Sir Robert Naunton

author

Sir Robert Naunton

1563–1635

A court insider in the age of Elizabeth I and James I, he turned political experience into one of the liveliest portrait books of the early Stuart period. His sharp, memorable sketches in Fragmenta Regalia helped preserve the personalities behind Tudor power.

1 Audiobook

Travels in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth; with Fragmenta regalia or, Observations on Queen Elizabeth, her times and favourites

Travels in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth; with Fragmenta regalia or, Observations on Queen Elizabeth, her times and favourites

by Paul Hentzner, Sir Robert Naunton

About the author

Educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, Sir Robert Naunton was an English writer and politician born in 1563 at Alderton, Suffolk. He became a fellow of Trinity and later the university's public orator, a role that helped launch him into public life.

Naunton served in Parliament several times between 1606 and 1626 and rose high at court under James I, eventually becoming Secretary of State and a member of the Privy Council. His political career had its ups and downs, but it gave him close knowledge of the people and rivalries that shaped government in late Tudor and early Stuart England.

Today he is best remembered for Fragmenta Regalia, a set of vivid character sketches of leading figures from the reign of Elizabeth I. Written near the end of his life and completed shortly before his death on March 27, 1635, the work remains valued for its firsthand feel, quick judgment, and readable portraits of a vanished court world.