Anne Cecil
Encyclopedia
Anne Cecil, Countess of Oxford (5 December 1556 – 5 June 1588) was the daughter of statesman William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley
, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I of England
, and the translator Mildred Cooke
. In 1571, she became the first wife of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford
. She served as a Maid of Honour to Queen Elizabeth before her marriage.
, by his second wife, Mildred Cooke, a woman noted for her learning and Greek translations. Anne was an intelligent, well-educated child, tutored alongside her brothers by William Lewin. She knew French, Latin, and possibly Italian. Her father affectionately called her Tannakin.
. When marriage negotiations failed, she married instead Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford on 19 December 1571 at London's Westminster Abbey
in the presence of Queen Elizabeth. The wedding was celebrated with great pomp. According to some accounts, Anne genuinely loved the Earl, who as her father's ward
, had partly grown up in the Burghley household, his reasons for marrying Anne were entirely mercenary as he had hoped Baron Burghley would pay his many outstanding debts and spare his cousin, Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk
from execution.
Following their marriage, Anne continued to live at Theobalds House
with her parents. When she gave birth to her first child, Elizabeth
on 2 July 1575, Oxford was abroad touring the Continent
. Upon his return, goaded by his cousin Lord Henry Howard
, he accused Anne of adultery and declared the baby to have been fathered by another man. In April 1576 he separated from Anne, after rumours of her infidelity, and refused to sleep with her, recognise her or countenance her presence at court, despite Burghley's threats, and public admonitions from Anne's mother.
During his separation from Anne, Oxford began an affair with the Queen's Lady of the Bedchamber
, Anne Vavasour
. When the latter gave birth to his illegitimate son Edward in March 1581, both he and his mistress were sent to the Tower of London
by the Queen's command. He was soon released, and in December 1581 Anne began a correspondence with him; and by January 1582, he was reconciled with Anne, acknowledging paternity of his daughter, Elizabeth. He continued his affair with Anne Vavasour, which led to open skirmishes in the streets of London between Oxford and Anne Vavasour's uncle Sir Thomas Knyvet, 1st Baron Knyvet
.
The harpist and poetaster
John Southern in his Pandora (1584), dedicated to her husband, credited Anne with writing six elegiac poems memorialising her infant son, Lord Bulbecke, after his premature death as an infant in May 1583. However, the poems are written in Southern's style and draw heavily on his favourite poet, Philippe Desportes
, and were most likely written by him from her point of view.
. Her daughters were also later buried in the tomb. Her father was so stricken with grief at her death that he was unable to carry out his ministerial duties in the Privy Council
. Her three young daughters remained in her father's household where they received excellent educations and eventually married into the peerage
.
Her husband remarried in 1591 Elizabeth Trentham, by whom he had his heir Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford
.
(2011) by actresses Amy Kwolek (young Anne de Vere) and Helen Baxendale. The role is based on Lady Anne Cecil, but is heavily fictionalized.
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley , KG was an English statesman, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State and Lord High Treasurer from 1572...
, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I of England
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...
, and the translator Mildred Cooke
Mildred Cooke
Mildred Cooke, Lady Burghley was an English noblewoman, translator, and poet of the sixteenth century.-Life and work:Mildred was the eldest of the five daughters of Sir Anthony Cooke and Anne Fitzwilliam. She studied Latin and Greek, which she especially enjoyed translating...
. In 1571, she became the first wife of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford was an Elizabethan courtier, playwright, lyric poet, sportsman and patron of the arts, and is currently the most popular alternative candidate proposed for the authorship of Shakespeare's works....
. She served as a Maid of Honour to Queen Elizabeth before her marriage.
Family and childhood
Anne was born on 5 December 1556, the eldest and favourite daughter of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, the leading member of Queen Elizabeth's Privy CouncilPrivy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
, by his second wife, Mildred Cooke, a woman noted for her learning and Greek translations. Anne was an intelligent, well-educated child, tutored alongside her brothers by William Lewin. She knew French, Latin, and possibly Italian. Her father affectionately called her Tannakin.
Marriage to the Earl of Oxford
In 1569, Anne was engaged to marry Sir Philip SidneyPhilip Sidney
Sir Philip Sidney was an English poet, courtier and soldier, and is remembered as one of the most prominent figures of the Elizabethan Age...
. When marriage negotiations failed, she married instead Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford on 19 December 1571 at London's Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
in the presence of Queen Elizabeth. The wedding was celebrated with great pomp. According to some accounts, Anne genuinely loved the Earl, who as her father's ward
Ward (law)
In law, a ward is someone placed under the protection of a legal guardian. A court may take responsibility for the legal protection of an individual, usually either a child or incapacitated person, in which case the ward is known as a ward of the court, or a ward of the state, in the United States,...
, had partly grown up in the Burghley household, his reasons for marrying Anne were entirely mercenary as he had hoped Baron Burghley would pay his many outstanding debts and spare his cousin, Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, KG, Earl Marshal was an English nobleman.Norfolk was the son of the poet Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey. He was taught as a child by John Foxe, the Protestant martyrologist, who remained a lifelong recipient of Norfolk's patronage...
from execution.
Following their marriage, Anne continued to live at Theobalds House
Theobalds House
Theobalds House , located in Theobalds Park, just outside Cheshunt in the English county of Hertfordshire, was a prominent stately home and royal palace of the 16th and early 17th centuries.- Early history :...
with her parents. When she gave birth to her first child, Elizabeth
Elizabeth de Vere, Countess of Derby
Elizabeth de Vere, Countess of Derby, Lord of Mann was an English noblewoman and the eldest daughter of Elizabethan courtier, poet, and playwright Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford....
on 2 July 1575, Oxford was abroad touring 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...
