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Anne, Lady Bacon (
née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
Cooke; 1527 or 1528 – 27 August 1610) was an English lady and scholar. She made a lasting contribution to English religious literature with her translation from Latin of
John Jewel John Jewel (''alias'' Jewell) (24 May 1522 – 23 September 1571) of Devon, England was Bishop of Salisbury from 1559 to 1571. Life He was the youngest son of John Jewel of Bowden in the parish of Berry Narbor in Devon, by his wife Alice Bel ...
's ''Apologie of the Anglican Church'' (1564). She was the mother of
Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...
.


Early life

Anne or Ann Bacon ( Cooke) was an English translator and lady of the British court. Though Anne's exact date of birth is not known, it is presumed she was born in or around 1528. Anne was born at
Gidea Hall Gidea Hall was a manor house in Gidea Park, the historic parish and Royal liberty of Royal Liberty of Havering, Havering-atte-Bower, whose former area today is part of the north-eastern extremity of Greater London. The first record of Gidea Hall ...
in Essex, England. She was one of the five daughters of
Anthony Cooke Sir Anthony Cooke, KB (June 1501 – 11 June 1576) was an English humanist scholar. He was a companion and tutor to Edward VI. Family Anthony Cooke was the only son of John Cooke (died 10 October 1516), esquire, of Gidea Hall, Essex, and Alic ...
, tutor to
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
's only son
Edward Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...
, and his wife Mary, a daughter of a London merchant tailor Sir William Fitzwilliam.Gemma Allen, ''The Letters of Lady Anne Bacon'' (Cambridge, 2014), p. 4. Being an educator, Anthony ensured that all of his four sons and five daughters received a humanist education, with in-depth studies in languages and the classics. From the success of not just Anne, but Anthony's other daughters, this thorough education is quite evident. Anne was trained in Latin, Italian, French, Greek, and possibly Hebrew. Her sister the Lady Elizabeth Hoby was trained in languages and is also well known for similar translations and texts. Her family's social status was high, in part because her father worked so closely with the Tudor royal family, and were large landowners as a result. They had an association of some sort with Stratford though what precisely this association was remains unspecified.


Adult life

A deeply religious woman, Anne's main works are religious centred. Anne was passionate about her religion, which can be seen in the letters she wrote to her sons, Anthony Bacon and
Sir Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General for England and Wales, Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under James VI and I, King ...
. Due to her education, she wrote many letters to clergymen and debated theology with them as well, however, the letters to her sons are more concerned with their well-being both in mind, body, and spirit. At twenty-two, she translated Bernardino Ochino's sermons from the Italian. Her 1564 translation from the Latin of Bishop
John Jewel John Jewel (''alias'' Jewell) (24 May 1522 – 23 September 1571) of Devon, England was Bishop of Salisbury from 1559 to 1571. Life He was the youngest son of John Jewel of Bowden in the parish of Berry Narbor in Devon, by his wife Alice Bel ...
's ''Apology for the Church of England'' was a significant step in the intellectual justification of Protestantism in England. The work was a clarification of the differences between
Anglicanism Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
and
Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, and was critical to the support of Elizabeth I's religious policies.


