Mary Dudley, Lady Sidney
Encyclopedia
Mary Sidney Lady Sidney (c. 1530–1535 – 9 August 1586) was an English lady-in-waiting
at the court of Elizabeth I, and the mother of the courtier and poet Sir Philip Sidney. A daughter of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, she was marginally implicated in her father's attempt to place Lady Jane Grey
on the English throne and affected by his attainder
.
Mary Dudley was one of Queen Elizabeth's most intimate confidantes during the early years of her reign. Her duties included nursing the Queen through smallpox
and acting as her mouthpiece towards diplomats. A sister of Elizabeth's favourite
, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, she remained always loyal to her family. She was the mother of seven children and accompanied her husband, Sir Henry Sidney, to Ireland and the Welsh Marches
. Since the 1570s the couple complained repeatedly about their, as they saw it, niggardly treatment at the Queen's hands. Still one of Elizabeth's favourite ladies, Mary Sidney retired from court life in 1579, suffering from ill health during her last years.
and his wife Jane Guildford
. Mary Dudley was well-educated. Fluent in Italian, French, and Latin, she was interested in alchemy
, romances
, and writing poetry. Her copy of Edward Hall
's Chronicles bears her annotations in French. She also became a friend, correspondent and frequent visitor of the scientist and magus
John Dee
.
On 29 March 1551 Mary Dudley married Henry Sidney
at Esher
, Surrey
. Possibly a love match, the ceremony was repeated in public on 17 May 1551 at her parents' house Ely Place
, London
. Four months later Henry Sidney became Chief Gentleman of Edward VI's Privy Chamber
; he was knighted by the young King on the day his father-in-law, who headed the government, was raised to the dukedom of Northumberland.
In May 1553 Mary's second youngest brother, Guildford Dudley, was married to Edward's favourite cousin, Lady Jane Grey
. According to Lady Jane it was Mary Sidney who, on 9 July 1553, called upon her to bring her to Syon House
, the place where she was informed she was Queen of England according to King Edward's will. After Mary I
's triumph within a fortnight and the arrest and execution of the Duke of Northumberland, the Sidneys were in a precarious situation. Like the rest of the Dudley family, Mary Sidney was attainted and suffered the consequences in her legal status. Henry Sidney's three sisters, however, were favourite ladies of Queen Mary, which may have saved his career. In early 1554 he went with an embassy to Spain to plead with England's prospective king consort
, Philip
, for the pardon of his brothers-in-law John
, Ambrose
, Robert
, and Henry. John Dudley, the eldest brother, died days after his release in October 1554 at Penshurst Place
in Kent
, the Sidneys' manor house granted to them by Edward VI in 1552. Philip Sidney
, Mary Sidney's first child, was born there in November 1554 and named after his godfather, the King. His godmother, the widowed Duchess of Northumberland, died in January 1555. She left her daughter 200 marks
as well as a cherished clock "that was the lord her father's, praying her to keep it as a jewel."
In 1556 Mary Sidney went with her husband to Ireland, where they resided mostly at Athlone Castle. Their first daughter, Mary Margaret, was born some time after their arrival. Queen Mary acted as godmother, but the child died at "one year and three quarters old". Meanwhile, the infant Philip stayed behind at Penshurst until his mother returned from Ireland in September 1558. She had been restored in blood earlier in the year when the Dudley's attainder was lifted by Mary I's last parliament
.
"without wages", an unsalaried position which left her dependent on her husband. Like her brother Lord Robert, the royal favourite
, she belonged to the Queen's closest companions. In the 1559 negotiations over Archduke Charles
, the Habsburg
candidate for Elizabeth's hand, she acted as go-between for the Queen and her own brother in their dealings with the Spanish ambassador Álvarez de Quadra and his Imperial
colleague, Caspar von Brüner. Through Lady Sidney, Elizabeth discreetly indicated her serious intention to marry the Archduke and that he should immediately come to England. De Quadra informed Philip II that
Philip's envoy received assurances from Lord Robert and Sir Thomas Parry
as well. Yet Elizabeth cooled down again and gave Mary Sidney further instructions to deal with the Spaniards, until she herself told de Quadra "that someone had [spoken to him] with good intentions, but without any commission from her". Angry at her brother and the Queen, Lady Sidney felt betrayed. The Spanish ambassador, in his turn, was piqued that she used an interpreter, when "we can understand each other in Italian without him."
