Jane Dormer, Duchess of Feria, was born in 1538 into a family at the
heart of Court struggles between Catholicism and Protestantism, and
married twenty years later into the world of the Spanish Court, refuge
of exiled English Catholics. The marriage lasted 13 years, and after her
husband's death in 1571 the Duchess of Feria remained a powerful figure.
She restored her Spanish family's fortunes. She took on the role of
England's Catholic ambassador in Spain, and was instrumental in the
foundation of the English College at Valladolid. At the same time she
kept on the good side of Queen Elizabeth, and looked after English
Protestants who found themselves in need passing through Spain.