Born Anne Cooke, the daughter of Sir Antony Cooke, tutor to Prince Edward under Henry VIII. Anne was highly educated and was known for her ability to read Latin, Greek, Italian, and French. She was the translator of the popular sermons of Bernardino Ochino, an Italian convert to Calvinism, printed between 1548 and 1570. She was a strong advocate for the Protestant cause in England. She served as Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Elizabeth I. She married Sir Nicholas Bacon, Queen's Keeper of the Great Seal and a member of Elizabeth I's Privy Council and with him had three children; Anthony, Francis – who would become Sir Francis Bacon 1st Viscount Saint Albans - and Jane who was about 19 years her brothers' junior. Some scholars believe, however, that Francis was not her son but a ward; a theory based largely upon an interpretation of a letter to Anthony in which she stated "It is not my meaning to treat him [Francis] as a ward; Such a word is far from my Motherly feeling for him." Scholarship does not agree on the interpretation of the letter or the relationship, however. The question is still hotly debated. Regardless, she was his staunch supporter and ally throughout her life. In 1562 John Jewel's ‘Apologia Ecclesiae Anglicanae' was published in England and was viewed as the authoritative defense of the English Church. Anne Bacon's translation of it was published in 1564 and became the official English version. She retired to Francis' household in later life and died about age eighty-two.
Born Anne Cooke, the daughter of Sir Antony Cooke, tutor to Prince Edward under Henry VIII. Anne was highly educated and was known for her ability to read Latin, Greek, Italian, and French. She was the translator of the popular sermons of Bernardino Ochino, an Italian convert to Calvinism, printed between 1548 and 1570. She was a strong advocate for the Protestant cause in England. She served as Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Elizabeth I. She married Sir Nicholas Bacon, Queen's Keeper of the Great Seal and a member of Elizabeth I's Privy Council and with him had three children; Anthony, Francis – who would become Sir Francis Bacon 1st Viscount Saint Albans - and Jane who was about 19 years her brothers' junior. Some scholars believe, however, that Francis was not her son but a ward; a theory based largely upon an interpretation of a letter to Anthony in which she stated "It is not my meaning to treat him [Francis] as a ward; Such a word is far from my Motherly feeling for him." Scholarship does not agree on the interpretation of the letter or the relationship, however. The question is still hotly debated. Regardless, she was his staunch supporter and ally throughout her life. In 1562 John Jewel's ‘Apologia Ecclesiae Anglicanae' was published in England and was viewed as the authoritative defense of the English Church. Anne Bacon's translation of it was published in 1564 and became the official English version. She retired to Francis' household in later life and died about age eighty-two.
Bio by: Iola
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