Anne Bacon

Portrait of Lady Anne Bacon, mother of Francis Bacon. attributed to George Gower.

Anne Bacon née Cooke, (c. 1528 – 1610), was an English gentlewoman and scholar. She made a lasting contribution to English religious literature with her translation from Latin of John Jewel's Apologie of the Anglican Church (1564). She was the mother of Francis Bacon.

Life

Anne Bacon was born in Essex, England, one of the five daughters of Anthony Cooke, tutor to Henry VIII’s only son Edward. Cooke ensured that each daughter received a thorough humanist education in languages and the classics. Anne mastered Greek, Latin, and Italian. At twenty-two, she translated and published Bernardino of Siena's work Ochines Sermons from the Italian. Her translation from the Latin into English of Bishop John Jewel's work of 1564 Apology for the Church of England was a significant step in the intellectual justification of Protestantism in England. The work was a clarification of the differences between Anglicanism and Roman Catholicism, and was critical to the support of Elizabeth I's religious policies.

Anne Bacon married Sir Nicholas Bacon, Queen Elizabeth's Keeper of the Great Seal, in 1553 and they had two sons, Anthony and Francis Bacon who later became a pioneer of the scientific revolution. For a while, Anne Bacon was a leading Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Elizabeth. Her religious views remained strongly Puritan and she called for the eradication of all Popery in the Church of England.

Works

• Sermons of Barnardine Ochyne, (to the number of 25.) concerning the predestination and election of god: very expedient to the setting forth of his glory among his creatures.
• An apologie or answere in defence of the Churche of Englande, with a briefe and plaine declaration of the true religion professed and used in the same.

References

• Anne Bacon at the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford Biography Index Number 101000987
• Anne Bacon at the Dinner Party database Brooklyn Museum. Accessed October 2007
• Francis Bacon's Foster Parents. Extract from Alfred Dodd's book, "The Marriage of Elizabeth Tudor" 1940, Accessed October 2007
• Lady Anne Bacon's Translations HUGHEY Review of English Studies.1934; os-X: 211 [1]
• Women of Action in Tudor England: Nine Biographical Sketches. by Pearl Hogrefe . Review in Renaissance Quarterly, Virginia F. SternVol. 31, No. 3 (Autumn, 1978), pp. 386-388 [2]