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{{Short description|English noblewoman and businesswoman}}{{Infobox nobility|name=Bess of Hardwick|title=Countess of Shrewsbury|image=File:Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury from NPG.jpg|caption=Bess of Hardwick, Countess of Shrewsbury, by [[Rowland Lockey]], 1592 in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London|birth_date=c. 1527|death_date=13 February 1608|burial_place=[[Derby Cathedral|All Saints Church]], [[Derby]]|noble family=Hardwick|spouse=Robert Barley<br>[[William Cavendish (courtier)| Sir William Cavendish]]<br>[[William St Loe| Sir William St Loe]]<br>[[George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury]]|issue=Frances Cavendish<br>Temperance Cavendish<br>[[Henry Cavendish (politician)|Henry Cavendish]]<br>[[William Cavendish, 1st Earl of Devonshire]]<br>[[Charles Cavendish (landowner, born 1553)|Charles Cavendish]]<br>[[Elizabeth Stuart, Countess of Lennox]]<br>[[Mary Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury]]<br>Lucrece Cavendish|father=John Hardwick|mother=Elizabeth Leeke}}
 
{{Use British English|date=June 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=AprilOctober 20132021}}▼
[[File:Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury from NPG.jpg|thumb|Bess of Hardwick, Countess of Shrewsbury, by [[Rowland Lockey]], 1592 in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London]]
[[File:HardwickArms Lozenge.png |thumb |Arms of Elizabeth Hardwick, as displayed on the plaster over mantle in the great hall of Hardwick Hall:<ref>[https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/45106433742356225/ The Hall, Hardwick Hall.] pinterest.com</ref> ''Argent, a saltire engrailed azure on a chief of the second three cinquefoils of the first''.<ref name="Burke's General Armory, 1884">Burke's General Armory, 1884</ref>
[[Escutcheon (heraldry)|Lozenge-shaped shield]] as appropriate for a female [[armiger]] ]]
[[File:Countess of Shrewsbury Coat of Arms - geograph.org.uk - 1629263.jpg |thumb|Arms of Elizabeth Hardwick displayed on parapet above main entrance of Hardwick Hall. The [[Supporters (heraldry)|supporters]] ''two stags'' are those of the Cavendish family]]
'''Elizabeth Cavendish''', later '''Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury''' (c.{{nee}} Hardwick; {{circa|1521}} 1527{{snd}} 13 February 1608), known as '''Bess of Hardwick''' (''née'' '''Elizabeth Hardwick'''), of [[Hardwick Hall]]|Hardwick inHall, Derbyshire]], was a notable figure of Elizabethan English society. By a series of well-made marriages, she rose to the highest levels of English nobility and became enormously wealthy. Bess was reportedly a shrewd business womanbusinesswoman, increasing her assets with business interests including mines and glass-making workshops.
 
She was married four times. Her first husband was Robert Barley (or Barlow), who died aged about 14 or 15 on 24 December 1544.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KToqD1c60PoC&pg=PA128 |title=The Elizabethans |last=Wilson |first=A. N. |date=2012-04-24 April 2012 |publisher=Farrar, Straus, and Giroux |isbn=9781466816190 |language=en}}</ref> Her second husband was the courtier [[William Cavendish (courtier)|Sir William Cavendish]]. Her third husband was [[Sir William St Loe]]. Her last husband was [[George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury]], sometime keeper to the captive [[Mary, Queen of Scots]]. An accomplished [[needlework|needlewoman]], Bess joined her husband's captive charge at [[Chatsworth House]] for extended periods in 1569, 1570, and 1571, during which time they worked together on the [[Oxburgh Hangings]].
 
In 1601, Bess ordered an inventory of the household furnishings, including [[textile]]s, at her three properties at Chatsworth, Hardwick, and Chelsea, which survives. In her will she bequeathed these items to her heirs to be preserved in perpetuity. The 400-year-old collection, now known as the Hardwick Hall textiles, is the largest collection of [[tapestry]], [[embroidery]], [[canvaswork]], and other textiles to have been preserved by a single private family. Bess is also well known for her building projects, the most famous of which are [[Chatsworth House|Chatsworth]], now the seat of the [[Dukes of Devonshire]] (whose family name is Cavendish as they descend from the children of her second marriage), and [[Hardwick Hall]].
 
