Amy Dudley's Death - Medieval Murder Mysteries - S01 EP04 - History Documentary

Explore the enigmatic death of Amy Dudley, wife of Queen Elizabeth I's favourite, Robert Dudley. Unearth the suspicious circumstances surrounding her fall down the stairs, the hidden coroner's report, and the intrigue of court rivalries. Could it be a murder plot to prevent Elizabeth and Robert from marrying? Dive into the mystery of this medieval murder.
🚨 Solve the unsolvable with Medieval Murder Mysteries on Banijay History! Delve into the darkest tales and enigmas of the Middle Ages!
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Medieval Murder Mysteries is a captivating historical documentary series that delves into the enigmatic and sinister crimes of the medieval era. With meticulous research and dramatic reenactments, the show unravels unsolved mysteries, murders, and intrigues from a time when justice was elusive. Explore the dark secrets, clues, and motives behind these age-old crimes as experts and historians shed light on the turbulent past. Join the journey into the heart of medieval darkness as each episode unveils a different chilling murder mystery, providing a window into a bygone world of treachery, deception, and the relentless quest for justice.
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[@always_b_natural703]

I'd like to say for N. American viewers, that the staircase wouldn't have been like those in the majority of N. American homes. It's likely the staircase would have been stone, worn down and polished by years of use. The center wouldn't be flat. Each riser would probably also sloped downward from wear. A bit of water on the stone could have made them slippery. Catching a long dress on a shoe would unbalance anybody. In my younger days, I walked down the outside staircase of the fortress of Naplion, in Greece. I believe it's over 400 stone stairs. The risers were uneven and very worn centrally, from centuries of people using them. There is also no handrail, just a drop off down the cliff. By the time I got to the bottom, my nerves were shot, and I had to sit for a while to calm down. The realization of the consequences of a slip became more and more daunting.

[@rhondasisco-cleveland2665]

I read they used to make the steps uneven, to thwart intruders. Was this place that old?

[@always_b_natural703]

@@rhondasisco-cleveland2665 Yes. I looked it up, and it was started in the late 1600s

[@stefhanieinsinga-ash2093]

This is crazy to read. I once tripped in a church in France twice and it was legit the steps where like fun house stairs.​@@rhondasisco-cleveland2665

[@lisameier5436]

Wow. I appreciate that you shared that experience. How high would 8 steps appear from top to bottom? I mean, I can't imagine that few steps looking worthy for suicide so it had to be a terrible fall right? I'm looking at the stairs in my house and honestly I'd never want to fall down 8 steps I would view it survivable. Not uninjured or able to catch myself but (hopefully) not the death of me. Then I turn my site to my basement stairs and the survival rate dwindles a bit. The idea of falling is a lot scarier than I care to imagine.

[@khfan4life365]

That actually explains a lot. Thanks.

[@user-uc2cu5fr8y]

If she had advanced breast cancer, she likely would have had bone metastasis. There are no symptoms and you can fracture a bone with little or no force. I know first hand, I coughed and my L3 collapsed.

[@lisalking2476]

Prayers for you 🙏

[@Katherine_Allen]

Professor Michael Green's suggestion that she may have had a subarachnoid hemorrhage makes sense 35:54 to 36:10 She would have had the worst headache of her life just prior which might explain why she sent all the servants away, maybe thought being alone in a quiet house would help the headache? Just speculation on my part, I know.

[@theguest4516]

She had injuries to the back of her head. With her hood put back on. Very odd falling down the stairs. Injuring your head than being dead put your hood back on.

[@josi4251]

Amy Dudley reportedly had breast cancer, and if she were to have a spontaneous bone fracture, likely in her spine, she might have gone into shock and fallen. (Source: Antonia Fraser) Besides that, Elizabeth told Robert (then Robin) Dudley that she intended never to marry. He seemed inherently to know this, and thus he married Amy and later Lettice Knolys. It's titillating to speculate what went on between them, but she intended never to marry or have children.

[@terintiaflavius3349]

Where did Antonia Fraser find this? She is a fiction author not a historian

[@wasntme777]

correct, from what is known it could have been breast cancer. And that can lead to breaking of bones if the cancer infested them. I do not like that they keep talking about her being depressed but do not tell how sick she was. they rather say she was a young and healthy woman, and that we know, she not NOT! I think she got murdered to give Dudley a bad name. On the other hand there is still the question why she send everyone away that day. Sounds almost like she was waiting for someone? Someone that should not or did not wanted to be seen? Who knows. We will never know.

