Lady Elizabeth Stanley
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth Stanley, Countess of Huntingdon (6 January 1588 – 20 January 1633) was an English noblewoman and writer who was third in line of succession to the English throne. She was the wife of Henry Hastings, 5th Earl of Huntingdon
. She was also styled Lady Hastings of Hungerford and Lady Botreaux as her husband held both of these titles in addition to the Earl of Huntingdon.
She was one of the dancers in Ben Jonson
's, The Masque of Queens
performed at Whitehall Palace in 1609.
, Lancashire
, the third and youngest daughter, and co-heir of Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby
, Lord of Mann
, and Alice Spencer
(4 May 1559 -January 1637). As the great-great-granddaughter of Mary Tudor, Duchess of Suffolk, the younger sister of King Henry VIII
, Elizabeth became, after the death of her grandmother, Lady Margaret Clifford
in 1596, third in line of succession to the English throne. Upon the death of Queen Elizabeth I
in 1603, Elizabeth and her older sisters, Anne Stanley, Countess of Castlehaven, heir presumptive
, and Lady Frances Stanley were passed over in favour of King James VI of Scotland, who was descended from King Henry's elder sister Margaret Tudor
.
(See main article: Alternative successions of the English crown).
and Lady Sarah Harrington. As his father had died in 1595, Henry was heir to the earldom of Huntingdon. On 31 December 1604, upon the death of his grandfather George Hastings, 4th Earl of Huntingdon
, he succeeded as the fifth earl. From that date onward, Lady Elizabeth was styled Countess of Huntingdon, as well as Lady Hastings of Hungerford and Lady Botreaux, since her husband also held those titles.
They made their principal home at Ashby de la Zouch Castle
, Leicestershire
, where the earls of Huntingdon had their family seat. Together Henry and Elizabeth had four children:
, at which she was kissed by both King James
and Queen Anne
. James Knowles of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography notes that Elizabeth danced in The Masque of Queens which was performed at Whitehall Palace on 2 February 1609.
She was noted for her learning, patronage, and piety.
Her miniature portrait by Nicholas Hilliard
was painted sometime between 1601 and 1610. She was also the subject of a portrait by Paul van Somer painted in about 1614.
. A procession took her body to the parish church of St. Helen in Ashby-de-la-Zouch where she was buried on 9 February. The minister praised her in conventional terms, but he also mentioned her literary activities. The four manuscripts of her religious writings represented her thoughts right up to her death; in three of her four manuscripts, her final meditation was Of Death.
Her husband died 10 years later in 1643.
Henry Hastings, 5th Earl of Huntingdon
Henry Hastings, 5th Earl of Huntingdon was a prominent English nobleman and literary patron in England during the first half of the seventeenth century.-Life:...
. She was also styled Lady Hastings of Hungerford and Lady Botreaux as her husband held both of these titles in addition to the Earl of Huntingdon.
She was one of the dancers in Ben Jonson
Ben Jonson
Benjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
's, The Masque of Queens
The Masque of Queens
The Masque of Queens, Celebrated From the House of Fame is one of the earlier works in the series of masques that Ben Jonson composed for the House of Stuart in the early 17th century...
performed at Whitehall Palace in 1609.
In line to the English throne
Lady Elizabeth was born and baptised on 6 January 1588, in KnowsleyKnowsley Hall
Knowsley Hall is a stately home near Liverpool within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, in Merseyside, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building, and is the ancestral home of the Stanley family, the Earls of Derby. The hall is surrounded by of...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, the third and youngest daughter, and co-heir of Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby
Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby
Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby was the son of Henry Stanley, 4th Earl of Derby and Lady Margaret Clifford. According to the will of Henry VIII, his mother was heiress presumptive of Elizabeth I of England from 1578 to her own death in 1596...
, Lord of Mann
Lord of Mann
The 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...
, and Alice Spencer
Alice Spencer
Alice Spencer, Countess of Derby was an aristocratic English woman, and a noted patron of the arts. Poet Edmund Spenser represented her as "Amaryllis" in his pastoral poem Colin Clouts Come Home Againe and dedicated his The Teares of the Muses to her. Her first husband was Ferdinando Stanley, 5th...
(4 May 1559 -January 1637). As the great-great-granddaughter of Mary Tudor, Duchess of Suffolk, the younger sister of King Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
, Elizabeth became, after the death of her grandmother, Lady Margaret Clifford
Lady Margaret Clifford
Margaret Stanley, Countess of Derby was the only surviving daughter of Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland and Lady Eleanor Brandon....
in 1596, third in line of succession to the English throne. Upon the death of Queen Elizabeth I
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...
in 1603, Elizabeth and her older sisters, Anne Stanley, Countess of Castlehaven, heir presumptive
Heir Presumptive
An heir presumptive or heiress presumptive is the person provisionally scheduled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir or heiress apparent or of a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question...
, and Lady Frances Stanley were passed over in favour of King James VI of Scotland, who was descended from King Henry's elder sister Margaret Tudor
Margaret Tudor
Margaret Tudor was the elder of the two surviving daughters of Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, and the elder sister of Henry VIII. In 1503, she married James IV, King of Scots. James died in 1513, and their son became King James V. She married secondly Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of...
