Lady Anne Bacon A woman of learning at the Tudor court

Lady Anne Bacon was a highly educated woman who lived through the great political and religious transitions of five reigns and was embedded in the network of power at the Tudor court. Her intelligence and education took her far beyond the limits of the domestic sphere and she was caught up in pivotal events, including the crisis at the accession of Mary I and the reform of the Church of England under Edward VI and Elizabeth I. Yet, like many women, her place in the historical record remains shadowy and few today have heard of her. Drawing on her subject’ s forthright letters and other contemporary sources, Deborah Spring’ s deeply researched and compellingly readable book reveals Anne Bacon’ s extraordinary part in shaping the public story of Tudor history.

Deborah Spring originally studied social anthropology, later gaining an MA in garden history at Birkbeck, University of London, and a further MA in biography at the University of East Anglia. Formerly an academic publisher, she now researches and writes about history, with particular interest in women’ s history, the sixteenth century, gardens and landscapes.

Introduction 1 Gidea Hall 2 The schoolroom 3 The boy king 4 This Godly work 5 Redgrave Hall 6 Kenninghall 7 The crown is not my right 8 A new reign 9 Women in waiting 10 Accession 11 The Apologia 12 Family 13 Death and aftermath 14 Feme sole 15 Golden lads 16 Mistress of Gorhambury Conclusion