Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke ( Sidney, 27 October 1561 – 25 September 1621) was among the first Englishwomen to gain notice for her poetry and her literary patronage. By the age of 39, she was listed with her brother

Philip Sidney Sir Philip Sidney (30 November 1554 – 17 October 1586) was an English poet, courtier, scholar and soldier who is remembered as one of the most prominent figures of the Elizabethan era, Elizabethan age. His works include a sonnet sequence, ' ...

and with

Edmund Spenser Edmund Spenser (; – 13 January 1599 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) was an English poet best known for ''The Faerie Queene'', an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the House of Tudor, Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is re ...

and

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

among the notable authors of the day in John Bodenham's verse miscellany ''Belvidere''. Her play ''Antonius'' (a translation of Robert Garnier's ''Marc Antoine'') is widely seen as reviving interest in soliloquy based on classical models and as a likely source of

Samuel Daniel Samuel Daniel (1562–1619) was an English poet, playwright and historian in the late-Elizabethan and early- Jacobean eras. He was an innovator in a wide range of literary genres. His best-known works are the sonnet cycle ''Delia'', the epic ...

closet drama A closet drama is a play (theatre), play that is not intended to be performed onstage, but read by a solitary reader. The earliest use of the term recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary is in 1813. The literary historian Henry Augustin Beers, H ...

''Cleopatra'' (1594) and of Shakespeare's ''Antony and Cleopatra'' (1607). She was also known for translating

Petrarch Francis Petrarch (; 20 July 1304 – 19 July 1374; ; modern ), born Francesco di Petracco, was a scholar from Arezzo and poet of the early Italian Renaissance, as well as one of the earliest Renaissance humanism, humanists. Petrarch's redis ...

's "Triumph of Death", for the poetry anthology ''

Triumphs ''Triumphs'' ( Italian: ''I Trionfi'') is a 14th-century Italian series of poems, written by Petrarch in the Tuscan language. The poem evokes the Roman ceremony of triumph, where victorious generals and their armies were led in procession by the ...

'', and above all for a lyrical, metrical translation of the Psalms.

Biography

Early life

Mary Sidney was born on 27 October 1561 at Tickenhill Palace in the parish of

Bewdley Bewdley ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District in Worcestershire, England, on the banks of the River Severn. It is in the Severn Valley, and is west of Kidderminster, north of Worcester and southwest of Birmingham. It ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

. She was one of the seven children – three sons and four daughters – of Sir

Henry Sidney Sir Henry Sidney (20 July 1529 – 5 May 1586) was an English soldier, politician and Lord Deputy of Ireland. Background He was the eldest son of Sir William Sidney of Penshurst (1482 – 11 February 1553) and Anne Pakenham (1511 – 22 Oc ...

and wife Mary Dudley. Their eldest son was Sir

(1554–1586), and their second son Robert Sidney (1563–1626), who later became Earl of Leicester. As a child, she spent much time at court where her mother was a gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber and a close confidante of

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

. Like her brother Philip, she received a

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

education which included music, needlework, and Latin, French and Italian. After the death of Sidney's youngest sister, Ambrosia, in 1575, the Queen requested that Mary return to court to join the royal entourage.

Marriage and children

In 1577, Mary Sidney married

Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, KG, KB (19 January 1601) was an English peer and politician. He was the nephew of Katherine Parr and brother-in-law of Lady Jane Grey through his first wife. During Elizabeth's reign, he held administr ...

(1538–1601), a close ally of the family. The marriage was arranged by her father in concert with her uncle, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. After her marriage, Mary became responsible with her husband for the management of a number of estates which he owned including Ramsbury, Ivychurch,

Wilton House Wilton House is an English country house at Wilton near Salisbury in Wiltshire, which has been the country seat of the Earls of Pembroke for over 400 years. It was built on the site of the medieval Wilton Abbey. Following the dissolution ...

, and

Baynard's Castle Baynard's Castle refers to buildings on two neighbouring sites in the City of London, between where Blackfriars station and St. Paul's Cathedral now stand. The first was a Norman fortification constructed by Ralph Baynard ( 1086), 1st feuda ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, where it is known that they entertained Queen Elizabeth to dinner. She had four children by her husband: *

William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (8 April 158010 April 1630) , of Wilton House in Wiltshire, was an English nobleman, politician and courtier. He served as Chancellor of the University of Oxford and together with King James I founded ...

(1580–1630), was the eldest son and heir. *Katherine Herbert (1581–1584) died as an infant. * Anne Herbert (born 1583 – after 1603) was thought also to have been a writer and a storyteller. *

Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke and 1st Earl of Montgomery, (10 October 158423 January 1650) was an English courtier, nobleman, and politician active during the reigns of James I of England, James I and Charles I of England, Charles I. ...

(1584–1650), succeeded his brother in 1630. Philip and his older brother William were the "incomparable pair of brethren" to whom the

First Folio ''Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies'' is a collection of plays by William Shakespeare, commonly referred to by modern scholars as the First Folio, published in 1623, about seven years after Shakespeare's death. It is cons ...

of Shakespeare's collected works was dedicated in 1623. Mary Sidney was an aunt to the poet Mary Wroth, daughter of her brother Robert.

Later life

The death of Sidney's husband in 1601 left her with less financial support than she might have expected, though views on its adequacy vary; at the time the majority of an estate was left to the eldest son. In addition to the arts, Sidney had a range of interests. She had a chemistry laboratory at Wilton House, where she developed medicines and invisible ink. From 1609 to 1615, Mary Sidney probably spent most of her time at Crosby Hall in

. She travelled with her doctor, Matthew Lister, to

Spa, Belgium Spa (; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city of Wallonia in the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium, whose name became an eponym for spa, mineral baths with supposed curative properties. It is ...

in 1616. Dudley Carleton met her in the company of Helene de Melun, "Countess of Berlaymont", wife of Florent de Berlaymont the governor of

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. The two women amused themselves with pistol shooting. Sir John Throckmorton heard she went on to

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...

. There is conjecture that she married Lister, but no evidence of this. She died of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

on 25 September 1621, aged 59, at her

townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of Terraced house, terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type o ...

in Aldersgate Street in

, shortly after King James I had visited her at the newly completed Houghton House in

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

. After a grand funeral in

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

, her body was buried in

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Church of England, Anglican cathedral in the city of Salisbury, England. The cathedral is regarded as one of the leading examples of Early English architecture, ...

, next to that of her late husband in the Herbert family vault, under the steps leading to the choir stalls, where the mural monument still stands.

Literary career

Wilton House

Mary Sidney turned Wilton House into a "paradise for poets", known as the " Wilton Circle," a salon-type literary group sustained by her hospitality, which included

Michael Drayton Michael Drayton ( – ) was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era, continuing to write through the reign of James I and into the reign of Charles I. Many of his works consisted of historical poetry. He was also the fir ...

Ben Jonson Benjamin Jonson ( 11 June 1572 – ) was an English playwright, poet and actor. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence on English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for the satire, satirical ...

, and Sir John Davies.

John Aubrey John Aubrey (12 March 1626 – 7 June 1697) was an English antiquary, natural philosopher and writer. He was a pioneer archaeologist, who recorded (often for the first time) numerous megalithic and other field monuments in southern England ...

wrote, "Wilton House was like a college, there were so many learned and ingenious persons. She was the greatest patroness of wit and learning of any lady in her time." It has been suggested that the premiere of Shakespeare's ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wil ...

'' was at Wilton during her life. Sidney received more dedications than any other woman of non-royal status. By some accounts, King James I visited Wilton on his way to his coronation in 1603 and stayed again at Wilton following the coronation to avoid the plague. She was regarded as a muse by Daniel in his

sonnet A sonnet is a fixed poetic form with a structure traditionally consisting of fourteen lines adhering to a set Rhyme scheme, rhyming scheme. The term derives from the Italian word ''sonetto'' (, from the Latin word ''sonus'', ). Originating in ...

cycle "Delia", an anagram for ideal. Her brother,

, wrote much of his '' Arcadia'' in her presence, at Wilton House. He also probably began preparing his English lyric version of the

Book of Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of ...

at Wilton as well.

Sidney psalter

Philip Sidney had completed translating 43 of the 150 Psalms at the time of his death on a military campaign against the Spanish in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in 1586. She finished his translation, composing Psalms 44 through to 150 in a dazzling array of verse forms, using the 1560

Geneva Bible The Geneva Bible, sometimes known by the sobriquet Breeches Bible, is one of the most historically significant translations of the Bible into English, preceding the Douay Rheims Bible by 22 years, and the King James Version by 51 years. It was ...

and commentaries by

John Calvin John Calvin (; ; ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French Christian theology, theologian, pastor and Protestant Reformers, reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of C ...

and

Theodore Beza Theodore Beza (; or ''de Besze''; 24 June 1519 – 13 October 1605) was a French Calvinist Protestant theologian, reformer and scholar who played an important role in the Protestant Reformation. He was a disciple of John Calvin and lived most ...

. Hallett Smith has called the psalter a "School of English Versification" , of 171 poems (Psalm 119 is a gathering of 22 separate ones). A copy of the completed

psalter A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters were ...

was prepared for Queen Elizabeth I in 1599, in anticipation of a royal visit to Wilton, but Elizabeth cancelled her planned visit. This work is usually referred to as The Sidney Psalms or The Sidney-Pembroke Psalter and regarded as a major influence on the development of English religious lyric poetry in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

John Donne John Donne ( ; 1571 or 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under Royal Patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's, D ...

wrote a poem celebrating the verse psalter and claiming he could "scarce" call the English Church reformed until its psalter had been modelled after the poetic transcriptions of Philip Sidney and Mary Herbert. Although the psalms were not printed in her lifetime, they were extensively distributed in manuscript. There are 17 manuscripts extant today. A later engraving of Herbert shows her holding them. Her literary influence can be seen in literary patronage, in publishing her brother's works and in her own verse forms, dramas, and translations. Contemporary poets who commended Herbert's psalms include Samuel Daniel, Sir John Davies, John Donne,

, Sir John Harington,

Emilia Lanier Emilia Lanier (; 1569–1645) was the first woman in England to assert herself as a professional poet, through her volume '' Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum'' (''Hail, God, King of the Jews'', 1611). Attempts have been made to equate her with Shakesp ...

and Thomas Moffet. The importance of these is evident in the devotional lyrics of Barnabe Barnes, Nicholas Breton, Henry Constable, Francis Davison, Giles Fletcher, and Abraham Fraunce. Their influence on the later religious poetry of Donne,

George Herbert George Herbert (3 April 1593 – 1 March 1633) was an English poet, orator, and priest of the Church of England. His poetry is associated with the writings of the metaphysical poets, and he is recognised as "one of the foremost British devotio ...

