CORRESPONDENCE from a remarkable woman in Elizabethan England, who acted as keeper to the captive Mary Queen of Scots, is to be put online for the first time.
Glasgow University is involved in a new resource which aims to make Bess of Hardwick's correspondence available to internet users, along with annotations and analysis from experts.
Bess lived between 1522 and 1608 and rose from obscurity to become the second richest woman in the land, behind only Queen Elizabeth I.
Over the course of her life, she became known as an indomitable matriarch and dynast and the driving force behind the construction of several of the nation's great country houses including Hardwick Hall and Chatsworth House.
She wrote more than 240 letters that researchers on the three-year project believe will open a window to one of the richest archives of Tudor society in existence today.
On May 16, 1568, Mary fled to England after being forced to abdicate the Scottish throne in favour of her one-year-old son, James VI.
Mary expected her cousin, Elizabeth, to support her efforts to regain the Scottish throne. But she was held in Carlisle under the guard of Elizabeth's councillor, Sir Francis Knollys.
Written over 60 years, Bess's letters provide fascinating insights into language, literacy and cultural environments of 16th-century England. The collaboration with Sheffield's Humanities Research Institute will provide a publicly accessible record of the letters of one of Elizabethan England's most remarkable figures.
It is being funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Dr Alison Wiggins, principal investigator on the project said: "Bess of Hardwick is one of the most colourful characters of Elizabethan England. Over the course of her lifetime she rose from distinctly modest means to become the second richest woman in the land, building some of the nation's most iconic buildings along the way. Her letters include instructions to servants and orders to builders; expressions of affection between husband and wife, as well as bitter marital disputes; gossip from court; entreaties to the queen and her councillors; legal petitions and interventions; advice to her children and strategic marriage negotiations.
"They really bring her extraordinary story to life and allow us to eavesdrop on her world."
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