William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby

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William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby

William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby KG (* 1561 ; † September 29, 1642 ) was a high English nobleman .

biography

He was the second of four sons of Henry Stanley, 4th Earl of Derby (1531-1593), and Lady Margaret Clifford (1540-1596), who until her death in 1592 officially succession claims of 1578 in the wake of Elizabeth I had . His maternal grandparents were Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland, and Lady Eleanor Brandon. Eleanor was the third child of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk , and Mary Tudor . Mary was the fifth child of Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York .

He succeeded his brother Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby (1559–1594), and when he died he was on a journey through Europe, first in France at the court of Navarre, 1578, then in Spain, Italy, Egypt, Palestine, Turkey and Russia. When he returned, his brother's three daughters had divided the property between them, and a lengthy legal battle began that also questioned whether the Isle of Man was rightfully owned by the Stanley family. After Queen Elizabeth called an arbitration tribunal, much of the inheritance was awarded to William Stanley.

He married in June 1594 in Greenwich Elizabeth de Vere (1575-1626), the eldest daughter of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford , and Anne Cecil, daughter of Lord Treasurer William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley , and his wife Mildred Cooke , the eldest daughter of Anthony Cooke and Anne Fitzwilliam. The marriage resulted in five children, namely James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby (1607-1651, Lord Strange), Robert Stanley (he died in 1633), Anne Stanley, Countess of Ancram (1599-1657), initially married to Sir Henry Portman of Orchard, then with the Scot Robert Carr, Earl of Ancram, and two young deceased daughters (both named Elizabeth).

Under Queen Elizabeth he was Knight of the Order of the Garter and under her successor James I, Lord Chamberlain of Chester . In 1628/9 he gave his son James the title and ownership (except for an annual pension of £ 1,000). He was buried in the Stanley family grave in Ormskirk , Lancashire .

Shakespeare Authorship Debate

One of the leading French literary scholars Abel Lefranc (1863-1952) published after a long research in 1918 in his book "Sous Le Masque de William Shakespeare" the theory that behind the name Shakespeare is William Stanley (so-called "Derby theory"). William Stanley was a constant patron of theater troupes in London ( Earl of Derby's Players ), as was his older brother Ferdinando, who also patronized various theater troupes (until 1593 after his title Lord Strange's Men , later " The Kings Men ") .

As important arguments for the Derby theory were u. a. a letter from the Jesuit spy George Fenner from 1599, according to which Stanley wrote plays for the theater (" busy penning plays for common players "), and on the other hand his experience abroad on extensive trips. According to Lefranc, his impressions in 1578 at the court of Navarre were reflected in Shakespeare's play "Lost Love Labor". Against the theory speaks u. a. that Derby remained literarily mute in the last thirty years of his life and that the Shakespeare sonnets have no relation to his biographical data.

Stanley also had relationships with the two brothers William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (1580-1630) and Philipp Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke, 1st Earl of Montgomery (1584-1649), who died in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare's death who were dedicated to the folio edition of Shakespeare's works. Both were the trustees of the transfer of property from William Stanley to his son James in 1628/29.

swell

  • Abel Lefranc, Sous Le Masque de "William Shakespeare" William Stanley VI Compte de Derby , two volumes, Paris 1919
  • AWTitherley, Shakespeare Identity. William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby , Winchester, Warren and Sons Ltd. 1952

Web links

Bibliography and Notes

  1. ↑ Baptism date July 20, 1561
  2. ↑ At that time there was a rumor that Ferdinando had been poisoned, the so-called Heskell affair. A relative named Heskell from French exile would have tried to instigate a plot against Elisabeth and, if rejected, threatened Stanley's death.
  3. ↑ In addition, groups of musicians (Earl of Derbys Trumpeters), animal fights, acrobats ( Earl of Derbys Servants )
  4. ^ John Hawley Roberts The Nine Worthies, Modern Philology 1922
  5. ↑ Richmond Crinkley New Perspectives on The Authorship Question, Shakespeare Quarterly 1985
predecessor Office successor
Ferdinando Stanley Earl of Derby
1594-1642 		James Stanley
personal data
SURNAME Stanley, William 6th Earl of Derby
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English nobleman
DATE OF BIRTH baptized July 20, 1561
DATE OF DEATH September 29, 1642