History Forum / General / British History / January 2008

Here's some more on Aemilia Bassano Lanier.

DSH

Lux et Veritas et Libertas

Lanier, Emilia (c. 1569 - 1645)

Aemilia Lanyer.

"English-born poet; daughter of a musician, Baptista Bassano; wife of a
composer, Alphonso Lanier. According to an entry in the notebooks of Simon
Forman in 1597, she had been the mistress of Lord Hunsdon (see Lord
Chamberlain's Men). A. L. Rowse has claimed her as the Dark Lady of the
Sonnets. For an edition of her works see The Poems of Aemilia Lanyer, edited
by Susanne Woods (Oxford, 1993).

A Dictionary of Shakespeare, Oxford University Press, © Stanley Wells 1998

Lord Chamberlain's Men

A theatre company formed in 1594 under the patronage of Henry Carey, 1st
Lord Hunsdon, Lord Chamberlain from 1585 till his death in 1596 .
Shakespeare may have been an original member; he was prominent within it by
March 1595, and remained with it as shareholder and playwright for the rest
of his career.

In its early years, the company performed mainly at the Theatre, then at the
Curtain. It was known as Hunsdon's Men between July 1596 and March 1597,
when the second Lord Hunsdon was appointed Lord Chamberlain. By 1599 it
occupied the Globe Theatre, and for the next ten years was the leading
London company, with unusually stable membership, and with Richard Burbage
as its principal actor.

In 1603, when James I succeeded Elizabeth, he gave the company a royal
patent, and it became the King's Men. From 1603 to 1616 it played an average
of twelve performances a year at Court. James supplied nine members,
including Shakespeare, with four-and-a-half yards of red cloth each to make
liveries to wear in his coronation procession.

In late 1608 the company bought the Blackfriars Theatre, and probably
started using it as their winter house in 1609. The Globe burned down in
1613, and was rebuilt the following year. The company continued to be
successful till the closing of the theatres, in 1642.

A Dictionary of Shakespeare, Oxford University Press, © Stanley Wells 1998

Dark Lady of the Sonnets

The woman referred to, and addressed, in many of Shakespeare's Sonnets
127-54, and possibly in others. Many attempts have been made to identify her
with a real person, such as Mary Fitton, one of Queen Elizabeth's maids of
honour. A. L. Rowse suggested Emilia Lanier, put forward in his Shakespeare
the Man (1973), and Jonathan Bate, in The Genius of Shakespeare (1997),
argued for the wife of John Florio. Neither of these claims can be supported
by hard evidence.

A Dictionary of Shakespeare, Oxford University Press, © Stanley Wells 1998

Florio, John (1553? - 1625)

English-born translator, of Italian descent, educated at Oxford, tutor of
Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton. Shakespeare knew his translation
of Montaigne, and may have known him.

A Dictionary of Shakespeare, Oxford University Press, ©

Fitton, Mary (c. 1578 - 1647)

One of Queen Elizabeth's maids of honour; she became the mistress of William
Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, and has sometimes been thought to be the Dark
Lady of the Sonnets.

A Dictionary of Shakespeare, Oxford University Press, © Stanley Wells 1998

Aemilia Lanyer: Redeeming Women Through Faith & Poetry (pt. 1)

Author: Michelle Powell-Smith

Published on: April 4, 2000

Related Subject(s): Lanyer, Aemilia. Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum , Poets,
English -- Early modern, 1500-1700 -- Biography , Lanyer, Aemilia --
Criticism and interpretation

Aemilia Lanyer is one of the more interesting women poets of the English
renaissance. Her work, Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum, effectively rewrites
biblical history to provide a much more positive view of women throughout
history. This first article will provide a brief biography & bibliography on
Lanyer. Next week, I'll include some analyses and theories concerning her
work. For the text of Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum, please refer to the books in
the bibliography, or take a look at
http://www.usask.ca/english/phoenix/lany... for some excerpts of Salve Deus
Rex Judaeorum.