[@wasntme777]

@@terintiaflavius3349 It is a fact that the documents about Amy`s medical record say she had a sore breast. That is why it is believed she might have had breast cancer. I am not talking about Fraser, I am talking about the researches in the case. The idea of her might having the cancer in her bones is an option, we know today. So if you did not knew about it, check for it.

[@josi4251]

​@@terintiaflavius3349 Actually, Antonia Fraser wrote a number of biographies, including "The Wives of Henry VIII." She also wrote books about Mary Queen of Scots, Marie Antoinette, Oliver Cromwell, and King Charles II, among others. However, I mistakenly attributed the very fine work "The First Elizabeth" to her; the author of that book is Carolly Erickson. Apologies for the error.

[@sophiachavez3377]

Agree 100%.

[@wasntme777]

she was not healthy, it is believed she had breast cancer. So why is this not mentioned in this?

[@MotDoiAnLac258]

Thank you channel for sharing interesting and interesting historical information

[@PrincessKarrah]

I don’t think Elizabeth order the death of Amy let’s be realistic here Amy death being ruled an accident doesn’t help her marry Dudley makes it impossible for her to marry him. Elizabeth knows that her claim to the throne is shaky and that Catholics are looking for any excuse to invade England. If she married him not only would she be risking a catholic invasion to be risking her own people rising up against her.

[@qrufus]

I'm ruling out Cecil's involvement because it doesn't make sense. If he wanted to get rid of Dudley, it would make more sense to go directly after him. I just wished that the details of the inquest was talked about more. Answer questions like; How was she positioned?; What was she wearing at the time?; When was she found?; What the actual stairs looked like?; etc...

[@laurabrowning7973]

If Cecil went directly after Dudley he would incur Elizabeth's wrath, and that would not have been pretty. Cecil was a patient, wily, ruthless man, who, I think, would have had as much discomfort arranging for Amy Robsart's death as killing a fly if it achieved the desired result - the end of Dudley's threat via marriage to Elizabeth.

[@PrincessKarrah]

I agree and I also think there no way Elizabeth had any thing to do with Amy death if she order the death she would have ordered it to look like it was a natural death. Elizabeth knew that even if he was found guilty in a criminal court Robert would always be guilty in the court of public opinion. If she married him then not only would she be risking Catholic countries invading she also have to worry about her own people rising up against her.

[@wasntme777]

well that is because you do not think in a political way. Cecil wanted him to not be able to marry Elizabeth, killing him would have taken him to the tower and the block. Elizabeth was no fool!

[@user-rw2uh5bv3o]

My money is on Cecil he loved England and Elizabeth was England, Dudley was a threat to him and England

[@Housemouse1967]

I don’t believe 8 stairs would cause a head wound 2 inches deep and a broken neck.

[@krysmorrison3896]

I fell UP one stair and face planted Deep cut over my eye and trauma to my neck, thankfully that’s all I have no doubt one could break a neck

[@deaniej2766]

If a death was ruled accidental, the person could be properly buried. If it was suicide, they could not be buried in consecrated ground. I think the coroners juries were right to be lenient in cases that could go either way. It helped the families not to have that cloud over them. It helped the living when condemnation could no longer harm the dead.

[@amyroseckyfowler6948]

They don't speak at all about her possible breast cancer. The one man even says she was healthy with no visible illness but that's not the case with other investigations. A person with cancer would have brittle bones and could break their neck in a fall or she could have died and then fallen. I'm not a physician, but that seems most likely to me.

[@isisisis1234]

They left out the part where Amy sent all her servants to a festival and stayed back by herself, which is a very unusual thing for a lady of her status to do.

[@jeanettebuckman830]

no they didn't they said she sent all her maids and man servants to the festival and one woman did not want to go Amy got very angry and made her go .

[@user-ms1pg2ok4i]

They do state that and that one servant wanted to stay behind and she got angry at them.

[@janicemerchant-blakely4866]

Or also it was a slip and fall hitting her head against the stairs

[@rhondasisco-cleveland2665]

Poor woman.

[@shesaknitter]

Very interesting video! Elizabeth I died in 1603, not in 1604. Thanks very much!

[@wandapease-gi8yo]

Pity they can’t or won’t exhume her body to see. Having slipped down a narrow and steep Victorian staircase at about that age I came close to these injuries. Not the deep head wound, but the smaller one not as bad because I had someone behind me.

[@theguest4516]

Not a narrow Victorian stairway!!! Elizabetian would it not??? Like 300 yrs difference there. Oh, plus the stairs are three small stairs. That were foot worn than. It is mentioned in this program that it's 3 steps.

