ABSTRACT
Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke (illustration 9), became famous during her lifetime as a patron, poet, and translator. She was also praised for her beauty, musical ability, and needlework, as well as for her religious devotion and her familial connections at court. As the daughter of Sir Henry Sidney and Mary Dudley Sidney, she was related to the prominent Dudleys; her grandfather John Dudley, earl of Warwick and Duke of northumberland, attempted in July 1553 to place Lady Jane grey on the throne instead of Queen Mary, and then was executed, as were Lady Jane and her husband guildford Dudley. Mary’s surviving Dudley uncles were Ambrose, earl of Warwick, and Robert, earl of Leicester. Having been friends with elizabeth from childhood, they emerged in importance after her accession, as did Katherine Dudley Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon; all three supported the Sidneys.1
