Bess of Hardwick

by Lovell, Mary S.

• ISBN13: 9780393062212
• ISBN10: 039306221X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-04-01
• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc

Summary

From the author ofThe Sisters, a chronicle of the most brutal, turbulent, and exuberant period of England's history. Bess Hardwick, the fifth daughter of an impoverished Derbyshire nobleman, did not have an auspicious start in life. Widowed at sixteen, she nonetheless outlived four monarchs, married three more times, built the great house at Chatsworth, and died one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in English history. In 1527 England was in the throes of violent political upheaval as Henry VIII severed all links with Rome. His daughter, Queen Mary, was even more capricious and bloody, only to be followed by the indomitable and ruthless Gloriana, Elizabeth I. It could not have been more hazardous a period for an ambitious woman; by the time Bess's first child was six, three of her illustrious godparents had been beheaded. Using journals, letters, inventories, and account books, Mary S. Lovell tells the passionate, colorful story of an astonishingly accomplished woman, among whose descendants are counted the dukes of Devonshire, Rutland, and Portland, and, on the American side, Katharine Hepburn.

Table of Contents

The Family Tree of Bess of Hardwick	x
Introduction	xiii
1 Merrie England 1520-40	1	(17)
2 Child Bride, Child Widow 1540-7	18	(16)
3 Lady Cavendish 1547	34	(18)
4 Family Matters 1547-51	52	(25)
5 Dangerous Times 1552-6	77	(17)
6 'Your Poor Friend' 1556-8	94	(22)
7 Sir William St Loe 1518-58	116	(26)
8 'My Own Sweet Bess' 1559-61	142	(27)
9 Lady St Loe in Trouble 1561-5	169	(19)
10 A Very Eligible Widow 1565-9	188	(22)
11 A Difficult Guest 1569-73	210	(30)
12 A Dangerous Match 1574-5	240	(19)
13 Raising Arbella 1576-8	259	(20)
14 Enough to Alienate the Heart 1578-81	279	(18)
15 Discord 1582-4	297	(20)
16 No Winners 1585-6	317	(19)
17 Death of a Queen 1586-90	336	(29)
18 The Dowager Countess 1590-2	365	(24)
19 More Window than Wall 1592-9	389	(27)
20 'In Perfect Health and Good Memory' 1600—02	416	(13)
21 Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth 1602—03	429	(18)
22 End of an Era 1603—08	447	(24)
23 A Long Arm...1608 et seq.	471	(10)
APPENDICES
1: Discussion of Bess of Hardwick's Date of Birth	481	(2)
2: The Office of Wards	483	(2)
3: Sir William Cavendish's Statement to the Star Chamber, August 1557	485	(3)
4: What happened to Bess's Children and Grandchildren	488	(8)
5: Extract from Tree Showing the Relationship between the Brandons and the Hardwicks	496	(1)
6: The Stepchildren of Bess of Hardwick	497	(1)
Family Tree: Selective Tree Showing the Heirs of Henry VII	498	(1)
Notes	499	(30)
Bibliography	529	(7)
Acknowledgements	536	(2)
Picture Credits	538	(3)
Index	541