'All Wemen in Thar Degree Shuld to Thar Men Subiectit Be': the Controversial Court Career of Elisabeth Parr, Marchioness Of
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‘All wemen in thar degree shuld to thar men subiectit be’: The controversial court career of Elisabeth Parr, marchioness of Northampton, c. 1547-1565 Helen Joanne Graham-Matheson, BA, MA. Thesis submitted to UCL for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 1 Declaration I, Helen Joanne Graham-Matheson confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. 2 Abstract This thesis reconstructs and analyses the life and agency of Elisabeth Parr, marchioness of Northampton (1526-1565), with the aim of increasing understanding of women’s networks of influence and political engagement at the mid-Tudor courts, c. 1547- 1565. Analysis of Elisabeth’s life highlights that in the absence of a Queen consort the noblewomen of the Edwardian court maintained and utilized access to those in power and those with political significance and authority. During the reign of Mary Tudor, Elisabeth worked with her natal family to undermine Mary’s Queenship and support Elizabeth Tudor, particularly by providing her with foreign intelligence. At the Elizabethan court Elisabeth regained her title (lost under Mary I) and occupied a position as one of the Queen’s most trusted confidantes and influential associates. Her agency merited attention from ambassadors and noblemen as well as from the Emperor Maximilian and King Erik of Sweden, due to the significant role she played in several major contemporary events, such as Elizabeth’s early marriage negotiations. This research is interdisciplinary, incorporating early modern social, political and cultural historiographies, gender studies, social anthropology, sociology and the study of early modern literature. The chronology of Elisabeth’s activity is drawn chiefly from primary material. Research has uncovered c. 110 individual original documents directly relating to Elisabeth - many of which have not previously been printed elsewhere. Through the use of digital resources and extensive archival research, this thesis makes an intervention in the history and historiography of the reigns of Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I: the reintegration of Elisabeth’s activity into these reigns reveals the lacunae in scholarship on early modern women. 3 Acknowledgements It is often said that doing a PhD is lonely and solitary, but that has been far from my experience. My circumstances over the last four years have been unorthodox but they have enabled me to meet more people and share more ideas, so I have been lucky, and will always be grateful. The following are just a few small mentions of people who have had a particular impact on me and my work, who I would like to acknowledge and thank. To everyone else, I hope you know, but just in case - thank you. I would like to thank: • the British Federation of Women Graduates for funding my research. • the librarians and archivists at (among others) Hever Castle, the Cumbria Archive Services, the Centre for Kentish Studies, the Surrey History Centre, the British Library and The National Archives (TNA), with a special note to Dr Katy Mair for advice, discussion and archival detective skills, without which I might not have uncovered all the information presented in this thesis. • everyone at the Centre for Editing Lives and Letters (CELL) (particularly Clare, James, Kirsty, Lizzy, Matt, Nydia and Will) - for the coffee, cake and conversation over the last four years. • academic friends and colleagues who have variously read drafts, discussed ideas and offered words of advice, including Dr Stephanie Downes, Dr Carrie Griffin, Dr Nadine Akkerman, Dr Daniel Starza Smith, Dr Ruth Ahnert and Dr Clare Whitehead. • all at University College London and Queen Mary University of London, especially Dr David Colclough, Dr Tamara Atkin and Professor Julia Boffey who acted as interim supervisors. I gratefully acknowledge their support and continued interest. • Professor Helen Hackett and Dr John Guy for extensive feedback and guidance that have undoubtedly shaped what follows. • the many wonderful academics I have met and talked with throughout my studies. I would particularly like to thank Professor Ralph Houlbrooke, Professor James Daybell, Professor Steve May, Professor Jackie Eales, Professor Cathy Shrank, Dr Alan Bryson, Dr Gemma Allen and Dr Alison Wiggins, all of whom provided insights that feature in what follows. • my supervisors, Professor Lisa Jardine and Dr Robyn Adams. I would like to thank Lisa sincerely for her vision, for taking a chance on me and welcoming me to CELL, and for always seeing my thesis and ideas as part of a bigger picture and a future academic career. She is the woman from whom I have drawn my methodology, and by whom I will always be inspired. Robyn I would like to thank for her commitment, to me and to the details of my thesis. No other supervisor’s biting comments would make me laugh out loud! I can’t count the hours of cake and sympathy across the