Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury

Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury PC

Privy Council of England

The Privy Council of England, also known as His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, was a body of advisers to the sovereign of the Kingdom of England...

(22 July 1621 – 21 January 1683), known as Anthony Ashley Cooper from 1621 to 1631, as Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, 2nd Baronet from 1631 to 1661, and as The Lord Ashley from 1661 to 1672, was a prominent English

Kingdom of England

The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...

politician during the Interregnum and during the reign of King Charles II

Charles II of England

Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...

. A founder of the Whig party, he is also remembered as the patron of John Locke

John Locke

John Locke FRS , widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social...

.

Anthony Ashley Cooper was born in 1621 and had lost both of his parents by the age of eight. He was brought up by Edward Tooker

Edward Tooker

Edward Tooker was an English lawyer, landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1654 and 1664....

and other guardians named in his father's will, before attending Exeter College, Oxford

Exeter College, Oxford

Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth oldest college of the University. The main entrance is on the east side of Turl Street...

, and Lincoln's Inn

Lincoln's Inn

The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...

. After he married the daughter of Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry

Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry

Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry was a prominent English lawyer, politician and judge during the early 17th century.-Education and early legal career:...

, in 1639, Coventry's patronage secured Cooper a seat in the Short Parliament

Short Parliament

The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640 during the reign of King Charles I of England, so called because it lasted only three weeks....

, although Cooper lost a disputed election to a seat in the Long Parliament

Long Parliament

The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...

. During the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

, Cooper initially fought as a Royalist

Cavalier

Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...

, before departing for the Parliamentary

Roundhead

"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...

side in 1644. During the English Interregnum, he served on the English Council of State

English Council of State

The English Council of State, later also known as the Protector's Privy Council, was first appointed by the Rump Parliament on 14 February 1649 after the execution of King Charles I....

under Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....

, although he opposed Cromwell's attempt to rule without parliament during the Rule of the Major-Generals

Rule of the Major-Generals

The Rule of the Major-Generals from August 1655 – January 1657, was a period of direct military government during Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate.England was divided into 10 regions each governed by a Major-General who answered to the Lord Protector....

. He also opposed the religious extremism of the Fifth Monarchists

Fifth Monarchists

The Fifth Monarchists or Fifth Monarchy Men were active from 1649 to 1661 during the Interregnum, following the English Civil Wars of the 17th century. They took their name from a prophecy in the Book of Daniel that four ancient monarchies would precede Christ's return...

during Barebone's Parliament.

As a member of the Council of State, Cooper opposed the New Model Army

New Model Army

The New Model Army of England was formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War, and was disbanded in 1660 after the Restoration...

's attempts to rule the country following the downfall of Richard Cromwell

Richard Cromwell

At the same time, the officers of the New Model Army became increasingly wary about the government's commitment to the military cause. The fact that Richard Cromwell lacked military credentials grated with men who had fought on the battlefields of the English Civil War to secure their nation's...

, and he encouraged Sir George Monck's

George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle

George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, KG was an English soldier and politician and a key figure in the restoration of Charles II.-Early life and career:...

march on London. Cooper served as a member of the Convention Parliament of 1660, which determined to restore the English monarchy

English Restoration

The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...

, and Cooper was one of twelve members of parliament who travelled to the Dutch Republic

Dutch Republic

The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...

to invite King Charles II

Charles II of England

to return to England. Shortly before his coronation, Charles created Cooper Lord Ashley, so when the Cavalier Parliament

Cavalier Parliament

The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. It was the longest English Parliament, enduring for nearly 18 years of the quarter century reign of Charles II of England...

assembled in 1661 he moved from the House of Commons to the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer

Chancellor of the Exchequer

The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...

, 1661-1672. During the ministry of the Earl of Clarendon

Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon

Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon was an English historian and statesman, and grandfather of two English monarchs, Mary II and Queen Anne.-Early life:...

