Captain Thomas Lee in 1594, by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger



Dressed here as the "Miles Hibernicus" or Irish Knight, Captain Lee spent most of his military career with Essex in Ireland, where he crossed the peat bogs with naked legs. Hanging from the tree beside him is a Latin motto from Livy announcing his bravery and his readiness to suffer. Suffer he did, for he was executed in 1601 for his foolhardy plot to ambush the old Queen and demand a pardon for Essex.