Dame Elizabeth Brooke

Elizabeth Brooke was the wife of Thomas Wyatt, the poet, and the mother of Thomas Wyatt the younger who led Wyatt's Rebellion against Mary I.
She was the sister of George Brooke, 9th Baron Cobham and was considered a possible candidate for the sixth wife of Henry VIII of England.[1]

Elizabeth separated from Thomas Wyatt and openly lived in adultery.
He refused to financially support her, and after pursuing Anne Boleyn before her relationship with the King, he started a long-term affair with Elizabeth Darrell.
In 1540, they were forced by Henry VIII to reconcile.
This was as Wyatt had been accused of treason and only the begging of Catherine Howard had saved his life. She should not be confused with her beautiful niece, Elisabeth Brooke, who married William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton and was close to Edward VI of England, Jane Grey and Elizabeth I of England.

In 1542, the night after Catherine Howard had been condemned to death for adultery, Henry VIII held a dinner for many men and women.
He was said to pay great attention to Elizabeth and to Anne Bassett.
Both were thought to be possible choices for wife number six.

The daughter of Thomas Brooke, 8th baron Cobham (d.July 19,1529) and Dorothy Heydon, Elizabeth married Sir Thomas Wyatt the poet (1503-October 11, 1542) in 1520 and bore him a son, Sir Thomas the rebel (1521-x1554) and a daughter, Anne.
Early in the marriage, marital difficulties arose, with Wyatt claiming they were “chiefly” her fault. He repudiated her as an adulteress, although there is no record linking her with any specific man.
They separated in 1526. He supported her until around 1537, but then refused to do so any longer and sent her to live with her brother, Lord Cobham. In that same year, Lord Cobham attempted to force Wyatt to continue his financial support.
He refused. It wasn't until 1541, when Wyatt was arrested and his properties confiscated, that the Brooke family was able to force a reconciliation as a condition for Wyatt’s pardon.
It is unclear, however, whether this provision was ever enforced.
Wyatt continued his association with his mistress, Elizabeth Darrell. In early 1542, more than a year before Wyatt’s death, Lady Wyatt's name crops up in Spanish dispatches as one of three ladies in whom Henry VIII was said to be interested as a possible sixth wife.
The Spanish Ambassador wrote that the lady for whom the king “showed the greatest regard was a sister of Lord Cobham, whom Wyatt, some time ago, divorced for adultery.
She is a pretty young creature, with wit enough to do as badly as the others if she were to try.”
This is an odd comment in several ways, not the least of which is that Elizabeth was almost forty years old. What would make more sense, would be to assume that the ambassador was mistaken in his identification. Another Elizabeth Brooke (see next entry), Lord Cobham’s daughter, could easily have been at court on this occasion, since she was definitely there the following year.
She would have been nearly sixteen in January of 1542 and in later years was accounted one of the most beautiful women of her time. More important to a king who had just rid himself of a wife (Catherine Howard) who had committed adultery, this second Elizabeth had a spotless reputation.
Following Wyatt’s death, Lady Wyatt married Edward Warner (1511-1565), Lord Lieutenant of the Tower.
Warner was removed from his position on July 28, 1553, after Mary became queen, and was arrested on suspicion of treason the following January at his house in Carter Lane when Thomas Wyatt the younger rebelled against the Crown.
Warner was held for nearly a year. Elizabeth’s son was executed. Edward, the son she had with Warner, died young.
Eventually, however, the family fortunes were restored and under Elizabeth Tudor Warner reclaimed to his post at the Tower of London. His wife died there in August 1560 and was buried within its precincts.

