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Margaret Croft

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Margaret CroftorCrofts(died 1637) was an English aristocrat.

Croft Church atCroft Castle,Herefordshire

Family background

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She was a daughter ofSir Herbert CroftofCroft Castleand Mary Bourne, daughter and heiress of Anthony Bourne ofHolt Castle,Worcestershire.

Her father converted to Catholicism and died either in 1622 or in 1629, atDouai.Her brotherHerbert Croftalso converted but returned to the Church of England and becameBishop of Hereford.Margaret Croft or her sister Mary replied to her father's Catholic pamphleteering, and he responded in print with,Reply to the Answer of his Daughter M. C. which she made to a Paper of his sent to her concerning the Rom. Church(1619).[1]Her sister Mary Croft (b. 1598) married Richard Tomkyns ofMonnington,and a letter of her cousinBrilliana Harleyrecords a rumour she was involved in drafting an anti-Parliamentarian pamphlet of 1642,The Declaration or Resolution of the County of Hereforde.[2]Lucy Croft marriedSir Dudley Carleton,a diplomat atThe Hague.Elizabeth Croft (d. 1622) married Sir Thomas Cave, and her portrait is shown at Croft Castle.[3]

The lady in waiting to Elizabeth of Bohemia known as "Margaret Crofts" has sometimes been identified as the sister ofWilliam Crofts, Baron Crofts of Saxham(died 1677). William Crofts carrled letters to Elizabeth of Bohemia.[4]However, the will of Margaret Croft from Herefordshire seems to identify her as this royal servant.[5]

Working for the Queen of Bohemia

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"Margaret Crofts toldLucy Hay, Countess of Carlislescandal from The Hague
Croft was said to be the mistress ofPhilipp Moritz, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg

Margaret Croft or Crofts became a maid of honour or lady in waiting toElizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemiain 1623. She was often known as "Mrs Crofts".[6]Anne Carleton, the wife of her brother-in-law Dudley Carleton, had advised against this choice, writing that Croft had scurvy, an indicator that she was idle.[7]

In 1625 Elizabeth wrote letters toJohn, Earl of MarandMarie, Countess of Marabout one of their sons, perhapsHenryor Alexander, who had asked her if he could marry Croft, after she noticed their relationship. Elizabeth recommended Croft as "an honest discreet woman and doth carie herself very well".[8]No marriage ensued, Mar wrote to the queen in May 1626 that he could not have Alexander (or his seven brethren) marry according to her wishes.[9]Mar gave no particular reason in the letter, the historianLisa Jardinepoints to a disparity in status. Thereafter Croft became linked with members of the Dutch court, especiallyConstantijn Huygens.[10]

Croft was probably the author of a humorous account of a tour of North Holland taken by Elizabeth andAmalia van Solmsin the summer of 1625. The account, written in French, was said to have been taken from a letter written in cipher from a maid of honour to her cousin in England. The French title is, "'Copie d'une lettre interceptée & deschiffrée en passant entre une des filles d'honneur de la royne de Boheme, & une Damoisselle sa Cousine en Angleterre".[11]The narrative is very different from formal accounts of royal progresses, and another lady-in-waitingElizabeth Dudley, Countess of Löwenstein,a daughter ofJohn Dudley,features in several comic episodes.[12][13]

Croft has been identified as the mistress of "H",Philipp Moritz, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg,described inFrederick'sletters.[14]

Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine,Elizabeth's son, put in a good word for Croft's brother Herbert Croft with theArchbishop of Canterburyat Oxford in August 1636.[15]

Disgrace and Death

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She returned to England in 1637. She had offended Elizabeth, who wanted the exact reasons for her dismissal kept secret, partly because they would prejudice Croft's chances of getting a reward fromKing Charlesand partly to prevent their public airing, and told them toSir Richard Cave,rather than put them in a letter.[16]

Charles Louis wrote to Elizabeth, his mother, on 24 May 1637 fromWhitehall Palace,mentioning an old quarrel he had with Croft, that she had fallen out with his sisterElisabeth of the Palatinateand that recently she had toldLord Cravenhe was rude to her. In a second letter of 12 June 1637 fromGreenwich Palacehe described how Croft in conversation withLady Carlislehad "well stitched" most of the characters of Elizabeth's court atThe Haguewith "censure sharp enough", probably written in verse. He wanted her to stay in London where she could do less harm. There was already a troublesome rumour that Elizabeth Dudley, Countess of Löwenstein, had boxed his sister Elisabeth's ear in thePrince of Orange'sgarden.[17]

Margaret Croft died in London in 1637 and was buried inWestminster Abbeyon 14 December 1637. In her will she hoped the Queen of Bohemia would settle her debts atThe Hagueamounting to £100. In London she owed Mr Berry in Paternoster Row for white satin for a waistcoat and mohair for a gown.[18]