last three years - your academic and personal support will never be forgotten. To you both - thank you for everything. • my family - my mother, father, sister and grandmother - for all their support, emotional and financial, across these last three - but actually all - years of my education, and my academic career to date. To Martyn, who has always been there for me, even when very far away and for whom Elisabeth Parr has been the other woman. I could not have done it without you all. This thesis is about a strong woman, and through its formation I have been influenced by and privileged to work with so many inspiring women, but above all there has been one. This thesis is dedicated to my mother, Dr Lynne Graham-Matheson - my ‘Dr Mummy,’ whose own PhD planted the initial idea, who has been with me through everything, supporting me in any way I could have asked for and more, and rallying me with affirmations of ‘trust me, I’m a Dr’. This thesis is because of you, and for you, with my thanks and all my love. 4 Contents Volume I: Declaration 2 Abstract 3 Acknowledgements 4 Contents 5 List of illustrations 6 Transcription policy and a note on dates 6 List of Abbreviations 7 Chapter 1: Introduction 8 Chapter 2: Elisabeth Parr - a reconstruction 37 Chapter 3: Quasi-consorts and rival courts, 1547-1553 90 Chapter 4: Political Protestants and female networks, 1553-1558 138 Chapter 5: Confidantes and counselloresses, 1558-1565 168 Chapter 6: Conclusion 216 Volume II: Appendices Appendix A: Documents relating to Elisabeth Parr 2 Appendix B: Elisabeth Parr - a source book 6 Appendix C: Visualisations 20 Appendix D: Biographies of key figures 24 Bibliography 32 5 List of illustrations 1. Hever MS Hours f.37v. With kind permission from Hever Castle, Kent. Copyright Anna L. Spender. 2. SP 70/40 f. 40 (stamped 219), Elisabeth Parr, marchioness of Northampton to Thomas Chaloner, 26 June 1562. State Papers Online, Gale, Cengage Learning, copyright © 2011. Reproduced by kind permission of The National Archives. 3. Folger Shakespeare Library, Losley MS LB.455, Elisabeth Parr, marchioness of Northampton to William More, [1551?]. Copyright the Folger Shakespeare Library. 4. Balthazar Castiglione, The Covrtyer of Covnt Baldessar Castilio, trans. by Thomas Hoby (London, 1561) sig. Aa iiiv, copyright © 2003-2013 ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved. 5. The Cobham Family portrait, Longleat. Attributed to the master of the countess of Warwick, 1567. Reproduced with kind permission of the Marquess of Bath. 6. Portrait medal of Elisabeth Parr, marchioness of Northampton 7. Images of the tomb of George and Anne Brooke, Lord and Lady Cobham, St Mary’s church, Cobham, Kent. Copyright Martyn Pollock. 8. W. M. Elderton, A proper new balad in praise of my Ladie Marques, Whose death is bewailed, To the tune of a lusty gallant, copyright © 2003-2013 ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved. Transcription policy and a note of the date In all quotations for early modern manuscripts cited throughout this thesis I have expanded contractions and suspensions and denoted them with italics. Strikethroughs and crossings-out have been retained where the sense of the document would have been altered when the alternative text would have been significant. All superscriptions and insertions have been replaced in the main text and denoted by ellipses. Spelling in quotations has been left as in the manuscripts in order to preserve the textual idiosyncrasies contained within the correspondence. Quotations from correspondence in languages other than English appear or are discussed in the main text in translation. The original language quotations can be found in Appendix B. Dates are preserved in the Old Style throughout, but New Year’s Day is taken to begin on 1 January in order to cohere sequences of letters written between England and Continental Europe. 6 List of abbreviations - people, texts and repositories used repeatedly throughout this text KBDuS - Katherine Brandon (Bertie), duchess of Suffolk GBLC - George Brooke, Lord Cobham WBLC - William Brooke, Lord Cobham CV - Holy Roman Emperor Charles V HC - Henry Cobham TC - Thomas Chaloner WC - William Cecil JDCoW/DuN - Jane Dudley, countess of Warwick, duchess of Northumberland JDEoW/DoN - John Dudley, earl of Warwick, duke of Northumberland NG - Nils Gyllenstierna, Chancellor of Sweden KE - King Edward VI WM - William More EPMoN - Elisabeth Parr, marchioness of Northampton WPMoN - William Parr, marquess of Northampton KP - Katherine Parr, dowager Queen, Lady Sudeley GdS - Habsburg ambassador, Guzman de Silva ASDuS - Anne Seymour, duchess of Somerset ESDuS - Edward Seymour, duke of Somerset, Lord Protector AT - Anne Throckmorton NT - Nicholas Throckmorton VdV - Habsburg ambassador, Van der Delft BdQ - Habsburg ambassador, Bishop de Quadra FI - Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I MDuP - Margaret, duchess of Parma and regent of the Netherlands MII - Holy Roman Emperor Maximillian II QM - Queen Mary I QE - Queen Elizabeth I APC - Acts of the Privy Council of England, eds.