Susan Bertie, countess of Kent
Encyclopedia
Susan Bertie was the daughter of Catherine Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk, née Willoughby, by her second husband, Richard Bertie
. Susan was the noblewoman
memorialized by Lanyer
at the beginning of the Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum (1611) as the "daughter of the Duchess of Suffolk." At sixteen years of age, she married Reginald Grey of Wrest
, who was later restored as the fifth Earl of Kent
. Widowed at age nineteen, Susan, now Dowager Countess of Kent, remarried to Sir John Wingfield in 1581 at age twenty-seven.
.
The dowager duchess and her second husband, devout Protestants
, went into exile
on the Continent
with Susan and her brother for the remainder of the Catholic
Queen Mary
's reign, only returning in 1559 to the countess's elaborate manor house of Grimsthorpe
in Lincolnshire
after the accession of Queen Elizabeth
, Susan being five years of age. In 1570, at the age of sixteen, Susan married Reginald Grey of Wrest
, and, of course, left Grimsthorpe
. Known at time of his marriage as "Master Grey", Susan's husband was restored as Earl of Kent
by 28 March 1572, and Susan became Countess of Kent. A year later, on 15 March 1573, the earl died.
Because the Earl and Countess of Kent had been childless, however, the heir to the earldom was the earl's thirty-three-year-old younger brother, styled until then Henry Lord of Grey of Ruthin
. Susan Bertie Grey, now nineteen and Dowager Countess of Kent, and presumably unable to continue living in the new Earl of Kent
's inherited residence, may at this time have been invited to live at Court. If so, the invitation was presumably issued at the behest of Queen Elizabeth
, who often kept a benevolent watch over younger ladies of the peerage
in Susan's situation — certainly the queen would take an angry interest in Susan's remarriage in 1581.
Her second husband, Sir John Wingfield
, was a nephew of Bess of Hardwick
. They had two sons, Peregrine Wingfield, born in Holland, presumably named after her brother, and Robert Wingfield.
Aemilia Lanyer
calls Susan Bertie "the Mistris of my youth, / The noble guide of my ungovern'd dayes." The poet was educated under the direction of the dowager Countess of Kent, whose Protestant
humanist
circle had a profound influence on the young Lanyer. The practice of being sent from one's family to be trained up in service in an aristocratic household, like that of Susan's, was then widespread.
Richard Bertie (courtier)
Richard Bertie was an English landowner and religious evangelical. He was the second husband of Catherine Willoughby, 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby, Duchess Dowager of Suffolk and a woman who Henry VIII was considering as his seventh wife shortly before his death; she also received a proposal...
. Susan was the noblewoman
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
memorialized by Lanyer
Emilia Lanier
Emilia Lanier, also spelled Lanyer, was the first Englishwoman to assert herself as a professional poet through her single volume of poems, Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum...
at the beginning of the Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum (1611) as the "daughter of the Duchess of Suffolk." At sixteen years of age, she married Reginald Grey of Wrest
Reginald Grey, 5th Earl of Kent
Reginald Grey, 5th Earl of Kent was an English peer.-Biography:He was a son of Henry Grey and Margaret St John...
, who was later restored as the fifth Earl of Kent
Earl of Kent
The peerage title Earl of Kent has been created eight times in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.See also Kingdom of Kent, Duke of Kent.-Earls of Kent, first creation :*Godwin, Earl of Wessex...
. Widowed at age nineteen, Susan, now Dowager Countess of Kent, remarried to Sir John Wingfield in 1581 at age twenty-seven.
Biography
Susan was the first child of her mother's second marriage. Born one year after Susan was a brother, Peregrine Bertie, who later succeeded his mother Catherine Willoughby, 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby as the 13th Baron Willoughby de EresbyBaron Willoughby de Eresby
Baron Willoughby de Eresby is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created by writ in 1313 for Robert de Willoughby of Eresby Manor, near Spilsby, Lincolnshire. The fourteenth Baron was created Earl of Lindsey in 1626. His great-grandson, the fourth Earl and seventeenth Baron, was created...