Henry Vaughan Henry Vaughan (17 April 1621 – 23 April 1695) was a Welsh metaphysical poet, author and translator writing in English, and a medical physician. His religious poetry appeared in ''Silex Scintillans'' in 1650, with a second part in 1655.''Oxfo ...

, and

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, and civil servant. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'' was written in blank verse and included 12 books, written in a time of immense religious flux and politic ...

has been critically recognized since Louis Martz placed it at the start of a developing tradition of 17th-century devotional lyricism. Sidney was instrumental in bringing her brother's ''

An Apology for Poetry ''An Apology for Poetry'' (or ''The Defence of Poesy'') is a work of literary criticism by Elizabethan poetry, Elizabethan poet Philip Sidney. It was written in approximately 1580 and first published in 1595, after his death. It is generally b ...

'' or ''Defence of Poesy'' into print. She circulated the Sidney–Pembroke Psalter in manuscript at about the same time. This suggests a common purpose in their design. Both argued, in formally different ways, for the ethical recuperation of poetry as an instrument for moral instruction — particularly religious instruction. Sidney also took on editing and publishing her brother's ''Arcadia'', which he claimed to have written in her presence as ''The Countesse of Pembroke's Arcadia''.

Other works

Sidney's closet drama ''Antonius'' is a translation of a French play, ''Marc-Antoine'' (1578) by Robert Garnier. Mary is known to have translated two other works: ''A Discourse of Life and Death'' by Philippe de Mornay, published with ''Antonius'' in 1592, and

's ''The Triumph of Death,'' circulated in manuscript. Her original poems include the pastoral "A Dialogue betweene Two Shepheards, Thenot and Piers, in praise of Astrea," and two dedicatory addresses, one to Elizabeth I and one to her own brother Philip, contained in the Tixall manuscript copy of her verse psalter. An elegy for Philip, "The dolefull lay of Clorinda", was published in ''Colin Clouts Come Home Againe'' (1595) and attributed to Spenser and to Mary Herbert, but Pamela Coren attributes it to Spenser, though also saying that Mary's poetic reputation does not suffer from loss of the attribution. By at least 1591, the Pembrokes were providing patronage to a

playing company In Renaissance-era London, playing company was the usual term for a company of actors. These companies were organised around a group of ten or so shareholders (or "sharers"), who performed in the plays but were also responsible for management. T ...

, Pembroke's Men, one of the early companies to perform works of Shakespeare. According to one account, Shakespeare's company "The King's Men" performed at Wilton at this time. June and Paul Schlueter published an article in ''The Times Literary Supplement'' of 23 July 2010 describing a manuscript of newly discovered works by Mary Sidney Herbert. Her poetic

epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

, ascribed to

but more likely to have been written in an earlier form by the poets William Browne and her son William, summarizes how she was regarded in her own day: Underneath this sable hearse, Lies the subject of all verse, Sidney's sister, Pembroke's mother. Death, ere thou hast slain another Fair and learned and good as she, Time shall throw a dart at thee. Her literary talents and aforementioned connections to the theater and the royal court have led to her being considered one of the true authors of the works of Shakespeare in the Shakespeare authorship question.Williams, Robin P. ''Sweet Swan of Avon: Did a Woman Write Shakespeare?'' Wilton Circle Press, 2006.

In popular culture

Mary Sidney appears as a character in

Deborah Harkness Deborah Harkness (born 1965) is an American scholar and novelist, best known as a historian and as the author of the All Souls Trilogy, which consists of ''The New York Times'' best-selling novel '' A Discovery of Witches'' and its sequels '' ...

's novel '' Shadow of Night'', which is the second instalment of her ''All Souls'' trilogy. Sidney is portrayed by Amanda Hale in the second season of the television adaptation of the book.She features in the Jodi Picoult book “By any other name”

Ancestry

* Isabella Whitney * Sidney Psalms *

Notes

References

Sources

# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

External links

* * *
"The Works of Mary (Sidney) Herbert" (for some of the original texts and Psalms)
luminarium.org; accessed 27 March 2014.
Project Continua: Biography of Mary Sidney
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sidney, Mary 1561 births 1621 deaths 16th-century English nobility 16th-century English poets 16th-century English women writers 16th-century English writers 17th-century English poets 17th-century English women writers 17th-century English writers Deaths from smallpox in England Pembroke, Mary Sidney English women poets

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

People from Bewdley People from Houghton Conquest Renaissance writers

Translators of the Bible into English Translators to English Burials at Salisbury Cathedral Female Bible translators Wives of knights