[@PrincessKarrah]

I don’t think that Elizabeth had any thing to do with Amy death if she order the death she would have ordered it to look like it was a natural death. Elizabeth knew that even if he was found guilty in a criminal court Robert would always be guilty in the court of public opinion. If she married him then not only would she be risking Catholic countries invading she also have to worry about her own people rising up against her.

[@KaskadiaJackassWatch]

Lettice & Robert were my ancestors. Interesting info here.

[@01doha]

Fascinating doco. But the constant music was very annoying ?

[@christinascott3682]

I'm surprised that no one has suggested that maybe Amy took a lover since her husband all but disappeared from her life. Maybe she became pregnant and knowing what a scandal it would cause, her lover killed her because he was either high-ranking or already married. Just a thought since she sent away all of the servants that day.

[@theguest4516]

Amy Dudley was a wife beyond reproach. To you it's a amusing idea. To her it could mean death even. Childbirth was extremely dangerous. It was a very repressive time for women. It was no romance novel.

[@christinascott3682]

​@@theguest4516 My comment was just a thought since it was never suggested. How do you know she was a wife beyond reproach? Did you know her? History is an interpretation of records that aren't always accurate or complete. Childbirth has always been dangerous for women, even with all of the medical technology we have now. Get a grip. I'm entitled to my opinion.

[@theguest4516]

@@christinascott3682 Cuz I read about history. Don't whine to me about your lose grip on history. Have some respect they were real people. That is my point.

[@christinascott3682]

@@theguest4516 I didn't whine to you. You whined to me. I have my opinion and don't care if you don't like it. Go bug someone else with your know-it-all attitude.

[@charisanna4914]

I thought she was also very ill, like breast cancer?

[@ashhole984]

At 2 years old I had fallen from spiral metal staircase. The wound was deep enough to need stitches. Was so close to my spinal cord too. I believe the stone staircase killed her. Healthy or not. Plenty of cases where people have fallen from stairs of all different types of material and died.

[@susannjarvis5587]

Perhaps she was depressed and wanted to call out for help. Throwing herself down the stairs would be a way to get attention. Judging from the gossip and the rumours, it isn't difficult to imagine how distraught she might have become. She simply may have miscalculated and ended up killing herself. According to Andrew Morton's book on Diana, Princess of Wales, she told him she threw herself down the stairs at Sandringham when pregnant with William. So I find the possibility quite credible.

[@TheObscureRambler]

Whose attention? She sent her servants away.

[@margaretcottingham5920]

Without exhuming Amy's remains and applying modern forensics I doubt this mystery surrounding her death will remain a mystery. Elizabeth I was cunning and had a keen understanding of what happens when one pets matters of the heart rule over matters of the head. This was Henry VIII's child and she would never forget her mother's execution. I completely understand Elizabeth I's total change of plans to marry anyone. That way she would not be at the mercy of any man. It was sad but part and parcel of Tudor England.

[@JohnJames-be4qe]

Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603 not 1604.

[@rick7043]

All conjecture and guessing but still interesting

[@susanwillson6672]

I believe Amy Dudley was murdered by an unknown assassin on the orders of William Cecil, to prevent Robert Dudley's marriage to Elizabeth. Cecil knew Amy Dudley was ill, and it was only a matter of time before her death from cancer. The fact that the Queen was in love with Dudley gave him enormous influence with her. He was the most powerful man at court and Cecil's deadliest enemy. They held widely opposing political views, and Dudley's increasing arrogance meant that Cecil's role as chief adviser to the Queen was undermined. Amy sent her servants to the fair on Sunday, which offended them, as that was the day for the common people to attend - but they obeyed her, and she was left alone in the empty house. I believe she was waiting for some unknown visitor from the court, who insisted on secrecy.

[@user-rw2uh5bv3o]

On the money ❤

[@madnessinthemountainsUSA]

Lived in an old apartment building with stone stairs and they were extremely worn from use at just under 100 years old. I have fallen and also broken bones and twisted ankles and feet as I was losing my balance and tumbling. The edges of the stairs left me bruised and battered. I was lucky I didn’t hit my head. I am quite sure I’d have been dead or brain dead at the least. .. despite the wear on the stones it was still quite a sharp edge to hit your head on. I hit my ribs instead…sustained some broken ribs as well. Who knows what happened…poor woman.

[@mmedefarge]

The house is still there, why not show the staircase?

[@maureenjamieson9730]

The church still exists but Cumnor Place was demolished in the 19th century.