, Shaftesbury opposed the imposition of the Clarendon Code and supported Charles II's Declaration of Indulgence (1662), which the king was ultimately forced to withdraw. After the fall of Clarendon, Ashley was one of the members of the so-called Cabal Ministry

Cabal Ministry

The Cabal Ministry refers to a group of high councillers of King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1668 to circa 1674.The term "Cabal" has a double meaning in this context. It refers to the fact that, for perhaps the first time in English history, effective power in a royal council...

, serving as Lord Chancellor

Lord Chancellor

The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...

1672-1673. He was created Earl of Shaftesbury

Earl of Shaftesbury

Earl of Shaftesbury is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1672 for Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Baron Ashley, a prominent politician in the Cabal then dominating the policies of King Charles II...

in 1672. During this period, John Locke

John Locke

entered Ashley's household. Ashley took an interest in colonial ventures and was one of the Lords Proprietor of the Province of Carolina

Province of Carolina

The Province of Carolina, originally chartered in 1629, was an English and later British colony of North America. Because the original Heath charter was unrealized and was ruled invalid, a new charter was issued to a group of eight English noblemen, the Lords Proprietors, in 1663...

; in 1669, Ashley and Locke collaborated in writing the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina

Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina

The Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina were adopted in March 1669 by the eight Lords Proprietor of the Province of Carolina, which included most of the land between what is now Virginia and Florida. It replaced the Charter of Carolina and the Concessions and Agreements of the Lords Proprietors...

. By 1673, Ashley was worried that the heir to the throne, James, Duke of York

James II of England

James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...

, was secretly a Roman Catholic.

After the Cabal Ministry ended, Shaftesbury became a leader of the opposition to the policies pursued by Thomas Osborne, Earl of Danby

Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds

Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, KG , English statesman , served in a variety of offices under Kings Charles II and William III of England.-Early life, 1632–1674:The son of Sir Edward Osborne, Bart., of Kiveton, Yorkshire, Thomas Osborne...

. Danby favoured strict interpretation of the penal laws, enforcing mandatory membership of the Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

. Shaftesbury, who sympathized with the Protestant Non-Conformists

Nonconformism

Nonconformity is the refusal to "conform" to, or follow, the governance and usages of the Church of England by the Protestant Christians of England and Wales.- Origins and use:...

, briefly agreed to work with the Duke of York, who opposed enforcing the penal laws against Roman Catholic recusants. By 1675, however, Shaftesbury was convinced that Danby, assisted by the bishops of the Church of England, was determined to transform England into an absolute monarchy

Absolute monarchy

Absolute monarchy is a monarchical form of government in which the monarch exercises ultimate governing authority as head of state and head of government, his or her power not being limited by a constitution or by the law. An absolute monarch thus wields unrestricted political power over the...

, and he soon came to see the Duke of York's own religion as linked to this issue. Opposed to the growth of "popery and arbitrary government", throughout the latter half of the 1670s Shaftesbury argued in favour of frequent parliaments (spending time in the Tower of London

Tower of London

Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...

, 1677-1678 for espousing this view) and argued that the nation needed protection from a potential Roman Catholic successor to King Charles II. During the Exclusion Crisis, Shaftesbury was an outspoken supporter of the Exclusion Bill

Exclusion Bill

The Exclusion Crisis ran from 1678 through 1681 in the reign of Charles II of England. The Exclusion Bill sought to exclude the king's brother and heir presumptive, James, Duke of York, from the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland because he was Roman Catholic...

, although he also endorsed other proposals that would have prevented the Duke of York from becoming king, such as Charles II's remarrying a Protestant princess and producing a Protestant heir to the throne, or legitimizing Charles II's illegitimate Protestant son the Duke of Monmouth

James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth

James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, 1st Duke of Buccleuch, KG, PC , was an English nobleman. Originally called James Crofts or James Fitzroy, he was born in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the eldest illegitimate son of Charles II and his mistress, Lucy Walter...

. The Whig party was born during the Exclusion Crisis, and Shaftesbury was one of the party's most prominent leaders.

