Mary Sidney Herbert (1561–1621)

Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke, was considered the most learned woman in England next to Queen Elizabeth. She was one of the first Englishwomen to achieve a major reputation for writing and poetry, translations, and literary patronage. The salon she created at Wilton House included Edmund Spenser and Michael Drayton. She was a daughter of Sir Henry Sidney and Lady Mary Dudley, sister of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, the longtime favorite and advisor of Queen Elizabeth. She was close to her own brother, the poet-courtier Sir Philip Sidney, who dedicated his 1580 work, now known as The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia, to her. In 1577, she married as his third wife Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, and the couple had three children.