Peregrine Bertie, 13th Baron Willoughby de Eresby (12 October 1555 – 25 June 1601) was the son 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. ...

, and Richard Bertie. Bertie was Lady Willoughby de Eresby's second husband, the first being Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. Peregrine Bertie's half-brothers,

Henry 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 Portugal, ...

and Charles Brandon, died as teenagers four years before his birth. His sister

Susan Susan is a feminine given name, from Persian "Susan" (lily flower), from Egyptian '' sšn'' and Coptic ''shoshen'' meaning "lotus flower", from Hebrew ''Shoshana'' meaning "lily" (in modern Hebrew this also means "rose" and a flower in general), ...

married the

Earl of Kent The peerage title Earl of Kent has been created eight times in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. In fiction, the Earl of Kent is also known as a prominent supporting character in William Shakespeare's tragedy K ...

and then the nephew of

Bess of Hardwick Elizabeth Cavendish, later Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury ( Hardwick; c. 1527 13 February 1608), known as Bess of Hardwick, of Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, was a notable figure of Elizabethan English society. By a series of well-made ...

. Owing to religious politics, the parents had to move outside

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and the boy was born at

Wesel Wesel () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Wesel district. Geography Wesel is situated at the confluence of the Lippe River and the Rhine. Division of the city Suburbs of Wesel include Lackhausen, Obrigho ...

on the

River Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...

Early life

Born on 12 October 1555, he was baptized at the church of

Saint Willibrord Willibrord (; 658 – 7 November AD 739) was an Anglo-Saxon missionary and saint, known as the "Apostle to the Frisians" in the modern Netherlands. He became the first bishop of Utrecht and died at Echternach, Luxembourg. Early life His father ...

in Wesel on 14 October. On

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

's accession to the throne in 1558, his parents returned to England and applied for a patent of naturalization for him. He formally became English on 2 August 1559. He married

Mary de Vere Mary de Vere (''circa'' 1554-''circa'' 24 June 1624) was a 16th-century English noblewoman who lived a life of extraordinary wealth and privilege. The daughter of John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford, and his second wife Margery Golding, she marrie ...

, daughter of

John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford (1516 – 3 August 1562) was born to John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford and Elizabeth Trussell, daughter of Edward Trussell. He was styled Lord Bolebec 1526 to 1540 before he succeeded to his father's title. ...

, between Christmas 1577 and 12 March 1578. When his mother died in 1580, he succeeded to her barony and he took his seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

on 16 January 1580.

Diplomat and soldier

In 1582, he was commissioned to escort the

Duke of Anjou The Count of Anjou was the ruler of the County of Anjou, first granted by Charles the Bald in the 9th century to Robert the Strong. Ingelger and his son, Fulk the Red, were viscounts until Fulk assumed the title of Count of Anjou. The Robertians ...

from

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. The French royal duke had arrived as a

suitor Courtship is the period wherein some couples get to know each other prior to a possible marriage. Courtship traditionally may begin after a betrothal and may conclude with the celebration of marriage. A courtship may be an informal and private ...

of the un-married Elizabeth. In the same year he was sent to

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

to invest Frederick II with the

Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the Georg ...

. Lord Willoughby de Eresby arrived at Elsinore on 22 July and left on 27 September 1582. His ulterior purpose was to obtain an understanding whereby English merchant ships would not be molested while in Danish waters. In 1585, he returned to Denmark on behalf of Elizabeth in support of Henry III of Navarre and to obtain Danish help for England's efforts on behalf of the independent Netherlands. These journeys were made at Bertie's expense as his correspondence with

Francis Walsingham Sir Francis Walsingham ( – 6 April 1590) was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 20 December 1573 until his death and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Born to a well-connected family of gentry, Wal ...

made clear; he was becoming desperate to be paid or to escape from the diplomatic duties. After two and a half months of working on the Danish king, Bertie got him to offer to try to persuade the Spanish king to retire from the Low Countries. Frederick also agreed to send 2,000 horse to back up the English force already in the Netherlands. On achieving this much, Peregrine set off for England by way of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

Emden Emden () is an independent city and seaport in Lower Saxony in the northwest of Germany, on the river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia and, in 2011, had a total population of 51,528. History The exact founding date of ...

and

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. From March 1586 Bertie served in the Netherlands as governor of

Bergen-op-Zoom Bergen op Zoom (; called ''Berrege'' in the local dialect) is a municipality and a city located in the south of the Netherlands. Etymology The city was built on a place where two types of soil meet: sandy soil and marine clay. The sandy soi ...

under

Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, (24 June 1532 – 4 September 1588) was an English statesman and the favourite of Elizabeth I from her accession until his death. He was a suitor for the queen's hand for many years. Dudley's youth was o ...

, who was Governor-General of the United Provinces. After Leicester's departure for England in December 1586, he was made general of the English forces. He suffered a major defeat at the

Battle of Zutphen The Battle of Zutphen was fought on 22 September 1586, near the village of Warnsveld and the town of Zutphen, the Netherlands, during the Eighty Years' War. It was fought between the forces of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, aid ...

but redeemed himself with his victory at the Siege of Bergen. Subsequently, he fought for the

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

s under Henry of Navarre. He commanded the English contingent at Henry's Siege of Paris in 1590. Bertie's final appointment was Governor of

Berwick upon Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...

on the Scottish border and Warden of the East March in 1598, displacing Robert Carey. At the request of Robert Cecil he organised the kidnapping of Edmund Ashfield, an Englishman visiting

James VI of Scotland James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

. Peregrine died on 25 June 1601 at Berwick and was buried at St. James Church,

Spilsby Spilsby is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The town is adjacent to the main A16, east of the county town of Lincoln, north-east of Boston and north-west of Skegnes ...

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 ...

. He had married (and separated from)

, the daughter of

. They had at least three sons:

Robert Bertie, 1st Earl of Lindsey Robert Bertie, 1st Earl of Lindsey KG (16 December 1582 – 24 October 1642) was an English peer, soldier and courtier. Early life Robert Bertie was the son of Peregrine Bertie, 13th Baron Willoughby de Eresby (b. 12 October 1555 – d. 25 J ...

(d. 1642), Sir Peregrine Bertie (d. 1639), and Henry Bertie of Lound (d. 1655).

Landowner

It was on Peregrine's estate at

Willoughby, Lincolnshire Willoughby is a village in the district of East Lindsey, Lincolnshire, England. It is situated south from the market town of Alford, and on the edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. History The name 'Wi ...

that the parents of

John Smith of Jamestown John Smith (baptized 6 January 1580 – 21 June 1631) was an English soldier, explorer, colonial governor, Admiral of New England, and author. He played an important role in the establishment of the colony at Jamestown, Virginia, the first pe ...

rented a farm which was the site of John's birth.

Popular song

The military career of Baron Willoughby is celebrated in the popular

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

, " Lord Willoughby's Welcome Home".

Notes

References

*Nelson, A. H.: ''Monstrous Adversary: The Life of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford'' Liverpool University Press 2003 *Adams, Simon (ed.): ''Household Accounts and Disbursement Books of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester'' Cambridge University Press 1995 {{DEFAULTSORT:Willoughby De Eresby, Peregrine Bertie, 13th Baron *13 Peregrine 1555 births 1601 deaths People of the Elizabethan era English people of Spanish descent English people of the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) 16th-century English diplomats 16th-century English soldiers People from Wesel People from East Lindsey District Peregrine 16th-century Protestants 17th-century Protestants English Protestants Marian exiles 17th-century English nobility 16th-century English nobility