THE SIDNEYS OF PENSHURST AND THE MONARCHY, 15001700
To
Mary and James Brennan
and
Geraldine, Christina and Alice Brennan
First published 2006 by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
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Copyright Michael G. Brennan 2006
Michael G. Brennan has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Brennan, Michael G.
The Sidneys of Penshurst and the monarchy, 15001700
1. Sidney, Philip, Sir, 15541586Political activity 2. Sidney (Family) 3. Sidney (Family) Political activity 4. Penshurst Place (England) 5. Monarchy Great Britain History 16th century 6. Monarchy Great Britain History 17th century 7. Great Britain Politics and government 14851603 8. Great Britain Politics and government 16031714
I. Title
942'.05'0922
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Brennan, Michael G.
The Sidneys of Penshurst and the monarchy, 15001700 / Michael G. Brennan.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 07546-5060-X (alk. paper)
1. Sidney family. 2. Sidney, Philip, Sir, 15541586Political activity. 3. Great BritainPolitics and government14851603. 4. Great BritainPolitics and government16031714. 5. MonarchyGreat BritainHistory16th century. 6. MonarchyGreat BritainHistory17th century. 7. Sidney familyPolitical activity. 8. Penshurst Place (England) I. Title.
DA306.S6B74 2005
942.05'092'2dc22
2005013065
ISBN 13: 978-0-7546-5060-7 (hbk)
Contents
The plate section can be found between page
George Vertue, Mary Tudor, widow of King Louis XII of France and Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk
English School, Sir Henry Sidney
John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland
Jacobus Houbraken, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester
Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick
Sir Philip Sidney
Franois, Duke of Alenon
(from) John Derrick, The Image of Ireland (1581)
Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke
Paul von Somer, Robert Sidney, first Earl of Leicester
William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke
Philip Herbert, Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery
Lady Mary Wroth, The Countess of Montgomerys Urania (1621), title page
Cornelius Janssens (Jonson), Robert Sidney, second Earl of Leicester
Dorothy Percy Sidney, Countess of Leicester
Algernon Percy, Earl of Northumberland
(attributed to) Gerard Honthorst, Philip Sidney, Viscount Lisle, later third Earl of Leicester
Algernon Sidney
Dorothy Sidney Spencer, Countess of Sunderland
Henry Spencer, first Earl of Sunderland
Robert Spencer, second Earl of Sunderland
George Vertue, Penshurst Place in 1747 in Edward Hasted, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent (Canterbury, 177899)
Baynards Castle, London
Houghton Park House, Bedfordshire
My greatest debt while writing this book is to Philip Sidney, Viscount De LIsle, MBE, DL, and also to his father, the late William Sidney, Viscount De LIsle, VC, KG, for their generosity and prolonged support in allowing me access to their remarkable collection of family papers and portraits. I am most grateful to Lord and Lady De LIsle, as well as to their daughter Sophia and son Philip, for their welcoming hospitality at Penshurst Place during the celebrations on 25 April 2002 to mark the 450th anniversary of the granting of the Penshurst estate to Sir William Sidney. During a brief tour of the portraits in the Solar or State Dining Room, the idea for this book was first conceived. I am also grateful to Bonnie Vernon at Penshurst Place for her assistance in obtaining photographs of the Sidney family portraits included in this study.
Without the long-term collaboration and friendship of two distinguished Sidney scholars, Margaret Hannay and Noel Kinnamon, this book would not have been written. For well over a decade, we have constantly exchanged our thoughts and materials on the Sidneys, very often on a daily basis through emails. The richness of their knowledge and rigour of their scholarship, coupled with their willingness to share stimulating and challenging ideas, have provided me with an ideal forum for debate and historical discovery. No less important are my earliest debts in Sidney studies to my undergraduate tutor, Glenn Black, who first introduced me to the intellectual richness of Astrophil and Stella and the Arcadia and then to the joint supervisors of my D.Phil, thesis, Katherine Duncan-Jones and Penry Williams, who were both unfailingly generous with their time, advice, and knowledge of the period.
I also owe much to a memorable colloquium, hosted by Lord and Lady De LIsle and their son Philip, at Penshurst on 78 July 2003. This event. The Textures of Life at Penshurst Place, 15521743, was convened by Germaine Warkentin and Susie West under the sponsorship of the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art and CRASSH (University of Cambridge). I have drawn much in this book from informative papers delivered at this colloquium by Germaine Warkentin, Susie West, Lisa Celovsky, Margaret Hannay, Roger Kuin, Elizabeth Goldring, Hilary Maddicott, Gavin Alexander, and Joseph Black. Their knowledge was often supplemented in fruitful discussions by other delegates, including Christy Anderson, Clare Browne, Ian Donaldson, Karen Hearn, Stephen Hipkin, Maurice Howard, Arthur Kinney, John Morrill, Linda Peck, and Robert Shephard.
This book has depended heavily upon the published findings of many other researchers into the cultural and political activities of the Sidneys, including John Buxton, Peter Croft, Jan van Dorsten, Katherine Duncan-Jones, Alan Hager, Millicent Hay, Alan Houston, Bent Juel-Jensen, Dennis Kay, Richard McCoy, James Osborn, William Ringler, Jr., Josephine Roberts, Jonathan Scott, Victor Skretkowicz, Alan Stewart, Malcolm Wallace, Andrew Weiner, Blair Worden, and Henry Woudhuysen. Other scholars, especially Peter Beal, John Gouws, John Pitcher, Will Ryan, and Andrew Wawn, have also greatly assisted my researches.
The staff of the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds have been unfailingly helpful and I am very grateful to Chris Sheppard, Deputy Keeper of Special Collections, and to Jill Winder, for their invaluable assistance in locating illustrations and arranging photographic work. I am also grateful to the staff of the Bodleian Library, Oxford, the British Library, the Leeds Library, and the Centre for Kentish Studies, Maidstone, where most of the Sidney familys papers are now held. At Ashgate Publishing, I have been fortunate to be able to draw upon the advice and expertise of its commissioning editors, Tom Gray and John Smedley; its editorial manager (humanities), Ann Newell; Nicole Norman (publicity); Emma McBriarty (desk editor); and Alyson Lacewing (proof-reader). I have been greatly assisted in producing the final typescript and electronic drafts of this book by Pamela Rhodes and Naomi French at the School of English.