In October 1562, Elizabeth became critically ill with smallpox
; Mary Sidney nursed her until she contracted the illness herself, which according to her husband greatly disfigured her beauty. That she took to wearing a mask afterwards is, however, a myth. She continued her court service, unless absent when accompanying her husband to Wales and Ireland. In late 1565 the couple travelled to Ireland, where Sir Henry was to take up his post as Lord Lieutenant
. On the passage one of the ships sunk with all Lady Sidney's jewels and fine clothes on board. In 1567 Henry Sidney returned for a few weeks to the English court. His wife stayed behind at Drogheda
, which came under rebel attack. Lady Sidney resolutely requested the Mayor of Dublin to relieve the town with troops, which he did. Later in the year Sir Henry sent her back to England because of her ill health, which was apparently caused by the Queen's criticism of his lieutenantship: An unfriendly letter from Elizabeth "so perplexed my dear wife, as she fell most grievously sick upon the same and in that sickness remained once in trance above fifty-two hours".
The four Dudley siblings who survived into Elizabeth's reign, Mary, Ambrose
, Robert, and their much younger sister Katherine
, kept a close bond among themselves, while Henry Sidney and Robert Dudley were friends since their common schooldays with Edward VI. Mary Sidney's third child Elizabeth was born at her brother Robert's house at Kew
in late 1560. Until 1569 she had four more children, among them the future Countess of Pembroke and poet Mary Herbert
, and Robert
, who became the first Sidney Earl of Leicester
. The death of her nine-year-old daughter Ambrosia in 1575 elicited a letter of condolences from Queen Elizabeth. Henry Sidney being once again in Ireland, in January 1570 Robert Dudley entertained his brother Ambrose as well as "Sister Mary" and "Sister Kate" at Kenilworth
. The same castle was the scene of the great festival of 1575, at which the whole Sidney family were guests and Lady Sidney excelled in stag hunting. In 1577 Robert Dudley negotiated the match of his 15-year-old niece Mary with his friend, the 40-year-old Earl of Pembroke
. Her mother organized the wedding festivities at Wilton House
.
By the 1570s, Sir Henry Sidney and his wife had become somewhat disillusioned and embittered about lacking financial rewards on the Queen's part for their long service. In 1572 Lady Sidney even had to decline a barony for her husband in a letter to William Cecil
, himself Baron Burghley since the previous year: The expenses such a title implied were simply too great, Sir Henry's mind being "dismayed [by the] hard choice" between choosing financial ruin and royal displeasure "in refusing it". Two years later, in 1574, she quarrelled with the Lord Chamberlain
(her brother-in-law, the Earl of Sussex
) over accommodation at court. She refused to exchange her accustomed rooms with a cold chamber that had previously been "but the place for my servants". All in all though, she explained, "old Lord Harry and his old Moll" would accept "like good friends the small portion allotted our long service in court; which as little as it is, seems something too much."
Elizabeth was still attached to her old friend when Mary Sidney left the court in July 1579—because of bad health, or out of solidarity with her brother Robert, Earl of Leicester, who was in disgrace for having married. She joined her husband at Ludlow
in 1582, where he was serving his third turn as President of the Council of Wales. A year later her health was in such a state that Henry Sidney believed he would soon have the opportunity to take a second wife. Mary Sidney died on 9 August 1586, three months after her husband, in whose elaborate funeral she had participated. She was buried by his side at Penshurst.
