Sir Griffin Markham (d. aft. 1644) was an English soldier.

Life

Griffin Markham was the son of Thomas Markham (1530–1607) and of Mary Griffin (1540-ca.1633) of

Ollerton Ollerton is a town in the Newark and Sherwood District, Nottinghamshire, England, on the edge of Sherwood Forest in the area known as the Dukeries. It forms part of the civil parish of Ollerton and Boughton. OS Explorer Map 270: Sherwood Forest: ...

, Nottinghamshire. He likely converted to Roman Catholicism early in his life, under the influence of his mother. On 29 May 1592, he married Anne Roos.

Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG, PC (; 10 November 1565 – 25 February 1601) was an English nobleman and a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following a ...

, knighted him in 1591 at the siege of

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

. During the

Nine Years War The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...

in Ireland (1594–1603) he commanded the cavalry under Sir

Conyers Clifford Sir Conyers Clifford (c. 1566 – 1599) was an English politician and military commander. Life and career He was the son of George Clifford, esq., of Bobbing Court in Kent, by his wife Ursula, daughter of Roger Finch. His elder brother, Henry ...

, and his opportune arrival and counter-charge after the defeat of the infantry at the

Battle of Curlew Pass A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

(1599) saved the army from complete disaster. His right arm was broken during the affray. Markham was banished from court for unknown reasons around 1593. Although he had anticipated the accession of King

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

with a degree of hope, after it occurred in March, 1603, he experienced disappointment with the new monarch's lack of favour, and took part in the

Bye Plot The Bye Plot of 1603 was a conspiracy, by Roman Catholic priests and Puritans aiming at tolerance for their respective denominations, to kidnap the new English King, James I of England. It is referred to as the "bye" plot, because at the time i ...

(June, 1603) and subsequently the

Main Plot The Main Plot was an alleged conspiracy of July 1603 by English courtiers to remove King James I from the English throne and to replace him with his cousin Lady Arbella Stuart. The plot was supposedly led by Lord Cobham and funded by the Spanis ...

(July, 1603), for which he was convicted (1603) and sentenced to death. However, he was reprieved from execution and exiled (1605).Markham, p. 102 His properties were given to his cousin, Sir John Harington. He spent the rest of his life in exile in Europe, acting as a spy for Robert Cecil, and joining the English regiment in the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

; there he fell out with Sir Edmund Baynham, a conspirator in the

Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby who sought ...

, and fought a bloody duel with him.

Notes

References

** * English duellists English army officers English knights English spies People of Elizabethan Ireland Year of birth missing Year of death missing 16th-century spies {{England-mil-bio-stub