==Origins==
Elizabeth Hardwick was the daughter of John Hardwick of [[Derbyshire]] by his wife Elizabeth Leeke, daughter of Thomas Leeke and Margaret Fox.<ref>[[Mary S. Lovell]]: ''Bess of Hardwick''</ref> Her exact birthdate is unknown, occurring in the period 1521 to 1527; that said, according to her witness statement under oath<ref>Public record Office, Kew; C1/1101</ref> at a court hearing in October 1546, in which she gives her age at the time of her first marriage in May 1543 as being '"of tender years'", i.e. less than 16, would indicate 1527. It cannot be later than 1527 because of the date of her father's death, given in his Inquisition Post Mortem.<ref>PRO:E/150/743/8</ref>
 
The Hardwicks had arrived in Derbyshire from Sussex by the mid-thirteenth century, and farmed land granted by Robert Savage, lord of the manor of SlingsbyStainsby, on the north-east border of Derbyshire, looking over Nottinghamshire. By the mid-fifteenth century the family had risen to '"gentleman-yeoman'" stock, with an estate of a few hundred acres located mainly in the parish of [[Ault Hucknall]] in the manor of SlingsbyStainsby. The Hardwick coat of arms of Hardwick was probably granted c. 1450 to William Hardwick. The blazon is: ''Argent, a saltier engrailed azure on a chief of the second three cinquefoils of the first''.<ref name="Burke's General Armory, 1884"/> When giving evidence of his right to arms in 1569, Bess's only brother, James Hardwick (1525-1580/1), provided the heralds with a pedigree of his family which began with this William, who died c. {{circa|1453}}.
 
James was the last surviving legitimate male member of the Hardwick family. The Hardwicks were members of the minor gentry of Scarsdale; no male member of the Hardwick family rose above the status of esquire or held any important local or county offices. Bess was born into this relatively minor gentry family. Her fourth marriage to the earl of Shrewsbury in 1567 elevated her to the rank of '"countess'", and following the earl's death in November 1590, Bess became one of the richest women in the kingdom. She set about building her greatest monument, [[Hardwick Hall|Hardwick New Hall]], which was completed in 1599.
 
==Early life==
John Hardwick died aged about 40 leaving a widow, son (and heir), and four daughters (five daughters were alive at the time he wrote his will). His widow, Elizabeth Leeke then remarried tomarried Ralph, the second son of the neighbouring Leche (or Leach) family of Chatsworth, in Derbyshire, by whom she would leave an additional three co-heiresses.
 
Little is known of Bess's early life. She appears to have been espoused to her first husband during the 1530s, and probably married for the first time in 1543. Despite the story being often repeated, there is no contemporary evidence whatsoever to support Dugdale's later claims that she became familiar with city life and the Tudor Court after being sent to live, aged twelve, in the [[London]] household of [[Anne Gainsford|Anne Gainsford, Lady Zouche]] of [[Codnor Castle]] in Derbyshire,<ref name="Digby">Digby, ''Elizabethan Embroidery'', ppp. 58-6358–63</ref> where she was supposedly influenced by Lady Zouche. Despite a lack of evidence, it is possible – but no more than that – that at some point, perhaps after the death of her first husband, she entered the service of the Zouches at Codnor Castle in Derbyshire.
 
A close family associate was a man named Henry Marmion whose family held land close to Codnor, and may have commended Bess to the Zouches who, along with the Vernons, were the only major Derbyshire family likely to have taken in such children. However, Anne Gainsford was in service in the households of [[Anne Boleyn]] and [[Jane Seymour]], and despite marrying Sir George Zouche in 1533, spent much of her time at court until after 1536, when she and Sir George made Codnor Castle their main residence. Not surprisingly, this period coincides with the time that Dugdale claimed Bess was in service to Anne Gainsford in London and at Codnor. However, there is no evidence to support the story, and Dugdale would have known much more about the early life of Lady Zouche than was known of Bess's origins. Again, according to Dugdale, from Codnor Bess entered the service of the Greys at Bradgate in Leicestershire, where she met and married her second husband, Sir [[William Cavendish (courtier)|William Cavendish]]. She certainly married Sir William at Bradgate, but that in itself does not prove that Bess was in service at Bradgate. It remains possible that she met Sir William elsewhere, possibly at Codnor. More likely, she was recommended to the Greys by Henry Grey's sister, Margaret, Lady Willoughby. Henry Marmion was one the Willoughby's most trusted upper servants, he was also one of the two men appointed in Bess's father's will and guardians of his children. (the other was Bess's uncle, John Leake).
 
It is again down to Dugdale that the story came about that from Codnor Bess entered the service of the Greys at Bradgate in Leicestershire, where she met and married her second husband, Sir [[William Cavendish (courtier)|William Cavendish]]. She certainly married Sir William at Bradgate, but that in itself does not prove that Bess was in service at Bradgate. It remains possible that she met Sir William elsewhere, possibly at Codnor.
 
