Ferdinando Stanley, Lord Strange   Thomas Kempe, one the original Lord Strange's Men

Ferdinando, Lord Strange, from whom both the Lord Strange’s Men theatre companies have taken their name, is reknowned both for his eventful life and mysterious death.

Born in London in or around 1559, he matriculated at Oxford aged thirteen and was called to Court by royal command the following year ‘to be shaped in good manners’.

Ferdinando has been accused of many things, from exalted genius to possible atheist and heretic. He was celebrated by the poet Edmund Spenser, who personified Lord Strange as ‘Amyntas’ and his wife, Countess Alice, as ‘Amaryllis’.

Lord Strange is perhaps best known for being the patron of several poets, authors, and playwrights although, as Earl of Derby, he was also King of the Isle of Man.

The suspicious circumstances surrounding Lord Strange’s death had serious political implications during the latter years of Elizabeth I’s reign. It has been suggested he was killed by Jesuits for refusing to conspire in a plot to overthrow the Crown.