ON THIS DAY - 19 January 1601

On This Day (19 January) in 1601, Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, Elizabethan courtier, soldier, politician and patron of the arts, died at his home Wilton House, near Salisbury, Wiltshire.

'Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke', British School, c.1590 © Amgueddfa Cymru

Henry was the son and heir of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke, and his wife Anne Parr, the sister of Katherine Parr (wife of Henry VIII and Thomas Seymour) and William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton.

In May 1553, a teenage Henry was one of several young people to be married in a series of political alliances orchestrated by John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland; he was married to Katherine Grey, younger sister of Lady Jane Grey. However, this union was annulled following the failed coup of July 1553. The couple's paths crossed again in Summer 1561, when a secretly married and pregnant Katherine, having felt abandoned by her husband Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford, sought solace and security. However, on discovery of the pregnancy, Henry viewed her actions as likely entrapment, and so cut off contact.

'Lady Katherine Grey', Artist: Lavinia Teerlinc, c.1560 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

After the death of his second wife, Catherine Talbot (daughter of George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury), Henry's married for a final time. His third wife was Mary Sidney, daughter of Sir Henry Sidney and Mary Dudley, one of Elizabeth I's ladies of the privy chamber, and sister of poet Sir Philip Sidney. Together with Mary, herself a writer, poet and translator, they became well-known patrons of the arts and literature. This included the formation of 'The Earl of Pembroke's Men', an Elizabethan acting company, as well as hosting contemporary writers and poets at their home, Wilton House.

'Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke' Artist: Nicholas Hilliard, 1590 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Henry continued in his career at court, being closely aligned with Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Dudley, a close friend and ally of his uncle, William Parr. He was heavily involved in high-profile trials of Elizabeth I's reign, including that of Dudley's rival Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, in 1572, for his role in the 'Ridolfi Plot' (a Catholic conspiracy to usurp Elizabeth, place Mary, Queen of Scots on the English throne and restore Catholicism to England), and that of the Scottish queen herself in 1586, both of whom were found guilty of high treason, and subsequently executed.. Herbert's career expanded outside of England when he was appointed as 'Lord President of the Council of Wales' in March 1586, on the death of his father-in-law Henry Sidney, in addition to the 'Vice-Admiralty of South Wales'. Herbert subsequently spent long periods of times in Wales, specifically at Ludlow, working towards the restoration of Cardiff Castle and collection of antiquities and historical manuscripts.

Henry was buried at Salisbury Cathedral, following a funeral held on 05 March 1601. Mary, living another 20 years, died of smallpox in September 1621, following which she was buried alongside him, in a vault, "under the choir steps".

Henry was succeeded by his eldest son William, as 3rd Earl of Pembroke. Together with his younger brother Philip, they continued their parents' legacy of patronage of writers and artists, with William Shakespeare's First Folio, published in 1623, dedicated to the two brothers.