Lady-in-waiting
A lady-in-waiting is a female personal assistant at a royal court, attending on a queen, a princess, or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman from a family highly thought of in good society, but was of lower rank than the woman on whom she...
at the court of Elizabeth I, and the mother of the courtier and poet Sir Philip Sidney. A daughter of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, she was marginally implicated in her father's attempt to place Lady Jane Grey
Lady Jane Grey
Lady Jane Grey , also known as The Nine Days' Queen, was an English noblewoman who was de facto monarch of England from 10 July until 19 July 1553 and was subsequently executed...
on the English throne and affected by his attainder
Attainder
In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura is the metaphorical 'stain' or 'corruption of blood' which arises from being condemned for a serious capital crime . It entails losing not only one's property and hereditary titles, but typically also the right to pass them on to one's heirs...
.
Mary Dudley was one of Queen Elizabeth's most intimate confidantes during the early years of her reign. Her duties included nursing the Queen through smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
and acting as her mouthpiece towards diplomats. A sister of Elizabeth's favourite
Favourite
A favourite , or favorite , was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In medieval and Early Modern Europe, among other times and places, the term is used of individuals delegated significant political power by a ruler...
, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, she remained always loyal to her family. She was the mother of seven children and accompanied her husband, Sir Henry Sidney, to Ireland and the Welsh Marches
Welsh Marches
The Welsh Marches is a term which, in modern usage, denotes an imprecisely defined area along and around the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods...
. Since the 1570s the couple complained repeatedly about their, as they saw it, niggardly treatment at the Queen's hands. Still one of Elizabeth's favourite ladies, Mary Sidney retired from court life in 1579, suffering from ill health during her last years.
Family and early years of marriage
Mary Dudley was the eldest daughter among the 13 children of John Dudley, 1st Duke of NorthumberlandJohn Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland
John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, KG was an English general, admiral, and politician, who led the government of the young King Edward VI from 1550 until 1553, and unsuccessfully tried to install Lady Jane Grey on the English throne after the King's death...
and his wife Jane Guildford
Jane Dudley, Duchess of Northumberland
Jane Dudley , Duchess of Northumberland was an English noblewoman, the wife of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland and mother of Guildford Dudley and Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester. Having grown up with her future husband, who was her father's ward, she married at about age 16. They had...
. Mary Dudley was well-educated. Fluent in Italian, French, and Latin, she was interested in alchemy
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
, romances
Romance (genre)
As a literary genre of high culture, romance or chivalric romance is a style of heroic prose and verse narrative that was popular in the aristocratic circles of High Medieval and Early Modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a knight errant portrayed as...
, and writing poetry. Her copy of Edward Hall
Edward Hall
Edward Hall , English chronicler and lawyer, was born about the end of the 15th century, being a son of John Hall of Northall, Shropshire....
's Chronicles bears her annotations in French. She also became a friend, correspondent and frequent visitor of the scientist and magus
Hermeticism
Hermeticism or the Western Hermetic Tradition is a set of philosophical and religious beliefs based primarily upon the pseudepigraphical writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus...
John Dee
John Dee
John Dee was a Welsh mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, occultist, navigator, imperialist, and consultant to Queen Elizabeth I.John Dee may also refer to:* John Dee , Basketball coach...
.
On 29 March 1551 Mary Dudley married Henry Sidney
Henry Sidney
Sir Henry Sidney , Lord Deputy of Ireland was the eldest son of Sir William Sidney of Penshurst, a prominent politician and courtier during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI, from both of whom he received extensive grants of land, including the manor of Penshurst in Kent, which became the...
at Esher
Esher
Esher is a town in the Surrey borough of Elmbridge in South East England near the River Mole. It is a very prosperous part of the Greater London Urban Area, largely suburban in character, and is situated 14.1 miles south west of Charing Cross....
