Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke

Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke KG, (1534 - January 19 1601) was a statesman of the Elizabethan era. He was the son of William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, and Anne Parr. He was married to Catherine Grey in May 1553 in a political match arranged by their parents. The couple probably had their marriage annulled in 1554 when Mary rose to the throne.

His second wife was Catherine Talbot, daughter of George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, and his wife Gertrude Manners, daughter of Thomas Manners, Earl of Rutland.

His third wife was the former Mary Sidney. His children included William and Philip who both were Earl of Pembroke after their father.

The armour of Henry Herbert is now on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the Arms and Armour galleries. It was made in 1580 at the Greenwich armoury, a royal workshop founded by Henry VIII to produce armour for the English nobility, chiefly Henry, without having to commission it from overseas.

During the 1590s he was patron of Pembroke's Men, a theatre company who were the first group to perform a number of plays including Henry VI, part 1, by William Shakespeare and The Isle of Dogs by Thomas Nashe and Ben Jonson.