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436:
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41:
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In 1605, Rich sued for a divorce, and
Penelope wanted to marry Blount and legitimise their children. In the divorce proceedings, she publicly admitted to adultery. The divorce was granted, but the requests to remarry and legitimise her children were refused. She married Blount in a private ceremony
583:
in 1601, Lord Rich had
Penelope and her children by Mountjoy cast out. Mountjoy, like Penelope, had been implicated in the Essex rebellion, but the Queen, who wished to show as much clemency as possible to the rebels, took no action against either of them. Lady Rich moved in with her lover, and the
467:
Whether Sidney fell passionately in love with
Penelope in the years between her arrival at court in 1581 and his own marriage in 1583, or whether the "Stella" sonnets were courtly amusements reflecting fashionable poetic conceits may never be known. In her essay "Sidney, Stella, and Lady Rich",
655:, was followed by the disgrace of both parties, who were banished from court by King James. The couple continued to live together as husband and wife with their children until his death a few months later. Blount died on 3 April 1606 and Penelope on 7 July 1607.
354:(later 1st Earl of Warwick). Penelope is said to have protested in vain against the alliance with Rich. The marriage was unhappy from the start, and Philip Sidney continued to have an emotional attachment to her until his death in 1586.
335:. Perhaps the marriage of Lady Essex with the earl of Leicester, which destroyed Philip Sidney's prospects as his uncle Leicester's heir, had something to do with the breaking off of the proposed match with Penelope.
428:
and 11 songs. Many of the poems were circulated in manuscript form before the first edition was printed by Thomas Newman in 1591, five years after Sidney's death. They were set by the French lutenist
308:
in
September 1576. He had sent a message to Philip Sidney from his death-bed expressing his desire that he should marry his daughter, and later his secretary wrote to the young man's father, Sir
447:
Frontispiece to a copy of
Astrophel and Stella. The poems circulated in manuscript form before the first edition was printed in 1591. This edition included ten of Sidney's songs, a preface by
572:. Lord Rich took no action during the lifetime of Penelope's brother, the powerful Earl of Essex, who became the ageing Queen's favourite in the years after the death of Leicester in 1588.
408:
Penelope Rich was considered one of the beauties of
Elizabeth's court. She was golden-haired with dark eyes, a gifted singer and dancer, fluent in French, Italian, and Spanish.
338:
She had a strict
Puritan upbringing and quite a simple life until she was presented at Court in early 1581. In January, she arrived at court accompanied by her guardian's wife,
476:, whoever they may have been, to link "Stella" with Lady Rich. The exact nature of Sidney's relationship with the famous beauty is another and much more ticklish matter ..."
888:
1196:
304:, and must have been frequently thrown into the society of Sidney, in consequence of the many ties between the two families. Essex died in
748:
774:
Huntingdon was the first cousin of Walter
Devereux, Earl of Essex, whose mother Dorothy Hastings was the sister of Huntingdon's father.
339:
599:
in May 1603 and escorted the new queen on her entry to London. She served Anne as a Lady of the
Bedchamber. The French ambassador the
529:. Hilliard is known to have painted two miniatures of Lady Rich, in 1589 and 1590 for her brother, the Earl of Essex. He sent one to
320:
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However
Penelope became tainted by association with her brother's plotting. Essex shocked many people, after the failure of
342:, who was Leicester's sister and Sidney's aunt. In March 1581 Huntingdon as her guardian secured the queen's assent through
665:
332:
270:
131:
1166:
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492:, and Lady Rich was much cultivated by poets and musicians during her brother's ascendancy at court in the 1590s. Poet
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343:
178:; January 1563 – 7 July 1607) was an English court office holder. She served as lady-in-waiting to the English queen
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113:
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Lettice Rich (d. 1619), named after her maternal grandmother Lettice Knollys and known as Lucy. Married firstly
1062:
The Polarisation of Elizabethan Politics: The Political Career of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, 1585–1597
1211:
1117:
424:). Likely composed in the 1580s, it is the first of the famous English sonnet sequences, and contains 108
1151:
1146:
576:
347:
262:
1089:
826:
Freedman, Sylvia, Poor Penelope: Lady Penelope Rich, An Elizabethan Woman (Oxford: Kensal Press, 1983).
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couple began a very public relationship. Mountjoy was created Earl of Devonshire on the accession of
742:
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644:
510:
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Penelope's arranged marriage to Rich had been unhappy, and by 1595 she began a secret affair with
623:
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wrote a sonnet about the portrait. Essex gave the second miniature to the French ambassador for
204:, whom she married in an unlicensed ceremony following her divorce from Rich. She died in 1607.