Biography: Daughter of a court musician, Baptista Bassano & his common law
wife, Margaret Johnson.

Baptista died when she was 7 years old, Margaret when she was 18.

Aemilia was educated by Susan Bertie, the Countess of Kent. She received a
good humanist education, inspired by Cheke, Ascham, and Wilson, with an
emphasis on Cicero. Her education included Latin, some Greek & rhetoric.

By 20, Aemilia was the mistress of Henry Carey, Lord Chamberlain. He was
likely the father of her first child, a son, Henry Lanyer.

Aemilia married Alfonso Lanyer, a court musician, in 1592. Marriage was
likely arranged to cover her pregnancy.

Regularly visited astrologer Simon Forman. This is where much of our
biographical information comes from. She was concerned about repeated
miscarriages and family fortune. Forman expresses some frustration that
Aemilia wouldn't sleep with him (but she did become romantically involved
with him to an extent).

Published Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum in 1610/11.

Alfonso Lanyer died 1613. Aemilia ran a school from 1617-19. Spent time,
possibly as a music tutor with Margaret, Countess of Cumberland, dates
unknown, although there is a prose dedication to Margaret in Salve Deus.

Records list her as a pensioner (meaning that she had an income) at the time
of her death in 1645.

Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum: Salve Deus may be divided into three parts. The
first consists of 9 dedicatory poems, a prose dedication, and an epistle to
the reader.

The second part is a meditation on the Passion and Death of Christ. It
includes Eve's Apology, The Tears of the Daughters of Jerusalem, The
Salutation & Sorrow of the Virgin.

The third part is a country house poem, "The Description of Cooke-Ham".
Celebration of estate as lost female paradise. (May be 1st "country house"
poem, published before Jonson's "To Penhurst")

Some ideas for analysis: (These will be discussed in detail in next week's
article) Lanyer's religious background. Influence of prophetic/apocalyptic
writings. Subversive feminine discourse in Lanyer. Women's voices in
scripture. Community of good women.

Bibliography Beilin, Elaine. Redeeming Eve. Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 1987. Froula, Christine. "When Eve Reads Milton: Undoing the
Canonical Economy" Critical Inquiry 10 (1983) 321-347. Lewalski, Barbara K.
"Of God and Good Women: The Poems of Aemilia Lanyer." In Silent but for the
Word: Tudor Women as Patrons, Translators and Writers of Religious Works.
Ed. Margaret Patterson Hannay, 203-24. Kent: Kent State University,
1985. -----. Protestant Poetics and the Seventeenth Century Religious Lyric.
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1979. -----. "Re-writing Patriarchy
and Patronage: Margaret Clifford, Anne Clifford and Aemilia Lanyer,"
Yearbook of English Studies 21 (1991) 87-106. -----. Writing Women in
Jacobean England. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993. Ramsey, Paul.
"Darkness Lightened: A.L. Rowse's Dark Lady Once More," Upstart Crow (fall
1984) 143-5. Richey, Esther Gilman. The Politics of Revelation in the
English Renaissance. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1998.

Aemilia Lanyer: Redeeming Women Through Faith and Poetry

Author: Michelle Powell-Smith

Published on: April 11, 2000

Related Subject(s): Lanyer, Aemilia , Lanyer, Aemilia. Salve Deus Rex
Judaeorum , Lanyer, Aemilia -- Criticism and interpretation

This short essay explores some of the possible interpretations for Aemilia
Lanyer's Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum.

Lanyer's own religious background has been debated. It has been suggested
that she was a converted Jew, largely on the basis of the title of her work.
This, however, seems unlikely. Lanyer attributed the title of Salve Deus to
a dream she'd had many years before its writing and internal clues in the
poem, as well as Lanyer's circle of acquaintances, lend far more certainty
to the theory that Lanyer was actually a radical protestant. Susan Bertie,
the Countess of Kent, was responsible for Lanyer's education. Bertie had
multiple connections to radical protestantism, including a close
relationship with Anne Lock, who translated Calvin and Taffin into English.

