66 THE HISTOEY OF THE ROYAL BUCKHOUNDS. 



the heavy charges of his almost regal establishments he was 

 obliged to part with many a fat manor. Thus within this 

 year he alienated Hamsby, a splendid estate in Norfolk, to 

 Sir Thomas Gresham, his great rival in commercial pursuits. 

 However, Court favours continued to pour upon him. In June 

 1556 he obtained vast grants of lands in Warwick, Somerset, 

 Herts, York, Denby, Lincoln, Beds, etc., and on July 2 he was 

 appointed Chamberlain of the County Palatine of Cheshire for 

 life. During this year he received the Order of St. Michael 

 from Charles IX., King of France, and was invested with it in 

 the Chapel Royal at Whitehall with all the magnificence 

 worthy of the occasion. No Englishman had ever been 

 admitted before into this order, except King Henry VIII., 

 King Edward VI., and Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. 

 Leicester, in his capacity of Chancellor, received the Queen on 

 the occasion of her first visit to Oxford, in 1566. The royal 

 sojourn extended over seven days, during which time Her 

 Majesty was magnificently entertained, all the entertain- 

 ments having been excellently carried out under the earl's 

 supervision. He received great praise for his pains from his 

 royal mistress, with whom he was then held in the highest 

 favour. However, on the return of the Court to London, he 

 indiscreetly advocated certain measures in Parliament relating 

 to the Royal succession, whereby he incurred the Queen's 

 displeasure, and for some time he was excluded from the 

 Presence Chamber, and prohibited access to her person. But 

 this hitch was soon adjusted, and the Earl again became the 

 Queen's prime favourite. On November 28, 1567, he obtained 

 a licence for twenty-two years for transporting all sorts of 

 wood and timber growing in Shropshire. In 1571 he secured 

 the reversion of the chief stewardship of Northamptonshire 

 and Buckinghamshire for life. 



He was appointed Master of the Royal Buckhounds on 

 May 28, 1572, with a yearly fee of S3l. 6s. 8d. for life, 

 which office he held to the day of his death. About this 

 time some serious disputes took place between the Arch- 

 bishop of Canterbury and the Earl of Leicester relating 



