Portrait of George Clifford (c1590). Watercolor, gouache, gold, silver on vellum on panel. 26 x 18. Sir George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland, 13th Baron de Clifford, 13th Lord of Skipton, KG, was an English peer, naval commander, and courtier of Queen Elizabeth I of England. He was notable at court for his jousting, at the Accession Day Tilts, which were highlights of the year at court. Two famous survivals, his portrait miniature by Nicholas Hilliard and a garniture of Greenwich armour, reflect this important part of his life. In contrast, he neglected his estates in the far north of England, and left a long succession dispute between his heirs. George Clifford was born on 8 August 1558 at Brougham Castle in Westmorland, the son and heir of Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland by his second wife, Anne Dacre, daughter of William Dacre, 3rd Baron Dacre. The Barons de Clifford, a junior branch of the Clifford feudal barons of Clifford of Clifford Castle in Herefordshire, had established themselves in the late 13th century at Appleby Castle in Westmorland, in the north of England. George succeeded as Earl of Cumberland and Baron de Clifford when his father died in 1570, leaving George a minor, aged 12. His valuable wardship and marriage was granted by Queen Elizabeth I to Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford, KG, who in 1577, married George off to his daughter Lady Margaret Russell. The marriage had been arranged in their infancy by their respective fathers, which later did not prove to be a happy one. Life at court meant that George spent an increasing amount of time in southern England, away from his family's estates. As a result, Brougham Castle, one of his properties in the north, was neglected and abandoned. Although in 1589, he built the original Londesborough Hall, an Elizabethan country house located in East Riding of Yorkshire. George's fellow courtier commented on his northern upbringing, writing to the steward of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, that he disliked Clifford as the rudest Earll by reson of his northerly bringen up. George Clifford was described as a man of great personal beauty, strong and active, accomplished in all knightly exercises, splendid in his dress, and of romantic valour. On the other hand, he was a gambler and a spendthrift, a faithless husband, and later, for several years before his death, was separated from his wife. Clifford rose in the world as an accomplished jouster, and became Queen Elizabeth's second Champion on the retirement of Sir Henry Lee of Ditchley. A portrait miniature by Nicholas Hilliard, around 1590, commemorates the appointment, showing him in tilting attire with the Queen's glove, set in diamonds, pinned as a plume to his hat as a sign of her favour. The Queen made him a Knight of the Garter in 1592, and he sat as a Peer in the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots. Clifford was also involved in the formation of the East India Company. Clifford was a man of irregular life, and having run through a great part of his very handsome property, seized on the opportunity offered by the war with Spain to re-establish himself. In 1588, he commanded the galleon Elizabeth Bonaventure in the Anglo-Spanish War, during which he had had some success. He led and invested in a number of expeditions, but many were turned back due to storms or lack of prizes. His first success was an expedition to the Azores in 1589, taking a number of Portuguese and Spanish prizes. He suffered losses in the Battle of Berlengas Islands in 1591, and in 1592 he helped to prepare an expedition with Walter Raleigh, which led to the Battle of Flores, and the capture of the richly laden Portuguese ship, Madre de Deus, off Flores Island in the Azores. At the end of 1593, Clifford financed three ships for a further expedition to the Azores, which resulted in the Action of Faial between the English and a joint Iberian/Portuguese fleet. Clifford later commissioned the building of his own ship, the 38-gun Scourge of Malice. During the Battle of San Juan in 1598, he achieved fame for having briefly captured Fort San Felipe del Morro, the citadel protecting San Juan, Puerto Rico. Clifford and his force of men had arrived in Puerto Rico on 15 June 1598, but by November of that year had fled the island due to harsh civilian resistance. Clifford was often spoken of as a sort of nautical Quixote, a title curiously unsuitable to the courtier, gambler, and buccaneer, in all of which guises history presents him. His love of adventure was strong, and he staked his money on the success of his cruises in much the same spirit that he did on the speed of his horses or the turn of his dice. And he spared his body no more than his purse. His courage was unimpeachable, and the temper which he showed in times of difficulty, won him both credit and popularity.