Earl of Pembroke to the Earl Of Shrewsbury. October 16, 1604.

William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, and Susan de Vere

In this series:

• William, Lord Herbert, from Heir to Earl.
• Earl of Pembroke to the Earl Of Shrewsbury. October 16, 1604.
• The Herbert Brothers' Transition to Royal Favor.
• Dramatis Personae: the Herbert Brothers, Susan Vere and Ben Jonson.

Here we have a letter from William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, announcing the affiance of his brother, Philip, to Lady Susan De Vere, daughter of the 17^th Earl of Oxford. Pembroke himself had once been promised Oxford's daughter, Bridget, until it proved impossible to come to an agreement on the marriage contract.

During these early years, James I was particularly generous with his affections and gifts to many young noblemen. Philip had quickly become a particular favorite, presumably because he was a constant and enthusiastic hunting companion. During July of the year, he had been awarded the Order of the Bath. James was said to feel toward him like another son.

Susan de Vere, daughter of Edward de Vere, the 17^th Earl of Oxford, was also in attendance at Court. In early December of 1603, she was one of a small number of English ladies invited by the French ambassador to an ambassadorial dinner.¹ On January 8, 1604 she and her sister, Elizabeth, the Countess of Derby, were each one of 11 of the Queen's ladies² to appear in Samuel Daniel's masque Vision of the Twelve Goddesses.

Upon the death of Elizabeth, their father had applied for the ancient rights of the Earls of Oxford, in their office of Lord Great Chamberlain, regarding the Coronation ceremonies of the new king. His requests were entirely approved. It had been many years since the old Earl had a request approved by an English monarch. This had been followed by a request for the earldom's ancient rights of keepership of Havering Park and Waltham Forest. This, too, was approved (with one small carve-out). The change in Edward's circumstances had to feel liberating. He might well hope for more and better.

Whether Oxford personally attended upon King James during the days surrounding the coronation, or one or more stand-ins for him, would not seem to be a matter of record. The Earl's health had long been in decline. Like Prospero, in his Epilogue to The Tempest, he well might say:

Now my charmes are all ore-throwne,

And what strength I hav is mine owne

Which is most faint

He died in June of 1604. So then, he was alive to observe the “long love, and many changes” of Philip and Susan and the very beginning of the change in all their circumstances that came with the ascension of James.

The question would also seem to be unanswered as to whether Edward attended the Christmas festivities celebrated that first year at Hampton Court. There can be little doubt that he would attend if his health permitted. He was in some degree favored by the new monarch. His heirs' prospects might well be enhanced by his making an appearance. Surely, he remembered his youth as a courtier as an exciting time filled with pleasure and promise.

No. XXXVIII.

(Talbot Papers, Vol. K. fol. 225.)

THE EARL OF PEMBROKE

TO THE EARL OF SHREWSBURY. 1604.

My Lord,

Though I had no direct messenger to send unto your Lordship, I rather chose to write by post than leave you unadvertised of that which is as joyful unto me as any thing that ever fell out since my birth; I cannot now write unto you all the circumstances, but at my coming down, your Lordship shall know as much as myself. The matter in brief is that, after long love, and many changes, my brother on Friday last was privately contracted to my Lady Susan, without the knowledge of any of his or her friends. On Saturday she acquainted her uncle with it, and he me. My Lord of Cranborne seemed to be much troubled at it at first, but yesterday the King, taking the whole matter on himself, made peace on all sides. It is so pleasing a thing to me that I could not but strive to give your Lordship the first notice of it myself, which now having performed, I beseech your Lordship to pardon my brevity, and impute it to the many businesses this accident hath laid upon me. At my coming down I will make your Lordship a large relation of all that hath passed in our world, though very little worthy the note; till which time, wishing your Lordship all the happiness this earth can afford, I rest your Lordship's most affectionate son to serve you,

Pembroke.

Hampton Court, this 16th of October [1604].

To the right honourable my very good Lord the

Earl of Shrewsbury.

Source: Lodge, Edmund. Illustrations of British History, Biography, and Manners, in the Reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary, Elizabeth, & James I, III.100-1

1 Law, Ernest. A Royall Masque by Samuel Daniel. Presented Upon Sunday Night, Being the Eight Of January, 1604, In The Greate Hall At Hampton Court,... (1880). 8.

2   Law. 43. “The first three Goddesses were Juno, Pallas, and Venus, the characters being represented respectively by Lady Suffolk, the Queen, and Lady Rich. The next three were Diana, Vesta, and Proserpine, represented by Lady Hertford, Lady Bedford, and Lady Derby. The next were Macaria, Concordia, and Astrasa, by Lady Hatton, Lady Nottingham, and Lady Walsingham. And lastly, Flora, Ceres, and Tethys, by Lady Susan Vere, Lady Dorothy Hastings, and Lady Elizabeth Howard.

Also at Virtual Grub Street:

• More on Thomas North as Shakespeare and author of Arden of Feversham. June 14, 2021. “This is also the reason why the title pages included the address of the shop that was selling the book.”
• A 1572 Oxford Letter and the Player’s Speech in Hamlet. August 11, 2020. “The player’s speech has been a source of consternation among Shakespeare scholars for above 200 years.  Why was Aeneas’ tale chosen as the subject?”
• Gutenberg, proto-Hack Writers and Shakespeare. May 26, 2020. “A less well known effect of the Reformation was that many young Catholic men who had taken religious orders in order to receive an education began to lead lives at large from monastic discipline.  Like Erasmus and Rabelais they took up the pen.”
• Shakespeare’s Funeral Meats. May 13, 2020. “Famous as this has been since its discovery, it has been willfully misread more often than not.  No mainstream scholar had any use for a reference to Hamlet years before it was supposed to have been written.”
• Check out the English Renaissance Article Index for many more articles and reviews about this fascinating time and about the Shakespeare Authorship Question.
• Check out the Letters Index: Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford for many letters from this fascinating time, some related to the Shakespeare Authorship Question.