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. Possibly a love match, the ceremony was repeated in public on 17 May 1551 at her parents' house Ely Place
Ely Place
Ely Place is a gated road at the southern tip of the London Borough of Camden in London, England. It is the location of the Old Mitre Tavern and is adjacent to Hatton Garden.-Origins:...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Four months later Henry Sidney became Chief Gentleman of Edward VI's Privy Chamber
Privy chamber
A Privy chamber was the private apartment of a royal residence in England. The gentlemen of the Privy chamber were servants to the Crown who would wait and attend on the King and Queen at court during their various activities, functions and entertainments....
; he was knighted by the young King on the day his father-in-law, who headed the government, was raised to the dukedom of Northumberland.
In May 1553 Mary's second youngest brother, Guildford Dudley, was married to Edward's favourite cousin, Lady Jane Grey
Lady Jane Grey
Lady Jane Grey , also known as The Nine Days' Queen, was an English noblewoman who was de facto monarch of England from 10 July until 19 July 1553 and was subsequently executed...
. According to Lady Jane it was Mary Sidney who, on 9 July 1553, called upon her to bring her to Syon House
Syon House
Syon House, with its 200-acre park, is situated in west London, England. It belongs to the Duke of Northumberland and is now his family's London residence...
, the place where she was informed she was Queen of England according to King Edward's will. After Mary I
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 triumph within a fortnight and the arrest and execution of the Duke of Northumberland, the Sidneys were in a precarious situation. Like the rest of the Dudley family, Mary Sidney was attainted and suffered the consequences in her legal status. Henry Sidney's three sisters, however, were favourite ladies of Queen Mary, which may have saved his career. In early 1554 he went with an embassy to Spain to plead with England's prospective king consort
King consort
King consort is an alternative title to the more usual "prince consort" - which is a position given in some monarchies to the husband of a reigning queen. It is a symbolic title only, the sole constitutional function of the holder being similar to a prince consort, which is the male equivalent of a...
, Philip
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
, for the pardon of his brothers-in-law John
John Dudley, 2nd Earl of Warwick
John Dudley, 2nd Earl of Warwick, KG, KB was an English nobleman and the heir of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, leading minister and de facto ruler under Edward VI of England from 1550–1553. As his father's career progressed, John Dudley respectively assumed his father's former...
, Ambrose
Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick
Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick, KG was an English nobleman and general, and an elder brother of Queen Elizabeth I's favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester...
, Robert
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, KG was an English nobleman and the favourite and close friend of Elizabeth I from her first year on the throne until his death...
, and Henry. John Dudley, the eldest brother, died days after his release in October 1554 at Penshurst Place
Penshurst Place
Penshurst Place is a historic building near Tonbridge, Kent, south east of London, England. It is the ancestral home of the Sidney family, and was the birthplace of the great Elizabethan poet, courtier and soldier, Sir Philip Sidney. The original medieval house is one of the most complete examples...
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, the Sidneys' manor house granted to them by Edward VI in 1552. Philip Sidney
Philip 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...
, Mary Sidney's first child, was born there in November 1554 and named after his godfather, the King. His godmother, the widowed Duchess of Northumberland, died in January 1555. She left her daughter 200 marks
Mark (money)
Mark was a measure of weight mainly for gold and silver, commonly used throughout western Europe and often equivalent to 8 ounces. Considerable variations, however, occurred throughout the Middle Ages Mark (from a merging of three Teutonic/Germanic languages words, Latinized in 9th century...
as well as a cherished clock "that was the lord her father's, praying her to keep it as a jewel."
In 1556 Mary Sidney went with her husband to Ireland, where they resided mostly at Athlone Castle. Their first daughter, Mary Margaret, was born some time after their arrival. Queen Mary acted as godmother, but the child died at "one year and three quarters old". Meanwhile, the infant Philip stayed behind at Penshurst until his mother returned from Ireland in September 1558. She had been restored in blood earlier in the year when the Dudley's attainder was lifted by Mary I's last parliament
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
.
