The execution of Mary, Queen of Scots at Fotheringhay Castle on 8 February 1587, drawn by Robert Beale, Clerk of the Privy Council, an eyewitness. The official witnesses, George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury and Henry Grey, 6th Earl of Kent are seated on the scaffold at left, identified as numbers 1 and 2. Sir Amias Paulet, Mary's gaoler, is identified as 3, top, seated left below daisArms of Talbot: Gules, a lion rampant or a bordure engrailed of the lastQuartered arms of George Talbot, KG, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury
George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, 6th Earl of Waterford, 12th Baron Talbot, KG, Earl Marshal (c. 1522/1528 – 18 November 1590) was an Englishmagnate and military commander. He also held the subsidiary titles of 15th Baron Strange of Blackmere and 11th Baron Furnivall. He was best known for his tenure as keeper of Mary, Queen of Scots between 1568 and 1585, his marriage to his second wife Elizabeth Talbot (Bess of Hardwick), as well as his surviving collection of written work.
Shrewsbury was selected as the keeper of Mary, Queen of Scots, who was imprisoned by QueenElizabeth I in 1568 after she had escaped to England from Scotland following the disastrous Battle of Langside. Shrewsbury received his ward at Tutbury Castle on 2 February 1569, but in June he removed to Wingfield Manor, whereupon a rescue was attempted by Leonard Dacre. The Earl had several houses and castles in the interior of the kingdom, in any of which Mary might be kept with little danger. In September the household was back again at Tutbury, where an additional guard or spy, temporarily joined the family in the person of Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon. In November took place the Northern Rebellion, with the revolt of the Earls of Northumberland and Westmorland, who planned to march on Tutbury. Mary was for the time being moved to Coventry, and did not return until the following January.
In May 1570 Shrewsbury conducted her to Chatsworth, where he foiled another cabal aiming for her release. Cecil and Mildmay visited Chatsworth in October, and agreed on Mary's removal to Sheffield Castle (Shrewsbury's principal seat), which took place shortly afterwards. At Sheffield, apart from occasional visits to the baths at Buxton, to Chatsworth, or to the old Hardwick Hall, she remained under Shrewsbury's guardianship for the next fourteen years. During the winter of 1571–72 the earl was in London, the queen during his absence being left in charge of Sir Ralph Sadler.[1] Meanwhile, in 1571, Lord Shrewsbury was appointed Lord High Steward (the premier Great Office of State) for the trial of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk (regarding the Ridolfi plot). Finally, in 1572, Lord Shrewsbury was appointed Earl Marshal, a position that he held (along with the aforementioned position of Justice in Eyre) until his death in 1590.
After the conviction of Mary for her role in the Babington Plot, Shrewsbury participated in her trial and was one of the official witnesses to her execution at Fotheringhay Castle on 8 February 1587.
Personal life, illness and death
Monument with effigy of George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, Sheffield Cathedral
Upon the death of his first wife, Gertrude Manners, Shrewsbury was immediately taken by Bess of Hardwick. In early 1568 he married her in a double wedding with their two eldest children from previous marriages. Elizabeth Shrewsbury, "Bess," commemorated her new initials in magnificent style: her house at Hardwick is topped with a balustrade within which the scrolling letters ES appear four times.
He sent a servant, Ralph Barber, on a shopping trip to Rouen in 1575. Barber bought wine, vinegar, damask and diaper linen for napkins, silk, canvas, caged live quails, and sugar confitures, which he delivered to the earl in London.[2]
Queen Elizabeth had imposed the responsible task of guarding Mary on Shrewsbury, and did not allow him to resign the charge for over 15 years. For this and other reasons (such as disputes over property distribution) his marriage with Bess of Hardwick, while initially successful, became rocky, and began to deteriorate around 1583, as detailed by surviving letters between the two.[1][3] Slowly but increasingly declining health (rheumatism) caused chronic pain, and money issues that inevitably came about during his time as keeper of the Queen of Scots, made him additionally caustic. Elizabeth attempted to reconcile Shrewsbury and Hardwick between 1586 and 1589; however, while the latter was in support of this, Shrewsbury seems to have remained indignant and spent his final years without her, instead seeking the comfort of Eleanor Britton, one of his servants.[1][4]
George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury died on 18 November 1590, survived by his wife Bess of Hardwick. He was buried in the Shrewsbury chapel at Sheffield Parish Church (now Sheffield Cathedral), where a large monument erected to him remains.
Marriages and children
1580 portrait of George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury
Francis, Lord Talbot, eldest son and heir apparent, who predeceased his father, having married, in 1563, Anne Herbert, a daughter of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1501–1570). He was known as "Lord Talbot", a courtesy title, being one of his father's lesser titles.
Henry Talbot (1554–1596), who married Elizabeth Rayner (1556–1612). Amongst his daughters were Gertrude Talbot, wife of Robert Pierrepont, 1st Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull, and Mary Talbot (1594–1676), who married firstly her step-brother Thomas Holcroft (1596 – c.1626) of Vale Royale, and secondly (in 1628) Sir William Airmine (or Armyne), 1st Baronet (1593–1651) of Osgodby, Lincolnshire. Elizabeth Rayner survived her husband and in 1595 remarried to Thomas Holcroft, son of another Thomas Holcroft.
