38 Facts About Emilia Lanier

Emilia Lanier was the first woman in England to assert herself as a professional poet, through her volume Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum.

Emilia Lanier's life appears in her letters, poetry, and medical and legal records, and in sources for the social contexts in which she lived.

Emilia Lanier visited Forman many times in 1597 for consultations that incorporated astrological readings, as was usual in the medical practice of the period.

Emilia Lanier's father, Baptiste Bassano, was a Venetian-born musician at the court of Elizabeth I, making Lanier a member of the minor gentry.

Forman's records indicate that after the death of her father, Emilia Lanier went to live with Susan Bertie, Countess of Kent.

Some scholars question whether Emilia Lanier went to serve Bertie or be fostered by her, but there is no conclusive evidence for either possibility.

Records indicate that Emilia Lanier enjoyed her time as his mistress.

In 1592, when she was 23, Emilia Lanier became pregnant with Hunsdon's child, but he paid her off with a sum of money.

Emilia Lanier was then married to her first cousin once removed, Alfonso Emilia Lanier.

Emilia Lanier gave birth to a son, Henry, in 1593.

Emilia Lanier gave birth to a daughter, Odillya, in 1598; she died when she was ten months old and was buried at St Botolph's.

In 1611, Emilia Lanier published her volume of poetry, Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum.

Emilia Lanier was the first woman in England to declare herself a poet.

Emilia Lanier rented a house from Edward Smith to house her students, but disputes over the rental led to her being arrested twice between 1617 and 1619.

Clement could not pay immediately, and so Emilia Lanier brought the suit back to court in 1636 and in 1638.

In 1611, at the age of 42, Emilia Lanier published a collection of poetry called Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum.

Emilia Lanier was only the fourth woman in the British Isles to publish poetry.

Emilia Lanier's book is the first book of substantial, original poetry written by an Englishwoman.

Emilia Lanier wrote it in the hope of attracting a patron.

Emilia Lanier makes use of two unpublished manuscripts and a published play translation by Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke.

Emilia Lanier's views have been interpreted as "independent of church tradition" and heretical.

Emilia Lanier defends Eve and women in general by arguing that Eve is wrongly blamed for Original Sin, while no blame attached to Adam.

Emilia Lanier argues that Adam shares the guilt, as he is shown in the Bible as being stronger than Eve, and so capable of resisting the temptation.

Emilia Lanier defends women by noting the dedication of Christ's female followers in staying with him through the Crucifixion and first seeking him after the burial and Resurrection.

Emilia Lanier's book ends with the "Description of Cookham," commemorating Margaret Clifford, Countess of Cumberland and her daughter Lady Anne Clifford.

Emilia Lanier seems to argue that women must focus on the material world and their importance in it, to complement their life in the spiritual world.

The argument derives from Emilia Lanier's seeming desire to raise women to the level of men.

The theory that Emilia Lanier was the Dark Lady is doubted by other Emilia Lanier scholars, such as Susanne Woods.

However, Martin Green argued that although Rowse's argument was unfounded, he was correct in saying that Emilia Lanier is referred to in the Sonnets.

In 2005, the English conductor Peter Bassano, a descendant of Emilia Lanier's brother, suggested she provided some of the texts for William Byrd's 1589 Songs of Sundrie Natures, dedicated to Lord Hunsdon, and that one of the songs, a setting of the translation of an Italian sonnet "Of Gold all Burnisht", may have been used by Shakespeare as the model for his parodic Sonnet 130: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun.

The character Emilia speaks some of the first feminist lines on an English stage and so could be seen as a contemporary allegory for Lanier herself, while the musicians in both plays, Prior argues, are allegories for members of her family.

In November 2020, Peter Bassano, a descendant of Lanier's uncle, published a book, Shakespeare and Emilia, claiming to have found proof that Lanier is Shakespeare's Dark Lady.

Emilia Lanier was largely forgotten for centuries, but study of her has abounded in recent decades.

Emilia Lanier is remembered for contributing to English literature her volume of verses Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum, for which she is seen as the first professional female poet in the English language.

The play Emilia by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, produced in London in 2018, is a "mock history" piece with a feminist message, in which Lanier rebukes Shakespeare for "lift[ing] her words".

Emilia Lanier is the central character of the novel The Heavens by Sandra Newman.

Emilia Lanier appears as a character in the 2019 video game Astrologaster.

Emilia Lanier is portrayed as the true writer of Shakespeare's plays in the 2024 novel By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult.