Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford. Portrait by van Dyck .

Wentworth's signature:
Signature Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford.PNG
Coat of arms of Thomas Wentworth

Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford (born April 13, 1593 in London , † May 12, 1641 ibid) was one of the leading politicians in the run-up to the English Civil War . A high point of his career was his calling as Lord Governor of Ireland; Even today he is seen there as a symbol of an absolute English claim to power. In 1640 he was appointed Earl of Strafford by Charles I and became one of the most influential advisers to the king, who at that time tried to enforce his claim to power. As a representative of absolute kingship , the House of Commons sentenced him to death in a Bill of Attainder in 1641 , although the House of Lords had acquitted him in a previous trial. In 1641 Wentworth was beheaded .

The early years (1593-1616)

He was the son of William Wentworth , landlord of Wentworth Woodhouse in Yorkshire , and his wife Anne, a daughter of the Gloucester lawyer Robert Atkinson . On June 20, 1611, his father William was able to obtain the elevation to baronet in the Baronetage of England, at that time King James I awarded hereditary baronet titles for a fixed fee. From 1607 Wentworth studied at the Inner Temple , preparing for an administrative career in northern England.

At the instigation of his father, Wentworth married Lady Mary Clifford in 1611, daughter of Francis Clifford, 4th Earl of Cumberland . Until the unexpected death of his wife in 1622, Wentworth had a harmonious marriage with her. After that, Wentworth retired to his estates in Yorkshire. The sensitive man, whose health had always been anything but robust, was himself shaken by violent attacks of fever.

During the period in which the momentous trip to Spain of Crown Prince Karl with George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham took place, Wentworth therefore did not take an immediate part in politics, so that he was also in the constant conflict between the royal and parliamentary parties not exposed.

In 1614 Wentworth's father died, whereby Wentworth inherited his title as 2nd baronet; his mother Anne was already different in 1611. The duties that Wentworth took on as the current head of the family were not inconsiderable. His management of the family property and some of the processes required for this made him known in Yorkshire and prepared him for many of his future responsibilities.

First political career: partisans of parliament

As Wentworth began to be politically active, he became more and more part of the parliamentary party. Especially as a young member of the House of Commons, he soon became one of the leading debates in the House of Commons , attempting to defend the rights of parliament against the attacks of the royal party, which was keen to consolidate its absolutist rule. The differences between the moderate conservatism of Wentworth and the more radical intentions of the parliamentarians were initially not apparent.

The circle that Wentworth joined also led to personal ties. Above all, Wentworth began associating with John Holles, 1st Earl of Clare , Denzil Holles ' father . In 1625 Wentworth married Arabella, the daughter of Lord Clares. This marriage resulted in four children, including the eldest son William, who later became the second Earl of Strafford. Lady Arabella died in 1631 at the age of 22: the heavily pregnant woman was frightened by an insect, which resulted in a stillbirth that she did not survive either.

In May 1628, Wentworth's political activities achieved an initial success that was very significant for him personally. With his significant participation, Parliament presented King Charles I with the Petition of Right , which the King accepted.

While this success was only an essential step in the struggle against the Crown for Wentworth's political companions, Wentworth saw the equilibrium of England's political powers restored with the royal approval. He no longer wanted to follow the further, in his view unjustified and exaggerated, demands of the House of Commons. Instead, he was reconciled with the crown and was made Baron Wentworth and Baron of Newmarch and Oversley by Charles I in July 1628 and was henceforth a member of the House of Lords . In December 1628 he was raised to Viscount Wentworth .