.
(See main article: Alternative successions of the English crown).
Marriage and issue
On 15 January 1601, shortly after her 13th birthday, Lady Elizabeth married Henry Hastings, the only son of Francis Hastings, Baron HastingsFrancis Hastings, Baron Hastings
Francis Hastings, Lord Hastings was the son of George Hastings, 4th Earl of Huntingdon and Dorothy Port. He married Sarah Harington, daughter of Sir James Harington and Lucy Sydney...
and Lady Sarah Harrington. As his father had died in 1595, Henry was heir to the earldom of Huntingdon. On 31 December 1604, upon the death of his grandfather George Hastings, 4th Earl of Huntingdon
George Hastings, 4th Earl of Huntingdon
Sir George Hastings, 4th Earl of Huntingdon was an English nobleman.He was a son of Francis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon and Catherine Pole. He was a younger brother of Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon and older brother of Francis Hastings...
, he succeeded as the fifth earl. From that date onward, Lady Elizabeth was styled Countess of Huntingdon, as well as Lady Hastings of Hungerford and Lady Botreaux, since her husband also held those titles.
They made their principal home at Ashby de la Zouch Castle
Ashby de la Zouch Castle
Ashby de la Zouch Castle is in the town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England . The ruins have been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building, and they are a Scheduled Ancient Monument...
, Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
, where the earls of Huntingdon had their family seat. Together Henry and Elizabeth had four children:
- Lady Alice Hastings (1606–1667), married Sir Gervase Clinton; died childless.
- Ferdinando Hastings, 6th Earl of HuntingdonFerdinando Hastings, 6th Earl of HuntingdonFerdinando Hastings, 6th Earl of Huntingdon was the son of Henry Hastings, 5th Earl of Huntingdon and Lady Elizabeth Stanley, the daughter of Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby and Alice Spencer...
(18 January 1608- 13 February 1655), married Lucy DavisLucy HastingsLucy Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon was a seventeenth-century English poet.Born Lucy Davies, she was the daughter of Sir John Davies of Englefield, Berkshire , a prominent courtier in the reigns of James I and Charles I and himself a poet; her mother was notorious as the "mad prophetess" Dame...
, by whom he had issue. - Lord Henry Hastings, 1st Baron LoughboroughHenry Hastings, 1st Baron LoughboroughHenry Hastings, 1st Baron Loughborough was an English Royalist army commander in the Midlands during the English Civil War.-Life:...
of Loughborough (28 September 1610- 10 January 1667), died unmarried without issue. - Lady Elizabeth Hastings (born ca. 1605), married Sir Hugh Calverley; died childless.
Writer and patron of the arts
Lady Elizabeth was a patron of the arts, as well as a writer. She was the author of five Huntington Library manuscripts: four copies of prayers, biblical extracts, and meditations, and one volume of sermon notes. Forty-six of her letters (written from 1605 until late 1632), which provide a keen insight into her life and personal sentiments, survive in the Hastings Collection of the Huntington Library. In one of these letters, she described a visit to the royal court where she watched the rehearsals and final production of a masqueMasque
The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment which flourished in 16th and early 17th century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio...
, at which she was kissed by both King James
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
and Queen Anne
Anne of Denmark
Anne of Denmark was queen consort of Scotland, England, and Ireland as the wife of King James VI and I.The second daughter of King Frederick II of Denmark, Anne married James in 1589 at the age of fourteen and bore him three children who survived infancy, including the future Charles I...
. James Knowles of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography notes that Elizabeth danced in The Masque of Queens which was performed at Whitehall Palace on 2 February 1609.
She was noted for her learning, patronage, and piety.
Her miniature portrait by Nicholas Hilliard
Nicholas Hilliard
Nicholas Hilliard was an English goldsmith and limner best known for his portrait miniatures of members of the courts of Elizabeth I and James I of England. He mostly painted small oval miniatures, but also some larger cabinet miniatures, up to about ten inches tall, and at least two famous...
was painted sometime between 1601 and 1610. She was also the subject of a portrait by Paul van Somer painted in about 1614.
Death
Elizabeth died on 20 January 1633 shortly after her 45th birthday at Whitefriars, London at the home of her brother-in-law, John Egerton, 1st Earl of BridgewaterJohn Egerton, 1st Earl of Bridgewater
John Egerton, 1st Earl of Bridgewater KB, PC was an English peer and politician.The son of the Thomas Egerton, 1st Viscount Brackley and Elizabeth Ravenscroft, he was a Member of Parliament for Callington from 1597 to 1598, and for Shropshire in 1601. Knighted on 8 April 1599, he was Baron of the...
. A procession took her body to the parish church of St. Helen in Ashby-de-la-Zouch where she was buried on 9 February. The minister praised her in conventional terms, but he also mentioned her literary activities. The four manuscripts of her religious writings represented her thoughts right up to her death; in three of her four manuscripts, her final meditation was Of Death.
Her husband died 10 years later in 1643.