Bess of Hardwick : new perspectives / edited by Lisa Hopkins.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Hopkins, Lisa, 1962- editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Shrewsbury, Elizabeth Hardwick Talbot, Countess of, 1527?-1608.

Shrewsbury, Elizabeth Hardwick Talbot.

Countesses--England--Biography.

Countesses.

Great Britain--History--Elizabeth, 1558-1603.

Great Britain.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 210 pages) : illustrations (black and white), digital, PDF file(s)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Manchester : Manchester University Press, 2019.

Language Note:

In English.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

Bess of Hardwick was one of the most extraordinary figures of Elizabethan England. She was born the daughter of a country squire. But by the end of her long life (which a recent redating of her birth suggests was even longer than previously thought) she was the richest woman in England outside the royal family, had risen to the rank of countess and seen two of her daughters do the same and had built one of the major 'prodigy houses' of the period. While married to her fourth husband, the Earl of Shrewsbury, she had been jailer to Mary, Queen of Scots, and her granddaughter by her second marriage, Lady Arbella Stuart, was of royal blood and might have succeeded to the throne of England. This wide-ranging collection brings out the full range of her activities and impact.

Contents:

Bess of Hardwick : new perspectives

Contents

Illustrations

Notes on contributors

Introduction

1. Bess of Hardwick, a life

2. Money, marriage and remembrance: telling stories from the Cavendish financial accounts

3. Bess’s use of language

4. Upper servants’ letters and loyalties in the Shrewsbury–Stuart domestic politics of the 1580s

5. Hardwick Hall: building a woman’s house

6. Elizabeth Hardwick’s material negotiations

7. Bess of Hardwick’s gynocracy in textiles

8. A difficult and volatile alliance: the countess of Shrewsbury and the Lady Arbella Stuart

Conclusion

Selected bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (viewed on March 23, 2026).

ISBN:

9781526101303

1526101300

OCLC:

1084316933