William Cecil, born some 13 years before Elizabeth, shared many of her experiences. He was taught by the same teachers, endured the ups and downs of politics under Edward and, as a Protestant, suffered the same fears as Elizabeth under Mary, when he, too, saved his skin by conforming to Catholicism. Although he held no office during her reign, he was sent on several diplomatic missions and sat in Parliament.
He backed Elizabeth while she still looked a poor bet. She rewarded him by appointing him secretary of state immediately on her accession in 1558, and later promoted him to lord treasurer in 1572, the year after she created him 1st Baron Burghley. One of his greatest skills was his ability to convey royal policy to Parliament and keep Elizabeth in touch with its feelings.
In terms of religion, his sympathies were with the Puritans, but politically he thought England would do best with a middle-of-the-road Anglican Church. However, Elizabeth wanted ritual and ceremony, and she told her archbishop of Canterbury, William Whitgift, to come down hard on any Puritan dissenters who refused to conform. Cecil thought this clamping down on Puritan abstinence and religious freedom was 'too much savouring of the Roman inquisition', and that the ceremonies Elizabeth was advocating were 'popish'.
The bad feeling between Cecil and Whitgift burst into the open in the queen's presence and Elizabeth came down publicly and heavily on Whitgift's side. Questions of religion, she insisted, were for her and her bishops alone. Neither Council nor Parliament had any say in the matter. Instead, since her supremacy over the Church came directly from God, she was answerable only to God in how she chose to exercise it.
Cecil was determined that never again would there be a Catholic monarch on the English throne, and so was keener than Elizabeth to take action against Mary Queen of Scots. He allegedly dispatched the Scottish queen's death warrant without Elizabeth's express command, and was excluded from court for a time because of it. Many, however, believe that Elizabeth simply couldn't handle her own complicity in the regicide.
Cecil remained active across a wide range of policy-making and administration for 40 years. It has been suggested that Polonius in Hamlet is a satirical portrait of him. During Elizabeth's reign, there were days known as 'Cecil fasts', named after him because of a law he introduced requiring fish to be eaten on certain days – to promote the fishing industry.
Elizabeth relied heavily on Cecil, calling him 'my spirit', and allegedly hand fed him during his final days. He ensured that his influence would live on after his death, installing his son Robert in office to continue the 'reign of the Cecils' after him.
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 William Cecil
www.britainunlimited.com/Biogs/Cecil.htm
Good chronology that covers Cecil's entire career.
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William Cecil: The power behind Elizabeth by Alan Gordon-Smith (University Press of the Pacific, 2004)
Study of Cecil and the Elizabethan court, especially the establishment of English international power and the defeat of the Armada.
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Burghley: William Cecil, Lord Burghley by Michael A R Graves (Longman, 1998)
Short study of Elizabeth's chief minister and counsellor: a chronological account of Burghley's career, a detailed analysis of his role and significance in Elizabethan government, and an exploration of the relationship between minister and monarch and the dynamics of their partnership.
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 Burghley House
Stamford
Lincolnshire PE9 3JY
E-mail: info@burghley.co.uk
Tel: 01780 752 451
Website: www.stamford.co.uk/burghley/
The house was built by William Cecil between 1565 and 1587, and remains a family home for his descendants. When Elizabeth I made her only visit, she was prevented from staying by an outbreak of smallpox within the household.
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