The Erskine connection

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The historianNadine Akkermanproposes that the Erskine connection of Margaret Croft may have resulted in the compilation, many years later, of a memoir of the childhood and education of Princess Elizabeth atCoombe Abbey.The 1772 publication was probably authored or brought to the press by Frances Erskine (1715-1776), a daughter ofJohn Erskine, Earl of Mar (1675–1732).Akkerman demonstrates theMemoirs Relating to the Queen of Bohemiaought to be regarded by historians as a secondary source. TheMemoirincludes some anachronistic detail, including a mention of a microscope invented byCornelius Drebbeland the findings of the naturalistMaria Sibylla Merian.[19]

References

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  1. ^James Doelman,King James I and the Religious Culture of England(Cambridge, 2000), pp. 109-10, supplies "Mary Croft".
  2. ^Rachel Adcock, Sara Read, Anna Ziomek,Flesh and Spirit: An anthology of seventeenth-century women's writing(Manchester, 2014), p. 130: Timothy Taylor Lewis,Letters of the Lady Brilliana Harley(Camden Society, London, 1854), pp. 182, 263.
  3. ^Owen George Scudamore Croft,House of Croft of Croft Castle(Hereford, 1949), pp. 85, 88, 92-4.
  4. ^Nadine Akkerman,Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Hearts(Oxford, 2021), pp. 219, 530:Nadine Akkerman,The Correspondence of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemiavol 1 (Oxford, 2015), pp. 568-70: See also,Mary Anne Everett Green,Elizabeth Electress Palatine and Queen of Bohemia(London, 1909), pp. 245, 260, 352, 423, 426:Lisa Jardine,Temptation in the Archives(UCL: London, 2015),pp. 1-17.
  5. ^Owen George Scudamore Croft,House of Croft of Croft Castle(Hereford, 1949), p. 92-3.
  6. ^Mary Anne Everett Green,Elizabeth Electress Palatine and Queen of Bohemia(London, 1909), pp. 260, 352.
  7. ^Nadine Akkerman,Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Hearts(Oxford, 2021), p. 219.
  8. ^Mary Anne Everett Green,Elizabeth Electress Palatine and Queen of Bohemia(London, 1909), p. 423:HMC Mar & Kellie,vol. 1 (London, 1914), p. 179:HMC 4th Report,p. 527.
  9. ^HMC Supplementary Report Mar & Kellie(London, 1930), pp. 174-5, 240.
  10. ^Lisa Jardine,Temptation in the Archives(UCL: London, 2015), pp. 4-6, 102-118: A. Worp (ed.),De Briefwisseling van Constantijn Huygens,Deel I, 1608-1634 (The Hague, 1911), nos. 364, 369, 463, 695, 823.
  11. ^The French text is printed in Martin Royalton-Kisch,Adriaen Van de Venne's Album: In the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum(London, 1988), and with an English translation in Lisa Jardine,Temptation in the Archive(London, 2015), pp. 108-119.
  12. ^Lisa Jardine,Temptation in the Archives(UCL: London, 2015), pp. 6-15: Mary Anne Everett Green,Elizabeth Electress Palatine and Queen of Bohemia(London, 1909), pp. 245-247.
  13. ^Nadine Akkerman,Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Hearts(Oxford, 2021), p. 229.
  14. ^Nadine Akkerman,The Correspondence of Elizabeth Stuart Queen of Bohemia,vol. 2 (Oxford, 2012), pp. 126-8, 142-3: Lisa Jardine, 'In Search of the "Real" Dorothée van Dorp',De Zeventiende Eeuw,25 (2009), pp. 44-6.
  15. ^Nadine Akkerman,The Correspondence of Elizabeth Stuart Queen of Bohemia,vol. 2 (Oxford, 2012), pp. 519-520.
  16. ^Nadine Akkerman,The Correspondence of Elizabeth Stuart Queen of Bohemia,vol. 2 (Oxford, 2012), pp. 594, 643.
  17. ^Mary Anne Everett Green,Elizabeth Electress Palatine and Queen of Bohemia(London, 1909), p. 352: George Bromley,A Collection of Original Royal Letters(London, 1787), pp. 85, 87-9: Nadine Akkerman,The Correspondence of Elizabeth Stuart Queen of Bohemia,vol. 2 (Oxford, 2012), pp. 602-3, 605-6.
  18. ^Joseph Lemuel Chester,Westminster Abbey Registers: Harleian Society,vol. 10 (London, 1869), pp. 64, 132, citing 'Will of Margery Crofts', TNA PROB 11/177/290: Owen George Scudamore Croft,House of Croft of Croft Castle(Hereford, 1949), p. 92-3 quoting TNA PROB 11/177/290.
  19. ^Nadine Akkerman,Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Hearts(Oxford, 2021), pp. 39-40, 409.
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