Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester

Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester ( December 1, 1595 - November 2, 1677 ) was an English aristocrat and diplomat .

Life

Sidney was the son of Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester , and his first wife, Barbara Gamage. He studied at Christ Church College at the University of Oxford . In 1614 he was elected to the English Parliament for the Wilton district.

During the tenure of his father in Dutch Vlissingen he served in the army in the Netherlands. In 1616 he received command of an English regiment in the Dutch service. In 1618 he was admitted to the bar before the higher courts. In 1626 he succeeded his father as Earl of Leicester . Six years later he was entrusted with a diplomatic mission to Denmark .

In 1631 he began building Leicester House, a stately home in Leicester Square , London . From 1636 to 1641 further diplomatic missions to France followed .

In place of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford , Sidney was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1640 . When the governorship in Dublin became vacant, he appointed George Monck . Charles I reversed this decision in favor of Lord Lambart .

In 1643 he resigned from office without ever having set foot on Irish soil.

family

His wife, Dorothy Percy , was the daughter of Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland . They had three sons: Henry Sidney, 1st Earl of Romney , Philip Sidney, 3rd Earl of Leicester, and Algernon Sidney . Philip and Algernon supported the parliamentarians during the English Civil War .

literature

• Michael G. Brennan: The Sidneys of Penshurst and the monarchy, 1500-1700. Ashgate Publishing, 2005, ISBN 0-7546-5060-X , pp. 140-149.

predecessor	Office	successor
Robert Sidney	Earl of Leicester 1626-1677	Philip Sidney
Thomas Wentworth	Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1640-1641	James Butler