Editing Amy Robsart (section)

===Modern theories===
[[File:Amyrobsart.jpg|thumb|''The Death of Amy Robsart'', as imagined by [[Victorian era|Victorian]] artist [[William Frederick Yeames]]]]The coroner's report came to light in [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]] in 2008 and is compatible with an accidental fall as well as suicide or other violence.<ref>Adams 2011; Skidmore 2010 pp. 230–233</ref> In the absence of the [[forensic]] findings of 1560, it was often assumed that a simple accident could not be the explanation<ref>Doran 1996 pp. 42–44</ref>—on the basis of near-contemporary tales that Amy Dudley was found at the bottom of a short flight of stairs with a broken neck, her headdress still standing undisturbed "upon her head",<ref name="Jenkins 2002 p. 65">Jenkins 2002 p. 65</ref> a detail that first appeared as a satirical remark in ''Leicester's Commonwealth'' and has ever since been repeated for a fact.<ref>Jenkins 2002 p. 291</ref> To account for such oddities and evidence that she was ill, it was suggested in 1956 by [[Ian Aird]], a professor of medicine, that Amy Dudley might have suffered from breast cancer, which through [[metastatic]] [[cancerous]] deposits in the spine, could have caused her neck to break under only limited strain, such as a short fall or even just coming down the stairs.<ref name="Jenkins 2002 p. 65" /> This explanation has gained wide acceptance.<ref name="Doran 1996 p. 44" />

Another popular theory has been that Amy Dudley took her own life; because of illness or depression, her melancholy and "desperation" being traceable in some sources. As further arguments for suicide have been forwarded the fact that she insisted on sending her servants away and that her maid Picto, Thomas Blount, and perhaps Robert Dudley himself alluded to the possibility.<ref>Gristwood 2007 pp. 121–122; Doran 1996 p. 44</ref>

A few modern historians have considered murder as an option. [[Alison Weir]] has tentatively suggested William Cecil as organizer of Amy Dudley's death on the grounds that, if Amy was mortally ill, he had the strongest murder motive and that he was the main beneficiary of the ensuing scandal.<ref>Weir 1999 p. 109</ref> Against this idea it has been argued that he would not have risked damaging Elizabeth's reputation nor his own position.<ref>Gristwood 2007 p. 119; Skidmore 2010 p. 357</ref> The notion of Sir Richard Verney killing Amy Robsart after long and fruitless efforts to poison her (with and without his master's knowledge) has been revived by George Bernard and by [[Chris Skidmore]] on the basis that Verney appears in both the c.&nbsp;1563 chronicle by John Hales (also called ''Journal of Matters of State'') and the 1584 libel ''Leicester's Commonwealth''.<ref>Bernard 2000 pp. 169–174; Skidmore 2010 p. 355</ref> This coincidence has as often been evaluated as no more than a tradition of gossip,<ref>Adams, Archer, and Bernard 2003 p. 66; Adams 2011</ref> poison being a stock-in-trade accusation in the 16th century.<ref>Gristwood 2007 p. 97</ref>

That Robert Dudley might have influenced the jury has been argued by George Bernard, [[Susan Doran]], and by Chris Skidmore. The foreman, Sir Richard Smith (mayor of Abingdon in 1564/1565<ref name="Adams / Archer / Bernard p. 66" />), had been a household servant of Princess Elizabeth and is described as a former "Queen's man" and a "lewd" person in Hales' 1563 chronicle, while Dudley gave a "Mr. Smith", also a "Queen's man", a present of some stuffs to make a gown from in 1566; six years after the inquest.<ref>Doran 1996 pp. 228; Bernard 2000 pp. 170–171; Skidmore 2010 pp. 369–370</ref> It has, however, not been established that Sir Richard Smith and the "Mr. Smith" of 1566 are one and the same person, Smith being a "very common" name.<ref>Doran 1996 p. 228; Bernard 2000 p. 171</ref> Susan Doran has pointed out that any interference with the jury could be as easily explained by the desire to cover up a suicide rather than a murder.<ref name="Doran 1996 p. 44" />

Most modern historians have exonerated Robert Dudley from murder or a cover-up.<ref name="Doran 1996 p. 44">Doran 1996 p. 44</ref> Apart from alternatives for a murder plot as causes for Amy Robsart's death, his correspondence with Thomas Blount and William Cecil in the days following has been cited as proofs of his innocence; the letters, which show signs of an agitated mind, making clear his bewilderment and unpreparedness.<ref>Gristwood 2007 pp. 114, 115; Skidmore 2010 pp. 237–238; Adams 2002 p. 136</ref> It has also been judged as highly unlikely that he would have orchestrated the death of his wife in a manner which laid him open to such a foreseeable scandal.<ref>Weir 1999 p. 107; Wilson 2005 p. 275; Chamberlin 1939 p. 40</ref>