==Bess's four marriages==
 
===First marriage===
In 1543, Bess married 13-year-old Robert Barley (or Barlow), heir to a neighbouring estate. The exact date of her marriage to Robert is unknown. It is thought that the marriage took place late May 1543, shortly before the death of Robert's father on 28 May. There is no evidence that they lived together as manhusband and wife.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/bessofhardwickpo00dura |url-access=registration |title=Bess of Hardwick: portrait of an Elizabethan dynast |last=Durant |first=David N. |date=January 1978 |publisher=Atheneum Publishers |language=en | page=[https://archive.org/details/bessofhardwickpo00dura/page/9 9]|isbn=9780689108358 }}</ref> Robert died in December 1544. There was no issue from the marriage, which had been arranged locally, probably initially to protect the Barley patrimony and to mitigate the impact of wardship on the Barley estate should Robert succeed his father as an underage heir. The traditional story that Robert and Bess met in London while in the service of a "Lady Zouche" is based on oral history, which can only be dated to the late seventeenth century (some eighty years after Bess's death). The marital claims to Robert's estate were disputed, and following his death Bess was refused dower by Peter Freschevile. A court battle ensued, which resulted in Bess being awarded her claim on the Barley estate and compensation, albeit several years after Robert's death.
 
===Second marriage===
[[File:Cavendish arms.svg|thumb|200px|Arms of Cavendish: ''Sable, three buck's heads cabossed argent''<ref>''Debrett's Peerage'', 1968, p. 355, Duke of Devonshire</ref>]]
On 20 August 1547, Bess married the twice-widowed Sir [[William Cavendish (courtier)|William Cavendish]]', Treasurer of the King's Chamber,<ref name="Digby" /> and became '''Lady Cavendish'''. The wedding took place at two o'clock in the morning, at the home of the [[Grey family]], friends of the couple. Sir William was more than twice Bess's age and the father of two daughters. His fortune had been made following the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]], since as an official of the [[Court of Augmentations]] he was able to select choice properties for himself. Possibly acting on Bess's advice, Sir William sold his lands in the south of England and bought the Chatsworth estates in her home county of [[Derbyshire]]. Sir William Cavendish died on 25 October 1557, leaving Bess widowed a second time and in deep debt to the Crown. Upon his death, Bess claimed the sum of his property, having insisted that his land be settled on their heirs.
The eight children of the marriage, two of whom died in infancy, were as follows::<ref>[http://roglo.eu/roglo?lang=en;i=4306713 Genealogy Database by Daniel de Rauglaudre] (retrieved 23 December 2012).</ref>
* '''Frances Cavendish''' (18 June 1548{{snd}}January 1632), the eldest child, married Sir [[Henry Pierrepont (MP)|Henry Pierrepont]], MP. Their children were:▼
 
** [[Robert Pierrepont, 1st Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull]] who married Gertrude Talbot. They had five sons including [[Henry Pierrepont, 1st Marquess of Dorchester]] and [[William Pierrepont (politician)|William Pierrepoint]], MP. Robert was also the forebear of the [[Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull|Dukes of Kingston-upon-Hull]], extinct since 1773. The [[Earl Manvers|Earls Manvers]] (extinct in 1955) succeeded to the Pierrepont Estates. ▼
▲*'''Frances Cavendish''' (18 June 1548{{snd}}January 1632), the eldest child, married Sir [[Henry Pierrepont (MP)|Henry Pierrepont]], MP. Their children were:
** [[Elizabeth Pierrepont]] married [[Thomas Erskine, 1st Earl of Kellie|Sir Thomas Erskine]], first [[Earl of Kellie]].
▲**[[Robert Pierrepont, 1st Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull]] who married Gertrude Talbot. They had five sons including [[Henry Pierrepont, 1st Marquess of Dorchester]] and [[William Pierrepont (politician)|William Pierrepoint]], MP. Robert was also the forebear of the [[Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull|Dukes of Kingston-upon-Hull]], extinct since 1773. The [[Earl Manvers|Earls Manvers]] (extinct in 1955) succeeded to the Pierrepont Estates.
** [[ElizabethGrace, Lady Manners|Grace Pierrepont]] married [[ThomasSir Erskine,George 1stManners. EarlThey ofhad Kellie|Sir Thomasfour Erskine]]children, firstincluding [[John Manners, 8th Earl of KellieRutland]].
* '''Temperance Cavendish''' (10 June 1549{{snd}}1550), 2nd child, died in infancy.▼
**[[Grace, Lady Manners|Grace Pierrepont]] married Sir George Manners. They had four children, including [[John Manners, 8th Earl of Rutland]].
* '''[[Henry Cavendish (politician)|Henry Cavendish]]''' (17 December 1550{{snd}}28 October 1616), 3rd child, a godson of Queen [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]].<ref name="Digby" /> He married Grace Talbot. Henry Cavendish is the forebear of the [[Baron Waterpark|Barons Waterpark]]. The title of Baron Waterpark is extant. He hated his wife and had no legitimate children. Instead he had eight illegitimate children, four boys and four girls. After attempting and failing to liberate his niece Arbella Stuart from his mother's estate, he was disinherited by his mother. Bess referred to him as "my bad son Henry".<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite ODNB|title=Cavendish, Henry (1550–1616), soldier and traveller|year=2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/4935|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-4935|language=en}}{{subscription required}}</ref>▼
▲*'''Temperance Cavendish''' (10 June 1549{{snd}}1550), 2nd child, died in infancy.
* '''[[William Cavendish, 1st Earl of Devonshire]]''' (27 December 1552{{snd}}3 March 1626), 4th child, forebear of the extant [[Duke of Devonshire|Dukes of Devonshire]].
▲*'''[[Henry Cavendish (politician)|Henry Cavendish]]''' (17 December 1550{{snd}}28 October 1616), 3rd child, a godson of Queen [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]].<ref name="Digby" /> He married Grace Talbot. Henry Cavendish is the forebear of the [[Baron Waterpark|Barons Waterpark]]. The title of Baron Waterpark is extant. He hated his wife and had no legitimate children. Instead he had eight illegitimate children, four boys and four girls. After attempting and failing to liberate his niece Arbella Stuart from his mother's estate, he was disinherited by his mother. Bess referred to him as "my bad son Henry".<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite ODNB|title=Cavendish, Henry (1550–1616), soldier and traveller|year=2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/4935|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-4935|language=en}}{{subscription required}}</ref>
* '''[[WilliamCharles Cavendish, 1st(died Earl1617)|Charles of DevonshireCavendish]]''' (2728 DecemberNovember 15521553{{snd}}34 MarchApril 16261617), 4th5th child, forebeara godson of the extantQueen [[DukeMary of Devonshire|DukesI of DevonshireEngland]].<ref name="Digby" /> He married Catherine Ogle, 8th Baroness Ogle. They had a son:
** [[William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne]], forebear of the [[Duke of Newcastle|Dukes of Newcastle]], extinct since 1691. The Barony of Ogle is in abeyance, as more than one person has a legal right to claim the title. The estates passed through to the female line to the Dukes of Portland and Newcastle-under-Lyne, both now extinct.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Girouard |first1= Mark |last2=Durant |first2=David |title= Hardwick Hall guidebook |publisher= The National Trust of England and Wales |year= 1989 |isbn= 978-1-84359-217-4 }}</ref>▼
*'''[[Charles Cavendish (1553–1617)|Charles Cavendish]]''' (28 November 1553{{snd}}4 April 1617), 5th child, a godson of Queen [[Mary I of England]].<ref name="Digby" /> He married Catherine Ogle, 8th Baroness Ogle. They had a son:
* '''[[Elizabeth Stuart, Countess of Lennox|Elizabeth Cavendish]]''' (31 March 1555{{snd}}21 January 1582), 6th child, wife of [[Charles Stuart, 1st Earl of Lennox]]. They had a daughter:
▲**[[William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne]], forebear of the [[Duke of Newcastle|Dukes of Newcastle]], extinct since 1691. The Barony of Ogle is in abeyance, as more than one person has a legal right to claim the title. The estates passed through to the female line to the Dukes of Portland and Newcastle-under-Lyne, both now extinct.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Girouard |first1= Mark |last2=Durant |first2=David |title= Hardwick Hall guidebook |publisher= The National Trust of England and Wales |year= 1989 |isbn= 978-1-84359-217-4 }}</ref>
*'''* [[ElizabethArbella Stuart|Lady Arbella Stuart, 2nd Countess of Lennox|Elizabeth Cavendish]]''' (31 March 1555{{snd}}21 January 1582), 6th child, wife ofmarried [[CharlesWilliam StuartSeymour, 1st2nd EarlDuke of LennoxSomerset]]., Theyan hadextant atitle. daughter:
* '''[[Mary Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury|Mary Cavendish]]''' (January 1556{{snd}}April 1632), 7th child, wife of [[Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury]]. They had five children including:
**[[Arbella Stuart|Lady Arbella Stuart, 2nd Countess of Lennox]], married [[William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset]], an extant title.
*'''* [[MaryAlethea TalbotHoward, Countess of ShrewsburyArundel|MaryLady Cavendish]]'''Alatheia (January 1556{{snd}}Aprilor 1632Alethea) Talbot]], 7thwho married [[Thomas childHoward, wife21st Earl of [[GilbertArundel|Thomas TalbotHoward, 7th1st Earl of ShrewsburyNorfolk]]. TheyThe hadtitle fiveof childrenDuke including:of Norfolk is extant.
** [[AletheaMary Howard, Countess ofTalbot ArundelHerbert|Lady Alatheia (or Alethea)Mary Talbot]], who married [[ThomasWilliam HowardHerbert, 21st3rd Earl of Arundel|Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of NorfolkPembroke]]. The title of DukeEarl of NorfolkPembroke is extant.
** [[MaryElizabeth TalbotGrey, HerbertCountess of Kent|Lady MaryElizabeth Talbot]] who married [[WilliamHenry HerbertGrey, 3rd8th Earl of PembrokeKent]]. The title Earl of PembrokeKent from the Grey family has been extinct issince extant1740.
* '''Lucrece Cavendish''' (born and died 1556), 8th child, probably the twin of Mary.▼
**[[Elizabeth Grey, Countess of Kent|Lady Elizabeth Talbot]] married [[Henry Grey, 8th Earl of Kent]]. The title Earl of Kent from the Grey family has been extinct since 1740.
▲*'''Lucrece Cavendish''' (born and died 1556), 8th child, probably the twin of Mary.
 
===Third marriage===
[[File:Blason Aragon.svg|thumb|200px|Arms of St Loe: ''Argent, a bend sable''<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/generalarmoryofe00burk/generalarmoryofe00burk_djvu.txt Burke's General Armory, 1884]</ref>]]
In 1559 Bess married a third time, to Sir [[William St Loe]] (1518–1565) (''alias'' St Lowe, Saintlowe, Sentloe, etc.) and became '''Lady St Loe'''. Her new husband was [[Captain of the Guard]] to Queen Elizabeth I and [[Chief Butler of England]]. Due to his relationship with Queen Elizabeth I, he was able to reduce the debt Bess owed and paid it back in full on her behalf.<ref name=":1">Lovell, M. S. (Spring 2018). Bess of Hardwick. ''National Trust Magazine'', ''148'', 32-33.</ref> He owned large [[West Country]] estates at [[Tormarton]] in [[Gloucestershire]] and [[Chew Magna]] in [[Somerset]], while his principal residence was at [[Sutton Court]] in [[Stowey]]. When he died without male issue in 1564/5, in suspicious circumstances (probably poisoned by his younger brother),<ref>[[Mary S. Lovell]]: ''Bess of Hardwick'', pp185-186</ref> he left everything to Bess, to the detriment of his daughters and brother.<ref name="Digby" /> In addition to her own six surviving children, Bess was now responsible for the two daughters of Sir William St Loe from his first marriage. However, those two daughters were already adults and otherwise well provided for.
 
Sir William St Loe's death left Bess one of the wealthiest women in England. Her annual income was calculated to amount to [[Pound sterling|£]]60,000, {{Inflation|UK|60000|1564|fmt=eq|cursign=£|r=-6}}.{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}} Further, she was a [[Lady of the Bedchamber]] with daily access to the Queen, whose favour she enjoyed. Still in her late 30s, Bess retained her looks and good health, and a number of important men began courting her.
 
===Fourth marriage===
[[File:Talbot arms.svg|thumb|200px|Arms of Talbot: ''Gules, a lion rampant within a bordure engrailled or''<ref>Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p. 1015, E. of Shrewsbury & Waterford</ref>]]
Despite being courted by several suitors, Bess did not remarry until 1568, when she married for the fourth time to become '''Countess of Shrewsbury.''' Her new husband, [[George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury]], was one of the premier aristocrats of the realm, and the father of seven children by his first marriage. Indeed, two of his children were married to two of hers in a [[Wedding#Double wedding|double ceremony]] in February 1568: Bess's daughter [[Mary Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury|Mary Cavendish]], aged 12, was given in marriage to Shrewsbury's eldest son [[Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury|Gilbert]], aged 16; while Bess's son, Sir Henry Cavendish, aged 18, married Shrewsbury's daughter Lady Grace Talbot, aged 8.
 
