Elizabeth Cary, Viscountess Falkland (''née'' Tanfield; 1585–1639) was an English poet, dramatist, translator, and historian. She is the first woman known to have written and published an original play in English: '' The Tragedy of Mariam''. From an early age, she was recognized by her contemporaries as an accomplished scholar.

Biography

Early life

Elizabeth Tanfield was born in 1585 or 1586 at

Burford Priory Burford Priory is a Grade I listed country house and former priory at Burford in West Oxfordshire, England owned by Elisabeth Murdoch, daughter of Rupert Murdoch, together with Matthew Freud. History Origin The house is on the site of a 13 ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, the only child of Sir Lawrence Tanfield and his wife Elizabeth Symondes of Norfolk. Her father was a lawyer, who eventually became a judge and

Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer The Chief Baron of the Exchequer was the first "baron" (meaning judge) of the English Exchequer of Pleas. "In the absence of both the Treasurer of the Exchequer or First Lord of the Treasury, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, it was he who pres ...

. Her parents were highly supportive of their daughter's love for reading and learning. Elizabeth's parents employed a French instructor for her when she was five years old. Five weeks later, she was speaking fluently. After excelling in French, she insisted on learning Spanish, Italian, Latin, Hebrew, and Transylvanian on her own, without an instructor. Her accomplishment as a scholar was stressed by

Michael Drayton Michael Drayton ( – ) was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era, continuing to write through the reign of James I and into the reign of Charles I. Many of his works consisted of historical poetry. He was also the fir ...

and by

John Davies of Hereford John Davies of Hereford (c. 1565 – July 1618) was a writing-master and an Anglo-Welsh literature, Anglo-Welsh poet. He referred to himself as ''John Davies of Hereford'' (after the city where he was born) in order to distinguish himself from ...

in works they dedicated to her. Her father arranged her marriage at the age of 15 to Sir Henry Cary, later

Viscount Falkland Viscount Falkland is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. The name refers to the royal burgh of Falkland in Fife. History The title was created in 1620 by King James VI for Sir Henry Cary, a member of the Cary family. He was born in Her ...

, who married her because she was an heiress. When she finally moved into her husband's home, her mother-in-law informed Cary that she was forbidden to read, so she instead chose to write poetry in her spare time. Probably Elizabeth Cary by William Larkin It was not until seven years after they were married that Lord and Lady Falkland had children; they would go on to have a total of eleven:

Catherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...

(1609–1625),

Lucius Lucius is a masculine given name derived from Lucius (Latin ; ), abbreviated L., one of the small group of common Latin forenames () found in the culture of ancient Rome. Lucius probably derives from Latin word ( gen. ), meaning "light" (<

(who later became the second Viscount Falkland; 1610–1643), Lorenzo (1613–1642),

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), Annie a ...

(c.1614–1671), Edward (1616–1616), Elizabeth (1617–1683),

Lucy Lucy is an English language, 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 ar ...

(1619–1650), Victoria (1620–1692), Mary (1621–1693), Henry (born 1622), and

Patrick Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint * Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

(1623–1657). In 1622 her husband was appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland and Elizabeth Cary joined him in Dublin. There she socialized with prominent local Catholics and patronized Catholic writers. This may have contributed to her conversion to Catholicism, though the death in childbirth of Cary's eldest daughter, Catherine, was said to have precipitated Cary's formal conversion: Catherine reported an apparition of the Virgin Mary while on her deathbed. This apparent sighting deeply moved Cary and furthered her mission to convert her surviving children, as Catherine had died a Protestant. Eventually, four of her daughters — Anne, Elizabeth, Lucy, and Mary — became

Benedictine nuns The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, they ...

and her son Henry joined the priesthood.

