As St Albans marks the 400^th anniversary of the death of celebrated statesman and philosopher Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban, Deborah Spring explores how the Bacon family negotiated and survived the roller coaster of religious upheavals across the reigns of Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I, and into the reign of James I.  Active in religious reform during the reign of the boy king Edward VI, the family employed careful tactics to negotiate the perils of Catholic Mary’s reign. During the reign of Elizabeth I, with England once more a Protestant country, the widowed Lady Anne Bacon gave refuge at Gorhambury to the dissident Puritan preachers of Hertfordshire and with the support of her son Francis and brother-in-law Lord Burghley, campaigned vigorously on their behalf. This talk highlights the extraordinary story of how the Bacons successfully navigated a dangerous era of tumultuous political and religious change.

This talk is being run with the support of the Prayer Book Society St Albans Diocesan Branch. 

Deborah Spring is a researcher and writer, the author of Lady Anne Bacon: A woman of learning at the Tudor court (University of Hertfordshire Press, 2024). She lives locally, and is a member of SAHAAS.