English School Portrait of a Lady 1595-1605 in white

Elizabeth Southwell (1584-1631) was an English courtier who lived in Florence She was a daughter of

Sir Robert Southwell Sir Robert Southwell PRS (31 December 1635 – 11 September 1702) was a diplomat. He was Secretary of State for Ireland and President of the Royal Society from 1690. Background and education Robert Southwell was born near Kinsale in County ...

and Elizabeth Howard, and a granddaughter of Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham. She was appointed maid of honour to Queen Elizabeth in 1599 to replace Margaret Ratcliffe, and joined the court in January 1600. She danced in the masque at the marriage of Anne Russell and

Henry Somerset, 1st Marquess of Worcester Henry may refer to: People * Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portuga ...

in June 1600. The other dancers, led by

Mary Fitton Mary Fitton (or Fytton) (baptised 24 June 1578 – 1647) was an Elizabethan gentlewoman who became a maid of honour to Elizabeth I of England, Queen Elizabeth. She is noted for her scandalous affairs with William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, V ...

, were Lady Dougherty (Dorothy Hastings), Mistress Carey, Mistress Onslow (Cordell Annesley), Bess Russell, Mistress Darcy, and Blanche Somerset. They wore skirts of cloth of silver, waiscoats embroidered with coloured silks and silver and gold thread, mantles of carnation taffeta, and "loose hair about their shoulders" which was also "curiously knotted and interlaced". Southwell also took part in the Harefield Entertainment in August 1602. She wrote an account of the death of Queen Elizabeth. The narrative mentions her great aunt Lady Scrope. Southwell was also maid of honour to

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and Queen of England and Ireland from the union of the Scottish and Eng ...

. A letter of the

Earl of Worcester Earl of Worcester is a title that has been created five times in the Peerage of England. Five creations The first creation came in 1138 in favour of the Norman noble Waleran de Beaumont. He was the son of Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leice ...

describing the household in 1604 mentioned that "of late the Lady Sothwell sfor the drawing chamber". Her mother also joined the queen's household for a time. She left England with her cousin Robert Dudley, the son of Douglas, Lady Sheffield and the

Earl of Leicester Earl of Leicester is a title that has been created seven times. The first title was granted during the 12th century in the Peerage of England. The current title is in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and was created in 1837. Early creatio ...

, in 1605. Rowland Whyte heard that Dudley had lodged Southwell and her servant Mistress Rice in a nunnery at

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. She married him in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

. The validity of the marriage was questioned in English law, and also, according to John Chamberlain, by the Pope. Sir Francis Leake wrote, "if he do marry Mrs Southwell, it is felony by these last statutes". Their daughter Anne died in 1629. She died in 1631 and was buried in San Pancrazio, Florence where there was formerly a Latin inscription including her age, given as 37 years. Her portrait was drawn in an Italian armorial.John Temple Leader, ''Life of Sir Robert Dudley'' (Florence, 1895), pp. 9-10, 146.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Southwell, Elizabeth 1584 births 1631 deaths Maids of honour from the Kingdom of England Court of Elizabeth I Household of Anne of Denmark

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

Expatriates of the Kingdom of England in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany