Life
in the time of Thomas Wentworth,
1st Earl of Strafford, 1593 – 1641
1st Earl of Strafford, 1593 – 1641
by Nancy Blanton
![]() |
Thomas Wentworth by Anthony van Dyck |
Just before the turn of the 17th century in
1593, Thomas
Wentworth was born in London, into fortune, property and prestige. Queen
Elizabeth I still reigned, and the bloody Nine Years War raged on in Ireland.
By 1614 when his father died, Wentworth inherited the
great Wentworth Woodhouse of Yorkshire—by the 18th century the
largest of England’s country houses—plus two other estates and vast business holdings
to keep things running. In addition to income, such land ownership commanded
power and respect. Truly, Wentworth already had everything and more than most
people might desire in life.
But, he sought more than anything what he did not have: a royal title. An earldom. It would come at the greatest
cost.
His ambition led him to politics. He started law
school in 1607, and in 1611 he was knighted. He married an earl’s daughter. As
a principal landowner he quickly became Yorkshire’s representative in the
English Parliament.
In 1625, Charles I ascended to the throne. The
following year Wentworth became High Sheriff of Yorkshire, and in 1628 he
returned to Parliament to become one of the most vocal supporters of the Petition of Right,
which attempted to curb Charles’s non-Parliamentary taxation, forced billeting
of soldiers in people’s homes, imprisonment without cause, and the use of
martial law.
![]() |
King Charles I by Anthony van Dyck |
Wentworth showed himself to be smart, reasoning and
persuasive, with strong leadership abilities. He became President of the
Council of the North. He joined Parliament’s dispute with King Charles I over subsidies to support the Thirty Years War effort, and stood
against the king even to the point of imprisonment for refusing to pay his
"forced loans."
But here is where he made his first dangerous turn.
The king invited Wentworth to join the Privy Council: to sit at the king’s
table with titled courtiers and advise the king on decisions to run the
commonwealth. It fed Wentworth’s deepest ambition. It was an offer he could not
refuse. But it branded him as a turncoat to his fellow Parliamentary members.
He had been seduced by power.
Wentworth turned from fighting the king’s arbitrary
use of power to being a staunch supporter of the Divine Right of Kings. Charles
had picked up his father King James I’s torch for this the long-held belief
that monarchs were chosen by God, had a direct connection to God’s word, and
therefore should always be trusted to do God’s will and make decisions for the
highest good, guided by God’s hand.
At this time in history, however, people had seen many
rulers supposed to be God’s designees on Earth who made very poor decisions.
They had recognized greater access to their own religion through Calvinism and
could read the Bible themselves. The printing press, nearly 200 years old, was
demonstrating the considerable powers of mass communication. And the Divine
Right was under fire.
By 1629, Charles grew tired of arguing with Parliament
for what he wanted, and having to ask for his subsidies. He decided he no
longer needed Parliament at all. He adopted “self rule,” which became known
later as the Eleven Years’ Tyranny.
In 1632, the king appointed Thomas Wentworth to be the
new Lord Deputy of Ireland. Although distant from the king’s court, it was a
very powerful position in a time of sweeping change.
Ireland had been settled by the Anglo-Normans since
the time of King Henry II in the 12th century, and from that time great
and powerful clans had developed and intermarried with the Irish, such that
they became accepted “Irish” clans. Until the time of Henry VIII, they ruled
their realms autonomously.
The Desmond Rebellions of the 16th century
began when Henry named himself king of Ireland, and tried to exert his
authority over all the clans, starting first with plantations in fertile Munster.
They ended with Irish defeat just before Elizabeth I died in 1603. Several clan
leaders remained loyal to the king, yet Ireland remained resistant and
challenging to oppressive English rule. To English adventurers, Ireland seemed like
a plum that waited to be picked.
If Wentworth’s appointment to Ireland had been
orchestrated by other courtiers eager to get him out of the running for the
lucrative job as the king’s treasurer, no matter. Wentworth saw great
opportunity, and planned to be the most effective viceroy the king had ever
seen.
At this point his first and second wives had died.
Wentworth had secretly married the 18-year-old daughter of a Yorkshire neighbor,
and sent her ahead to Ireland to start preparing their home. Meanwhile he
studied and learned, preparing for a long-term and “thorough” effort to make
Ireland a profitable venture for the king. He did not set foot on Irish soil himself
until July of 1633, with a huge retinue including 30 coaches of six.
And the first task on his list, after losing to
pirates the £500 worth of wardrobe that he had shipped ahead, was to get
control of the Irish Sea and secure Ireland for trade.
![]() |
Laureys a Castro - A Sea Fight with Barbary Corsairs. |
More than half of the king’s subjects made their
livings from the sea, whether collecting fish, oysters, pearls, eels,
gulls—anything they could eat or sell—or operating small craft and large
merchant ships for moving passengers and goods. At the same time, Algerian
pirates were notorious for robbing ships of their cargo, and robbing or abducting
passengers and crew for ransom or to sell as slaves. Wentworth quickly took
control by installing trusted captains to patrol the Irish Sea, and by rooting
out corrupt officials who took bribes from the pirates and pocketed money intended
for their crew’s provisions.
Once installed in Dublin Castle, Wentworth began a
mission of “thorough,” intending not only to establish law and order for common
people, but to root out corruption among the nobles, such as the Great Earl of
Cork who’d been enjoying a healthy portion of the tithes from the church at
Youghal. He would support the growth of Protestant religion while limiting the
political power of Catholics. He would invest in new industries like the wine
trade, linen and tobacco. And he would continue in the king’s interest the
spread of English plantations.