In the year before Bess and the Earl of Shrewsbury were married, a political disturbance arose in Scotland, which would profoundly affect their lives. [[Battle of Carberry Hill|Rebel Scottish lords]] rose up against [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], imprisoned her, and forced her to abdicate in favour of her one-year-old infant son, [[James VI and I|James]]. In May 1568, Mary escaped captivity in Scotland, and fled south towards England, seeking the protection of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth. However, the English authorities were not sure how to receive her. On 18 May, she was taken into protective custody at [[Carlyle Castle|Carlisle Castle]] by local officials.
 
Queen Elizabeth felt obliged to host and protect Mary, her cousin, against the rebellious Scottish lords. However, due to [[Mary, Queen of Scots#Claim to the English throne|Mary's persistent claim to the English throne]], Elizabeth also regarded her as a threat. Elizabeth had Mary moved to [[Bolton Castle]] in [[Yorkshire]], where she was lodged under the guard of [[Francis Knollys (the elder)|Francis Knollys]], pending the [[Casket letters#Conference at York.2C, Westminster.2C, and Hampton Court|York Conference]] inquiry, regarding Mary's fate. The inquiry results were inconclusive; yet Elizabeth did not set Mary free. Instead, Mary would be detained under the custody of the Earl of Shrewsbury, and his wife Bess. Elizabeth's instruction to Bess and her husband amounted to little more than Mary's house arrest. Mary reached her new residence, [[Tutbury Castle]], in February 1569, when she was 26 years old, and would remain in the custody of Shrewsbury and Bess for 15 years. Elizabeth shifted the costs of the imprisonment to Shrewsbury. It was recorded that Mary would use the couple's insecurities against each other, even convincing Talbot that Bess was stealing.<ref name=":1" /> Mary's presence in their home, as well as the financial costs and political tensions, may have contributed to the rift between Shrewsbury and Bess, which would lead eventually to the break-up of their marriage.<ref>Bess of Hardwick Empire Builder 2005 Mary S. Lovell p 210.</ref><ref>Roderick Graham (2009) ''The Life of Mary Queen of Scots.'' pp 314–316</ref>
 
While in the care of the earl and countess, Queen Mary lived at one or another of their many houses in the [[The Midlands, England|Midlands]]: [[Tutbury Castle|Tutbury]], [[Wingfield Manor]], [[Chatsworth House]],<ref>E. Carleton Williams, ''Bess of Hardwick'' pp 74–80</ref> and [[Sheffield Manor]]. Throughout this period, Bess spent time as Mary's companion, working with her on embroidery and textile projects. Indeed, all Mary's work later became part of Bess's historical collection at [[Hardwick Hall]].<ref>Lovell, 2005, pp 220–221</ref>
[[File:Bess of Hardwick as Mistress St Lo.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Bess of Hardwick, 1550s]] Bess joined Mary at Chatsworth for extended periods in 1569, 1570, and 1571, during which time they worked together on the [[Oxburgh Hangings]].<ref name="Digby"/> Bess sent Elizabeth I a remarkable dress as a New Year's Day gift for 1577, according to Elizabeth Wingfield, who wrote;<blockquote>Her Majesty never liked any thing you gave her so well, the colour and strange trimming of the garments, with the rich and great cost bestowed upon that, has caused her to give out such good speeches of my lord and your Ladyship as I never heard of better, she told my Lord of Leicester and my Lord Chamberlain that you had given her such garments this year as she never had any so well liked her, and said that good noble couple, they show in all things what love they bear me.<ref>Alison Wiggins, ''Bess of Hardwick’s Letters: Language, Materiality, and Early Modern Epistolary Culture'' (Routledge, 2017), pp. 181–182.</ref><ref>[https://www.bessofhardwick.org/letter.jsp?letter=97 Bess of Hardwick's Letters, ID: 097]</ref></blockquote>
 
