- Anne Herbert, Countess of Pembroke
Anne Parr (c.1514-
20 February 1552 ) waslady-in-waiting to each ofHenry VIII of England 's six wives. She was the sister of his sixth wife,Catherine Parr .Early Years
Anne was born about 1514 to
Sir Thomas Parr and Maud Green. She was the youngest child of three, having an older sister Catherine and brotherWilliam Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton . In 1517, when she was about three years of age, her father died of thesweating sickness leaving her mother a widow at twenty-two and with the grave responsibility of guarding the inheritance of the Parr children. Maud, Lady Parr was amaid-of-honour toCatherine of Aragon . She was also head of the Royal school at court where Anne was educated alongside her sister Catherine and other daughters of the nobility. They were taught by the brilliant Humanist scholarJoan Lluís Vives who was the principal tutor at the Royal school. [Anthony Martienssen "Queen Katherine Parr", page 21] Anne would have been taught French, Latin, philosophy, theology, and the Classics. Lady Parr had already taught her children to read and write when they were small.At court
Sometime in 1528, Lady Parr secured her daughter, Anne, a post at Court as maid-of-honour to Catherine of Aragon. Anne was then made a ward of King Henry. When
Anne Boleyn was crowned queen in 1533, Anne Parr continued in the same capacity as maid-of-honour . She quickly succumbed to the spell of Queen Anne's charismatic personality and following the Queen's example, she became an ardent supporter of the New Faith [Martienssen, pages64-5] After Anne Boleyn's fall from power and subsequent execution, Anne remained at Court in the service of the new queen,Jane Seymour . She was one of the few present at the baptism of Prince Edward on 15 October 1537.Marriage
In February 1538, Anne married William Herbert (c.1501-
17 March 1570 ), Esquire of the King's Body. The Herberts appeared to be in the King's favour, as for the next few years Anne and her husband received a succession of Royal grants which included the Abbey of Wilton inWiltshire , and lands in theWest Country . Anne had three children by her husband: Henry, Edward, and Anne. When King Henry took as his fourth wifeAnne of Cleves , Anne returned to her role as maid-of-honour, which she remained in when Queen Anne was supplanted byCatherine Howard . Following Queen Catherine's arrest foradultery , Anne Parr was entrusted with the Queen's jewels. [Martienssen, page137]Queen's sister
Anne Parr was a witness to the wedding ceremony performed at
Hampton Court Palace on 12th July, 1543, when King Henry married her sister Catherine. In September 1544, William Herbert was knighted on the battlefield at the Siege of Boulogne during the King's campaign against the French. Anne, now Lady Herbert, was her sister's principal lady-in-waiting and the sisters were close. Anne was also part of the circle of Protestants who surrounded the new Queen. In 1546, whenAnne Askew was arrested for heresy. Queen Catherine and some of her clseset friends had previously shown favour to the arrested woman. BishopStephen Gardiner , Thomas Wriothesley and Richard Rich were involved in torturing Anne Askew and interrogating her aobut her connections to the ladies at court who were suspected to be Prrotestants, in particular, Anne Parr, the Queen,Katherine Willoughby andAnne Stanhope . They obtained the King’s permission to arrest and question the Queen about her religious beliefs.Catherine visited the King in his bedchamber and adroitly managed to persuade the King that her interest in the new religion had been undertaken solely as a means to provide stimulating conversation to distract the King from his pain caused by his ulcerous leg. Henry was appeased, and before the arrests were due to take place, he was reconciled to Catherine. On 28 January, 1547, the King died. William Herbert was appointed guardian to the new king,
Edward VI . Catherine shortly afterwards married Thomas Seymour, Lord Sudeley,Lord High Admiral of England, who was an uncle of King Edward. In September 1548, following the birth of a daughter Mary, Catherine Parr died ofpuerperal fever . On 11 October 1551, William Herbert was created 1stEarl of Pembroke . Anne died in 1552. William married as his second wife, Anne Talbot, but the marriage produced no children. Through her sons, Anne has many descendants, including the earls of Pembroke.List of Anne and William's children
#
Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (c.1539-1601). On 21 May 1553, marriedCatherine Grey .The marriage was annulled in 1554. His second wife was Catherine Talbot and his third wifeMary Sidney by whom he had children, including William and Philip, both of whom would acceed to the Earldom of Pembroke.
# Sir Edward Herbert (1547-1593). Married Mary Stanley. Had issue.
# Anne Herbert (1550-1592).References
# Anthony Martienssen "Queen Katherine Parr", McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1973 ISBN 0-07-040610-3
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