Marriage

Anne Cooke married Sir Nicholas Bacon, Queen Elizabeth's Keeper of the Great Seal, in February 1553. They had two sons, Anthony and
Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...
, the latter later becoming a philosopher and a pioneer of the
Scientific Revolution The Scientific Revolution was a series of events that marked the emergence of History of science, modern science during the early modern period, when developments in History of mathematics#Mathematics during the Scientific Revolution, mathemati ...
. When Edward VI died, Anne Bacon rode to
Kenninghall Kenninghall is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Kenninghall is located north-west of Diss and south-west of Norwich. History Kenninghall's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for the ...
in Norfolk as a show of support for
Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain as the wife of King Philip II from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She made vigorous a ...
. The couple conformed to Mary's revival of the Catholic religion. She attended the
Royal Entry The ceremonies and festivities accompanying a formal entry by a ruler or their representative into a city in the Middle Ages and early modern period in Europe were known as the royal entry, triumphal entry, or Joyous Entry. The entry centred on ...
at Mary's coronation, listed as "Mrs Bacon" riding among the gentlewomen, maids, and chamberers. For a while, Anne Bacon was a leading
Lady-in-Waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a Royal court, court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking nobility, noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was o ...
to
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...
. Her religious views remained strongly
Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...
, and she called for the eradication of all
Popery The words Popery (adjective Popish) and Papism (adjective Papist, also used to refer to an individual) are mainly historical pejorative words in the English language for Roman Catholicism, once frequently used by Protestants and Eastern Orthodox ...
in the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
. Anne wrote many letters, fervent with her passion for her Protestant beliefs. Many of her later letters were addressed to her sons, Anthony and Francis. Her letters to her sons are said to express "the jealousy with which she regarded her authority over them long after they had reached manhood", and being concerned with their spiritual welfare. In the letters she also demands they follow her wishes, scorns them when they disregard her wishes, and expects her sons to update her quite thoroughly on their day-to-day lives. Though these demands she makes are true, sources agree, her main concern was their spiritual welfare, and their religious lives. She also sent medical advice, recommending the use of
leech Leeches are segmented parasitism, parasitic or Predation, predatory worms that comprise the Class (biology), subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the Oligochaeta, oligochaetes, which include the earthwor ...
es for
gout Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of pain in a red, tender, hot, and Joint effusion, swollen joint, caused by the deposition of needle-like crystals of uric acid known as monosodium urate crysta ...
. In a letter from Anne to Francis Bacon, she addresses her views of the church and government, speaking knowledgeably and elegantly. She addresses her son, and though the letter is quite formal and written in flowery vocabulary, her emotions and love for her religion and her son come through. She expresses her desires that he be a good man. She wrote to clergymen, including Bishop
Godfrey Goodman Godfrey Goodman, also called Hugh; (28 February 1582 or 158319 January 1656) was the Anglican Bishop of Gloucester, and a member of the Protestant Church. He was the son of Godfrey Goodman (senior) and Jane Croxton, landed gentry living in Wale ...
. In her letters she quoted classical Greek and Latin authors. Long after her death, Bishop Goodman wrote that Anne was "little better than frantic in her age", and so it seems she lived somewhat out of the spotlight before her death in 1610. This is a portion of Anne's life where we can find little information. Her later years seem to be somewhat of a mystery, as she wrote few letters, and participated in few events at court. On 27 August 1610, Francis Bacon wrote to his mother's friend Sir Michael Hicks, inviting him to her funeral. Her exact date of passing is not precisely known.James Spedding, ''Works of Francis Bacon'', vol. 11 (London, 1868), pp. 216-8. She died at about the age of 82 and was entombed in St Michael's Church in
St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...
. Her second son,
Sir Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General for England and Wales, Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under James VI and I, King ...
is buried there as well, per his request to be near his mother.


Works

*'' Sermons of Barnardine Ochyne, (to the number of 25.) concerning the predestination and election of god: very expedient to the setting forth of his glory among his creatures.'' *''An apologie or answere in defence of the Churche of Englande, with a briefe and plaine declaration of the true religion professed and used in the same.''


Notes


References

*Allen, Gemma, ''The Letters of Lady Anne Bacon'' (Cambridge, 2014). *Coles, Kimberly Anne, ''Religion, Reform, and Women's Writing in Early Modern England'' (Cambridge UP, 2008) *''Lady Anne Bacon's Translations'' HUGHEY Review of English Studies.1934; os-X: 21

*''Women of Action in Tudor England: Nine Biographical Sketches''. by Pearl Hogrefe . Review in ''Renaissance Quarterly'', Virginia F. SternVol. 31, No. 3 (Autumn, 1978), pp. 386–38

*"Anne Cooke Bacon", Genius Mothers, https://geniusmothers.com/genius-mothers-of/renowned-scientist-and-philosophers/Anne-Cooke-Bacon/ *"Bacon, Ann" Wikisource
Bacon, Ann
*Magnusson, Lynne, 'The Rhetoric and Reception of Anne Bacon', ''English Literary Renaissance'' 31.1 (2001), pp. 3–33. * James Spedding, ''The Letter and Life of Francis Bacon'', 7 vols (London, 1861-1874), includes letters from Anne to her son *Wayne, Valerie, ''Anne Cooke Bacon'', 2 vols (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2000)


External links

* *
The Correspondence of Anne Bacon
i
EMLO
*"Anne & Sir Nicholas Bacon"

– information on the entire Bacon family
Project Continua: Biography of Anne Bacon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bacon, Anne 1520s births 1610 deaths 16th-century Puritans 16th-century English translators 16th-century English women writers 17th-century English women writers 17th-century English translators
Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), Annie a ...
English ladies-in-waiting Italian–English translators Latin–English translators People from Romford Writers from Essex Writers from the London Borough of Havering Court of Elizabeth I Wives of knights