It was not until Mary was removed to another keeper, Sir [[Amias Paulet]], that she got into the trouble that would lead ultimately to [[Mary, Queen of Scots#Death|her execution]]. Previous to the Queen's change in custody, Shrewsbury and Bess separated for good. They had been apart, off and on, since about 1580; and even Queen Elizabeth had tried to get them to reconcile. Mary seems to have aggravated, if not created, their problems by playing them off against each other. The Countess spread rumors that her husband Shrewsbury had been in a relationship with Mary, a charge which has never been proved or disproved, and in any case which she later retracted,<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Shrewsbury, Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of|volume=24|page=1017}}</ref> but seems unlikely given Shrewsbury's disposition and increasingly poor health.{{Citation needed | date=December 2013}} On his death in 1590, Bess became [[Dowager]] Countess of Shrewsbury. She lived mostly at HardwickeHardwick, where she built the new mansion Hardwick Hall, which inspired the rhyme, "Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall", because of the number and size of its windows.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.architecture.com/HowWeBuiltBritain/HistoricalPeriods/TudorsAndStuarts/ProdigyHouse/HardwickHallDerbyshire.aspx |title=Royal Institute of British Architects |access-date=20 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921055242/http://www.architecture.com/HowWeBuiltBritain/HistoricalPeriods/TudorsAndStuarts/ProdigyHouse/HardwickHallDerbyshire.aspx |archive-date=21 September 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>Levey, ''Of Household Stuff'', ppp.10-11 10–11; Levey, ''An Elizabethan Inheritance'', ppp. 20-3920–39 ''passim''</ref> She was indeed one of the greatest builders of her time at Hardwick, [[Chatsworth House]], and [[Oldcotes Manor|Oldcoates]].<ref name="EB1911"/>
 
==The Stuart connection==
In 1574 Bess arranged a marriage between one of her daughters and the son of the [[Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox|Countess of Lennox]]. This was a significant match for Bess because the Countess of Lennox was Margaret Douglas, a member of the royal family, being the daughter of Margaret Tudor, Queen Dowager of Scotland and sister of Henry VIII, and therefore, also Queen Elizabeth's first cousin.
 
In this match, the bride was Bess's daughter, [[Elizabeth Stuart, Countess of Lennox|Elizabeth Cavendish]], and the groom was [[Charles Stuart, 1st Earl of Lennox|Charles Stuart]], who was himself also the first cousin of [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], (through their grandmother, the same Margaret Tudor). The groom was also the younger brother of [[Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley]] who had been married to Mary until his death. This marriage, therefore, enabled a claim to the throne for any of Bess's grandchildren born of the marriage.
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Arbella's royal claim was never recognized. Despite disinheriting Arbella and her eldest son (Henry: for aiding Arbella's escape); Bess later had a "lukewarm reconciliation with her granddaughter.<ref name=":1" /> Bess has been an ancestor of the royal line since 1952; [[Queen Elizabeth II]] being Bess's descendant through the dukes of Portland, in whose family was Elizabeth II's maternal grandmother, [[Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck]].
 
In 1604 Bess was involved with [[Anne of Denmark|Queen Anne]] in an unsuccessful attempt to found a college or university at [[Ripon]] in Yorkshire. The scheme was promoted by Cecily Sandys, the widow of the Bishop [[Edwin Sandys (bishop)|Edwin Sandys]].<ref>[[Francis Peck]], ''Desiderata Curiosa'', vol. 1 (London, 1779), p. 290.</ref>
 
==Death and burial==
[[File:Bess of Hardwick- Derby Cathedral.JPG|thumb|Effigy of Elizabeth Hardwick wearing a [[coronet]] of a [[Earl|countess]]. [[Derby Cathedral]]]]
[[File:Inscription on Bess of Hardwick's memorial, Derby Cathedral - geograph.org.uk - 626240.jpg|thumb|Inscribed memorial tablet above the effigy of Elizabeth Hardwick in [[Derby Cathedral]]]]
Bess of Hardwick died at 5 &nbsp;pm on Saturday 13 February 1608, aged 81c.87. At the time of her death she remained "one of the richest, and most powerful women in the kingdom".<ref name=":1" /> On 16 February her body was placed in a vault in All Saints Church, Derby, then the parish church of that city (demolished 1723 and rebuilt, since 1927 [[Derby Cathedral]]), under an elaborate monument with a laudatory inscription which she took care to put up in her lifetime.<ref name="EB1911"/> The monument with effigy survives, having been saved from the former demolished building.{{Citation needed|date=February 2015}} Stories of her body lying in state for weeks in the Great Chamber at Hardwick are mythical.{{citation needed|date=February 2015}} Her accumulated estates were left to her children from her second marriage.<ref name="EB1911"/>
 
==Fiction==
===Television===
* A 10-part BBC series about Bess titled ''Mistress of Hardwick'' was broadcast in 1972, with [[Hilary Mason]] in the title role. The script was written by [[Alison Plowden]], and the series won the Writers' Guild Award for the best educational television series. Most of the episodes are now lost. Plowden wrote a tie-in book, also called ''Mistress of Hardwick'', which was published by the BBC in April 1972.
 
===Film===
* She is portrayed by [[Gemma Chan]] in the 2018 movie ''[[Mary Queen of Scots (2018 film)|Mary Queen of Scots]]''.
 
