Lucy Hay, Countess of Carlisle (''née'' Percy; 15995 November 1660) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the official ...

known for her beauty and wit. She was involved in many political intrigues during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

Life

She was born Lady Lucy Percy, the second daughter of Henry, Earl of Northumberland (the famous "Wizard Earl") and his wife Lady Dorothy Devereux. In 1617, she became the second wife of

James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle KB (c. 1580March 1636) was a British noble. Life A Scot, he was the son of Sir James Hay of Fingask, second son of Peter Hay of Megginch (a branch member of Hay of Leys, a younger branch of the Erroll family) a ...

. Her charms were celebrated in verse by contemporary poets, including

Thomas Carew Thomas Carew (pronounced as "Carey") (1595 – 22 March 1640) was an English poet, among the 'Cavalier' group of Caroline poets. Biography He was the son of Sir Matthew Carew, master in chancery, and his wife Alice, daughter of Sir John Rive ...

, William Cartwright, Robert Herrick and Sir John Suckling, and by Sir Toby Matthew in prose. In 1626, she was appointed

Lady of the Bedchamber Lady of the Bedchamber is the title of a lady-in-waiting holding the official position of personal attendant on a British queen regnant or queen consort. The position is traditionally held by the wife of a peer. They are ranked between the Mis ...

to Henrietta Maria, Queen of England.Robert Wilche: The Discontented Cavalier: The Work of Sir John Suckling in Its Social, Religious, Political and Literal Context (2007) She soon became a favourite of the queen, and participated in two of her famous

masque The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A masq ...

plays.

She was a conspicuous figure at the court of King Charles I. A contemporary scandal made her the mistress successively of

Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, (13 April 1593 ( N.S.)12 May 1641), was an English statesman and a major figure in the period leading up to the English Civil War. He served in Parliament and was a supporter of King Charles I. From 1 ...

, and of

John Pym John Pym (20 May 1584 – 8 December 1643) was an English politician, who helped establish the foundations of Parliamentary democracy. One of the Five Members whose attempted arrest in January 1642 sparked the First English Civil War, his use ...

, his parliamentary opponent. Strafford valued her highly, but after his death in 1641, possibly in consequence of a revulsion of feeling at his abandonment by the court, she devoted herself to Pym and the interests of the parliamentary leaders, to whom she communicated the king's most secret plans and counsels. Her greatest achievement was the timely disclosure to her cousin Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, of the king's intended arrest of the

five members The Five Members were Members of Parliament whom King Charles I attempted to arrest on 4 January 1642. King Charles I entered the English House of Commons, accompanied by armed soldiers, during a sitting of the Long Parliament, although the Fi ...

of the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

in 1642, which enabled Essex and the others to escape. However, she appears to have served both parties simultaneously, betraying communications on both sides, and doing considerable mischief by inflaming political animosities. In 1647, she attached herself to the interests of the moderate Presbyterian party, which assembled at her house, and in the Second Civil War showed great zeal and activity in the royal cause, pawning her pearl necklace for £1500 to raise money for Lord Holland's troops, establishing communications with Prince Charles during his blockade of the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

, and making herself the intermediary between the scattered bands of royalists and the queen. As a result, her arrest was ordered on 21 March 1649, and she was imprisoned in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

, where she maintained a correspondence in code with the king through her brother, Lord Percy, until Charles went to Scotland. According to a royalist newsletter, while in the Tower, she was threatened with torture on the

rack Rack or racks may refer to: Storage and installation * Amp rack, short for amplifier rack, a piece of furniture in which amplifiers are mounted * Bicycle rack, a frame for storing bicycles when not in use * Bustle rack, a type of storage bi ...

to gain information. She was released on bail on 25 September 1650, but appears never to have regained her former influence in the royalist counsels, and died soon after the Restoration. She died suddenly on 5 November 1660; after 'dining well' at lunchtime she fell suddenly sick around 2pm whilst 'cutting a piece of ribbon'. She was dead by 5 or 6pm that same day.Journal of Robert, 2nd Earl Leicester. Kent Archives. U1475/F24 p. 109

In literature

François de La Rochefoucauld mentioned in his ''Memoirs'' an anecdote he was told by

Marie de Rohan Marie Aimée de Rohan (December 1600 – 12 August 1679) was a French courtier and political activist, famed for being the center of many of the intrigues of the first half of the 17th century in France. In various sources, she is often known ...

, in which Lucy Hay stole some diamond studs (a present of the king of France to

Anne of Austria Anne of Austria (french: Anne d'Autriche, italic=no, es, Ana María Mauricia, italic=no; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was an infanta of Spain who became Queen of France as the wife of King Louis XIII from their marriage in 1615 un ...

) the queen had given to George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham from the duke as revenge because he had loved her before he loved the queen of France. The king of France then wanted to see the studs and somehow the queen was able to recover them. Alexandre Dumas later used this entire story, and therefore he probably based

Milady de Winter Milady Laurence de Winter, often referred to as simply Milady, is a fictional character in the novel ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844) by Alexandre Dumas, père, set in 1625 France. She is a spy for Cardinal Richelieu and is one of the dominant a ...

on Lucy Carlisle in his 1844 novel ''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight ...

''. She was the subject of Sir John Suckling's risqué poem ''Upon My Lady Carlisle's Walking in Hampton Court Garden.''

References

Sources

* Betcherman, Rose (2005). ''Court Lady and Country Wife: Two Noble Sisters in Seventeenth-Century England.'' New York: HarperCollins. * "Carlisle, Lucy Hay, countess of." ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

''. 2005.
Discussion of ''Upon My Lady Carlisle's Walking in Hampton Court Gardens'' by Sir John Suckling
( Guardian.co.uk, 2011) {{DEFAULTSORT:Carlisle, Lucy Hay, Countess of 1599 births 1660 deaths 17th-century English women 17th-century English nobility British and English royal favourites

Lucy Lucy is an English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning ''as of light'' (''born at dawn or daylight'', maybe also ''shiny'', or ''of light complexion''). Alternative spellings are Luci, Luce, Lu ...

Daughters of British earls English countesses English courtiers English spies Female wartime spies Ladies of the Bedchamber

Prisoners in the Tower of London Women in the English Civil War Court of Charles I of England Household of Henrietta Maria