If Elizabeth I of England thought to rid herself forever of Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex, by sending him to the scaffold she was very much mistaken, since his name, intertwined with hers, has traversed four centuries. Amongst those who realized the dramatic possibilities of the death of the Queen's favourite was Thomas Corneille, a Frenchman. His interpretation of the motives and actions of the principal protagonists reflected the taste of his contemporaries in 1678 and helped prolong the popularity of the story into the eighteenth century.









This is a volume in the series Textes litteraires/Exeter French Texts. The text, introduction and essential notes are all in French.