In 1681, during the Tory

Tory

Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...

reaction following the failure of the Exclusion Bill, Shaftesbury was arrested for high treason

High treason

High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...

, although the prosecution was dropped several months later. In 1682, after the Tories had gained the ability to pack London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

juries with their supporters, Shaftesbury, fearing a second prosecution, fled the country. Upon arriving in Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

, he fell ill, and soon died, in January 1683.

Early life, 1621-1640

Cooper was the eldest son and successor of Sir John Cooper, 1st Baronet

Sir John Cooper, 1st Baronet

Sir John Cooper, 1st Baronet , was an English landowner in the counties of Dorset and Somerset. After earlier being knighted, he was created a Baronet in 1622....

, of Rockbourne

Rockbourne

Rockbourne is a village and civil parish in the English county of Hampshire, close to Fordingbridge.-Overview:Rockbourne is a village of thatch, brick and timber houses, next to a stream now known as Sweatfords Water. The village consists chiefly of one street almost half a mile long. The church is...

in Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

, and his mother was the former Anne Ashley, daughter and sole heiress of Sir Anthony Ashley, 1st Baronet

Anthony Ashley, 1st Baronet of Wimborne St Giles

Anthony Ashley, 1st Baronet, PC was Clerk of the Privy Council , which was the most senior civil servant in the Privy Council Office. Ashley accompanied the fleet to Cádiz as a representative of the Queen...

. He was born on 22 July 1621, at the home of his maternal grandfather Sir Anthony Ashley in Wimborne St Giles

Wimborne St Giles

Wimborne St Giles is a village in east Dorset, England, situated on Cranborne Chase seven miles north of Wimborne Minster which is north of Poole. The village has a population of 366 ....

, Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

. He was named Anthony Ashley Cooper because of a promise the couple had made to Sir Anthony. Although Sir Anthony Ashley was of minor gentry stock, he had served as Secretary at War

Secretary at War

The Secretary at War was a political position in the English and later British government, with some responsibility over the administration and organization of the Army, but not over military policy. The Secretary at War ran the War Office. It was occasionally a cabinet level position, although...

in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...

, and in 1622, two years after the death of his first wife, Sir Anthony Ashley married the 19-year-old Philippa Sheldon (51 years his junior), a relative of George Villiers, Marquess of Buckingham

George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham

George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham KG was the favourite, claimed by some to be the lover, of King James I of England. Despite a very patchy political and military record, he remained at the height of royal favour for the first two years of the reign of Charles I, until he was assassinated...

, thus cementing relations with the most powerful man at court. Cooper's father was created a baronet

Baronet

A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...

in 1622, and he represented Poole in the parliaments of 1625 and 1628, supporting the attack on Richard Neile

Richard Neile

Richard Neile was an English churchman, bishop of several English dioceses and Archbishop of York from 1631 until his death.-Early life:...

, Bishop of Winchester

Bishop of Winchester

The Bishop of Winchester is the head of the Church of England diocese of Winchester, with his cathedra at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.The bishop is one of five Church of England bishops to be among the Lords Spiritual regardless of their length of service. His diocese is one of the oldest and...

for his Arminian tendencies. Sir Anthony Ashley insisted that a man with Puritan

Puritan

The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...

leanings, Aaron Guerdon, be chosen as Cooper's first tutor.

Cooper's mother died in 1628. In 1629, his father remarried, this time to the widowed Mary Moryson, one of the daughters of wealthy London textile merchant Baptist Hicks and co-heir of his fortune. Through his stepmother, Cooper thus gained an important political connection in the form of her grandson, the future 1st Earl of Essex

Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex

Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex PC , whose surname is sometimes spelled Capel, was an English statesman.-Early life:...

. Cooper's father died in 1630, leaving Cooper a wealthy orphan

Orphan

An orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan...

. Upon his father's death, he inherited his father's baronetcy and was now Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper.

Cooper's father had held his lands in knight-service

Knight-service

Knight-service was a form of Feudal land tenure under which a knight held a fief or estate of land termed a knight's fee from an overlord conditional on him as tenant performing military service for his overlord....

