Frances Walsingham, Countess of Essex and Countess of Clanricarde (1567 – 17 February 1633) was an English noblewoman. The daughter of Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth I's Secretary of State, she became the wife of Sir Philip Sidney at age 16. Her second husband was Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, Queen Elizabeth's favourite, with whom she had five children. Shortly after his execution in 1601 she married her lover, Richard Burke, 4th Earl of Clanricarde, and went to live in Ireland.
Read more about Frances Walsingham: Family and Marriages
Famous quotes containing the word walsingham:
“Blessing turned to blasphemies,
Holy deeds to despites.
Sin is where our Lady sat,
Heaven turned is to hell,
Sathan sits where our Lord did sway,
Walsingham, Oh farewell!”
—Unknown. A Lament for the Priory of Walsingham (l. 39–44)