Elizabeth Goldring

The woman who put the Spencer family on the map

Born in 1559, Alice Spencer, a formidable networker, matchmaker and patron of the arts, was the muse of poets including Edmund Spenser and John Milton

Portrait of a lady thought to be Alice Spencer. (Circle of Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger) [Alamy]
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  • A Woman of Influence: The Spectacular Rise of Alice Spencer in Tudor England

    Vanessa Wilkie

    Atria Books, pp. 245, £18

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