Lanyer's poem may be related to prophetic writings of the time, thus further
supporting the theory that she herself was staunchly protestant. Prophetic
writings of the renaissance placed women at the forefront of their
apocalyptic visions. The reversal of power present in these works provided
Lanyer with a theoretical basis for Salve Deus.

Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum provides a new interpretation and embellishment of
scriptural texts. Lanyer was not the first to reinterpret scripture to
create a more favorable view of women. It had been done repeatedly by women
in defense of their sex during the course of the pamphlet wars concerning
women. "Eve's Apology" rewrites the Genesis story, creating Eve as an
innocent and placing the final glory of salvation in her hands.

Lanyer also finds/creates the voices of women from the bible whose voices
have not been heard, including the wife of Pilate. She places the blame for
the crucifixion on men, rather than women, and attributes the eventual
salvation of humanity to the goodness of women.

Lanyer's text also provides us with an idea of feminine vs. masculine
discourse. Lanyer finds that men are responsible for suffering, and that
men, through their reading of biblical texts, blaspheme Christ. Women, on
the other hand, find the truth in these texts. It is through woman (Mary)
that salvation came, and through the writing of women that faith may be
properly understood.

Lanyer's work also celebrates a sort of community of good women,
specifically the community that developed around Margaret Clifford, the
Countess of Cumberland. Margaret is celebrated as a Christ like figure with
the wisdom of Solomon. The redemption of women will come through the actions
of the Countess of Cumberland. This community is separate and distinct from
male society and Lanyer names herself its poet.

Aemilia Lanyer's Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum is a fascinating and unusual work.
It celebrates women as the heart of Christianity and clearly attests to
Aemilia Lanyer's own deep and abiding faith.

"The name Emilia is often written as Aemilia. Many times she is referred to
as Aemilia Lanyer.

Emilia for some time was a mistress to Henry Carey, the first Lord Hunsdon,
who was also Lord Chamberlain. She became pregnant by Henry Carey and was
married off to Alphonse Lanier. Henry Carey was the father of her son, Henry
Lanier. Emilia Bassano was raised with the Countess of Kent, Susan
Wingfield.

Most scholars now believe that Emilia Bassano was the Dark Lady of Sonnets
127-151 written by William Shakespeare and that she had an affair with him.
Emilia Bassano was a feminist at a time when there were not many others.
Emilia Bassano was a musician and a poet. The instrument she played was
called the virginals and was a forerunner of the piano of today. She
published a book of poetry with a Christian theme not long after
Shakespeare's sonnets were published.

Alphonse Lanier was one of the fifty-nine musicians that played at the
funeral of Queen Elizabeth I."

Dear Sailor,

Amongst educated people that know anything about navigation, only
genoese and americans believe that Columbus was a genoese son of a
"textor pannorum lane".
Tavianni, Irving, Rumeu de Armas invented a sailor passed to him
before he shipwrecked in the south coast of Portugal in 1476 as the
official version goes on. Unfortunately, there is not one single
document, a contract, a consignment, a bank loan, a ship's manifest
that support the theories. Theories, in plural, because Tavianni says
he navigated in the eastern (Levantese) mediterranean routes, Irving
says he navigated in corsair ships of his *cousins* Colombo "the Old"
and Colombo "the Greek" while Rumeu de Armas says he navigated in the
commercial western routes from Genoa to Castile and Lisbon.
All of them say he was a ship's captain shortly after 20 because the
Admiral wrote that he fought as a corsair to René d'Anjou.
But an uneducated sailor in that time took at least 20 years to become
boatswain and if any non noble uneducated sailor ever arrived to
captain in the XVth century that was never documented.

