Like The Herberts, the Howards, and the Sidneys, the Cavendishes are remarkable among aristocratic families of the early modern period both as artistic patrons and as creative figures in their own right. Their enthusiasm for building shaped the landscape of the north Midlands of England, giving rise to prodigy houses such as Hardwick Hall, Bolsover Castle, and the great estate of Chatsworth. As well as the Smythson dynasty of architects, they patronized writers including Ben Jonson, painters such as Anthony van Dyck, and the philosopher Thomas Hobbes. However, family members would themselves produce literary and philosophical works of enduring interest and historical importance. William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle, was an amateur playwright who collaborated with James Shirley before the civil wars and with Thomas Shadwell after the Restoration, and his daughters Jane and Elizabeth were pioneering female dramatists. His second wife Margaret is a figure of particular significance as a poet, biographer, dramatist, scientist, and author of the science-fiction romance The Blazing World. More generally, members of the Devonshire and Newcastle dynasties that sprang from the marriage of Elizabeth Hardwick (“Bess of Hardwick”) to Sir William Cavendish in 1547 would go on to play considerable roles in English history, including the 1st Duke (then Marquess), who commanded King Charles I’s army in the north of England during the first Civil War, and the Earl (later Duke) of Devonshire, who was one of the signatories to the letter inviting William of Orange to invade in 1688. Arbella Stuart, granddaughter of Elizabeth and William, was the unwilling centre of plots against James VI and I and would become a tragic victim of Stuart succession politics after marrying the grandson of the Earl of Hertford in 1610.

There is already a considerable body of work on the Cavendishes (especially Margaret) in the form of biographies, editions, critical articles, monographs, and essay collections.