Elizabeth jane weston biography of william shakespeare

  • Little is known about Elizabeth Jane

    • A Prague poet “infinitely better known than Shakespeare”

    Elizabeth Jane Weston

    We have talked in past editions of Czech Books about the remarkable Elizabeth Jane Weston. Known in her time as the “Virgo Angla” – the English Maiden at the court of Rudolph II – at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries she was considered one of Europe’s great poets. Here is an extract from a poem that Elizabeth Jane dedicated to the Flemish composer Philippe de Monte, who at the time was living out his last years in Prague. She wrote the poem in Latin so here it is in translation:

    What is left to say? Music keeps us sound,
    dispels sicknesses, confirms friendships.
    It leads our senses to an obedient spirit, and draws
    that same spirit to the heavens in a resounding voice.
    Yet do not foolishly consider that to be harmony
    which, alas, becomes pernicious in its allurement;
    but what Phoebus has blessed you with, praiseworthy Philippe,
    is serious, or comes only by the gift of the Gods.
    It snatches our emotions from the ground and exalts them
    to Olympus, and can call our spirits away from vice.
    So rejoice in these gifts, and fare you well, great Philippe,
    that you may be sung throughout the whole world.

    Elizabeth Jane Weston has been all but forgotten, and this inspired me to do some more research, talking to scholars in both the Czech Republic and Britain and visiting some of the places in both countries associated with the poet. The outcome is “A Poet in Bohemia”, a radio documentary to be broadcast by BBC Radio 3 on November 13. One of the people I met in the course of my research was Prof. Susan Bassnett from the University of Warwick, who is probably the world’s foremost scholar on Westonia’s life and work. In today’s Czech Books I talk to Susan Bassnett about the poet.

    Susan Bassnett

    “I have been working with Elizabeth Weston – Westonia – for over 20 years. I have an enormous affinity with her. She and I both grew up in different countries, we spoke different
  • The poet's name was

    • Shakespeare's Sisters children's exhibition

    This article is related to the exhibition. For other uses, see Shakespeare's Sisters (disambiguation).

    This article collects the children's exhibition material featured in the Shakespeare's Sisters: Voices of English and European Women Writers 1500-1700 exhibitions.

    Cool facts about Renaissance women

    Queen Elizabeth I. After John de Critz. Oil on panel, after 1620. Folger Digital Image 1002.

    During the Renaissance, many people—men and women alike—did not know how to read and write. However, some women did learn how to read, and a number of women wrote books, plays, and poetry that we still learning about today.

    • Elizabeth I, who later became queen of England, translated a French book into English when she was only 11 years old! She gave her translation to her stepmother, Katherine Parr.
    • Marguerite de Navarre, a French queen, wrote poetry and a collection of short stories. She ruled France with her brother, King Francois. When Francois was captured, Marguerite rode directly to the people who had taken him prisoner and helped to set him free.
    • Margaret Cavendish was one of the first women to write science fiction. Her book, The Blazing World, imagines a planet in outer space with talking animals.
    • Aphra Behn was among the first woman in England to write plays professionally. Actors performed her first play, The Forced Marriage, in 1670 — over 50 years after the famous playwright William Shakespeare died.

    Women writing plays

    In England, women did not write plays when Shakespeare was alive. However, in the late 1600s, many women began writing plays, and many of these plays became popular in London theaters and elsewhere.

    Aphra Behn was one of the first women in England to write plays and earn a living doing it. Before writing plays, she worked as a spy for King Charles II! King Charles often did not pay her for her work, so imaginative Aphra decided to make money writing plays.