Serving Elizabeth I
On Elizabeth I's accession in November 1558 Mary Sidney became a Gentlewoman of the Privy ChamberPrivy chamber
A Privy chamber was the private apartment of a royal residence in England. The gentlemen of the Privy chamber were servants to the Crown who would wait and attend on the King and Queen at court during their various activities, functions and entertainments....
"without wages", an unsalaried position which left her dependent on her husband. Like her brother Lord Robert, the royal favourite
Favourite
A favourite , or favorite , was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In medieval and Early Modern Europe, among other times and places, the term is used of individuals delegated significant political power by a ruler...
, she belonged to the Queen's closest companions. In the 1559 negotiations over Archduke Charles
Charles II, Archduke of Austria
Charles II Francis of Austria was an Archduke of Austria and ruler of Inner Austria from 1564...
, the Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
candidate for Elizabeth's hand, she acted as go-between for the Queen and her own brother in their dealings with the Spanish ambassador Álvarez de Quadra and his Imperial
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
colleague, Caspar von Brüner. Through Lady Sidney, Elizabeth discreetly indicated her serious intention to marry the Archduke and that he should immediately come to England. De Quadra informed Philip II that
Lady Sidney said that if this were not true, I might be sure she would not say such a thing as it might cost her her life and she was acting now with the Queen's consent, but she (the Queen) would not speak to the Emperor's ambassador about it.
Philip's envoy received assurances from Lord Robert and Sir Thomas Parry
Thomas Parry (Comptroller of the Household)
Sir Thomas Parry was a Comptroller of the Household to the English Queen Elizabeth I.He was knighted by Elizabeth at her accession in 1558, and held the offices of royal steward, Cofferer, Privy Counselor, Comptroller of the Household , Master of the Court of Wards and Liveries , Member of...
as well. Yet Elizabeth cooled down again and gave Mary Sidney further instructions to deal with the Spaniards, until she herself told de Quadra "that someone had [spoken to him] with good intentions, but without any commission from her". Angry at her brother and the Queen, Lady Sidney felt betrayed. The Spanish ambassador, in his turn, was piqued that she used an interpreter, when "we can understand each other in Italian without him."
In October 1562, Elizabeth became critically ill with smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
; Mary Sidney nursed her until she contracted the illness herself, which according to her husband greatly disfigured her beauty. That she took to wearing a mask afterwards is, however, a myth. She continued her court service, unless absent when accompanying her husband to Wales and Ireland. In late 1565 the couple travelled to Ireland, where Sir Henry was to take up his post as Lord Lieutenant
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was the British King's representative and head of the Irish executive during the Lordship of Ireland , the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
. On the passage one of the ships sunk with all Lady Sidney's jewels and fine clothes on board. In 1567 Henry Sidney returned for a few weeks to the English court. His wife stayed behind at Drogheda
Drogheda
Drogheda is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, 56 km north of Dublin. It is the last bridging point on the River Boyne before it enters the Irish Sea....
, which came under rebel attack. Lady Sidney resolutely requested the Mayor of Dublin to relieve the town with troops, which he did. Later in the year Sir Henry sent her back to England because of her ill health, which was apparently caused by the Queen's criticism of his lieutenantship: An unfriendly letter from Elizabeth "so perplexed my dear wife, as she fell most grievously sick upon the same and in that sickness remained once in trance above fifty-two hours".
The four Dudley siblings who survived into Elizabeth's reign, Mary, Ambrose
Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick
Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick, KG was an English nobleman and general, and an elder brother of Queen Elizabeth I's favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester...
, Robert, and their much younger sister Katherine
Katherine Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon
Katherine Hastings , Countess of Huntingdon was an English noblewoman. She was the youngest surviving daughter of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland and his wife Jane Guildford, and a sister of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, Elizabeth I's favourite...
