William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke
William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke KG , PC ( April 8, 1580 - April 10, 1630 ) was a wealthy English nobleman , son of Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke , and his third wife Mary Sidney .
Life
As Chancellor of Oxford University , he founded Pembroke College with James I. He was very interested in the colonization of America. From 1615 to 1625 he was Lord Chamberlain of the Household and from 1626 to 1630 Lord Steward . He is considered a patron of William Shakespeare .
The attempt of his father Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, to mediate William's marriage to the granddaughter Bridget Vere, the daughter of Edward de Vere , the foster son of William Cecil , failed.
At the age of 20, he had an affair with Mary Fitton , who many experts believe may be the person who was pregnant and who stood for the Dark Lady in Shakespeare's sonnets. Herbert William admitted his paternity but refused to marry Mary Fitton and was sent to Fleet Prison , where he wrote poetry. The son, born in 1601 to Mary Fitton, died immediately after birth. Although his request for a pardon from Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury was finally granted, he remained banished from the court.
On November 4, 1604, he married Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke, the short daughter of Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury . His affair with the daughter of his uncle Robert Sidney , Lady Mary Wroth, after the death of her husband Robert Wroth, resulted in the birth of two children, William and Catherine.
He died in 1630 at the age of 50, which passed his title on to his brother Philip Herbert .
William Herbert and William Shakespeare
The two brothers William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (1580–1630), and Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke (1584–1650) were given the first complete works of William Shakespeare in 1623, seven years after the death of William Shakespeare from Stratford ( so-called First Folio). ( TO THE MOST NOBLE and INCOMPARABLE PAIRE OF BETHREN, William, Earl of Pembroke & Lord Chamberlaine and Philip, Earle of Montgomery )
William Herbert is one of several contested candidates for the youthful character ("fair youth") from the sonnets of Shakespeare published by Thomas Thorpe (TT), whom the poet urges in the first 18 sonnets to marry. Since his initials (Mr. WH) match the mentioned initials of the appropriation of the sonnets, "the only begetter of these ensuing sonnets", he has remained a popular candidate for the appropriation of Shakespeare's sonnets to this day (e.g. BEK Chambers), although other people such as Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton or William Hathcliffe are discussed as well as the fact that several people are hidden behind the compilation for the printing of the sonnets, which were written at different times, including the poet himself.
literature
- William M. Blatt: A New Light on the Sonnets. In: Modern Philology. 11, 1, 1913, ISSN 0026-8232 , pp. 135-140, online .
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Henry Herbert |
Earl of Pembroke 1601-1630 |
Philip Herbert |
| Robert Carr |
Lord Chamberlain of the Household 1615-1625 |
Philip Herbert |
| James Hamilton |
Lord Steward of the Household 1625-1630 |
Thomas Howard |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Herbert, William, 3rd Earl of Pembroke |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Herbert, William |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English nobleman and patron of William Shakespeare |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 8, 1580 |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 10, 1630 |