Lady Jane Lumley is most notable for her translation work. Her adaptation of Iphigenia at Aulis (c.1557) is the first known translation of Euripides into English, and is the earliest surviving English drama written by a woman.

Jane’s father, Henry Fitzalan, believed strongly in education and allowed her to continue her studies despite being unable to attend a university. Jane grew up surrounded by the books of the Lumley Library, a space which had been gifted to the family after her father’s involvement in the execution of his niece, Lady Jane Grey, and Mary Tudor’s subsequent accession to the throne. As a result, the texts she chose to translate echoed the political and philosophical themes of the library’s books, and frequently emphasised the importance of paternal figures in children’s lives and education.

When her father fell ill, Jane moved to Nonsuch Palace and cared for him until her death in 1578. Her manuscript The Tragedy of Euripides called Iphigenia, translated out of the Greek into English (MS Roya 15/A.ix) is written in surprisingly modern-sounding prose in the Lumley Library, and is valued for its own creative originality.

Click on the links to learn more about the Rose Company’s performance of Iphigenia, interviews with the actors and director and Nonsuch Palace.