Reviewed by: Elisabeth Stevenson
Author: Brian Harris QC
Publisher: Wildy, Simmonds and Hill
ISBN: 9780854900770
Price: £19.99

Sir Thomas Overbury’s death in the Tower of London in 1613 became the focus of one of the most sensational court scandals of James I’s reign. In 1616 the earl and countess of Somerset were found guilty of Overbury’s murder, and Brian Harris’s book attempts to disentangle the wealth of evidence surrounding the case to reassess the couple’s guilt.

The book is subtitled ‘A Jacobean Mystery in Fourteen Acts’. This not only places the scandal within the context of Jacobean tragedy, but also underlines why the court case was so notorious and potentially damaging for the king. The king’s court was a performance itself – a performance of power, and whatever happened at court reflected the character and integrity of the monarch. The Overbury scandal gave ammunition to the growing number of people – particularly in parliament – who criticised the lavish extravagance and loose morals of the Jacobean court.

Harris looks closely at all the key players in the scandal, with an analysis of character and motive which is clearly and engagingly explained, and is based on a very thorough knowledge of a wide range of sources. He uses personal letters very well to illustrate the drama of Overbury’s imprisonment in the Tower of London, and the back-biting and intrigue surrounding Robert Carr, earl of Somerset, favourite of the king and chief suspect.

Frances, countess of Somerset, is well drawn, as is her associate Anne Turner – Harris seems to enjoy building up the earl and countess into real people with complex motives. His description of the relationship between Robert Carr and Thomas Overbury, as the two build up their status at James’ court is a vivid picture of the power-hungry on the make. The chapters which focus on the court case itself are the best – Harris’s assessment of the evidence leads him to intriguing and convincing hypotheses about who was actually responsible for Overbury’s murder.

The context for the trial is slightly over-generalised and one-sided. Harris’s analysis of the legacy of Elizabeth I’s reign is rather sweeping, and his portrayal of James I is interesting but limited. Anthony Weldon’s famous description of a king who was often ‘intemperate with drink’ and ‘fiddled with his codpiece’ has been read as spiteful revenge by a dismissed courtier, rather than as an accurate or fair description of James I. Each sub-section and each chapter ends with a cliffhanger, which is at times overstated.

The most interesting aspect of this case to an historian is how it reflects on the Jacobean court, and how it was used and manipulated by the enemies of the Stuarts both during and after James I’s reign. Harris’s analysis of the court case has some parallels with Antal Szerb’s excellent The Queen’s Necklace, which focuses on a court scandal at Versailles in 1785 – another case where courtiers were implicated, with several very shady characters lurking in the background, but also close to those in power. This book is also a study in the importance and fragility of reputation, both for the courtiers intent on gaining power, and for the king.

From Piers Gaveston to Rasputin to Carole Caplin, royal favourites can contribute to bringing down a hated ruler. Harris’s study necessarily focuses on the details of the trial, but his analysis of the trial does point to bigger questions about the glamour and danger of power, and a regime at the start of its journey to civil war.

Elisabeth Stevenson is a history teacher and assistant deputy head at Greycoats School, Westminster

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