    Catherine Trott

    Elizabeth Jane Weston: Collected Writings 9781442674349

    Table of contents :
    Contents
    Acknowledgments
    Introduction
    PART ONE: Parthenica
    Book I
    Book II
    Book III
    Catalogus Doctarvm Virginvment Fæminarum
    Manuscript Additions to Parthenica
    PART TWO: Other Works by Weston not in Parthenica
    1. Poëmata (1602)
    2. Carmen ad... Rudolphum II (1601)
    3. Manuscript letter from Weston to Joseph Scaliger (1602)
    4. B. Havlík, Elegia (1604)
    5. In Obitum ... loannæ (nd)
    6. Vota ... (Mansfeld-Wartenberg marriage, 1608)
    7. Pěčka z Radostic, Michal, Akcí (1609)
    8. Ad ... Matthiam Secundum (1612)
    9. Sebastianus Hornmold, In Crapulam (1619)
    10. C.T. Schosser, Lauri Folia (Books 1-4,1619-22)
    PART THREE: Other Tributes to Westonia
    1. In beatissimum decessum ... Westoniae (1612)
    2. Johannes Bocatius
    3. Andreas Calagius (1549-1609)
    4. Georgius Carolides (1569-1612)
    5. Johannes Cörber
    6. Balthasar Exner (1576-1624)
    7. Hermann Fabronius [=Mosemann] (1570-1634)
    7. Hermann Fabronius [=Mosemann] (1570-1634)
    8. Paul Fleming
    9. Christoph Girsner (1552-1629)
    10. Daniel Heinsius
    11. Joannes Petrus Lotichius (1598-1669)
    12. Bernhard Praetorius, of Nürnberg (1567-1616)
    13. Johann Joachim von Rusdorf (1589-1640)
    14. Lambert Thomas Schenckel (b. 1547)
    15. Sir John Stradling (1563-1637)
    16. Frid. Taubmann (1565-1613)
    17. Matthias Zuber (1570-1623), Neuberg am Donau
    Index of Names

    Citation preview

    ELIZABETH JANE WESTON Collected Writings

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    E L I Z A B E T H J A N E WESTON

    Collected Writings

    Edited and Translated by Donald Cheney and Brenda M. Hosington With the assistance of D.K. Money

    UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS Toronto Buffalo London

    www.utppublishing.com © University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2000 Toronto Buffalo London Printed in Canada ISBN 0-8020-4472-7

    Printed on acid-free paper

    Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Weston, Elizabeth Jane, 1582-1612 Collected writings Poems and letters in Latin with translations and introduction in E

  • Elizabeth Jane Weston (1582 – 1612)
  • From the book Diasporic Constructions
    • "I usually enjoy discussing poetry, literature, and theatre with my husband, but now my mind is somewhere else. I must shed light on the meaning of this play!"
    ―Elizabeth after having watched the play A Midsummer Night's Dream.

    Elizabeth Jane Weston

    Elizabeth Jane Weston (1582 – 1612) was an English poet.

    Biography[]

    Early life[]

    "Papa wants me to get the same opportunities as my brother. He says I am fortunate, that not all young ladies have private tutors. I study hard to please him."
    ―Elizabeth talking about her childhood.

    Elizabeth was born to Jane Cooper in England, and became the stepdaughter of Edward Kelley. Elizabeth's family and Kelley's colleague John Dee moved to Třeboň, Bohemia in 1587 at the request of Count Rožmberk.

    At some point, her brother John Francis revealed that their stepfather "communicated with angels" via a "crystal ball". A few days afterwards, Elizabeth snuck into John Dee's room and opened his armoire, grabbing a ball wrapped in cloth. As soon as she unwrapped it and noticed that it was made of gold, John caught her and took back the ball.

    One night, when Elizabeth was ill, she noticed her stepfather's door open and took a peek inside. She saw him reading a strange book, and he sprinkled red powder over something; Kelley grinned as he had created a clump of gold. Elizabeth was spooked when she heard Kelley's voice become deeper and heard him speak a strange language, and hurried back to bed.

    Another day, she overheard her stepfather and John having a conversation. While Kelley insisted on using the book, saying they could do much more than simply create gold, John warned him that the book would destroy him. Some time afterwards, Kelley and John got into a fight, which resulted in her aunt crying and Elizabeth being dragged downstairs, upon being discovered.

    A few more days afterwards, John announced his departure