[@balletshoes]

Lady, if she really wanted the blame for her death to go to her husband, she would have killed herself in a way that leaves no room for specualtion, because the stairs most certainly do leave such a room. It is a most unusual way to take one's life. And if it was her intention to tarnish her husbands reputation, she would have done it in clearer way that doesn't resemble an accident.

[@deborahbrottmiller2948]

I think it was Cecil. She’d never be able to marry after that. He probably feared with her infatuation, Dudley would replace Cecil

[@waverider8549]

Maybe she fell backwards while ascending the stairs and hit her head

[@buzzzzzz69]

It's just as easy to trip over the hem of a long dress going up stairs as it is going down them- if not easier! I have done this myself, wearing a long skirt getting onto a bus.

[@examplelife1567]

If she was murdered, William Cecil I believe is the prime candidate. He did quite a few things without the knowledge of the Queen. He most certainly hated the Queen's favourite Robert Dudley, any chance that thery would marry would have been unexceptable. At this point in time though it is impossible to truly judge. Deaths by falling down stairs is still common today, and the stairs she fell down were very dangerous. We have to remember that Dudley was fully co-operative and was found to be not involved in Amy's death. He was excepted back at court.

[@jawanauselton9197]

What difference can it possibly make now?

[@katrinamoran1209]

Satisfaction of curiosities.

[@iamme6773]

Thinking way outside the box, here. What if, Amy, being, young, abandoned by her husband, lonely and jealous of his relationship with the queen, decided that she would also have an affair? If she maybe, got pregnant, and hadn't been with her husband in a year? How would that look? Was planning to see the man that day, thus getting mad when one of her gentlewomen didn't want to go to the fair? What if, the other gentleman didn't want this getting out, because it would be very dangerous to get on the wrong side of the Queen's favorite?

[@TinkerTaylor-zv1ml]

Could be, but there a 2 things that give me doubt. - in a household with servants, missing ones period would be noticed. After her death, people may have spoken about that, in the investigation. - an autopsy was done, and I suppose they would have noticed a pregnancy.

[@raquellofstedt9713]

@@TinkerTaylor-zv1ml Not if it were too early, and perhaps not if there were other injuries that distracted the examiners. Personally, I am still leaning towards suicide, but instead of trying to stick it to her husband , perhaps she was trying to make it appear to be accidental. Thus she "fell on the stairs" instead of swan diving from a balcony.

[@dustisue]

I think that aborting a pregnancy was accomplished using herbs, alcohol, whatever she had at hand. Likely there was a wisewoman living nearby who was the pharmacist/doctor of her day. Mixing from her local ingredients, she creates the remedy from whatever her environment provided. Payment would have been barter.

[@deborahbrottmiller2948]

I agree with Tracy.

[@fionabryant7923]

A two inch dent is a deliberate blow, not from falling down shallow stairs...come on

[@asburycollins9182]

thats your expert medical opinion is it?

[@debbiekern2841]

When was the last time you heard about beating themselves in the head with an object hard enough to leave a two inch deep dent, then throw herself down the steps? The suicide weapon would have been close to her body

[@mistyeyedchick]

In this time maybe she just wanted to have time to herself. I would hate having people around me all the time. Not a fan of being waited on either. I think she was pushed down stairs. Also, it wouldn't be impossible to have done this then go to festival and be seen there.

[@khfan4life365]

I still find it odd that she had a 2 inch deep head wound that was covered by her hood. I think that Amy did have cancer but someone murdered her to attack the character of Robert, who was in the queen’s favor. Robert wasn’t well-liked among the court. Anyone could have done it to sully his name.

[@safiremorningstar]

It could also be with nobody is thinking which is a form of potential suicide but she may not have intended to die she may have intended instead to fall down the stairs and thus accused her husband the name of the syndrome in question that I'm thinking of is called Munchausen syndrome.

[@maryduhon9769]

I always felt she was killed to stop the relationship

[@balletshoes]

Hmm, how about the murderer was standing behind her on top of the stairs and he hit her with the blunt object causing her very conveniently to fall down, all the while the real cause of death were the two blows to the head?

[@chris.asi_romeo]

I'll go for theory 2 as the most probable.

[@Aran_chini]

Repeatedly rehashing the same information to pad out a show is annoying, and a sign that it has nothing more substantial to offer.

[@clf8668]

It’s funny watching shows like this that try to read more into something then there’s there

[@laura121684]

*than

[@katrinamoran1209]

That’s most of history, especially pre-internet.