, kept a close bond among themselves, while Henry Sidney and Robert Dudley were friends since their common schooldays with Edward VI. Mary Sidney's third child Elizabeth was born at her brother Robert's house at Kew
Kew
Kew is a place in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in South West London. Kew is best known for being the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens, now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace...
in late 1560. Until 1569 she had four more children, among them the future Countess of Pembroke and poet Mary Herbert
Mary Sidney
Mary Herbert , Countess of Pembroke , was one of the first English women to achieve a major reputation for her literary works, poetry, poetic translations and literary patronage.-Family:...
, and Robert
Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester
Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester , second son of Sir Henry Sidney, was a statesman of Elizabethan and Jacobean England. He was also a patron of the arts and an interesting poet...
, who became the first Sidney Earl of Leicester
Earl of Leicester
The title Earl of Leicester was created in the 12th century in the Peerage of England , and is currently a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1837.-Early creations:...
. The death of her nine-year-old daughter Ambrosia in 1575 elicited a letter of condolences from Queen Elizabeth. Henry Sidney being once again in Ireland, in January 1570 Robert Dudley entertained his brother Ambrose as well as "Sister Mary" and "Sister Kate" at Kenilworth
Kenilworth Castle
Kenilworth Castle is located in the town of the same name in Warwickshire, England. Constructed from Norman through to Tudor times, the castle has been described by architectural historian Anthony Emery as "the finest surviving example of a semi-royal palace of the later middle ages, significant...
. The same castle was the scene of the great festival of 1575, at which the whole Sidney family were guests and Lady Sidney excelled in stag hunting. In 1577 Robert Dudley negotiated the match of his 15-year-old niece Mary with his friend, the 40-year-old Earl of Pembroke
Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke KG was an English peer of the Elizabethan era.-Life:He was the son of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Anne Parr. His aunt was queen consort Catherine Parr, last wife of King Henry VIII. Herbert was responsible for the costly restoration of Cardiff Castle...
. Her mother organized the wedding festivities at Wilton House
Wilton House
Wilton House is an English country house situated at Wilton near Salisbury in Wiltshire. It has been the country seat of the Earls of Pembroke for over 400 years....
.
By the 1570s, Sir Henry Sidney and his wife had become somewhat disillusioned and embittered about lacking financial rewards on the Queen's part for their long service. In 1572 Lady Sidney even had to decline a barony for her husband in a letter to William Cecil
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...
, himself Baron Burghley since the previous year: The expenses such a title implied were simply too great, Sir Henry's mind being "dismayed [by the] hard choice" between choosing financial ruin and royal displeasure "in refusing it". Two years later, in 1574, she quarrelled with the Lord Chamberlain
Lord Chamberlain
The Lord Chamberlain or Lord Chamberlain of the Household is one of the chief officers of the Royal Household in the United Kingdom and is to be distinguished from the Lord Great Chamberlain, one of the Great Officers of State....
(her brother-in-law, the Earl of Sussex
Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex
Thomas Radclyffe 3rd Earl of Sussex was Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland during the Tudor period of English history, and a leading courtier during the reign of Elizabeth I.- Family:...
) over accommodation at court. She refused to exchange her accustomed rooms with a cold chamber that had previously been "but the place for my servants". All in all though, she explained, "old Lord Harry and his old Moll" would accept "like good friends the small portion allotted our long service in court; which as little as it is, seems something too much."
Elizabeth was still attached to her old friend when Mary Sidney left the court in July 1579—because of bad health, or out of solidarity with her brother Robert, Earl of Leicester, who was in disgrace for having married. She joined her husband at Ludlow
Ludlow
Ludlow is a market town in Shropshire, England close to the Welsh border and in the Welsh Marches. It lies within a bend of the River Teme, on its eastern bank, forming an area of and centred on a small hill. Atop this hill is the site of Ludlow Castle and the market place...
in 1582, where he was serving his third turn as President of the Council of Wales. A year later her health was in such a state that Henry Sidney believed he would soon have the opportunity to take a second wife. Mary Sidney died on 9 August 1586, three months after her husband, in whose elaborate funeral she had participated. She was buried by his side at Penshurst.