, so Cooper's inheritance now came under the authority of the Court of Wards. The trustees whom his father had appointed to administer his estate, his brother-in-law (Anthony Ashley Cooper's uncle by marriage) Edward Tooker and his colleague from the House of Commons, Sir Daniel Norton, purchased Cooper's wardship from the king, but they remained unable to sell Cooper's land without permission of the Court of Wards because, on his death, Sir John Cooper had left some ₤35,000 in gambling

Gambling

Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...

debts. The Court of Wards ordered the sale of the best of Sir John's lands to pay his debts, with several sales commissioners picking up choice properties at £20,000 less than their market value, a circumstance which led Cooper to hate the Court of Wards as a corrupt institution.

Cooper was sent to live with his father's trustee Sir Daniel Norton in Southwick, Hampshire

Southwick, Hampshire

Southwick is a village in the English county of Hampshire, situated north of Portsmouth, and is occupied entirely by tenants in the style of the Middle Ages, where the entirety is wholly owned by the Southwick Estate. Oddly, there is one exception to this and that is Church Lodge which is in...

(near Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

). Norton had joined in Sir John Cooper's denunciation of Arminianism in the 1628-29 parliament, and Norton chose a man with Puritan

Puritan

leanings named Fletcher as Cooper's tutor.

Sir Daniel died in 1636, and Cooper was sent to live with his father's other trustee, Edward Tooker, at Maddington, near Salisbury

Salisbury

Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...

. Here his tutor was a man with an MA from Oriel College, Oxford.

Cooper matriculated at Exeter College, Oxford

Exeter College, Oxford

Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth oldest college of the University. The main entrance is on the east side of Turl Street...

on 24 March 1637, aged 15, where he studied under its master, the Regius Professor of Divinity

Regius Professor of Divinity

The Regius Professorship of Divinity is one of the oldest and most prestigious of the professorships at the University of Oxford and at the University of Cambridge.Both chairs were founded by Henry VIII...

, John Prideaux

John Prideaux

John Prideaux D.D. was an English academic and Bishop of Worcester.-Early life:The fourth son of John and Agnes Prideaux, he was born at Stowford House in the parish of Harford, near Ivybridge, Devon, England, on 17 September 1578...

, a Calvinist with vehemently anti-Arminian tendencies. While there he fomented a minor riot and left without taking a degree. In February 1638, Cooper entered Lincoln's Inn

Lincoln's Inn

, where he was exposed to the Puritan preaching of chaplains Edward Reynolds

Edward Reynolds

Edward Reynolds was a bishop of Norwich in the Church of England and an author.He was born in Holyrood parish Southampton, the son of Augustine Reynolds, one of the customers of the city, and his wife, Bridget....

and Joseph Caryl

Joseph Caryl

Joseph Caryl was an English Nonconformist divine.-Life:He was born in London, educated at Merchant Taylors' School, and graduated at Exeter College, Oxford, and became preacher at Lincoln's Inn. He frequently preached before the Long Parliament, and was a member of the Westminster Assembly in 1643...

.

On 25 February 1639, aged 19, Cooper married Margaret Coventry, daughter of Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry

Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry

Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry was a prominent English lawyer, politician and judge during the early 17th century.-Education and early legal career:...

, who was then serving as Lord Keeper of the Great Seal

Lord Keeper of the Great Seal

The Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England, and later of Great Britain, was formerly an officer of the English Crown charged with physical custody of the Great Seal of England. This evolved into one of the Great Officers of State....

for Charles I

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

. As Cooper was still a minor

Minor (law)

In law, a minor is a person under a certain age — the age of majority — which legally demarcates childhood from adulthood; the age depends upon jurisdiction and application, but is typically 18...

