Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough

Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough, by Godfrey Kneller, before 1723, National Portrait Gallery

Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough KG (* 1658 ; † October 25, 1735 in Lisbon ) was a British statesman and military.

Life

He was the eldest son of John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount Mordaunt and his first wife Elizabeth Carey. He studied from 1674 at Christ Church College of Oxford University and then chose a military career. Under Admiral Sir John Narborough (around 1640–1688) he was involved in the fight against barbarian corsairs in the Mediterranean. A successful night raid with gunboats on the corsair ships in the port of Tripoli forced the Bey to negotiate. When his father died in 1675, he became 2nd Viscount Mordaunt and 2nd Baron Mordaunt . He took part in the military operations against Tangier and then returned to England to go into politics as a Whig party member. He fiercely opposed the accession to the throne of James II and therefore avoided in 1686 after his accession to the Netherlands, where he served William of Orange , whose accession to the throne in Great Britain he was eager to pursue. He rose to the highest offices, was appointed Lord of the Treasury and Earl of Monmouth in 1689 . Although he lost his office a year later, he remained in the favor of the king, whom he accompanied to the Netherlands in 1691. However, an unauthorized procedure in the reintroduction of a three-year parliamentary term led to anger with the crown. The final break came in 1697 when he was accused of being involved in Sir John Fenwick's plot and was thrown into the Tower . After a few months, he was fired but lost his public office. In the same year 1697 he inherited his uncle as 3rd Earl of Peterborough .

Under Queen Anne he was politically active again from 1702. In 1705 he inherited the title 9th Baron Mordaunt from a cousin . In 1705 he was again a member of the Privy Council and was given command of an expeditionary force in the War of the Spanish Succession , consisting of British and Dutch troops. At the same time he was in command of the fleet with Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell . He successfully besieged Barcelona in 1705 and captured Valencia in January 1706 . In the process, however, there were conflicts with Archduke Karl of Austria , for whom Peterborough was supposed to pave the way to the Spanish throne, which also had an impact on the military situation. While Peterborough was in Valencia, superior French forces besieged the Archduke in Barcelona, ​​and only the intervention of the British fleet under Sir John Leake (who thereby violated Peterborough's orders) brought relief. The advance on Madrid suffered delays due to disagreements between Peterborough and Lord Galway and the Archduke.

Peterborough was finally recalled to London in 1707, where his behavior became the subject of heated debates in the House of Commons between the Tories, who support Peterborough, and Whigs. He was popular with the people, however, as he managed to get a few "hussar pieces" in Spain with relatively few soldiers, while the war in the Netherlands stagnated. In the end, he was rehabilitated in 1708. He was sent to Vienna in a diplomatic mission, was British envoy to the Holy Roman Empire from 1710 to 1711 , was given command of a cavalry regiment and in 1713 became a Knight of the Order of the Garter . With the accession of George I in 1714 he lost his protection and withdrew. He died in Lisbon in 1735, his body was transferred to England and buried in Turvey, Bedfordshire .

Peterborough was short in stature, but very lively and hot-headed.

Marriages and offspring

He was married twice. His first marriage was in 1678 Carey Fraser († 1709), a lady-in-waiting of Queen Consort Katharina von Braganza and daughter of the royal court doctor Sir Alexander Fraser, 1st Baronet. He had three children with her:

• Lady Henriette Mordaunt († 1760) ⚭ Alexander Gordon, 2nd Duke of Gordon ;
• John Mordaunt, Viscount Mordaunt (around 1681–1710) ⚭ Lady Frances Paulet († 1715), daughter of Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton ;
• Hon. Henry Mordaunt († 1710).

In 1722 he married the then famous opera singer Anastasia Robinson (around 1695–1755). The marriage was initially kept secret and remained childless.

Since his sons died before him, his grandson Charles Mordaunt , the eldest son of his son John, inherited his titles of nobility.

literature

• Collin Robert Ballard: The great Earl of Peterborough. Skeffington and Son, London 1926.
• William Stebbing: Peterborough. 1890.

Web links

• Peterborough, Earl of (E, 1628-1814) at Cracroft's Peerage

predecessor	Office	successor
John Mordaunt	Viscount Mordaunt Baron Mordaunt (of Ryegate) 1675-1735	Charles Mordaunt
New title created	Earl of Monmouth 1689-1735	Charles Mordaunt
Henry Mordaunt	Earl of Peterborough 1697-1735	Charles Mordaunt
Mary Howard	Baron Mordaunt 1705-1735	Charles Mordaunt