But we must remember men had done all of this type of thing before. Lady Anne may have been a remarkable woman, but not such a remarkable person, compared to perhaps, the Earl of Warwick, who in the 13th century re-built almost all the castles on the south east coast after the Normans attacked, and perhaps other great men of her time such as Sir Francis Drake or William Shakespeare
Plus it really isn’t really surprising that she lived to such and old age, as noble women and rich nobles usually had very privileged live due to all the health attention they had access to.
The major part in this is that Lady Anne was a remarkable woman., all the things she had done before had been done and better done by men. It was only because of her sex that I feel she was recognised by her peers, and if she had been a man doing the same thing, she would have most probably have been overlooked, or achieved less acclaim
Was Lady Anne “A almost queen in her domains”
Like a queen, Lady Anne toured around her castles and estate, much like Queen Elizabeth would have done on a royal progress, She also brought people to trail and judged them much like a queen would have done at that time. Most of all she demanded the up most respect from her people and if they dared defy her she would do everything in her power to condemn them.
But unlike a queen she was in touch with her people and did come into physical contact with them, an example of this was when parliament was overthrown and Charles II was restored in 1660, it was said that she joined in the celebrations with the people of Appleby.
Also Lady Anne owned a lot of Castles, and really, at that time most royals owned great estates or were building stately homes, not touring old damp Castles, as there was no real need for them as England was no longer under attack from any invading for
In the last part of the quote we must look at whether Lady Anne did make a “Tremendous impact on her people.”
Many say she did. Lady Anne created almshouses for widows, and provided money for the poor. She also provided jobs for her people, by building many new properties for herself, builders were paid according to how much work they had done, so there was a chance to be paid more than usual. Another point of interest is “The countesses pillar” in Westmoreland. The pillar was erected by Lady Anne to commemorate her mother. Every year, to this day, people, on the 2nd of April, gather to give money to give to the poor, living proof that her memory still lives on in the minds of the people of her region.
But her people remained just as poor as the rest of the country, and in some places even poorer. Also the women she was supposed to be looking after in the almshouses, the widows, didn’t have very much freedom.
Though Lady Anne did make a tremendous impact, it was only on her local area (Eden Valley, Lake District) if she had made such a “Tremendous impact” There would be a lot more written and recorded about her, not just locally, not nationally, but even globally. Though she was related to Elizabeth I, Lady Anne was nowhere near as well known Elizabeth is known globally and is a major figurehead of English history. There are also many other queens and noble women throughout history such as Cleopatra, Mary Queen of Scots and Marie Antoinette who have made more of an impact than Anne ever did.
So when we actually look closely into the quote that was originally made, we can see many flaws with it, and that in fact the author, C.M.L Bouch, was quite biased in regard towards Lady Anne. I think that perhaps Bouch was brought up in the area where Anne was famous, and grew up, listening to stories of her, so obviously he thought of her as a great person who had helped his region in the past. He also could have been commissioned or helped by a member of her family, so naturally he would be swayed by them, so he could gain their approval and get paid. He may even be related in some way or have connections to the Clifford domains. He could also be biased by no fault of his own, due to the lack of information when this quote was written in the 19th century.
In conclusion, Lady Anne Clifford was a remarkable woman, but really in comparison to other men from history, she really wasn’t as successful as them. I feel she was only picked out because of her sex, but this doesn’t stop her from being a brilliant role model, or from taking away any of her amazing achievements. .
