Alice Spencer, Countess of Derby

by Unknown artist
line engraving, 1594 or after
13 7/8 in. x 9 3/8 in. (354 mm x 237 mm) paper size
Transferred from British Museum, 1933
Reference Collection
NPG D10978

Sitterback to top

Alice Spencer, Countess of Derby (1559-1637), Noblewoman. Sitter in 4 portraits.

Artistback to top

Unknown artist, Artist. Artist or producer associated with 6556 portraits.

Subject/Themeback to top

Line engraving

Events of 1594back to top

Current affairs

Series of harvest failures begins.
The Portuguese Jewish physician Roderigo Lopez is executed for plotting to poison Queen Elizabeth I on behalf of Phillip II of Spain. The allegation is never proven and his conviction can partly be attributed to anti-Semitism.
The explorer and privateer Martin Frobisher dies from a gunshot wound received in combat with Spanish forces at Crozon, France.

Art and science

The playwright Christopher Marlowe's Edward II is published posthumously.
William Shakespeare completes The Comedy of Errors.
The Lisbon spice market is closed to English and Dutch merchants. The result is an increase of Dutch and English voyages to the Far East in order to break the Portuguese monopoly over the lucrative spice trade.

International

Coronation of Henry IV of France at Chartres. The Catholic League's resistance to his rule dissipates.
Akbar, Mughal Emperor of India, captures Kandahar (in present-day Afghanistan) from the Safavid dynasty of Persia.
The Diet of Regensburg - The Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II secures financial support from German Catholic nobles for his war against the Ottoman Empire in Hungary.

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