Later years

By 1625 Elizabeth Cary had been disinherited by her father, just before he died, for using part of her

jointure Jointure was a legal concept used largely in late mediaeval and early modern Britain, denoting the estate given to a married couple by the husband's family. One of its most important functions was providing a livelihood for the wife if she became ...

to meet expenses. The money that was initially meant for her went instead to her eldest son, Lucius, who was strapped with debt. The disinheritance came after Cary had tried to aid her husband as he struggled to pay for his lands in Ireland. In 1626 she returned from Ireland and publicly announced her conversion to Catholicism, which resulted in Henry Cary's attempting to divorce her. He was unsuccessful, but he managed to deny her access to their children. Despite several orders of the Privy Council, he refused her maintenance in an apparent effort to force her to recant. She was banished court in November 1626 for attending mass with

Henrietta Maria Henrietta Maria of France (French language, French: ''Henriette Marie''; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England, List of Scottish royal consorts, Scotland and Ireland from her marriage to K ...

without permission. In 1627 her residence was Cote House in Oxford. Henry Cary died in 1633 and Cary sought to regain custody of her children. She was questioned in the

Star Chamber The court of Star Chamber () was an English court that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster, from the late to the mid-17th century (), and was composed of privy counsellors and common-law judges, to supplement the judicial activities of the ...

for kidnapping her sons — she had previously, and more easily, regained custody of her daughters — but although she was threatened with imprisonment there is no record of any punishment. In 1634 Elizabeth, Mary, Lucy, and Anne Cary were converted to the Catholic faith by John Fursdon, who was their mother's confessor. Edward Barrett reported this to King Charles I and the King agreed that the four girls be removed from their mother's house and taken to

Great Tew Great Tew is an English village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about north-east of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, Chipping Norton and south-west of Banbury, close to the Cotswold Hills. The 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census gave a paris ...

, Heather Wolfe, "Cary, Anne (bap. 1614, d. 1671)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, May 201
accessed 7 April 2017
an estate inherited by her son Lucius Cary, who was then

.Lucius Cary, Viscount Falkland
BCW project, Retrieved 7 April 2017. Elizabeth Tanfield statue

In 1639, Elizabeth Cary, Lady Falkland, died in London. She was buried in Henrietta Maria's Chapel in Somerset House.

Writing

According to the biography by her daughter Lucy Cary, Elizabeth Cary saw poetry as the highest literary form. Many of her poems have been lost, but her dedication to the form is clear in her plays. Her first or possibly second play, ''The Tragedy of Mariam, the Fair Queen of Jewry'' (1613), was written in iambic pentameter. Change in pattern and rhyme scheme indicate multiple sonnets embedded throughout the play. ''The Tragedy of Mariam'' was the first original English play to be published by a woman.Stephanie Hodgson-Wright,
Cary, Elizabeth, Viscountess Falkland (1585–1639)
, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. 15 November 2006. Elizabeth Cary then wrote ''The History of the Life, Reign, and Death of Edward II'' (1626/1627), which was a political fable based on historical events. It was not published until 1680, decades after her death. The text uses the story of King Edward II and his powerful favourites, Gaveston and Spencer, as an analogy for King Charles, who in the 1620s was in conflict with Parliament about the power granted to the

Duke of Buckingham Duke of Buckingham, referring to the market town of Buckingham, England, is an extinct title that has been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There were creations of double dukedoms of Bucki ...

. Cary was in constant contact with Buckingham and his family. Writing ''The History'' may have been her way to cope with having to rely constantly on the Buckinghams. She focuses on the idea of favouritism throughout the piece and how it can lead to disastrous outcomes. Other than the ''Tragedy of Mariam'' and the ''History'', much of Falkland's original work has been lost, including most of her poetry. Despite only a fraction of her oeuvre having survived, however, her work has generated "a veritable critical industry" since the 1990s.

Works

*''The mirror of the world'', a translation of

Abraham Ortelius Abraham Ortelius (; also Ortels, Orthellius, Wortels; 4 or 14 April 152728 June 1598) was a cartographer, geographer, and cosmographer from Antwerp in the Spanish Netherlands. He is recognized as the creator of the list of atlases, first modern ...

's ''Le mirroir du monde'' (1598) *'' The Tragedy of Mariam, the Fair Queen of Jewry'' (pub. 1613)An extract can also be found in
Classic Plays by Women
(2019)'' *''Reply of the most Illustrious Cardinal of Perron'' (1630) *''The History of the Life, Reign and Death of Edward II'', or ''The History of the most Unfortunate Prince, King Edward II'' (published 1680)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Falkland, Elizabeth Cary, Viscountess 1585 births 1639 deaths 16th-century English women writers 16th-century English writers 17th-century English women writers 17th-century English writers 17th-century English dramatists and playwrights Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism English Catholic poets English Roman Catholics English women poets People from Burford English women dramatists and playwrights Scottish viscountesses

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth'' * Princess Elizabeth ...

Wives of knights