Magdalen Dacre | |
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Viscountess Montagu | |
Born | January 1538 Naworth Castle, Cumberland, England |
Died | 8 April 1608 Battle Abbey, Sussex |
Noble family | Dacre |
Spouse(s) | Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu |
Issue | Philip Browne Sir Henry Browne George Browne Sir Anthony Browne Jane Browne Mary Browne Elizabeth Browne Mabel Browne Thomas Browne William Browne |
Father | William Dacre, 3rd Baron Dacre |
Mother | Elizabeth Talbot |
Occupation | Maid of Honour |
Magdalen Dacre, Viscountess Montagu[1] (January 1538 – 8 April 1608) was an English noblewoman.[2] She was the daughter of William Dacre, 3rd Baron Dacre of Gilsland, and the second wife of Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu. Magdalen, a Roman Catholic, was a Maid of Honour to Mary I of England and was bridesmaid at Mary's wedding to Philip II of Spain in Winchester Cathedral. Dacre, despite being Catholic, managed to remain in high regard with Elizabeth I, the Protestant half-sister who succeeded Mary. Dacre was, according to biographer Lady Antonia Fraser in her historical biography, The Gunpowder Plot: Terror and Faith in 1605, a fine example of "how the most pious Catholic could survive if he (or she) did not challenge the accepted order".[3]