Wentworth saw plantation as a benefit to Ireland,
believing native Irish did not understand how to wring the greatest
productivity from their lands, and more industrious English (Protestant)
settlers would demonstrate the most efficient and lucrative practices. But it
was met with great resistance, and the underlying goal was far from altruistic.
Wentworth devised a plan by which, instead of the
crown just taking lands, the existing landowners would happily surrender their
lands to the king in order to have them returned with clear and legal
titles—minus, of course, the 25 percent of the best lands that Charles would
keep for himself. The goal was to shift, over time, the majority of land
ownership from Catholic to Protestant. The result of this process was
considerable unrest, as the nobles lost income and Irish families were turned
out of traditional homelands.
Over several ensuing years, Wentworth methodically and
relentlessly carried out his plans, implementing the king’s divine right,
arrogantly establishing absolute rule, and enriching himself along the way. His
tactics and lack of political finesse made him many powerful enemies in all
corners of his life. By the time of the Bishops Wars
(1639-40) against Scotland—the king’s attempt to enforce his
own religious practices upon the Puritan Scots—Wentworth became the king’s
primary advisor and received his coveted earldom. He was named Earl of
Strafford in 1640.
And then, when the wars were lost, he became the
king’s scapegoat.
Parliament was called because money was needed to pay
the Scots army under terms of the treaty. Parliament then impeached
Wentworth—fueled by his enemies in Ireland. And when, angered over the
country’s bankruptcy, the members were unable to prove treason against him, they
dusted off an ancient, unused but still available tool, the Bill of Attainder, which
required no need of proof to execute a man accused of high treason. King
Charles, in his classic, two-faced, self-serving behavior, signed the death
warrant for his most loyal servant.
![]() |
Wentworth receives final blessing from the imprisoned Archbishop Laud, by Paul Delaroche, 1836 |
Wentworth, having achieved his goal and reached his zenith of wealth and power, was beheaded by Parliament in May of 1641.
Nancy Blanton
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoVSy8YytVTFLsFnHmWW9RzxzTC-rw7dcgXKPUH9VH7TmDAkhC8ZRdcizpviuoBWD9sz-v-nlAuDQHmAjkCRT8Q8ZWT_jfptnmwpQ5qM8mMYVIv6F18LY_g4Y7pjQEUkFdEEwcETqR9dw/s200/Screenshot+2017-12-14+20.34.28.png)
Her first novel, Sharavogue, also set in 17th century Ireland, is the 2014 winner of Florida’s Royal Palm Literary Award.
Her third book, The Earl in Black Armor, set in the
time of Thomas Wentworth, is scheduled for publication in late 2018. Visit her
at nancyblanton.com
The Prince of Glencurragh
As
the son of a great Irish warrior, Faolán Burke should have inherited vast lands
and a beautiful castle, Glencurragh. But tensions grow in 1634 Ireland, as
English plantation systems consume traditional clan properties, Irish families
are made homeless, and Irish sons lose their inheritance. Encountering the
beautiful heiress, Vivienne FitzGerald, Faolán believes if they were to marry,
together they could restore his stolen heritage and build a prosperous life.
But, because the Earl of Cork protects her, abduction seems to be his only
option.
Best friend Aengus O’Daly narrates as he and the brothers Thomas and Sean Barry help Faolán to complete the deed, and hasten to the Earl of Barrymore, who has promised to negotiate the marriage settlement. But Vivienne clearly has a mind of her own, and the adventure that began as a lark takes a dark turn when one man is injured, another is killed, and their plans for Barrymore’s support go awry.
Faolán now finds himself in the crossfire between the four most powerful men in Ireland—the earls of Clanricarde, Cork, Ormonde, and the aggressive new Lord Deputy of Ireland, Thomas Wentworth—men who use people like game pieces to be moved about for their own benefit. And other forces threaten their plans, and even their lives. With the course of events now beyond their control, will Faolán and Vivienne ever realize the dream of Glencurragh?
Best friend Aengus O’Daly narrates as he and the brothers Thomas and Sean Barry help Faolán to complete the deed, and hasten to the Earl of Barrymore, who has promised to negotiate the marriage settlement. But Vivienne clearly has a mind of her own, and the adventure that began as a lark takes a dark turn when one man is injured, another is killed, and their plans for Barrymore’s support go awry.
Faolán now finds himself in the crossfire between the four most powerful men in Ireland—the earls of Clanricarde, Cork, Ormonde, and the aggressive new Lord Deputy of Ireland, Thomas Wentworth—men who use people like game pieces to be moved about for their own benefit. And other forces threaten their plans, and even their lives. With the course of events now beyond their control, will Faolán and Vivienne ever realize the dream of Glencurragh?
Thomas Wentworth had a very interesting life. Thank you for sharing his story with us!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the opportunity! I love the range of great stories on your site.
DeleteThere are always has to be a scape goat, doesn't there? Such an interesting post, Ms. Blanton
ReplyDeleteThanks John. He was both good and bad, but it seems King Charles was more bad than good!
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I used a fictional Earl of Strafford as a tangential character in an American Civil War novel, cousin to my MC (obviously long after the Byng family was invested with the title). My Harry Wentworth is descended from a fictional brother of your guy, who fictionally emigrated to Charles Towne in the 1600s. There is a Charleston, SC, Wentworth "First Family," but I'm afraid I don't know from whom they are actually descended.
ReplyDelete