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• http://our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com/p3023.htm#...
• 'Elizabeth Brooke1,2
• F, b. circa 1505, d. 1560
• Father Sir Thomas Brooke, 8th Lord Cobham3,2 d. 19 Jul 1529
• Mother Dorothy Heydon3,2 b. c 1475
• ' Elizabeth Brooke was born circa 1505 at of Cobham, Kent, England.1 She married Sir Thomas Wyatt, Sheriff of Kent, son of Sir Henry Wyatt and Anna Skinner, circa 1521.1 Elizabeth Brooke died in 1560 at of Plumstead, Norfolk, England.1,2 She married Sir Edward Warner, Constable of Citheroe Castle, Burgess of Grantham & Great Grimsby, son of Henry (Robert) Warner and Mary Blennerhassett, before 27 February 1560; They had 3 sons, all of whom died in infancy.2
• 'Family 1 Sir Thomas Wyatt, Sheriff of Kent b. 1503, d. 10 Oct 1542
• Child
• ◦Sir Thomas Wyatt, Sheriff of Kent+1,2 b. c 1522, d. 11 Apr 1554
• 'Family 2 Sir Edward Warner, Constable of Citheroe Castle, Burgess of Grantham & Great Grimsby b. c 1525, d. 7 Nov 1565
• Citations
• 1.[S5] Douglas Richardson, Plantagenet Ancestry, p. 778.
• 2.[S15] Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, p. 905.
• 3.[S5] Douglas Richardson, Plantagenet Ancestry, p. 777-778.
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• http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/BROOKE1.htm#Elizabeth BROOKE4
• 'Elizabeth BROOKE
• 'Born: 1503
• 'Died: AFT 1550 / ABT Aug 1560
• 'Buried: Tower of London
• 'Notes: early in her marriage with Thomas Wyatt, marital difficulties arose. He repudiated her as an adulteress, although there is no record linking her with any specific man. For fifteen years or so, he continued to support her, but then refused to do so any longer and sent her to live with her brother, Lord Cobham. This was around 1537, the year in which Lord Cobham attempted to force Wyatt to continue his support. He refused. It wasn't until 1541, when Wyatt was arrested and his properties confiscated, that the Brooke family was able to force a reconciliation as a condition for Wyatt’s pardon. They were forced by Henry VIII to reconcile. In early 1542, more than a year before Wyatt’s death, Lady Wyatt's name crops up in Spanish dispatches as one of three ladies in whom Henry VIII was said to be interested as a possible sixth wife. The Spanish Ambassador wrote that the lady for whom the King “showed the greatest regard was a sister of Lord Cobham, whom Wyatt, some time ago, divorced for adultery. She is a pretty young creature, with wit enough to do as badly as the others if she were to try”. Some authors believe the Ambassador was mistaken in his identification. Another Elizabeth Brooke, Lord Cobham’s daughter, was definitely at court the following year. She would have been nearly sixteen in Jan 1542 and in later years was accounted one of the most beautiful women of her time. Elizabeth Brooke’s second husband, Sir Edward Warner, Lord Lieutenant of the Tower, lived through the political and religious upheavals of the reigns of Henry VIII, Mary I, Edward VI and died in the reign of Elizabeth I. He was a court official whose fortunes changed depending on the faction that held power at the time. He was imprisoned in the tower during Henry VIII’s reign. In 1549 Warner acted as Marshall of the Field during the suppression of the peasant’s revolt in Norfolk that was known as Kett’s Rebellion. In 1554 he was implicated in the rebellion of his step son, Sir Thomas Wyatt. Eventually, however, the family fortunes were restored and under Elizabeth Tudor, Warner reclaimed to his post at the Tower of London. In 1561 was an inquisitor of Catherine Grey as Lieutenant of the Tower. Elizabeth died in the Tower in Aug 1560 and was buried within its precincts.
• Father: Thomas BROOKE (3° B. Cobham)
• Mother: Dorothy HEYDON (B. Cobham)
• 'Married 1: Thomas "The Elder" WYATT (Sir) 1520 Divorced
• Children:
  • 1. Thomas "The Younger" WYATT (Sir)
  • 2. Anne WYATT
• 'Married 2: Edward WARNER (Sir) (d. 1565)
• Children:
  • 3. Edward WARNER
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