissolve Parliament, which had shown signs of attacking the Scottish favourites. On 24 March 1611 he was created Viscount Rochester, and subsequently a privy councillor.
Size: 3140px × 4727px
Photo credit: © SOTK2011 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -fashioned, 1606, 1800, 19th, 1st, 2d, academic, accident, age, aged, ancient, antiquarian, antique, antiquity, art, artistic, black, blood, book, break, broke, bw, bygone, carr, century, classical, copy, cut, cut-, drawing, earl, embossed, empire, england, engrave, engraved, engraver, engraving, etching, expression, favourite, figure, formal, front, frontispiece, good, graphic, hand, heritage, historic, historical, history, howard, hunt, hunting, illustrated, illustration, image, imperial, injury, james, king, knighted, leg, love, majesty, master, match, monarch, monotone, national, nineteenth, notable, nurse, obscure, obsolete, olden, original, overbury, paper, period, pictorial, picture, politician, portrait, pre, press, print, printed, printing, proof, publication, publicity, rare, real, realism, realistic, reference, regal, relief, replica, represent, representation, repro, reproduce, reproduction, retro, robert, romantic, royal, social, somerset, sport, standard, steel, studio, style, suffolk, teach, thomas, tilting, time, title, tool, topic, topical, tract, unusual, victoria, victorian, vintage, white