. Upon his return, goaded by his cousin Lord Henry Howard
Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton
Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton was a significant English aristocrat and courtier. He was suspect as a crypto-Catholic throughout his life, and went through periods of royal disfavour, in which his reputation suffered greatly. He was distinguished for learning, artistic culture and his...
, he accused Anne of adultery and declared the baby to have been fathered by another man. In April 1576 he separated from Anne, after rumours of her infidelity, and refused to sleep with her, recognise her or countenance her presence at court, despite Burghley's threats, and public admonitions from Anne's mother.
During his separation from Anne, Oxford began an affair with the Queen's Lady of the Bedchamber
Lady of the Bedchamber
This is an incomplete list of those who have served as Lady of the Bedchamber in the British Royal Household...
, Anne Vavasour
Anne Vavasour
Anne Vavasour was a Maid of Honour ) to Queen Elizabeth I of England, and the mistress of two aristocratic men. Her first lover was Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, by whom she had an illegitimate son - Edward. For that offence, both she and the earl were sent to the Tower of London by the...
. When the latter gave birth to his illegitimate son Edward in March 1581, both he and his mistress were sent to the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
by the Queen's command. He was soon released, and in December 1581 Anne began a correspondence with him; and by January 1582, he was reconciled with Anne, acknowledging paternity of his daughter, Elizabeth. He continued his affair with Anne Vavasour, which led to open skirmishes in the streets of London between Oxford and Anne Vavasour's uncle Sir Thomas Knyvet, 1st Baron Knyvet
Thomas Knyvet, 1st Baron Knyvet
Thomas James Knyvet, 1st Baron Knyvet was the second son of Sir Henry Knyvet of Charlton, Wiltshire and Anne Pickering, daughter of Sir Christopher Pickering of Killington, Westmoreland. His half-sister Catherine Knyvet was married to Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk...
.
The harpist and poetaster
Poetaster
Poetaster, like rhymester or versifier, is a contemptuous name often applied to bad or inferior poets. Specifically, poetaster has implications of unwarranted pretentions to artistic value. The word was coined in Latin by Erasmus in 1521...
John Southern in his Pandora (1584), dedicated to her husband, credited Anne with writing six elegiac poems memorialising her infant son, Lord Bulbecke, after his premature death as an infant in May 1583. However, the poems are written in Southern's style and draw heavily on his favourite poet, Philippe Desportes
Philippe Desportes
Philippe Desportes was a French poet.-Biography:Philippe Desportes was born in Chartres. While serving as secretary to the bishop of Le Puy he visited Italy, where he learned Italian poetry. This experience became a good account. On his return to France he attached himself to the duke of Anjou,...
, and were most likely written by him from her point of view.
Issue
Together Oxford and Anne Cecil had a total of five children:- Lady Elizabeth de Vere, Countess of DerbyElizabeth de Vere, Countess of DerbyElizabeth de Vere, Countess of Derby, Lord of Mann was an English noblewoman and the eldest daughter of Elizabethan courtier, poet, and playwright Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford....
, Lord of MannLord of MannThe title Lord of Mann is used on the Isle of Man to refer to Queen Elizabeth II, who is the island's Lord Proprietor and head of state.-Relationship with the Crown:The title is not correctly used on its own...
(2 July 1575- 10 March 1627), married William Stanley, 6th Earl of DerbyWilliam Stanley, 6th Earl of DerbyWilliam Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby was an English nobleman. Stanley inherited a prominent social position that was both dangerous and unstable, as his mother was heir to Queen Elizabeth I under the Third Succession Act, a position that fell to his deceased brother's oldest daughter in 1596,...
, by whom she had issue. - Lord Bulbecke (died May 1583 in early infancy)
- Lady Bridget de VereBridget de VereBridget de Vere, Countess of Berkshire , was an English noblewoman, the daughter of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. Bridget was brought up by her maternal grandfather, the powerful statesman William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley...
(6 April 1584- December 1630/March 1631), married Francis Norris, 1st Earl of Berkshire, by whom she had one daughter. - Lady Frances de Vere (died as an infant on 12 September 1587)
- Lady Susan de Vere (24 May 1587- January 1629), married Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of PembrokePhilip Herbert, 4th Earl of PembrokePhilip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke and 1st Earl of Montgomery KG was an English courtier and politician active during the reigns of James I and Charles I...
, by whom she had issue.
Death
Anne died 5 June 1588 at the age of 31 of unknown causes. She was buried in Westminster Abbey in a tomb which she shares with her mother, who died in 1589, and upon which is Anne's effigyEffigy
An effigy is a representation of a person, especially in the form of sculpture or some other three-dimensional form.The term is usually associated with full-length figures of a deceased person depicted in stone or wood on church monuments. These most often lie supine with hands together in prayer,...
. Her daughters were also later buried in the tomb. Her father was so stricken with grief at her death that he was unable to carry out his ministerial duties in the Privy Council
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
. Her three young daughters remained in her father's household where they received excellent educations and eventually married into the peerage
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
.
Her husband remarried in 1591 Elizabeth Trentham, by whom he had his heir Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford
Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford
Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford was an English aristocrat, courtier and soldier.-Life:He was born on 24 February 1593 at Newington, Middlesex, the only son of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, by his second wife, Elizabeth Trentham. He succeeded his father as on 24 June 1604.He is said to...
.
In fiction and film
Lady Anne was portrayed in the movie AnonymousAnonymous
- People :* Anonymous work, a work of art or literature that has an anonymous, undisclosed, or unknown creator or author* Anonymous IV, a 13th century English student of medieval music theory whose works are a major source for modern scholars of that era...
(2011) by actresses Amy Kwolek (young Anne de Vere) and Helen Baxendale. The role is based on Lady Anne Cecil, but is heavily fictionalized.