NEW ARCHIVAL FIND ON AN ELIZABETHAN MYSTERY.

NEW ARCHIVAL FIND ON AN ELIZABETHAN MYSTERY. I have rejoiced several times on this blog that there are still discoveries to be made in historical research. The coroner’s report on the death of Amy Robsart in 1560 was found in the National Archives “in the late 2000’s.” Amy Robsart was the young wife of Robert Dudley, and Queen Elizabeth was thought to be in love with Robert Dudley. This wikipedia article on Amy Robsart discusses the theories which have surrounded her death. Amy “was found dead at the foot of a flight of stairs with a broken neck and two wounds on her head. The coroner’s report had apparently been lost, but the coroner’s jury’s finding was that she had died of a fall downstairs; the verdict was “misfortune”, accidental death.” The flight of stairs was short. The wikipedia article summarizes some of the speculation. Did Amy commit suicide? Did she have breast cancer which weakened her and led to a fall? Did Dudley arrange her murder? Did some one at court (William Cecil has been suggested) arrange her murder to destroy Dudley’s prospects of marrying the Queen? The wikipedia article indicates that most modern historians have argued against murder. They also seem to have especially resisted the theory that Dudley was responsible, apparently in part because—as in a detective story—he was too obvious a suspect. The newly-discovered coroner’s report says that: “She had sustained two head injuries—one ‘of the depth of a quarter of a thumb’, the other ‘of the depth of two thumbs.'” (A thumb is said to be about an inch.) Wikipedia says that the coroner’s report “is compatible with a fall” Based only on my extensive reading of detective stories, it seems implausible that a two-inch gash could be caused by a fall down a short flight of steps, and I find it hard to imagine two head wounds from such a fall. I think it’s murder.