Shrewsbury left behind much written documentation including letters and papers. Generally, these cover the time between his succession to the earlship in 1560 and his death.[5] Many of Shrewsbury's surviving papers found their way in the College of Arms and were re-united with others in the Lambeth Palace library in 1983 as the "Shrewsbury-Talbot papers". This historical resource was first published in 1791 by Edmund Lodge, and all the letters were more recently summarized in calendar form.[6]
Bill, E. G. W., ed., Calendar of Shrewsbury papers in the Lambeth Palace Library, Derbyshire Record Society (1966)
Batho, G. R., ed., Calendar of the Shrewsbury and Talbot manuscripts in the College of Arms, HMC (1971)
In addition to these, letters by Talbot to and from his second wife Bess of Hardwick survive in the University of Glasgow's collection and have been digitized by them online.[7]
Despite the wealth of surviving written material Shrewsbury's handwriting is notorious among scholars for its illegibility. For example, an 1875 article in the Sheffield Independent Press declared his handwriting "the despair of all transcribers" (a view still held by scholars and paleographers), which is worsened by the non-standard spelling of the time. It is accepted that Shrewsbury suffered from rheumatism ("gout") in his hand. Shrewsbury himself once referred to his pen-hand as "my evil favoured writing".[5]
Elizabeth Cavendish, later Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury, known as Bess of Hardwick, of Hardwick Hall, 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 businesswoman, increasing her assets with business interests including mines and glass-making workshops.
Lady Arbella Stuart was an English noblewoman who was considered a possible successor to Queen Elizabeth I of England. During the reign of King James VI and I, she married William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset, another claimant to the English throne, in secret. King James imprisoned William Seymour and placed her under house arrest. When she and her husband tried to escape England, she was captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London, where she died at age 39.
Sir William Cavendish MP was an English politician, knight and courtier. Cavendish held public office and accumulated a considerable fortune, and became one of Thomas Cromwell's "visitors of the monasteries" during the dissolution of the monasteries. He was MP for Thirsk in 1547. In 1547 he married Bess of Hardwick, and the couple began the construction of Chatsworth House in 1552, a project which would not be completed until after his death. His second son William Cavendish (1552–1626) became the first Earl of Devonshire, purchasing his title from the impecunious King James I.
Sheffield Manor Lodge, also known as Sheffield Manor or locally as Manor Castle, is a lodge built about 1516 in what then was a large deer park southeast of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, to provide a country retreat and further accommodate George Talbot, the 4th Earl of Shrewsbury, and his large family. The remnant of this estate is now known as Norfolk Park. The housing estate of Manor is named after Sheffield Manor Lodge.
Wingfield Manor is a ruined manor house left deserted since the 1770s, near the village of South Wingfield and some four miles (6.4 km) west of the town of Alfreton in the English county of Derbyshire. There is a working farm that forms part of the old manor.
Tutbury Castle is a largely ruined medieval castle at Tutbury, Staffordshire, England, in the ownership of the Duchy of Lancaster and hence currently of King Charles III. It is a scheduled monument and a Grade I listed building. People who have stayed in the castle include Eleanor of Aquitaine and Mary, Queen of Scots, who was a prisoner there.
Elizabeth Stuart, Countess of Lennox née Cavendish was an English noblewoman and the wife of Charles Stuart, 1st Earl of Lennox. She was the mother of Arbella Stuart, a close relation to the English and Scottish thrones.
Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury, 7th Earl of Waterford, 13th Baron Talbot, KG, styled Lord Talbot from 1582 to 1590, was a peer in the peerage of England. He also held the subsidiary titles of 16th Baron Strange of Blackmere and 12th Baron Furnivall.
Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke was the wife of William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke.
Mary Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury (1556–1632) was the wife of Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury.
Mary Seton (1542–1615) was a Scottish courtier and later a nun. She was one of the four attendants of Mary, Queen of Scots, known as the Four Marys. She was a sister at the Convent of Saint Pierre les Dames in Reims at the time of her death.
The Other Queen is a 2008 historical novel by British author Philippa Gregory which chronicles the long imprisonment in England of Mary, Queen of Scots. The story is told from three points of view: Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots; Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury, also known as Bess of Hardwick; and George Talbot, the 6th Earl of Shrewsbury.
Bastian Pagez was a French servant and musician at the court of Mary, Queen of Scots. He was born in Auvergne. He devised part of the entertainment at the baptism of Prince James at Stirling Castle in 1566. When Mary was exiled in England, Bastian and his family continued in her service. The 19th-century historians Agnes Strickland and William Barclay Turnbull considered his court role as equivalent to the English Master of the Revels; in England he was Mary's chamber valet and designed her embroidery patterns.
William Livingstone, 6th Lord Livingston,, was a Scottish lord of Parliament.
The Oxburgh Hangings are needlework bed hangings that are held in Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk, England, made by Mary, Queen of Scots and Bess of Hardwick, during the period of Mary's captivity in England.
Sir Henry Hardwick Cavendish (1550–1616) was the eldest son of the Tudor courtier Sir William Cavendish, and Lady Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury, known as "Bess of Hardwick". A Knight of the Shire for Derbyshire, he offered military service to Queen Elizabeth in the Netherlands as a captain in 1578; conducted several trade expeditions across Europe and into the Islamic Near East (Constantinople); served as High Sheriff of Derbyshire twice and was elected as Member of Parliament for Derbyshire five times.
Lady Gertrude Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury, formerly Gertrude Manners, was an English noblewoman of the Elizabethan period.
Sir Charles Cavendish was an English landowner. He was a son of Bess of Hardwick and William Cavendish (1505–1557).
Elizabeth or Bess Pierrepont (1568–1648) was a gentlewoman in household of Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary hoped that she could be trained to join the household of Queen Elizabeth, and prevented her marrying as her father wished.
Gilbert Curle or Curll was a Scottish secretary who served Mary, Queen of Scots during her captivity in England. He married Barbara Mowbray, one of three sisters serving Mary.
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