Today in 1561 Mary Sidney Herbert was born. She is remembered for being a literary patron, writer, and translator in her own right, and as the sister of Sir Philip Sidney, who was one of the most famous poets of the Elizabethan age.
She was close to Elizabeth I. As a younger woman, being a member of the privy chamber.
In 1577 Mary’s uncle Robert Dudley, helped her father to arrange her marriage to their close ally, Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke(d.1600). As Countess of Pembroke, Mary was responsible for a number of estates including Wilton House and Baynard’s Castle in the City of London.
She turned Wilton House into a “paradise for poets”, known as the “Wilton Circle” which included Spenser, Daniel, Michael Drayton, Ben Jonson, and Sir John Davies, an early salon-type literary group. John Aubrey wrote that “Wilton House was like a college, there were so many and ingenious persons. She was the greatest patroness of wit and learning of any lady in her time”.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
Suggested links:
Episode 083: Tudor Times on Mary Sidney
Halloween Episodes!
From the shop:
“Just a 16th-century girl trapped in a 21st-century world” Mug
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast,  the original Tudor history podcast, started in 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. In 2019 she created Tudorcon, which is now a yearly event, in addition to writing books, and running TudorFair.com - a whimsical Tudor Merch shop.
She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 30 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history (how exciting when she got to interview Alison for the first time!). In addition to history, she is passionate about travel, and has lived in 3 countries and 4 states (not counting her perpetual state of confusion), and her family (who help her host her YouTube channel occasionally).
