An Associate Fellow with the Royal Historical Society, James D. Taylor Jr. is an independent scholar who has published a series of books with Algora pulling together all the available documentary evidence relating to key figures from English history. Painstakingly piecing together a wealth of details that were hidden away in archival records, old correspondence and other documents, he brings back in vivid color outstanding individuals whose flamboyance, character and stalwart dedication to their causes enabled them to shape the events of their times.

Taylor is particularly fascinated by figures from the treacherous era of the Tudors and Stuarts, times that tried men's souls but their characters as well — and it's their characters that shine clearly in the documentary evidence he unearths. The subjects of his books are paragons of courage, loyalty and integrity in the face of temptation and intimidation. Clear headed and well spoken under the direst of circumstances, these men and women lived life intensely, always keeping conscience ahead of comfort, whether they won their cause or lost everything. 

James Taylor has also published two books profiling actresses involved in creating beloved characters like Betty Boop who have been entertaining America since the 1930s.

Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, an English diplomat, soldier, and politician, served as an ambassador to France and then Scotland during the turbulent Tudor era. He played a crucial role in managing the interactions between Elizabeth I of England,...

Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, an English diplomat, soldier, and politician, served as an ambassador to France and then Scotland during the turbulent Tudor era. He played a crucial role in managing the interactions between Elizabeth I of England, Mary Queen of Scots, and the French monarchy. During the apex of the English Reformation, which involved France and Scotland as well, he had to call upon not only his own refined skills but also on liaisons, informants and spies who would save hundreds of lives and prevent conflicts.

Throckmorton skillfully balanced his allegiance to the crown with the potential risk of treason by diligently supplying Queen Elizabeth with precise and up-to-date intelligence. This invaluable knowledge enabled the queen to make crucial decisions in safeguarding her kingdom and potentially preventing the outbreak of war. Despite receiving commendations from Queen Elizabeth herself, his acts frequently garnered disapproval from others, resulting in his imprisonment, alternating between the two sides of the channel.

When Mary Tudor, a Roman Catholic, seized the throne from the young and innocent Protestant Jane Grey and subsequently declared her intention to wed Philip of Spain, also a Catholic, discontent spread throughout the kingdom. This led to the formation of coalitions aiming to forcibly dethrone her. This culminated in the Wyatt rebellion. Its leader, Thomas Wyatt Jr., and hundreds of others were ruthlessly put to death due to their involvement in the uprising, resulting in the widespread adoption of the infamous moniker “Bloody Mary.�

Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, too, faced charges of treason and conspiracy against the crown. In a well-documented trial, he had to mount his own defense (as was standard at the time). Throckmorton’s vigorous and adept defense against his accusers resulted in a complete acquittal, a rare outcome in Tudor treason trials.

Like many powerful individuals, his eventual death as well as the disappearance of important documents and correspondence, raised suspicions of poisoning. This biography will delve into these mysterious circumstances.

Ambassador Sir Nicholas Throckmorton was a prolific writer during his tenure. This fact, in conjunction with the improvement of Elizabeth I’s record archives from the middle to the end of her reign, provides multiple volumes and hundreds of sources of correspondence. Sir Nicholas Throckmorton’s writings are an integral part of his life and that of Queen Elizabeth I, but they obviously they can be rather monotonous and repetitive, with archaic word usage that does little to help today’s readers focus on his outstanding personality and the drama of his life.

When Sir Nicholas Throckmorton served as Chamberlain of the Exchequer during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, he was in possession of vast quantities of State Papers. Nicholas entrusted these papers to his son Arthur, who in turn gave them to Sir Henry Wotton, who in turn gave them to King Charles I with the intention of preserving them in the State Paper Office. As indicated in the introduction to Russell Prendergast’s State Papers, this did not occur until 1857. Numerous valuable letters between Queen Elizabeth, Cecil, Randolph, and Sir Nicholas did survive. In fact, it is reasonable to assume that some of the correspondence was lost or destroyed before the collection was set aside for preservation.

Sir Henry Wotton, diplomat and poet (uncle of Sir Thomas Wotton, second Baron Wotton, who married Sir Nicholas Throckmorton’s granddaughter) bequeathed the majority of Throckmorton’s correspondence to Charles I, but the bequest did not take effect. After many tribulations, the papers were acquired by Francis Seymour Conway, the first Marquess of Hertford (1719–1794), whose descendant, the third Marquess of Hertford, donated them to the public record office on John Wilson Croker’s recommendation prior to 1842. 

Since that time, the letters have been divided into separate collections. I have endeavored to review as many as I could locate. Between 1559 and 1563, these letters reflect his time as Queen Elizabeth’s ambassador in France during numerous battles, skirmishes, war, political and religious upheavals, and his dread of the epidemic.

Every effort has been made to modernize the English of the letters I share in this biography. This includes minor grammatical adjustments and the replacement of archaic terminology. Several of the locations and people that Throckmorton mentions are problematic because they no longer exist or their identities have changed.