John Thurloe

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John Thurloe

John Thurloe (born June 1616 in Essex , England , † February 21, 1668 in Lincoln's Inn , London , England) was a government official of the Commonwealth and chief of the English secret service under Oliver Cromwell .

Life

John Thurloe, son of Thomas Thurloe, principal of Abbot's Roding , was born in Essex, England in early June 1616 and was subsequently baptized on June 12, 1616. He studied law at the prestigious Lincoln's Inn Bar Association. His first activity after training to be a lawyer was under Oliver St. John . In January 1645 he became secretary to the parliamentary commissioners at Uxbridge . In addition, Thurloe was accepted as a member of Lincoln's Inn in 1647.

During the English Civil War (1642–1649), which was fought between the supporters of King Charles I and Parliament, he did not take sides with either side. First came to power as Oliver Cromwell, he became in 1652 part of his Government and was (as Minister of State English Secretary for State ) known.

Thurloe became head of the English secret service in 1653 . He then developed an extensive network of spies in England and on the continent. These included the Dutch diplomat and historian Lieuwe van Aitzema , the mathematician John Wallis , who established a code-breaking department, and the diplomat and mathematician Samuel Morland , who was Thurloe's assistant. Thurloe's service broke the Sealed Knot , a secret association of royalists, and exposed various other plots against the Protectorate . In 1654 he was elected to Parliament to represent Ely . There he supported the proposal that Cromwell should accept the royal dignity.

In 1656, Thurloe took over the management of the Post Office so that his spies were able to intercept mail. He also revealed Edward Sexby's plot to murder Cromwell in 1657 and captured the assassin Miles Sindecombe and his group. (Ironically, Thurloe's own ministry was infiltrated: in 1659, Morland became a loyal agent , claiming that Thurloe, Richard Cromwell, and Sir Richard Willis - a Sealed Knot member who switched sides - conspired to assassinate the future King Charles II . )

In 1657 Thurloe became a member of Cromwell's second council and president of the Godalminger Charterhouse School . The following year, 1658, he became Chancellor of the University of Glasgow . After the death of Oliver Cromwell on September 3, 1658, he supported his son, Richard Cromwell, who was also Lord Protector and represented Cambridge University in 1659 in the third Protectorial Parliament . Later in the year, various parties accused him of making unauthorized decisions as head of the secret service, so that he was removed from office. He was then reinstated as Minister of State on February 27, 1660. He also fought against the return of Charles II, whom he had shadowed in exile.

After the Restoration , Thurloe was arrested for high treason on May 15, 1660, but was not punished for it. He was released on June 29, on condition that he should help the new government with any queries. He then retired from public life but served behind the scenes as a foreign affairs specialist and wrote insightful documents for Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon , but did not join the new government.

John Thurloe died on February 21, 1668 in his chamber at Lincoln's Inn and was buried in the chapel. His correspondence is kept in the Bodleian Library , Oxford and the British Museum . Thomas Birch published part of it in 1742.

Editions

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Samuel Pepys uses a different spelling in his diary, Thurlow instead of Thurloe
personal data
SURNAME Thurloe, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thurlow, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English politician and spy
DATE OF BIRTH June 1616
PLACE OF BIRTH Essex , England
DATE OF DEATH February 21, 1668
Place of death Lincoln's Inn , London, England