| Sir Henry Herbert | |
|---|---|
| 2nd Earl of Pembroke | |
| Spouse(s) | Lady Catherine Grey Lady Catherine Talbot Mary Sidney |
| Issue | |
| William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke Lady Anne Herbert |
|
| Noble family | Herbert |
| Father | William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke |
| Mother | Anne Parr |
| Born | c.1538 |
| Died | 19 January 1601 Wilton, England |
| Burial | Salisbury Cathedral, Salisbury, England[1] |
Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke KG (aft. 1538 – 19 January 1601) was an English peer of the Elizabethan era.
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He was the son of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Anne Parr. His aunt was queen consort Catherine Parr, last wife of King Henry VIII. Herbert was responsible for the costly restoration of Cardiff Castle. Pembroke, like other members of his family, was a man of culture. He was a special patron of antiquaries and heralds and collected heraldic manuscripts.[1]
Herbert was educated at Peterhouse, Cambridge, under Archbishop John Whitgift. He is also said to have studied at Douay.[1]
In 1554, while his father was entertaining the entourage of Philip II of Spain's men at Wilton House, Herbert's discreet manners caught the attention of the Marquis de las Navas and he was made a gentleman of the chamber to King Philip upon his arrival in England. In 1557, he took part of a tournament held before Queen Mary, and accompanied his father to the siege of St. Quentin.[1]
On his father's death in 1570, he succeeded to the Earldom of Pembroke and on 4 April 1570 was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire. In right of his mother, Anne Parr, he succeeded as Lord Parr and Ros of Kendal, Lord FitzHugh, Lord Marmion, and Lord Quentin on 1 August 1571.[1]
In the court intrigues of Elizabeth's reign, Pembroke, was regarded as a partisan of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester and was certainly in very intimate relations with him. He took a prominent part in the trials of the 4th Duke of Norfolk; Mary, Queen of Scots in October 1586; and Norfolk's son Philip Howard, Earl of Arundel in 1589.
In 1586, he succeeded his father-in-law, Sir Henry Sidney, as Lord President of Wales and became at about the same time Admiral of South Wales. From thenceforth he spent much time at Ludlow Castle, the official residence of the president of Wales where he actively discharged the duties of his office.[1]
During the 1590s he was patron of Pembroke's Men, a theatre company who were the first group to perform a number of plays including Henry VI, part 1 by William Shakespeare and The Isle of Dogs by Thomas Nashe and Ben Jonson.
In 1595, Pembroke was described as 'very pursife and maladise' and by September 1599, 'his life was despaired of'. Herbert died at Wilton House leaving his lady 'as bare as he could and bestowing all on the young lord even to her jewels'. He was buried in Salisbury Cathedral.[1]
He was married to Lady Catherine Grey, sister of Lady Jane Grey, on 21 May 1553, in a political match arranged by their parents in the hopes of assisting the Duke of Northumberland with his plan to secure the succession of Lady Jane who also married along side her sister on that day, the Duke's younger son, Lord Guildford Dudley. The union was never consummated, and in 1554, Queen Mary's influence led to the consent of Herbert's father's dissolution of the marriage.[1]
His second wife was Lady Catherine Talbot, daughter of George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, and his wife Gertrude Manners, daughter of Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland. Queen Elizabeth was extremely fond of Lady Catherine and when Catherine developed a fatal illness she often visited her at Baynard's Castle.[1] She died in 1575 leaving no children by Herbert.[1]
By April 1577, Herbert married his third wife, the former Mary Sidney, daughter of Sir Henry Sidney. His children included William and Philip, who both were Earl of Pembroke after their father, and Lady Anne Herbert who died young.[1] A daughter, Dorothy (born 1586 - died 1615 in Gravesend, Kent, Eng.), married Sir Richard Devereaux Gilliam (born 1583- died 1651 in Norfolk, Virginia), the elder son of Walter, Viscount Hereford of Herefordshire, England.
The armor of Henry Herbert is now on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the Arms and Armor galleries. It was made in 1580 at the Greenwich armoury, a royal workshop founded by Henry VIII to produce armour for the English nobility, chiefly Henry, without having to commission it from overseas. His portrait, and that of his father William, are on display at the National Museum Wales in Cardiff, adjacent to Cardiff Castle which the family owned and occupied for much of the sixteenth century.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by The Earl of Pembroke |
Custos Rotulorum of Glamorgan 1570–1601 |
Succeeded by John Herbert |
| Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire 1570–1601 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Hertford |
|
| Preceded by Sir John Thynne |
Custos Rotulorum of Wiltshire bef. 1584–1601 |
|
| Preceded by Unknown |
Lord Lieutenant of Somerset 1585–1601 |
|
| Preceded by Sir Henry Sidney |
Lord President of Wales Lord Lieutenant of Wales, Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire 1587–1601 |
Succeeded by The Lord Zouche |
| Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire 1587–1601 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Worcester |
|
| Preceded by William Herbert |
Custos Rotulorum of Monmouthshire bef. 1594–1601 |
|
| Peerage of England | ||
| Preceded by William Herbert |
Earl of Pembroke 1570–1601 |
Succeeded by William Herbert |