, the young couple moved into Lord Coventry's residences of Durham House

Durham House (London)

Durham House, or Durham Inn, was the historic London residence of the Bishop of Durham in the Strand, with its gardens descending to the Thames.-Origins:...

in the Strand, London

Strand, London

Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. The street is just over three-quarters of a mile long. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its historical length...

and at Canonbury

Canonbury

Canonbury is a residential district in the London Borough of Islington in the north of London. It is roughly in the area between Essex Road, Upper Street and Cross Street and either side of St Paul's Road....

in Islington

Islington

Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...

Parliament, 1640-1642

In March 1640, while still a minor, Cooper was elected Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

for the borough of Tewkesbury

Tewkesbury (UK Parliament constituency)

Tewkesbury is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....

, Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....

in the Short Parliament

Short Parliament

The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640 during the reign of King Charles I of England, so called because it lasted only three weeks....

through the influence of Lord Coventry.

In October 1640, with opinion in the country swinging against the king's supporters (including Coventry), Cooper was not asked to stand for election for Tewkesbury in the Long Parliament. He contested, and by some accounts, won a by-election

By-election

A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

to the seat of Downton

Downton (UK Parliament constituency)

Downton was a parliamentary borough in Wiltshire, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1295 until 1832, when it was abolished by the Great Reform Act.-History:...

in Wiltshire

Wiltshire

Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...

, but Denzil Holles

Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles

Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles PC was an English statesman and writer, best known as one of the five members of parliament whom King Charles I of England attempted to arrest in 1642.-Early life:...

, soon to rise to prominence as a leader of the opposition to the King and a personal rival of Sir Anthony, blocked Cooper's admission to the Parliament. It was probably feared that Sir Anthony, as a result of his recent marriage to the daughter of Charles I

Charles I of England

's Lord Keeper, Coventry

Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry

Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry was a prominent English lawyer, politician and judge during the early 17th century.-Education and early legal career:...

, would be too sympathetic to the king.

Royalist, 1642-1644

When the Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

began in 1642, Cooper initially supported the King (somewhat echoing Holles's concerns). After a period of vacillating, in summer 1643, at his own expense, he raised a regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

of foot and a troop

Troop

A troop is a military unit, originally a small force of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron and headed by the troop leader. In many armies a troop is the equivalent unit to the infantry section or platoon...

of horse

Cavalry

Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

, serving as their colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

and captain respectively. Following the Royalist

Cavalier

Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...

victory at the Battle of Roundway Down

Battle of Roundway Down

The Battle of Roundway Down was fought on 13 July 1643, during the First English Civil War. A Royalist cavalry force under Lord Wilmot won a crushing victory over the Parliamentarians under Sir William Waller who were besieging Devizes in central Wiltshire, which was defended by Lord Hopton...

on 13 July 1643, Cooper was one of three commissioners appointed to negotiate the surrender of Dorchester when he negotiated a deal whereby the town agreed to surrender in exchange for being spared plunder and punishment. However, troops under Prince Maurice soon arrived and plundered Dorchester and Weymouth, Dorset anyway, leading to heated words between Cooper and Prince Maurice.

William Seymour, Marquess of Hertford

William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset

Sir William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset, KG was an English nobleman and Royalist commander in the English Civil War....

, the commander of the Royalist forces in the west, had recommended Cooper be appointed governor of Weymouth and Portland

Weymouth and Portland

Weymouth and Portland is a local government district and borough in Dorset, England. It consists of the resort of Weymouth and the Isle of Portland, and includes the areas of Wyke Regis, Preston, Melcombe Regis, Upwey, Broadwey, Southill, Chiswell, Castletown, Fortuneswell, Radipole, Nottington,...

, but Prince Maurice intervened to block the appointment, on grounds of Cooper's alleged youth and inexperience. Cooper appealed to the Chancellor of the Exchequer

Chancellor of the Exchequer

, Edward Hyde

Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon

Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon was an English historian and statesman, and grandfather of two English monarchs, Mary II and Queen Anne.-Early life:...