===Literature===
* Bess is the main character in ''Venus in Winter'' by Gillian Bagwell (2 July 2013).
* Bess of Hardwick is a character in ''[[The Other Queen]]'' by [[Philippa Gregory]].
* Bess is the title character of ''A Woman of Passion'' by [[Virginia Henley]].
* She also features prominently in the book ''The Captive Queen of Scots'' by [[Jean Plaidy]].
* She is the title character in the novel ''The Queenmaker'' by [[Maureen Peters (novelist)|Maureen Peters]].
* She appears in ''[[The Secret Confessions of Anne Shakespeare]]'' by [[Arliss Ryan]].
* She is the main character in the [[Jan Westcott]] historical/[[biography in literature|biographical fiction]] novel ''[[The Tower and The Dream]]''.
* In [[Dorothy Sayers]]'s novel ''[[Gaudy Night]]'', Bess of Hardwick is referred to as the mother of Mary, Countess of Shrewsbury, the patroness of the fictitious Shrewsbury College at Oxford.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pcLTJYnKDdEC&q=bess+of+hardwick+gaudy+night&pg=PT69|title=''Gaudy Night''|last=Sayers|first=Dorothy|date=2012|publisher=Open Road Media|pages=68–69|isbn=9781453258958|access-date=2014-10-14}}</ref>
* Bess of Hardwick is the narrator of ''Petticoat King'', a 1929 novel by Miriam Michelson.
* Bess is a character in the short story "Antickes and Frets" by Susanna Clarke, in her 2006 collection ''[[The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories]]''.
 
===Music===
* The song "Hardwick's Lofty Towers" by [[Sarah McQuaid]] is from the perspective of Bess. It appears on her 2012 album ''The Plum Tree and the Rose.''
 
==References==
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==Bibliography==
* {{cite book
| last1 = Jamison
| first1 = Catherine
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| oclc = 535572
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Bill
| first = E. G. W
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| location = London
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Costello
| first = Louisa Stuart
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| location = London
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Digby
| first = George Wingfield
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| location = New York
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Durant
| first = David N.
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| isbn = 0-297-77305-4
}}
* {{cite book |last = Durant
|first = David N.
|title = Bess of Hardwick: Portrait of an Elizabethan Dynasty
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|url = https://archive.org/details/bessofhardwickpo00dura
}}
* {{cite book |last = Eisenberg
|first = Elizabeth
|title = This Costly Countess: Bess of Hardwick
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|url = https://archive.org/details/thiscostlycounte00eise_0
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Hubbard
| first = Kate
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| isbn = 0-571-20800-2
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Kettle
| first = Pamela
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| isbn = 1-898937-39-7
}}
* {{cite journal
| last = Kilburn
| first = Terry
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| issn = 0070-3788
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Levey
| first = Santina
| authorlinkauthor-link = Santina M. Levey
|author2=Peter Thornton
| title = Of Houshold Stuff: The 1601 Inventory of Bess of Hardwick<!-- spelling houshold is correct -->
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| isbn = 0-7078-0329-2
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Levey
| first = Santina
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| isbn = 1-905400-21-7
}}
* {{cite book |last = Lovell
|first = Mary S.
|author-link = Mary S. Lovell
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|url = https://archive.org/details/bessofhardwickem00love
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Lovell
| first = Mary S.
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| isbn = 0-316-72482-3
}}
* {{cite book |last = Pearson
|first = John
|title = The Serpent and the Stag
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|url = https://archive.org/details/serpentstag00pear
}}
* {{cite book |last = Plowden
|first = Alison
|title = Mistress of Hardwick
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|url = https://archive.org/details/mistressofhardwi00plow
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Rowse
| first = A.L.
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| publisher = The University of Georgia Press
| location = Athens, Georgia
| isbn = 9780820306490
}}
* {{cite book |last = Westcott
|first = Jan
|title = The Tower and the Dream
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|url = https://archive.org/details/towerdream00west
}} [Biographical fiction]
* {{cite book
| last = Williams
| first = Ethel Carleton
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* {{NPG name}}
 
▲{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2013}}
{{Authority control}}
 
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[[Category:People from Bolsover District]]
[[Category:16th-century English women]]
[[Category:16th-century English people]]
[[Category:16th-century English nobility]]
[[Category:17th-century English womenlandowners]]
[[Category:17th-century English people]]
[[Category:17th-century English nobility]]
[[Category:16th-century English landowners]]
[[Category:Women16th-century English women landowners]]
[[Category:16th17th-century English women landowners]]
 
[[Category:Court of Elizabeth I]]
[[Category:Wives of knights]]
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