Bess of Hardwick

Durant, David N.

ISBN 10: 0297773054 / ISBN 13: 9780297773054

Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1977

About this Item

Signed by author on front free endpaper. Bookplate. Dustwrapper has been laminated.

Seller Inventory # 036971

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Bess of Hardwick
• Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London
• Publication Date: 1977
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0297773054
• ISBN 13: 9780297773054
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)

About this title

Synopsis

The fascinating biography of an extraordinary woman that will be essential reading for anyone with an interest in the sixteenth century and in Tudor history.

Born the daughter of an impoverished Derbyshire squire, through a succession of advantageous marriages, Bess of Hardwick moved closer and closer to a position of power and influence in the heart of the royal court. As the Countess of Shrewsbury she was the second most powerful woman in the land after Queen Elizabeth I. However, Bess of Hardwick was not just someone who married well but a formidable and talented business woman who ran her estates with great acumen and who became one of the richest women in England. Queen Elizabeth I held Bess in such esteem that she entrusted her with the important and arduous task of acting as jailer to Mary, Queen of Scots. During her lifetime Bess built two great country houses which are still admired today - Chatsworth and Hardwick - and fulfiled her lifetime’s ambition of founding a great dynasty. By the end of the nineteenth century her blood was flowing through most of the aristocratic families of England and she more than guaranteed her status as one of the most remarkable women in Tudor history.

Review

The most authentic account of her [Bess of Hardwick] and her activities that we have --Sunday Telegraph

Both the buildings of Hardwick and Bess's subsequent way of life there are vividly bought to life . . . the story remains a fascinating one, told in fascinating detail --Times Literary Supplement