; Hyde arranged a compromise whereby Cooper would be appointed as governor but resign as soon as it was possible to do so without losing face. Cooper was promised that upon resigning as governor, he would be made High Sheriff of Dorset

High Sheriff of Dorset

The High Sheriff of Dorset is an ancient High Sheriff title which has been in existence for over one thousand years. The position was once a powerful position responsible for collecting taxes and enforcing law and order in Dorset. In modern times the sheriff has become a ceremonial role, presiding...

and president of the council of war

Council of war

A council of war is a term in military science that describes a meeting held to decide on a course of action, usually in the midst of a battle. Under normal circumstances, decisions are made by a commanding officer, optionally communicated and coordinated by staff officers, and then implemented by...

for Dorset, both of which were offices more prestigious than the governorship. Cooper spent the remainder of 1643 as governor of Weymouth and Portland.

Parliamentarian, 1644-1652

In early 1644, Cooper resigned all of his posts under the king, and traveled to Hurst Castle

Hurst Castle

Hurst Castle on the south coast of England is one of Henry VIII's Device Forts, built at the end of a long shingle barrier beach at the west end of the Solent to guard the approaches to Southampton. Hurst Castle was sited at the narrow entrance to the Solent where the ebb and flow of the tides...

, the headquarters of the Parliamentarians

Roundhead

. Called before the Committee of Both Kingdoms

Committee of Both Kingdoms

The Committee of Both Kingdoms, , was a committee set up during the English Civil War by the Parliamentarian faction in association with representatives from the Scottish Covenanters, to oversee the conduct of the War and Foreign Policy...

, on 6 March 1644, he explained that he believed that Charles I was now being influenced by Roman Catholic influences (Catholics were increasingly prominent at Charles' court, and he had recently signed a truce with Irish Catholic rebels) and that he believed Charles had no intention of "promoting or preserving...the Protestant religion and the liberties of the kingdom" and that he therefore believed the parliamentary cause was just, and he offered to take the Solemn League and Covenant

Solemn League and Covenant

The Solemn League and Covenant was an agreement between the Scottish Covenanters and the leaders of the English Parliamentarians. It was agreed to in 1643, during the First English Civil War....

.

In July 1644, the House of Commons

House of Commons of England

The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...

gave Cooper permission to leave London, and he soon joined parliamentary forces in Dorset. After participating in a campaign, in August, parliament appointed him to the committee governing the army in Dorset. Cooper participated in fighting throughout 1644. However, in 1645, with the passing of the Self-denying Ordinance

Self-denying Ordinance

The first Self-denying Ordinance was a bill moved on 9 December 1644 to deprive members of the Parliament of England from holding command in the army or the navy during the English Civil War. It failed to pass the House of Lords. A second Self-denying Ordinance was agreed to on 3 April 1645,...

, Cooper chose to resign his commissions in the parliamentary army (which was, at any rate, being supplanted by the creation of the New Model Army

New Model Army

The New Model Army of England was formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War, and was disbanded in 1660 after the Restoration...

) in order to preserve his claim to be the rightful member for Downton. He nevertheless continued to be active in the Dorset committee as a civil member.

It was during this period that Cooper first expressed an interest in overseas plantations, investing in a plantation in Barbados

Barbados

Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...

in 1646.

Little is known of Cooper's activities in the late 1640s. It is often assumed that he supported the Presbyterians against the Independents

Independent (religion)

In English church history, Independents advocated local congregational control of religious and church matters, without any wider geographical hierarchy, either ecclesiastical or political...

, and, as such, opposed the regicide of Charles I. Nevertheless, he was willing to work with the new regime, accepting a commission as justice of the peace

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

for Wiltshire

Wiltshire

and Dorset

Dorset

in February 1649 and acting as High Sheriff of Wiltshire

High Sheriff of Wiltshire

This is a list of High Sheriffs of Wiltshire.Until the 14th century the shrievalty was held ex officio by the castellans of Old Sarum.-To 1400:*1066: Edric*1067-1070: Philippe de Buckland*1085: Aiulphus the Sheriff*1070–1105: Edward of Salisbury...

for 1647. Furthermore, in February 1650, he not only took the oath of loyalty to the new regime, but was a member of a commission that tendered the oath.

