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Lady Anne Bacon: A woman of learning at the Tudor court
Lady Anne Bacon (1528-1610) was a highly educated woman who lived through the great political and religious transitions of five reigns and was embedded in the network of power at the Tudor court. Her intelligence and education took her far beyond the limits of the domestic sphere and she was caught up in pivotal events, including the crisis at the accession of Mary I and the reform of the Church of England under Edward VI and Elizabeth I. Yet, like many women, her place in the historical record remains shadowy and few today have heard of her. Born into an Essex gentry family, she was one of the five scholarly Cooke sisters, renowned for their learning. As a young woman she applied her linguistic skills to writing and translation, becoming a published translator before she was twenty. She served as a woman of the Privy Chamber, the inner circle of royal attendants, to both Mary I and Elizabeth I. Committed to the cause of religious reform, she was commissioned to translate a book that became central to the revival of the Protestant religion after Mary' s death. She married lawyer Sir Nicholas Bacon, later Elizabeth I' s Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, becoming stepmother to six children. Her own sons, Anthony and Francis, became respectively spy and statesman, and as a widow she ran a great estate alone for thirty years. Drawing on her subject' s forthright letters and other contemporary sources, Deborah Spring' s deeply researched and compellingly readable book reveals Anne Bacon' s extraordinary part in shaping the public story of Tudor history.
256 pages, Paperback
Published December 1, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 29, 2025
Thanks to University of Hertfordshire Press for a copy of this to review.
Lady Anne Bacon wasn’t someone I knew a lot about. I’d heard the name as mother to Francis Bacon but that’s about it. I hadn’t even realised that her sister was Mildred Cecil, wife to William Cecil, Baron Burghley! So, I went into this basically blind as to who this woman was and what she had achieved.
She had quite an eventful life, spanning the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, Elizabeth I, and James I, certainly a woman of learning, publishing translations and dealing with legal and property matters when she was widowed. Spring makes excellent use of primary sources, particularly letters, to tell Anne Bacon’s story, placing it within the context of the times in which she was doing things, including the disputed reign of Lady Jane Grey and the Essex Rebellion.
There were a couple of minor errors, referring to the Earl of Norfolk when it was the Duke of Norfolk, and John Fisher described as an archbishop, when he was bishop or, later, cardinal. But these didn’t take away from the narrative.
It isn’t a particularly easy read; I think you need to be quite versed in the background of the period, and because Anne Bacon lived so long, there is a lot of history to know! But for someone who already has the background in the period, it is great to see some lesser-known figures like Anne Bacon being brought into the light. It is incredibly detailed in terms of family and court links, and her actions in terms of her property and religion. It really does cover Anne’s life from every conceivable angle.
I found the book fascinating with an interesting selection of photo plates in the centre and a comprehensive bibliography and index which make it easy to find references and look something else up later on, which is important. I really enjoy how these intelligent and learned women of the Tudor period are coming into the light, and we’re finding out more and more how active women are. Lady Anne Bacon is a fascinating addition. If you’re interested in women from the shadows in the 16th century then this is a great book, and you’ll surely find out something you didn’t know!
Lady Anne Bacon wasn’t someone I knew a lot about. I’d heard the name as mother to Francis Bacon but that’s about it. I hadn’t even realised that her sister was Mildred Cecil, wife to William Cecil, Baron Burghley! So, I went into this basically blind as to who this woman was and what she had achieved.
She had quite an eventful life, spanning the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, Elizabeth I, and James I, certainly a woman of learning, publishing translations and dealing with legal and property matters when she was widowed. Spring makes excellent use of primary sources, particularly letters, to tell Anne Bacon’s story, placing it within the context of the times in which she was doing things, including the disputed reign of Lady Jane Grey and the Essex Rebellion.
There were a couple of minor errors, referring to the Earl of Norfolk when it was the Duke of Norfolk, and John Fisher described as an archbishop, when he was bishop or, later, cardinal. But these didn’t take away from the narrative.
It isn’t a particularly easy read; I think you need to be quite versed in the background of the period, and because Anne Bacon lived so long, there is a lot of history to know! But for someone who already has the background in the period, it is great to see some lesser-known figures like Anne Bacon being brought into the light. It is incredibly detailed in terms of family and court links, and her actions in terms of her property and religion. It really does cover Anne’s life from every conceivable angle.
I found the book fascinating with an interesting selection of photo plates in the centre and a comprehensive bibliography and index which make it easy to find references and look something else up later on, which is important. I really enjoy how these intelligent and learned women of the Tudor period are coming into the light, and we’re finding out more and more how active women are. Lady Anne Bacon is a fascinating addition. If you’re interested in women from the shadows in the 16th century then this is a great book, and you’ll surely find out something you didn’t know!
January 29, 2025
4.5 stars but I can't round it up because it is SO difficult. You need to be very versed and studied within English history and personalities of this period, quite beyond the mores, culture, and religious poignant differences that were often critical. Critical to groupthink "change" as has happened quite UNOFTEN in history.
This was a woman and especially starting with her mother who were savant learners. Which for women of their period were for sure, a minute and nearly unexposed until past Henry VIII's death to the extremes of depth and wideness of their knowledge and past written record on a wider scale than just their own households.
Lady Anne Bacon was an evangelical. She was 5 years older than Elizabeth I. Lady Anne Bacon was at court from before the times of Mary I's reign in waiting and other numerous roles. But it is truly complex to understand what depths of turn about this group and Anne's family and associates (the Parrs are just some of those closely associated, for instance)- HOW they instituted what would remain core for centuries afterwards, unto today for English strictures in certain modes of "long term" eyes. Mostly in religious thought and practice but also in other economic and mores traditions. Or totally expelling former ones.
Much is in forms of English that seems closer to Old English wording than present day English, IMHO. First degree records and photos shown are 5 stars plus. Geographic places, homes, architecture photos and description are all superb.
These upper gentry and nobles close to the seats of thrones and houses they visited garnered much increase from the dissolution of all the monasteries, convents, former church property etc.
This was a woman and especially starting with her mother who were savant learners. Which for women of their period were for sure, a minute and nearly unexposed until past Henry VIII's death to the extremes of depth and wideness of their knowledge and past written record on a wider scale than just their own households.
Lady Anne Bacon was an evangelical. She was 5 years older than Elizabeth I. Lady Anne Bacon was at court from before the times of Mary I's reign in waiting and other numerous roles. But it is truly complex to understand what depths of turn about this group and Anne's family and associates (the Parrs are just some of those closely associated, for instance)- HOW they instituted what would remain core for centuries afterwards, unto today for English strictures in certain modes of "long term" eyes. Mostly in religious thought and practice but also in other economic and mores traditions. Or totally expelling former ones.
Much is in forms of English that seems closer to Old English wording than present day English, IMHO. First degree records and photos shown are 5 stars plus. Geographic places, homes, architecture photos and description are all superb.
These upper gentry and nobles close to the seats of thrones and houses they visited garnered much increase from the dissolution of all the monasteries, convents, former church property etc.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews