born Sept. 13, 1520, Bourne, Lincolnshire, Eng.
died Aug. 5, 1598, London
English statesman, principal adviser to Elizabeth I through most of her reign and a master of Renaissance statecraft.
Having served as a councillor and cosecretary to Edward VI , he was appointed Elizabeth's sole secretary when she became queen in 1558. A dedicated and skillful adviser to the queen, Cecil was created Baron Burghley in 1571 and appointed lord high treasurer (157298). He obtained the trial and execution of Mary, Queen of Scots , thus securing the Protestant succession, and his preparations enabled England to survive the Spanish Armada . But he failed to induce Elizabeth to marry or to reform her church along more Protestant lines.