President of the Council of the North

After his reconciliation with the crown, Wentworth succeeded in directing the king's attention to the conditions in the administration of the northern English provinces. President of the Council of the North was then the Earl of Sunderland , who left the business largely to his deputy, Sir John Savile . Both had been sponsored by the Duke of Buckingham. After his murder by John Felton, however, Wentworth was able to show in Whitehall that Savile in particular accepted immense bribes from the Catholic population. Savile and Sunderland were then removed from office and appointed in place of Sunderland's Wentworth as President of the Council of the North. Wentworth's inaugural address of December 30, 1628 is also a political credo of the conservative politician. Among other things, Wentworth stated:

“The princes should be indulgent, caring fathers of their people; the subjects' modest freedoms and their good rights must be inviolable in the eyes of the princes. ... The loyal servants of the king would have to observe both - popular law and rulership - equally and interweave and link both in all their decisions ... This is the basis that I will adopt in my future administrative activities, and it probably never has President expected so little, but made so high demands in relation to the matter. "

Third marriage

In October 1632 Wentworth remarried, this time Elisabeth Rodes , the daughter of his neighbor Godfrey Rodes , who was known as an avid Puritan . Perhaps that is why the marriage was kept secret for a few months. The daughter Margaret comes from this marriage. As far as is known, this third marriage was also happy, at least this can be inferred from the surviving part of the correspondence between the spouses.

Elisabeth survived Wentworth by more than forty years; she died in 1688. In his last letter from the Tower to his son and heir, Wentworth had expressly instructed him to take care of the stepmother.

Lord Deputy of Ireland

Wentworth was appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland in 1632 . There he pursued a tough policy that was favorable to the Catholic Irish. The esteem Wentworth enjoyed among Irish Catholics can also be seen in the fact that, after Wentworth's execution, the Irish of Gaelic origin feared the support of anti-Catholic politics by the English parliament, in which the Puritans had great influence. In 1641 the uprising of the Catholic Irish began in Ulster .

Uprising in Scotland

In 1640 led Wentworth, who also coveted in January earldom as Earl of Strafford and sub-title Baron Raby had received the royal army in the fight against the Scots. The army's morale was bad, however. The Scots crossed the Tweed with their commanders Leslie and Montrose and Karl's army fled. In a short time the counties of Northumberland and Durham were overrun (see also Battle of Newburn ).

On April 13, 1640, Parliament met because Charles needed funds to fight the Scots. A few days later, on May 5, 1640, he dissolved parliament again. This session became known as the Short Parliament . When it finally came to the Treaty of Ripon on October 26, 1640, Charles had to leave both counties to the Scots as pledge until he had reimbursed them for their war expenses. Charles I's position in relation to the English Parliament had become increasingly difficult. The king needed parliament in order to obtain adequate tax revenues, which the deputies only wanted to grant him in exchange for further privileges. On November 3, 1640, therefore, the parliament met again. Since it met until 1660, it is referred to as the Long Parliament . Under the leadership of John Pym , there was soon impeachment before the House of Lords against Wentworth for high treason (for allegedly inciting Irish troops against English). The Lords acquitted Wentworth, whereupon the House of Commons sentenced him to death by means of a Bill of Attainder without further trial. Karl, seeing his rule threatened, relented and upheld the death sentence against Wentworth. Wentworth was executed in London on May 12, 1641. In the heated mood in England of those days, the execution of Wentworth caused great cheers among the population. More tellingly, however, when the Revolution carried out his execution eight years later, Charles I declared that his death was only a just punishment for not preventing the execution of the loyal Wentworth.

His titles of nobility were stripped from Wentworth and only restored in 1662 for his son William Wentworth .

literature

Web links

Commons : Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Powicke & Fryde: Handbook of British Chronology. Second Edition, London, 1961, p. 450.
  2. ↑ Oxford Reference: Treaty of Ripon , accessed December 4, 2017.
predecessor Office successor
New title created Earl of Strafford
1640-1641 		Title forfeited
William Wentworth (from 1662)
New title created Viscount Wentworth
1628-1641 		Title forfeited
William Wentworth (from 1662)
New title created Baron Wentworth
1628-1641 		Title forfeited
William Wentworth (from 1662)
William Wentworth Baronet, of Wentworth-Woodhouse
1614-1641 		Title forfeited
William Wentworth (from 1662)
Lord Justices Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
1640-1641 		Robert Sidney
personal data
SURNAME Wentworth, Thomas, 1st Earl of Strafford
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Strafford, Thomas Wentworth 1st Earl of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English politician
DATE OF BIRTH April 13, 1593
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH May 12, 1641
Place of death London