.
The dowager duchess and her second husband, devout Protestants
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
, went into exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
on the Continent
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
with Susan and her brother for the remainder of the Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
Queen Mary
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
's reign, only returning in 1559 to the countess's elaborate manor house of Grimsthorpe
Grimsthorpe Castle
Grimsthorpe Castle is a country house in Lincolnshire, England four miles north-west of Bourne on the A151. It lies within a 3,000 acre park of rolling pastures, lakes, and woodland landscaped by Capability Brown...
in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
after the accession of Queen Elizabeth
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
, Susan being five years of age. In 1570, at the age of sixteen, Susan married Reginald Grey of Wrest
Reginald Grey, 5th Earl of Kent
Reginald Grey, 5th Earl of Kent was an English peer.-Biography:He was a son of Henry Grey and Margaret St John...
, and, of course, left Grimsthorpe
Grimsthorpe Castle
Grimsthorpe Castle is a country house in Lincolnshire, England four miles north-west of Bourne on the A151. It lies within a 3,000 acre park of rolling pastures, lakes, and woodland landscaped by Capability Brown...
. Known at time of his marriage as "Master Grey", Susan's husband was restored as Earl of Kent
Earl of Kent
The peerage title Earl of Kent has been created eight times in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.See also Kingdom of Kent, Duke of Kent.-Earls of Kent, first creation :*Godwin, Earl of Wessex...
by 28 March 1572, and Susan became Countess of Kent. A year later, on 15 March 1573, the earl died.
Because the Earl and Countess of Kent had been childless, however, the heir to the earldom was the earl's thirty-three-year-old younger brother, styled until then Henry Lord of Grey of Ruthin
Henry Grey, 6th Earl of Kent
Henry Grey, 6th Earl of Kent , was an English peer.He was a son of Henry Grey and Margaret St. John and grandson of Henry Grey, 4th Earl of Kent....
. Susan Bertie Grey, now nineteen and Dowager Countess of Kent, and presumably unable to continue living in the new Earl of Kent
Earl of Kent
The peerage title Earl of Kent has been created eight times in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.See also Kingdom of Kent, Duke of Kent.-Earls of Kent, first creation :*Godwin, Earl of Wessex...
's inherited residence, may at this time have been invited to live at Court. If so, the invitation was presumably issued at the behest of Queen Elizabeth
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
, who often kept a benevolent watch over younger ladies of the peerage
Peerage of England
The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. In that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were replaced by one Peerage of Great Britain....
in Susan's situation — certainly the queen would take an angry interest in Susan's remarriage in 1581.
Her second husband, Sir John Wingfield
John Wingfield
Sir John Wingfield was an English soldier.-Life:He was the third son of Richard Wingfield of Wantisden in Suffolk, and Mary, daughter and coheiress of John Hardwick of Derby, and the sister of Bess of Hardwick...
, was a nephew of Bess of Hardwick
Bess of Hardwick
Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury (c. 1521 – 13 February 1608, known as Bess of Hardwick, was the daughter of John Hardwick, of Derbyshire and Elizabeth Leeke, daughter of Thomas Leeke and Margaret Fox...
. They had two sons, Peregrine Wingfield, born in Holland, presumably named after her brother, and Robert Wingfield.
Aemilia Lanyer
Emilia Lanier
Emilia Lanier, also spelled Lanyer, was the first Englishwoman to assert herself as a professional poet through her single volume of poems, Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum...
calls Susan Bertie "the Mistris of my youth, / The noble guide of my ungovern'd dayes." The poet was educated under the direction of the dowager Countess of Kent, whose Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
humanist
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
circle had a profound influence on the young Lanyer. The practice of being sent from one's family to be trained up in service in an aristocratic household, like that of Susan's, was then widespread.