Upper Servants Letters and Loyalties in the Shrewsbury-Stuart Domestic Politics of the 1580s

Several letters written by upper servants of the earl and countess of Shrewsbury during the time of Mary, Queen of Scotss cohabitation as their prisoner guest and the final breakdown of their marriage have survived. These letters testify to the indispensable supporting roles that upper servants, such as estate officers and gentle-born attendants, could play in politically charged domestic dramas in which reputations and resources were at stake. This chapter analyses how the Shrewsburys servants letters represent the micropolitics of their employers combined and dispersed households and contested lands throughout the turbulent 1580s. It reveals that when writing to employers and each other, servants used a range of rhetorical techniques and practical problem solving to perform their duties and demonstrate their allegiance at all costs. Furthermore, it draws attention to estate servants representations of tenants and argues that, like servants, tenants were not merely pawns or victims but financially and politically important allies or opponents of their would-be lord or lady, with the power to influence their respective reputations at local assizes and the royal court.