ABSTRACT
Emilia Bassano, the younger daughter of Baptista Bassano and his 'reputed wife' Margaret Johnson, is without doubt the most widely known member of her family and the only one to have achieved an entry in the DNB. Emilia was baptized on 27 January 1569 at St Botolph Bishopsgate. When Emilia was eighteen, her mother died too; but before that, apparently, as Simon Forman tells us, 'she was brought up with the Countess of Kent'. The 'minstrel' in question was Alphonso Lanier, a Court musician and a cousin of hers, to whom Emilia was married on 10 October 1592 at St Botolph Aldgate. In 1597, according to Forman's notes, Emilia was living in Longditch, Westminster. The unusual circumstances leading to the marriage of Alphonso and Emilia as well as his attempts to become a knight. In 1597, according to Forman's notes, Alphonso and Emilia were living in Longditch, Westminster.
