Bess of Hardwick: Empire Builder

Bess of Hardwick: Empire Builder

by Mary S. Lovell
Bess of Hardwick: Empire Builder

Bess of Hardwick: Empire Builder

by Mary S. Lovell

Paperback(Reprint)

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Overview

"The best account yet available of this shrewd, enigmatic and remarkable woman."—Sunday Times [London]

From the author of The Sisters, a chronicle of the most brutal, turbulent, and exuberant period of England's history. Bess Hardwick, the fifth daughter of an impoverished Derbyshire nobleman, did not have an auspicious start in life. Widowed at sixteen, she nonetheless outlived four monarchs, married three more times, built the great house at Chatsworth, and died one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in English history.

In 1527 England was in the throes of violent political upheaval as Henry VIII severed all links with Rome. His daughter, Queen Mary, was even more capricious and bloody, only to be followed by the indomitable and ruthless Gloriana, Elizabeth I. It could not have been more hazardous a period for an ambitious woman; by the time Bess's first child was six, three of her illustrious godparents had been beheaded.

Using journals, letters, inventories, and account books, Mary S. Lovell tells the passionate, colorful story of an astonishingly accomplished woman, among whose descendants are counted the dukes of Devonshire, Rutland, and Portland, and, on the American side, Katharine Hepburn.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780393330137
Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date: 06/17/2007
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 608
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Mary S. Lovell's best-selling biographies include Straight on Till Morning (Beryl Markham) and The Sisters (the Mitford family). She lives in England.

Table of Contents


The Family Tree of Bess of Hardwick     x
Introduction     xiii
Merrie England 1520-40     1
Child Bride, Child Widow 1540-7     18
Lady Cavendish 1547     34
Family Matters 1547-51     52
Dangerous Times 1552-6     77
'Your Poor Friend' 1556-8     94
Sir William St Loe 1518-58     116
'My Own Sweet Bess' 1559-61     142
Lady St Loe in Trouble 1561-5     169
A Very Eligible Widow 1565-9     188
A Difficult Guest 1569-73     210
A Dangerous Match 1574-5     240
Raising Arbella 1576-8     259
Enough to Alienate the Heart 1578-81     279
Discord 1582-4     297
No Winners 1585-6     317
Death of a Queen 1586-90     336
The Dowager Countess 1590-2     365
More Window than Wall 1592-9     389
'In Perfect Health and Good Memory' 1600-02     416
Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth 1602-03     429
End of an Era 1603-08     447
A Long Arm...1608 et seq.     471
Appendices
Discussion of Bess of Hardwick's Date of Birth     481
The Office of Wards     483
SirWilliam Cavendish's Statement to the Star Chamber, August 1557     485
What happened to Bess's Children and Grandchildren     488
Extract from Tree Showing the Relationship between the Brandons and the Hardwicks     496
The Stepchildren of Bess of Hardwick     497
Family Tree: Selective Tree Showing the Heirs of Henry VII     498
Notes     499
Bibliography     529
Acknowledgements     536
Picture Credits     538
Index     541
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