ABSTRACT
On 11 June 1594, Spenser married Elizabeth Boyle (d 1622), who is traditionally, though not certainly, identified as the poet’s beloved in the Amoretti (see sonnet 74) and as his betrothed in Epithalamion. She was a cousin of Richard Boyle, who established the family in Ireland. Richard (1566-1643) claimed descent from the Boyle family which had lived in Herefordshire from the eleventh century. His father, Roger, was a younger son who moved to Kent in the mid-sixteenth century. His cousin Stephen, who lived in Northamptonshire, was father of the Elizabeth Boyle who married Spenser. Both Roger and Stephen Boyle died young. Roger’s two surviving sons went up to Bene’t (now Corpus Christi) College, Cambridge, on scholarship. The elder, John, took holy orders and later, through the influence of his brother, became Bishop of Cork. The younger son, Richard, left Bene’t to study at the Middle Temple. Too poor to complete his studies in the law and much too ambitious to settle for a career as a clerk, he resolved to try his luck in Ireland. Within twenty years of arriving in Dublin in 1588, he had become the richest man in Ireland. After a succession of honors, he was created Earl of Cork in 1620.
