Richard Bertie (25 December 15169 April 1582) was an English landowner and religious evangelical. He was the second husband of

Catherine Willoughby, 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby Katherine Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk, ''suo jure'' 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby ( Willoughby; 22 March 1519 – 19 September 1580), was an English noblewoman living at the courts of King Henry VIII, King Edward VI and Queen Elizabeth I. ...

, Duchess Dowager of Suffolk and a woman whom Henry VIII was considering as his seventh wife shortly before his death; she also received a proposal from the King of Poland.

Life

Richard Bertie was from an unusually humble stock for the connections he made. He was the son of Thomas Bertie (ca. 1480-bef. 5 June 1555), Captain of

Hurst Castle Hurst Castle is an artillery fort established by Henry VIII on the Hurst Spit in Hampshire, England, between 1541 and 1544. It formed part of the king's Device Forts coastal protection programme against invasion from France and the Holy Rom ...

and a

master mason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, and Aline Say. His paternal grandfather Robert Bertie (died 1501/2) was also a stonemason at

Bearsted Bearsted ( , ) is a village and civil parish with railway station in mid-Kent, England, two miles (3.2 km) east of Maidstone town centre. Geography The village was historically concentrated around Church Lane and The Green which includes ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, and was married to one Marion, by whom he had two more children, a daughter Joan Bertie and a son William Bertie, born after 1480. Richard matriculated at

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12t ...

, on 17 February 1533/1534 and succeeded his father in 1555. Catherine, Duchess of Suffolk by Hans Holbein the Younger

He married

Catherine Willoughby Katherine Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk, ''suo jure'' 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby ( Willoughby; 22 March 1519 – 19 September 1580), was an English noblewoman living at the courts of King Henry VIII, King Edward VI and Queen Elizabeth I. ...

, the daughter and heiress of William, 11th Lord Willoughby, and widow of

Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, 1st Viscount Lisle, (22 August 1545) was an English military leader and courtier. Through his third wife, Mary Tudor, he was brother-in-law to King Henry VIII. Biography Charles Brandon was the second ...

. The Berties had married for love around 1553, after Bertie had for several years served as her

Master of the Horse Master of the Horse is an official position in several European nations. It was more common when most countries in Europe were monarchies, and is of varying prominence today. (Ancient Rome) The original Master of the Horse ( la, Magister Equitu ...

and Gentleman Usher. The pair fled to the Continent during the reign of the Catholic

Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She ...

and the Counter-Reformation. They ignored commands to return, and their estates were sequestered. They travelled first to Cleves and then

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ru ...

. They returned in 1559 soon after the accession of the more Protestant

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

and had their lands restored to them. Their story is recorded in ''

Foxe's Book of Martyrs The ''Actes and Monuments'' (full title: ''Actes and Monuments of these Latter and Perillous Days, Touching Matters of the Church''), popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, is a work of Protestant history and martyrology by Protestant Engli ...

''. Bertie was the father of

Susan Bertie, Countess of Kent Susan Bertie (born 1554) was the daughter of Catherine Duchess of Suffolk, ''née'' Willoughby, by her second husband, Richard Bertie. Susan was the noblewoman memorialized by Lanyer at the beginning of the ''Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum'' (1611 ...

and

Peregrine Bertie, 13th Baron Willoughby de Eresby Peregrine Bertie, 13th Baron Willoughby de Eresby (12 October 1555 – 25 June 1601) was the son of Catherine Willoughby, 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby, and Richard Bertie. Bertie was Lady Willoughby de Eresby's second husband, the first bei ...

, prominent Protestants during the reign of Elizabeth. Peregrine was named for their wandering life in exile. Bertie was

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

from 1562 to 1567. In 1564 he attended the Queen in her visit to

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

, and was granted an MA. In 1570 he unsuccessfully claimed the Barony Willoughby de Eresby in right of his wife. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace for Lindsey by 1564 and

High Sheriff of Lincolnshire This is a list of High Sheriffs of Lincolnshire. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilit ...

for 1564–65. He died at

Bourne, Lincolnshire Bourne is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies on the eastern slopes of the limestone Kesteven Uplands and the western edge of the Fens, 11 miles (18 km) north-east of Stamford, 12 mil ...

on 9 April 1582.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertie, Richard 1510s births 1582 deaths Year of birth unknown English MPs 1563–1567

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stro ...

Willoughby family 16th-century Protestants English Protestants People from Lincolnshire Marian exiles 16th-century English landowners High Sheriffs of Lincolnshire Year of birth uncertain Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford English courtiers Court of Henry VIII