Elizabeth Read Online Free Page A
Elizabeth is in good health, thanks be to our Lord, and such a child toward, as I doubt not but your Highness shall have cause to rejoice of in time coming.’ 11
For Elizabeth, although bereft of her mother, there was a happy occurrence in June 1536. Katherine Champernowne joined the household as a Waiting Gentlewoman. Katherine, whom the little Elizabeth would come to call ‘Kat’, was the daughter of Sir Philip Champernowne of Bere and Modbury, in Devonshire. She was appointed on the recommendation of Thomas Cromwell. The Champernownes were a very well-connected West Country family. Kat’s cousin, another Katherine, married twice, becoming the mother of the notable Elizabethan explorers and colonizers, Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleigh.
Kat became Elizabeth’s Governess in 1537; she married Sir John Ashley, a distant cousin of Anne Boleyn, in 1545, and stayed in Elizabeth’s service until her death. She was a well-educated woman and taught the three-year-old girl her letters and numbers. Kat joined a household in turmoil, however. In August, Kat’s superior and Elizabeth’s Governess at the time, Lady Margaret Bryan, wrote to Thomas Cromwell of her concerns about Elizabeth’s rich diet, lack of appropriate clothing and the confusion in her status under the stewardship of Sir John Shelton (the Governor of the household at Hunsdon). The letter sums up all the anguish, frustration and confusion that resulted from the death and disgrace of Elizabeth’s mother:
… Now it is so, my Lady Elizabeth is put from that degree she was afore, and what degree she is of now, I know not but by hearsay. Therefore I know not how to order her, nor myself, nor none of hers that I have the rule of – that is herwomen and grooms, beseeching you to be good lord to my lady, and to all hers; that she may have some raiment; for she hath neither gown, nor kirtle, nor petticoat, nor no manner of linen nor smocks …
My lord, Mr Shelton would have my Lady Elizabeth to dine and sup every day at the board of estate. Alas! My lord, it is not meet for a child of her age to keep such rule yet. I promise you, my lord, I dare not take it upon me to keep her grace in health an’ she keep that rule. For there she shall see divers meats, and fruits, and wine, which it would be hard for me to restrain her grace from … She is yet too young to correct greatly … Wherefore I show your lordship this my desire, beseeching you, my lord, that my lady have a mess [meal] of meat at her own lodging … according as my Lady Mary’s grace had afore, and to be ordered in all things as her grace was afore. 12
There is no confirmation that the new clothes, or cloth to make them, ever arrived, but Lady Margaret’s plea for a simple diet for the child, to be served in her private quarters, was addressed. On 16 August, Sir John Shelton wrote to Cromwell, ‘I perceive by your letter the King’s pleasure that my lady Elizabeth shall keep her chamber and not come abroad.’ Shelton also requested money to buy food for the household; the King’s warrant had not arrived on time. 13
It is impossible to know the extent to which Elizabeth may have been affected by her parents’ divorce and her mother’s death. Two particular events possibly made some impression on the young child, though. The first occurred in January 1536, when Catherine of Aragon died at Kimbolton. As Ambassador Chapuys reported to Charles V:
The King dressed entirely in yellow from head to foot, with the single exception of a white feather in his cap. His bastard daughter Elizabeth was triumphantly taken to church to the sounds of trumpets and with great display. Then, after dinner, the King went to the Hall where the Ladies were dancing, and there made great demonstrations of joy, and at last went to his own apartments, took the little bastard in his arms, and began to show her first to one, then to another, and did the same on the following days. 14
A second event occurred only
For Elizabeth, although bereft of her mother, there was a happy occurrence in June 1536. Katherine Champernowne joined the household as a Waiting Gentlewoman. Katherine, whom the little Elizabeth would come to call ‘Kat’, was the daughter of Sir Philip Champernowne of Bere and Modbury, in Devonshire. She was appointed on the recommendation of Thomas Cromwell. The Champernownes were a very well-connected West Country family. Kat’s cousin, another Katherine, married twice, becoming the mother of the notable Elizabethan explorers and colonizers, Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleigh.
Kat became Elizabeth’s Governess in 1537; she married Sir John Ashley, a distant cousin of Anne Boleyn, in 1545, and stayed in Elizabeth’s service until her death. She was a well-educated woman and taught the three-year-old girl her letters and numbers. Kat joined a household in turmoil, however. In August, Kat’s superior and Elizabeth’s Governess at the time, Lady Margaret Bryan, wrote to Thomas Cromwell of her concerns about Elizabeth’s rich diet, lack of appropriate clothing and the confusion in her status under the stewardship of Sir John Shelton (the Governor of the household at Hunsdon). The letter sums up all the anguish, frustration and confusion that resulted from the death and disgrace of Elizabeth’s mother:
… Now it is so, my Lady Elizabeth is put from that degree she was afore, and what degree she is of now, I know not but by hearsay. Therefore I know not how to order her, nor myself, nor none of hers that I have the rule of – that is herwomen and grooms, beseeching you to be good lord to my lady, and to all hers; that she may have some raiment; for she hath neither gown, nor kirtle, nor petticoat, nor no manner of linen nor smocks …
My lord, Mr Shelton would have my Lady Elizabeth to dine and sup every day at the board of estate. Alas! My lord, it is not meet for a child of her age to keep such rule yet. I promise you, my lord, I dare not take it upon me to keep her grace in health an’ she keep that rule. For there she shall see divers meats, and fruits, and wine, which it would be hard for me to restrain her grace from … She is yet too young to correct greatly … Wherefore I show your lordship this my desire, beseeching you, my lord, that my lady have a mess [meal] of meat at her own lodging … according as my Lady Mary’s grace had afore, and to be ordered in all things as her grace was afore. 12
There is no confirmation that the new clothes, or cloth to make them, ever arrived, but Lady Margaret’s plea for a simple diet for the child, to be served in her private quarters, was addressed. On 16 August, Sir John Shelton wrote to Cromwell, ‘I perceive by your letter the King’s pleasure that my lady Elizabeth shall keep her chamber and not come abroad.’ Shelton also requested money to buy food for the household; the King’s warrant had not arrived on time. 13
It is impossible to know the extent to which Elizabeth may have been affected by her parents’ divorce and her mother’s death. Two particular events possibly made some impression on the young child, though. The first occurred in January 1536, when Catherine of Aragon died at Kimbolton. As Ambassador Chapuys reported to Charles V:
The King dressed entirely in yellow from head to foot, with the single exception of a white feather in his cap. His bastard daughter Elizabeth was triumphantly taken to church to the sounds of trumpets and with great display. Then, after dinner, the King went to the Hall where the Ladies were dancing, and there made great demonstrations of joy, and at last went to his own apartments, took the little bastard in his arms, and began to show her first to one, then to another, and did the same on the following days. 14
A second event occurred only
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