[@avondalemama470]

I disagree with the conclusion of the coroner this time. If Amy was attacked from the back , there will not necessarily be defensive marks on her. I think she was hit hard from the back, then fell or was pushed and landed at the bottom of the stairs. She would have been extremely lucky if she was trying to commit suicide, to have the injuries that were found on her head and neck. I doubt she was that lucky. Period

[@user-bn7bk5mw4s]

Poor Elizabeth gets blamed for everything. I don't believe she had Amy killed. I do believe she loved Robert but thats another story

[@user-rw2uh5bv3o]

I always suspected Cecil

[@examplelife1567]

It's only suspicious because you're saying it was.

[@ingabinga47]

She fell down the stairs. End of story, This tale drags on and on and on. It is a fact that there were no standard for stairwells and they were often precarious. Suspicion and facts run wildly in this myth,

[@sydneyfairbairn3773]

She was hit on the head and shoved down the stairs. Her husband was behind it. She was young and had money.

[@jaimesmedley3266]

Who narrates this?

[@WalledGardenAtNorrisLake]

That also may explains why the Queen distanced herself from him because he may have told her what he did and maybe she became afraid of him herself…..

[@instaperil]

If the Elizabeth I connection was true, then why did they never marry?

[@changeintheair9648]

I wish she could have just married a man instead of series of lovers BUT I understand that to do that she risked her position as Queen as men were head of the wife. But at same time, in my mercy I also know how ruthless King's/Queen's and their courts were to rivals and the commoners.

[@williamkinkade2538]

Quick! Get MEDIEVAL Sherlock Holmes on the case!!

[@williamkinkade2538]

The games is afoot!!

[@WalledGardenAtNorrisLake]

I believe her death was an accident. She probably had a meeting with Dudley so she sent away her staff probably on his request. He probably asked her to let him out the marriage and she said no, even though she and he knew she had a breast mass. He probably got mad and hit her from behind not expecting her to die but it along with the fall killed her…

[@kathiejohns1418]

Could she have arranged her own death?

[@RaggedyAndi1]

Here is what happened..... he wanted the money and power. Someone was paid quite well and they broke her neck and then tossed her down the stairs explaining the post mortem wound on the back of her head. Not off the hook at all.

[@lynnschaeferle-zh4go]

Too much filler music, recaps and adverts.

[@feliciagaffney1998]

The "background music" isn't in the background but the foreground. Very distracting and annoying.

[@ingridakerblom7577]

​@@feliciagaffney1998probably to avoid having content taken down..

[@feliciagaffney1998]

@@ingridakerblom7577 because it's bootleg? Then maybe they need to make their own original content.

[@svenwilliamson406]

Ah, the usual rehash of something with no new evidence to support a fresh or original interpretation of a medieval cold case if indeed there was any case there at all. The "background" music is altogether too foreground. The typical use of cutting between experts to lend credibility to the production is tired and hackneyed. The futuristic font (with obligatory electric bleeps) used to separate chapters is cliched and the voiceover ponderous. That the jurors ("...Richard Smith, gent., Humphrey Lewis, gent., Thomas Moulder, gent., Richard Knight, Thomas Spyre, Edward Stevenson, John Stevenson, Richard Hughes, William Cantrell, William Noble, John Buck, John Keene, Henry Lanlgey, Stephen Ruffyn, and John Sire...") took until 1st August the following year to swear that "... by reason of the accidental injury or of that fall and of Lady Amy’s own body weight falling down the aforesaid stairs, the same Lady Amy there and then broke her own neck, on account of which certain fracture of the neck the same Lady Amy there and then died instantly..." is interesting. Why so long? Who are those jurors? What finally convinced them that it was indeed an accident? We shall never know.

[@murraycatto1]

More unproven supposition from the time wasters with Arts degrees.

[@worldadventuretravel]

The entire history of European monarchies is a categorical failure if you measure it by the one and only metric that should matter: *Did they make the lives of the working classes and the poor better, or worse?* From one English ruler to the next, the answer is always "worse." Just keep in mind how bourgeois these documentarians really are. They are useful to some extent if you're interested in history, but their ultimate aim is always to uphold and propagandize for colonialism, empire, and the power of the ruling classes.

[@leeanneyoungman8028]

Past! I would have to say had no laws or rules or morals for that matter. The last hundred years and now laws are for everyone and morals are few and far between.. but one things certain it’s better now because at least people are being helped with charities, small business staying out of politics, and everyone does get something out of the monarchy! Media and lies, how they behave badly , because people don’t go beyond their pea brains to look what’s clearly in front of them for now the monarchy faces the wrath of our lies! Not theirs!😊

[@fionabryant7923]

Oh, the voice of doom..the narrator is too much