Anyhow, let's imagine that a plebeian see captain after swimming 6
miles, put feet in an unknow beach in Portugal more than 100 miles
away from Lisbon. His knowledge of navigation was mediterranean;
mostly following the coastline using "portulanos" maps with the
profile of the coasts, routs, distances. He knew the Polar Star and
latitudes but was incapable of knowing a longitude and, once out of
known coasts he would commit gross errors because if - a very big if -
he knew anything about science he would be dealing with Toscanelli's
numbers, a degree of 13,6 miles,while the portuguese at the same time
used a degree of 18 miles, as can be read in "Esmeraldo in situ Orbis"
an error of 4% only corrected two centuries later.
Now, that shipwrecked person, with the only possible support of a
*virtual* brother, map drawer in Lisbon, in 8 years, from 1476 to 1484
achieves:
a) Permission to attend Mass in a closed convent in the outskirts of
Lisbon where he knows and marry a lady-commendator, sister-in-law of
the captain of the personal guard of the future king D. João II,
daughter of the late captain-mayor of Porto Santo, who's tutor and
oncle was the "veador" (finantial-minister) of the ducal house of
Viseu-Beja, at the time the biggest and richest of Iberia, half-aunt
of some of the highest portuguese noblewomen like the marchioness of
Montemor and the countesses of Abrantes and  Penamacor.
The said convent was from the Order of Saint James (Santiago) and
members could not marry at their wish; in fact marriages were decided
by the Master of the Order, the said Infante  D. João.
This meaning that in 3 years 1476-1479 this enterprising genoese of
low extraction had conquered the confidence of the heir of the
portuguese crown and already responsable for all the program of
navigations and discouveries.
b) Aquired all the portuguese navigation science, with a deep
knowledge of North Atlantic system of winds and currents, took part in
a portuguese-danish exploitation of Iceland and reached Canada; did
highly secret voyages to the "Mina" the most important portuguese
entrepot in Africa - in a time when any foreigner found south of
Canaries was killed without pardon and any boat sunk - and an even
more secret voyage to the equator with one of João II's member of the
"Junta dos Matemáticos", the top advisory council, the jew José
Vizinho where they stayed measuring the sun height at different times
to elaborate the "tables of declination" that permitted the portuguese
to sail in south atlantic and later in the Indian Ocean.
Probably even you know that in his first voyage he took the route to
Canaries and only then the route to Antilles and in the return he took
a much more northern route arriving directly in Lisbon, even today the
best routes to the Antilles and back (if he did not know in advance
what he was doing he was a double lottery winner).
c) Found time to learn portuguese, castilian, latin, some greek and
hebrew and, curiously, forgot all the italian (more exactly the
ligurian genoese dialect) that he had spoken for 25 years as he wrote
in castilian to the genoese ambassadors and bankers and never wrote in
italian even to his brothers. And, of course, learned all that was to
learn about geography, cosmography, astronomy, etc. (his so called
incompreensible tables were the measures of the angles expressed in
the decimals of the tangents, a very clever way to be the only one who
knew what they meant or what is the same, the real routes and
distances).

All that in 8 paltry years. Without one single document of those
years; without one single teacher of that outstanding pupil that,
after he was celebrated all over the world, proudly proclaimed: I
teached the Admiral of the Ocean Sea!

America is so called because italians tried untill the limit to
pretend that it was discovered by the italian born Amerigho Vespucci,
navigator at the service of Portugal - where he learned - later an aid
to Columbus in Castile, and finally naturalised castilian with the
name Americo Vespucio (but never a fleet captain).
Maybe italians make good sailors but they do make much better crooks
and it is difficult to decide what to more admire: their effrontery or
the naïveté they benefit of.

Francisco
(Portugal)

The Bassanos seem to have been from village of Bassano del Grappa which is
reportedly approximately 35 miles to the northeast of Venice.

DSH

Lux et Veritas et Libertas