Cooper's first wife, Margaret, died on 10 July 1649; the couple had had no children. Less than a year later, on 15 April 1650, Cooper re-married, to seventeen-year-old Lady Frances Cecil (1633–1652), daughter of David Cecil, 3rd Earl of Exeter

David Cecil, 3rd Earl of Exeter

David Cecil, 3rd Earl of Exeter was an English peer and member of the House of Lords.-Life:David Cecil was the son of Sir Richard Cecil of Wakerley, Northamptonshire. He was educated at Clare College, Cambridge, and admitted at Lincoln's Inn in 1627. In 1640, he sat for Peterborough in the Short...

. The couple had two children, one of whom, Anthony

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 2nd Earl of Shaftesbury

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 2nd Earl of Shaftesbury , known as Lord Ashley from 1672 to 1683, was an English peer and Member of Parliament....

, lived to adulthood. Frances died on 31 December 1652, aged only 19.

Statesman under the Commonwealth of England and the Protectorate, 1652-1660

On 17 January 1652, the Rump Parliament

Rump Parliament

The Rump Parliament is the name of the English Parliament after Colonel Pride purged the Long Parliament on 6 December 1648 of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason....

appointed Cooper to the committee on law reform chaired by Sir Matthew Hale

Matthew Hale (jurist)

Sir Matthew Hale SL was an influential English barrister, judge and jurist most noted for his treatise Historia Placitorum Coronæ, or The History of the Pleas of the Crown. Born to a barrister and his wife, who had both died by the time he was 5, Hale was raised by his father's relative, a strict...

(the so-called Hale Commission, none of whose moderate proposals were ever enacted).

In March 1653, the Rump issued a full pardon

Pardon

Clemency means the forgiveness of a crime or the cancellation of the penalty associated with it. It is a general concept that encompasses several related procedures: pardoning, commutation, remission and reprieves...

for his time as a Royalist, opening the way for his return to public office. Following the dissolution of the Rump in April 1653, Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell

and the Army Council nominated Cooper to serve in Barebone's Parliament as member for Wiltshire

Wiltshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Wiltshire was a constituency of the House of Commons of England from 1290 to 1707, of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It was represented by two Members of Parliament , elected by the bloc vote...

. On 14 July, Cromwell appointed Cooper to the English Council of State

English Council of State

The English Council of State, later also known as the Protector's Privy Council, was first appointed by the Rump Parliament on 14 February 1649 after the execution of King Charles I....

, where he was a member of the Committee for the Business of the Law, which was intended to continue the reform work of the Hale Commission. Cooper aligned himself with the moderates in Barebone's Parliament, voting against the abolition of tithes. He was one of the members who voted to dissolve Barebone's Parliament on 12 December 1653 rather than acquiesce to the abolition of tithes.

Cooper won the election.
When the Instrument of Government

Instrument of Government

Instrument of Government may refer to:* Instrument of Government, constitution of the Commonwealth of England.* Constitutions of Sweden:** Instrument of Government ** Instrument of Government...

gave England a new constitution 4 days later, Cooper was again named to the Council of State. During the elections for the First Protectorate Parliament

First Protectorate Parliament

The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the House....

in summer 1654, Cooper headed a slate of ten candidates who stood in Wiltshire

Wiltshire (UK Parliament constituency)

against 10 republican MPs headed by Edmund Ludlow

Edmund Ludlow

Edmund Ludlow was an English parliamentarian, best known for his involvement in the execution of Charles I, and for his Memoirs, which were published posthumously in a rewritten form and which have become a major source for historians of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. After service in the English...

. At the day of the election, so many voters turned up that the poll had to be switched from Wilton

Wilton, Wiltshire

Wilton is a town in Wiltshire, , England, with a rich heritage dating back to the Anglo-Saxons. Today it is dwarfed by its larger and more famous neighbour, Salisbury, but still has a range of notable shops and attractions, including Wilton House.The confluence of the rivers Wylye and Nadder is at...

to Stonehenge

Stonehenge

Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...

