Sir Ralph Sadler or Sadleir PC, Knight banneret[2] (1507 – 30 March 1587[2]) was an English statesman, who served Henry VIII as Privy Councillor, Secretary of State and ambassador to Scotland.

[2] Sadler was restored to royal favour during the reign of Elizabeth I, serving as a Privy Councillor and once again participating in Anglo-Scottish diplomacy.

[5] At around seven years of age, Sadler was placed in the household of Thomas Cromwell, later Earl of Essex, where he received an excellent education.

During his long career in royal service, he held many offices, including:[2] By the time he was 19 Sadler was serving as Thomas Cromwell's secretary, learning about administration, finance and politics.

[16] In January 1537, Sadler was sent to Scotland to investigate complaints made by Margaret Tudor, the King's sister, against her third husband, Henry Stewart, 1st Lord Methven, and to improve Anglo-Scottish relations.

[21] In 1576, Thomas Avery of Berden, Essex, bequeathed to Sadler a gold table or locket with an image of Cromwell, a reminder of his old master who was executed in July 1540.

[25] He played a leading role in the examination of Catherine Howard and her relatives in November 1541, regained the King's trust, and was knighted for his part in holding matters of state while the court went on a summer progress of the North in a tripartite ministry with Lords Audley and Hertford.

In 1540 he tried to embarrass and undermine the authority of Cardinal Beaton, an ally of France, with letters captured from his messenger Alexander Crichton of Brunstane whose ship had been forced by a storm to put into England.

[27] Following the Battle of Solway Moss, Sadler was sent to Scotland again, in March 1543, to arrange a marriage between the infant Mary, Queen of Scots, and Edward, Prince of Wales.

[29] Mary of Guise reminded him that in turn Regent Arran wanted his son James Hamilton to marry Princess Elizabeth.

[30] Henry VIII wanted English servants in Mary's household, and Sadler recommended "Lady Edongcomb" for this role, his friend, Katherine Edgcumbe the widow of Peter Edgecumbe of Cotehele.

"[33][34]By November Sadler, fearing for his safety as the mood in Edinburgh turned against England, moved to Tantallon Castle, which belonged to the Earl of Angus.

Sadler was replaced by William Paget as Secretary of State in April 1543, owing to his frequent absences on diplomatic missions, but was appointed Master of the Great Wardrobe.

[2] Sadler was present when Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, was arrested, and he also accompanied the force that put down Robert Kett's Norfolk Rebellion.

When Henry VIII was preparing his will on Boxing Day 1546, he had already appointed Sadler onto the Council of Regency that was to rule England during Edward VI's minority and left him £200 in his will.

He signed the device settling the crown on the Protestant Jane Grey, and was noted by Lord Burghley as one of those expected to act on her behalf.

[2] On the accession of the Catholic Mary I to the throne, after the resolution of the succession crisis, Sadler lost most of his offices, including master of the great wardrobe, he was removed from the commissions of the peace and excluded from the Privy Council.

[14] During the reign of Elizabeth I, restored to royal favour, Sadler was sent to Scotland on 8 August 1559 to arrange an alliance with the Scottish Protestants, and forward the cause of the Lords of the Congregation and Duke of Chatelherault.

When Mary, Queen of Scots, fled to England in 1568 after the battle of Langside,[42] Sadler was unwillingly appointed to meet with the Scottish commissioners regarding that problem.

[citation needed] Sadler was again reluctantly appointed gaoler of Mary, Queen of Scots,[15][46] from the summer 1584 to spring 1585, when she was housed at Wingfield Manor and Tutbury Castle.

Walsingham chided Sadler and Somers for letting Mary ride from Tutbury to go "hawkyng" and for giving her "more lybertye now then at any tyme when she was in the E of Shrewsbury chardge".

[50] According to Andrea Clarke, there was "a tangible, palpable sense of heightened levels of fear among Elizabeth's government and ministers about her safety in the midst of the danger posed by Mary Queen of Scots, who for many Catholics was a figurehead".

[53] Around 1534,[54] Ralph Sadler married Ellen, daughter of John Mitchell, of Much Hadham, Hertfordshire,[14] who at the time of their marriage was believed to be the widow of Matthew Barre (or Barrow) of Sevenoaks in Kent.

[14][61] More than eleven years after Ralph and Ellen had married, Matthew Barre returned alive from Ireland and was overheard in a London tavern claiming to be the lawful husband of Sadler's wife.

[54] Recommended by the Prioress of Clerkenwell, Ellen entered the service of Thomas Cromwell's mother-in-law, Mercy Pryor, and was dwelling in his house when Ralph Sadler became enamoured of her.

An investigation found that Ellen's first marriage was valid, and Sadler was therefore obliged to have his children legitimised by a private act of Parliament.

[71] The only known contemporary reference to the act appears in a transcript entitled The Unprecedented Case of Sir Ralph Sadleir in the Library of the Inner Temple.