Bess of Hardwick's Letters brings together, for the first time, the remarkable letters written to and from Bess of Hardwick

Bess of Hardwick (c.1521/2 or 1527-1608) is one of Elizabethan England's most famous figures. She is renowned for her reputation as a dynast and indomitable matriarch and perhaps best known as the builder of great stately homes like the magnificent Hardwick Hall and Chatsworth House. The story of her life told to date typically emphasises her modest birth, her rise through the ranks of society, her four husbands, each of greater wealth than the last, and her ambitious aggrandisement of her family.

Bess of Hardwick's letters, which number almost 250 items of correspondence, bring to life her extraordinary story and allow us to eavesdrop on her world. Her letters allow us to reposition Bess as a complex woman of her times, immersed in the literacy and textual practices of everyday life, as her correspondence extends from servants, friends and family, to queens and officers of state. 

You will find on this site:

• 234 letters to and from Bess available as transcripts (diplomatic, normalised, print-friendly or xml)
• Colour images of 185 letters and the option to create your own transcripts
• Search and browse facilities to filter the letters by material or visual features or by events in Bess's life
• Commentaries that provide overviews of Bess's life in 12 letters and editing her letters, and guides to the material features and the language of early modern letters