1186:
1045:, edited by J. A. van Dorsten, Dominic Baker-Smith, and Arthur F. Kinney. Brill Archive, 1986,
443:
40:
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identified her as an influential courtier, and gave her a diamond-set miniature portrait of
1181:
1141:
1136:
530:
416:
319:, inherited the Earldom of Essex on their father's death in 1576, and Penelope, her sister
235:
Penelope's stepfather Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, and her mother Lettice Knollys.
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8:
439:
English poet, courtier, diplomat Philip Sidney (1554 – 1586) , National Portrait Gallery
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697:
Hammer, p. 22. Hammer cites M. Margetts: "A christening date for Lady Penelope Rich",
500:, his first work, which was published anonymously in November 1594, to Penelope Rich.
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607:. She was one of the ladies in waiting "taken out" from the audience to dance during
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No one since 1935 has seriously doubted that Sidney intended the first readers of
312:, in words which seem to point to the existence of a very definite understanding.
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Penelope Rich, who, despite her surname, was a daughter of Penelope by Blount
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asked for portraits of the Earl of Essex and Lady Rich in December 1595.
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186:, and is traditionally thought to be the inspiration for "Stella" of Sir
45:
Portrait miniature thought to be Penelope Devereux, Lady Rich, c.1590 by
752:. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 292.
556:, to "Madame Riche", commending (in Italian) her musical judgement, and
552:
Charles Tessier dedicated his book of part-songs in French and Italian,
618:
301:
282:
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Penelope's illegitimate children acknowledged by Charles Blount were:
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sonnet sequence (published posthumously in 1591). She was married to
1077:, Taylor & Francis Group, Routledge, 2nd revised edition 2003,
411:
Penelope is traditionally thought to have inspired Philip Sidney's
226:
86:
484:
in 1586. In 1590, Penelope's brother Essex married Sidney's widow
580:
425:
273:, later 1st Earl of Banbury. Catherine Carey was the daughter of
305:
255:
Walter Devereux, 2nd Viscount Hereford, later 1st Earl of Essex
78:
579:, by denouncing her as a traitor, and after his execution for
1041:
Duncan-Jones, Katherine. "Sidney, Stella, and Lady Rich." In
889:"Portrait of a lady, possibly Penelope, Lady Rich, c. 1590"
200:(later 1st Earl of Warwick) and had a public liaison with
1004:
Poor Penelope: Lady Penelope Rich, An Elizabethan Woman
982:
Anna of Denmark, Queen of England: A Cultural Biography
834:
832:
651:
in London. This proceeding, carried out in defiance of
404:
believed to be of Dorothy and Penelope Devereux c. 1581
1043:
Sir Philip Sidney: 1586 and the Creation of a Legend
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617:
on 1 January 1604. She danced as the nymph Ocyte in
514:(1598) to her; and sonnets are addressed to her by
327:. In 1578 their widowed mother married the Queen's
560:composed "My Lady Rich's Galliard" in her honour.
300:on a visit to Lady Essex in 1575, on her way from
1028:UK and Ireland, Find a Grave Index, 1300s-Current
292:in 1572. Penelope was a child of twelve when Sir
1128:
207:
965:MĂ©moire des sages et royales oeconomies d'Estat
563:
521:In 1586 she was a godmother to the daughter of
504:dedicated his translation of Portuguese author
281:, Gentleman of the Privy Chamber, or her lover
1017:Mountjoy, 1563–1606: The Last Elizabeth Deputy
980:(Cambridge, 2008), pp. 63, 66: Leeds Barroll,
1019:(Dublin, Clonmore & Reynolds, 1958), 226.
978:The Stuart Court Masque and Political Culture
588:, and Lady Rich was in high favour at court.
1099:. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
591:She was among the ladies who rode north to
910:Memorials of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth
533:(later James I of England), and the poet
357:Penelope's children by Robert Rich were:
1118:The Correspondence of Lady Penelope Rich
1075:A Historical Dictionary of British Women
948:Calendar State Papers, Venice: 1603-1607
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668:(c.1597–1666), later 1st Earl of Newport
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950:, vol. 10 (London, 1900), p. 27 no. 40.
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704:
610:The Masque of Indian and China Knights
480:Sidney died of wounds received at the
451:and verses from other poets including
387:(1590–1649), later 1st Earl of Holland
381:(1587–1658), later 2nd Earl of Warwick
325:Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon
104:Charles Blount, 1st Earl of Devonshire
761:
759:
713:
375:and had three sons and five daughters
132:Mountjoy Blount, 1st Earl of Newport
1197:People from the Borough of Stafford
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570:Charles Blount, 8th Baron Mountjoy
461:Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford
13:
1006:(London, Kensal Press, 1983), 188.
967:, 2 (Amsterdam, 1639), pp. 271–72.
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634:Charles Blount, 8th Baron Mountjoy
184:Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex
147:Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex
14:
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1111:
963:, vol. 2 (London, 1890), p. 421:
876:Nicholas Hilliard: Life of Artist
432:and published in London in 1597.
340:Catherine, Countess of Huntingdon
1096:Dictionary of National Biography
937:Pelican Books edition 1988 p.357
912:, vol. 1 (London, 1754), p. 342.
333:Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester
253:, she was the elder daughter of
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114:Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick
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878:(Yale, 2019), pp. 17, 223, 227.
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118:Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland
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468:Katherine Duncan-Jones writes:
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202:Charles Blount, Baron Mountjoy
16:English noblewoman (1563–1607)
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1177:17th-century English nobility
1172:16th-century English nobility
1035:
959:Maximilien de BĂ©thune Sully,
680:another child died in infancy
545:(above) may be one of these.
208:Early life and first marriage
1207:Household of Anne of Denmark
984:(Philadelphia, 2001), p. 86.
961:Memoirs of the Duke of Sully
743:"Rich, Penelope, Lady"
564:Affair and charge of treason
554:Le premier livre de chansons
511:The Seven Books of the Diana
7:
1057:retrieved 21 February 2009.
792:Philip Sidney's mother was
639:conducted by his chaplain,
352:Robert Rich, 3rd Baron Rich
198:Robert Rich, 3rd Baron Rich
100:Robert Rich, 3rd Baron Rich
10:
1228:
1167:17th-century English women
1162:16th-century English women
1157:Daughters of British earls
1107:, London: Duckworth, 1931
647:, on 26 December 1605 at
498:The Affectionate Shepherd
317:Robert, Viscount Hereford
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701:238, (1993), pp. 153–54.
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645:Archbishop of Canterbury
350:, for her marriage with
182:. She was the sister of
165:Penelope Rich, Lady Rich
749:Encyclopædia Britannica
627:on Twelfth Night 1605.
516:John Davies of Hereford
288:Her father was created
1090:"Rich, Penelope"
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547:Queen Anne of Scotland
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541:. A miniature in the
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76:7 July 1607 (aged 44)
1212:Court of Elizabeth I
1064:Cambridge UP, 1999.
1015:Frederick M. Jones,
993:Duncan-Jones, p. 186
921:Duncan-Jones, p. 185
874:Elizabeth Goldring,
865:Duncan-Jones, p. 171
856:Duncan-Jones, p. 170
838:Duncan-Jones, p. 188
765:Duncan-Jones, p. 182
531:James VI of Scotland
422:Astrophil and Stella
417:Astrophel and Stella
371:Essex Rich, married
315:Penelope's brother,
193:Astrophel and Stella
624:Masque of Blackness
474:Astropil and Stella
263:Sir Francis Knollys
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605:Henry IV of France
593:Berwick-upon-Tweed
490:Francis Walsingham
488:, daughter of Sir
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523:Nicholas Hilliard
506:Jorge de Montemor
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482:Battle of Zutphen
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932:J. E. Neale
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527:miniaturist
392:Poets' muse
379:Robert Rich
137:John Blount
129:Isabel Rich
1131:Categories
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619:Ben Jonson
496:dedicated
385:Henry Rich
302:Kenilworth
127:Essex Rich
653:canon law
329:favourite
96:Spouse(s)
81:, England
67:, England
32:Lady Rich
595:to meet
539:Henry IV
176:Devereux
91:Devereux
699:N&Q
586:James I
581:treason
486:Frances
426:sonnets
321:Dorothy
1081:
1068:
1049:
817:p. 371
306:Dublin
153:Mother
143:Father
79:London
685:Notes
241:Born
110:Issue
1122:EMLO
1079:ISBN
1066:ISBN
1047:ISBN
930:Sir
896:2009
459:and
265:and
257:and
73:Died
54:Born
1120:in
621:'s
613:at
508:'s
249:in
245:at
190:'s
173:née
1133::
1093:.
1053:,
831:^
801:^
758:^
746:.
715:^
518:.
455:,
331:,
285:.
63:,
898:.
463:.
171:(
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