Bridget Norris, Countess of Berkshire was an English noblewoman, the daughter of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. Bridget was brought up by her maternal grandfather, the powerful statesman William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley. She was also styled Lady Norris of Rycote and Viscountess Thame. She married Francis Norris, 1st Earl of Berkshire; however, the marriage was not a success, and they separated in 1606.

Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, was an English peer and courtier of the Elizabethan era. Oxford was heir to the second oldest earldom in the kingdom, a court favourite for a time, a sought-after patron of the arts, and noted by his contemporaries as a lyric poet and court playwright, but his volatile temperament precluded him from attaining any courtly or governmental responsibility and contributed to the dissipation of his estate.