Lady Hester Pulter

An inscription in Hester's manuscript—"Made when my spirits were sunk very low with sickness and sorrow. may 1667. I being seventy one years old" (fol. 88v)—suggests that she was born in 1595; however, given the title of her poem "Universall dissolution, made when I was with Child of my 15th Child \my sonne John/ I being as every one thought in a Consumption 1648" (fol. 10v), a birth year of 1595 would have made her fifty-three years old at the birth of her youngest child. Another alternative piece of evidence is given in Hester's manuscript when she mourns the Irish Rebellion, writing that she remembers "sweete Hibernie where I first had life" (fol. 12v). Her family lived in Ireland from December 1604 to October 1608, due to her father taking up the position of Chief Justice of the King's Bench in Ireland. This suggests Hester was born in or around Dublin during this time. Another poem, titled "Made when I was sick 1647", provides further confirmation of this alternative date, when Hester laments her "forty years acquaintance" with her body. This would place her birth year at 1607.[1]

However, an alternate piece of evidence is found in a manuscript titled "The Declaracion of Ley, or Ley: His Pedigree" (Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre, 366/1). As Alice Eardley observed, the manuscript provides a specific date for Hester's birth and baptism:

Hester, the daughter of the said Sir James Ley and the Lady Mary, his wief, was borne at St. Thomas Court, neere Dublin, in the realme of Ireland, uppon Saturdaie beinge the [viii]th daie of June in the yeare of the raigne of King James of England and Ireland the third, and of Scotland the xxxviiith Anno dmi. 1605, betwene the houres of six and seven of the clock in the morninge, and was baptised in the parish church of St. Katherins in Thomas Streete, neare Dublin, uppon Sondaie beinge the [xix] daie of June then next followinge.[2]

Although the manuscript states that Hester was born on 8 June 1605, Eardley notes that it was 18 June that fell on a Saturday that year, and it seems probable that Hester was born then and baptized the following day: "This gives us the 18 June 1605 as Pulter’s date of birth."[3]

Background

Hester was the daughter of James Ley, who became the first Earl of Marlborough in 1626, and Mary, James Ley's first wife. Hester was one of eleven children. It is speculated that the family had a strong connection to John Milton through his Sonnet 10[4] which addresses Hester's sister, Margaret Ley, to a small degree, while focusing on James Ley, "that good Earl." In 1623, supposedly at the age of thirteen, Hester married Arthur Pulter, and proceeded to spend the rest of her life confined to Broadfield Hall, near Cottered in Hertfordshire. (See image here) The Pulters' had fifteen children, seven sons and eight daughters, only two of whom outlived their mother. During the English Civil Wars, the Pulters withdrew from public life, as a way for Arthur to remain politically neutral. Hester did not remain quiet like her husband, and began writing politically based poetry during the 1640s and the 1650s. Hester Pulter died in 1678; the exact date is unknown. She was buried on 9 April 1678. Her husband outlived both Hester and their children, dying on 27 January 1689. They were survived by their only grandson, James Forester, and he became the sole heir.

Until the discovery of the Leeds Manuscript found in 1996, Lady Hester Pulter was an unknown contributor to British literature. The only claim to fame that the Pulters previously had was a place in Sir Henry Chauncy's history of Hertfordshire.[5] The connection between her sister, Margaret, and the London literary world through Milton might have been a way for Pulter to keep up with the newest literature, which shows in her own poetry.[6]

The English Civil War ended when Cromwell won at the 1645 Battle of Naseby. Afterwards, King Charles I was imprisoned, and later on executed, inspiring many of Lady Hester Pulter's poems.

Pulter's writings are mostly political bits about the English Civil Wars, from a "royalist" standpoint. The goal of Charles I was to defend the established church and state of England. Under the pen name Hadassas, Lady Hester Pulter began writing 130 folios of poetry and 30 folios of an unfinished prose manuscript. A majority of her poems were about the death of King Charles the I, in which she condemned his killers and praised the dead monarch. The name Hadassas comes from the biblical reference to Esther.[7]

(See image here)

The first ninety or so poems made up the section titled "Poems breathed forth", as well as a smaller sub-section titled "Hadassas Chast Fances." The second section, consisting of forty or so poems, is titled "The Sighes of a Sad Soule Emblematically Breath'd Forth." These poems are of the lyrical and occasional verse. The first four poems show the diversity of Lady Pulter's poetry: national politics, pastoral, spiritual astronomy, and light and dark mythology. A distinct characteristic of Lady Pulter' s poetry is her ability to mix personal, political, and planetary themes. One example of this is the section consisting of the literary works "Of Night and Morning," "Universall dissolution," and the series of poem following afterward in which personal and national grief mixes. For Lady Pulter, political concerns and personal life were not separate. This is shown in how two poems about the death of her daughter are preceded by poems lamenting the death of other Royalists. With the mixing of the themes with in "Poems breathed forth," it seems as if Lady Pulter would have her audience think that the losses of her children, as well of those of the Royalists, are connected through the destruction of the earth that resulted from the English Civil War.[10]

"The Unfortunate Florinda" had many references to the Rape of Lucretia in it.

The last section of the Leeds manuscript was titled "The Unfortunate Florinda." A prose romance, it was left unfinished and was transcribed during March and December 1661. It seemed to be written after "Poems breathed forth by the Noble Hadrassas." Furthermore, the romance seems to have been a second thought, even though in the same script as the original manuscript. The volume was reversed and it began from the back. The apparent lack of preparations could mean that Hester didn't consider "The Unfortunate Florinda" to be equal to "Poems Breathed Forth By the Noble Hadrassas."[11]

"The Unfortunate Florinda" is not like her poetry in their Royalist themes. Lady Pulter takes the historical legend of the Islamic conquest of Spain to express her opinion of the sexual corruption of King Charles II's court. Furthermore, she seems to rethink her own political ideas and challenges the ideas of medieval England. Lady Pulter challenges Christianity by presenting pagans in a sympathetic light, sexual violence by upholding the Augustine idea that rape is the fault of the rapist, rather than that of the victim, and race through the virtue of African women as opposed to the corruption of the Spanish women. The romantic characteristics of the manuscript include shipwrecks and pirates, usurped kingdoms and disguised princesses,’’ to which one can add miraculous reunions, cross-dressing, and the ultimate triumph of true love. There are also various references to the Rape of Lucretia.[12]

The story takes place in Spain, when King Roderigo has taken over the throne. A group of African noblewomen, who were on a pleasure trip, are shipwrecked on the Spanish coast. Roderigo falls in love with the Moorish Princess Zabra, and marries her after she converts to Christianity. However, Roderigo then lusts after Florinda, the daughter of a Spanish courtier-diplomat. Using his friend, Alphonso, Roderigo pursues Florinda. However, Florinda rejects him, causing Roderigo to hate her.

We take a break from the main story line to see Fidelia, Zabra's companion who was in Africa all this time, arrives unexpectedly and tells her own story of adventure. In it, another African king, whom Pulter does not name, demanded Fidelia as his mistress on pain of death. Fidelia and her lover, Amandus, who is the Prince of Naples, kill the African king through a trick in bed. They escape, but are captured by pirates and separated.

In the main story line, Roderigo rapes Florinda and threatens her with terrible things should she tell anyone else what occurred. Florinda, promising revenge, tells her father of the rape, and he joins in her search of revenge. The entire family, after learning what happened, are outraged by King Roderigo's actions. They all proceed to travel to Africa and ask King Almanzar to invade Spain, deeming regicide as an appropriate punishment for rape. Almanzar agrees to invade Spain, and the manuscript ends here.[13]