He trained as a lawyer and held office under Henry VIII, Edward VI, and finally as Elizabeth I’s Secretary of State from 1558. Politically adept, he formulated the queen’s policy at home and abroad and was rewarded by the offices of Master of the Courts of Wards and Liveries (1561) and Lord Treasurer (1572). He was created Lord Burghley in 1571.

For 40 years he ensured the stability of the Elizabethan regime. More Protestant in sympathy than the queen, he persuaded her to aid the French Huguenots (1567) and the Dutch Calvinists (1585). He exercised control of appointments to the universities of Oxford and Cambridge and was responsible for ordering the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, whose existence he perceived as a threat to the state. He encouraged new industries, particularly glass-making, and introduced financial reforms.