Rowland York or Yorke (died 1588) was an English

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

of fortune and defector to Spain.

Early life

Rowland York was the ninth of eleven sons of Sir John York. He volunteered for the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

under Thomas Morgan of Llantarnam in 1572. He embarked at Gravesend on 19 March that year with his two companions, the poet

George Gascoigne George Gascoigne (c. 15357 October 1577) was an English poet, soldier and unsuccessful courtier. He is considered the most important poet of the early Elizabethan era, following Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey and leading t ...

and William Herle, but the ship in which they sailed was nearly lost on the coast of Holland owing to the incompetence of the Dutch pilot. Reaching the English camp in safety, he took part in August that year in the attack on

Goes Goes () is a city and municipality in the southwestern Netherlands on Zuid-Beveland, in the province of Zeeland. The city of Goes has approximately 27,000 residents. History Goes was founded in the 10th century on the edge of a creek: de Kort ...

under Captain (afterwards Sir)

Humphrey Gilbert Sir Humphrey Gilbert (c. 1539 – 9 September 1583) was an English adventurer, explorer, member of parliament and soldier who served during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and was a pioneer of the English colonial empire in North America ...

and the Prince of Orange's agent Jerome Tseraerts.

Plots and equivocal reputation

Opinions differed about York. By some, he was held "bolde of courage, provident in direction, industrious in labour, and quick in execution". But his profligacy and the fact that he was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

caused him from the first to be distrusted by the states.

Emanuel van Meteren Emanuel van Meteren or Meteeren (6 September 1535 – 11 April 1612) was a Flemish historian and Consul for "the Traders of the Low Countries" in London. He was born in Antwerp, the son of Sir Jacobus van Meteren, Dutch financier and publishe ...

, ''Historia Belgica'', lib. xiv. 430. In October 1580 he was reported by William Herle to

Francis Walsingham Sir Francis Walsingham ( – 6 April 1590) was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 20 December 1573 until his death and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Born to a well-connected family of gentry, Wals ...

to have been arrested on a charge of felony. Four years later York was detected in a plot with John Van Imbyss to betray

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

to the Duke of Parma. Against the advice of the Prince of Orange, who would have preferred a more summary punishment, he was clapped in prison in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, whence he was released when the city fell into Parma's hands in 1585. He served at the siege of Antwerp, but by the intercession of his friends, he was allowed to return to England. Joining the expedition under the Earl of Leicester that year, he succeeded in ingratiating himself with

Sir Philip Sidney ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

. Appointed by Leicester to the command of the

Zutphen Zutphen () is a city and municipality located in the province of Gelderland, Netherlands. It lies some 30 km northeast of Arnhem, on the eastern bank of the river Ijssel at the point where it is joined by the Berkel. First mentioned in th ...

sconce, he, according to

William Camden William Camden (2 May 1551 – 9 November 1623) was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and herald, best known as author of ''Britannia'', the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and the ''Ann ...

, took the opportunity thus offered him of paying back a grudge he had against the earl by surrendering the sconce to the Spaniards and inducing Sir William Stanley to do the same for Deventer. He was appointed captain of a troop of lancers in the Spanish service; but was not, as he thought, sufficiently rewarded. Since he was known to be a bold and determined villain, it is said the Spaniards took precautions to prevent any double treachery by causing him to be poisoned.

Death

He died in

on a Sunday in February 1588, having first 'received sacraments, unction, and all'.Bertie, ''Five Generations of a Loyal House'', p. 120; but cf. ''Cal. State Papers'', Dom. 1581–90, p. 466, where he is said to have died of the smallpox. Three years later his body was exhumed and gibbeted in Zutphen by order of the states. His heir was Edmund Yorke, who was executed at

Tyburn Tyburn was a manor (estate) in the county of Middlesex, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone. The parish, probably therefore also the manor, was bounded by Roman roads to the west (modern Edgware Road) and south (modern O ...

in 1595 for attempting to assassinate Queen Elizabeth. Edmund had been persuaded by his uncle's associate Sir William Stanley, and Stanley's rather mysterious lieutenant Jacques de Francesci (Captain Jacques), that the assassination would be a meritorious act. On returning to England he quickly fell under suspicion, due perhaps to his association with the Irish fencing master

Patrick O'Collun Patrick O'Collun , also known as Patrick Cullen or Patrick Collen, (died 1594) was an Irish soldier and fencing master who was executed at Tyburn in 1594 for treason, in that he had conspired to murder Queen Elizabeth I. Background Little is kno ...

. They were both arrested, along with Richard Williams, and all three were convicted of treason and executed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:York, Rowland Year of birth unknown 16th-century births 1588 deaths 16th-century English soldiers English mercenaries Traitors in history Deaths by poisoning Posthumous executions