. Cooper's slate of candidates prevailed, although Ludlow alleged his party was in the majority. At the same election, Cooper was also elected MP for Tewkesbury

Tewkesbury (UK Parliament constituency)

Tewkesbury is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....

and Poole but chose to sit for Wiltshire. Although Cooper was generally supportive of Cromwell during the First Protectorate Parliament (he voted in favour of making Cromwell king in December 1654), he grew worried that Cromwell was growing inclined to rule through the Army rather than through Parliament. This led Cooper to break with Cromwell: in early January 1655, he stopped attending Council and introduced a resolution in parliament making it illegal to collect or pay revenue not authorized by parliament. Cromwell dissolved this parliament on 22 January 1655.

The exiled Charles II

Charles II of England

, hearing of Cooper's break with Cromwell, wrote to Cooper saying that he would pardon Cooper for fighting against the crown if he would now help to bring about a restoration of the monarchy. Cooper did not respond, nor did he participate in the Penruddock uprising

Penruddock uprising

The Penruddock uprising was one of a series of coordinated uprisings planned by the Sealed Knot for a Royalist insurrection to start in March 1655 during the Protectorate of the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell....

in March 1655.

On 30 August 1655, Cooper married his third wife, Margaret Spencer (1627–1693), daughter of William Spencer, 2nd Baron Spencer of Wormleighton and sister of Henry Spencer, 1st Earl of Sunderland

Henry Spencer, 1st Earl of Sunderland

Henry Spencer, 1st Earl of Sunderland, 3rd Baron Spencer of Wormleighton , known as The Lord Spencer between 1636 and June 1643, was an English peer who fought and died in the English civil war on the side of the Cavaliers.Henry was born at Althorp to William Spencer, 2nd Baron Spencer and was...

.

Cooper was again elected as a member for Wiltshire in the Second Protectorate Parliament

Second Protectorate Parliament

The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons...

, although when the parliament met on 17 September 1656, Cooper was one of 100 members whom the Council of State excluded from the parliament. Cooper was one of 65 excluded members to sign a petition protesting their exclusion that was delivered by Sir George Booth

George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer

George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer , known as Sir George Booth, 2nd Baronet, from 1652 to 1661, was an English peer.-Civil War:...

. Cooper eventually took his seat in the parliament on 20 January 1658, after Cromwell accepted an amended version of the Humble Petition and Advice

Humble Petition and Advice

The Humble Petition and Advice was the second, and last, codified constitution of England after the Instrument of Government.On 23 February 1657, during the sitting of the Second Protectorate Parliament, Sir Christopher Packe, a Member of Parliament and former Lord Mayor of London The Humble...

that stipulated that the excluded members could return to parliament. Upon his return to the house, Cooper spoke out against Cromwell's Other House

Cromwell's Other House

The Other House , established by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Humble Petition and Advice, was one of the two chambers of the Parliaments that legislated for England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland, in 1658 and 1659, the final years of the Protectorate.During the Rule of...

.

Cooper was elected to the Third Protectorate Parliament

Third Protectorate Parliament

The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons...

in early 1659 as member for Wiltshire. During the debates in this parliament, Cooper sided with the republicans who opposed the Humble Petition and Advice and insisted that the bill recognizing Richard Cromwell

Richard Cromwell

as Protector should limit his control over the militia

Militia

The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...

and eliminate the protector's ability to veto

Veto

A veto, Latin for "I forbid", is the power of an officer of the state to unilaterally stop an official action, especially enactment of a piece of legislation...

legislation. Cooper again spoke out against the Other House (consisting of new lords), and in favour of restoring the old House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

.

When Richard Cromwell dissolved parliament on 22 April 1659 and recalled the Rump Parliament (dissolved by Oliver Cromwell in 1653), Cooper attempted to revive his claim to sit as member for Downton. He was also re-appointed to the Council of State at this time. Throughout this time, many accused Cooper of harbouring royalist sympathies, but Cooper denied this. In August 1659, Cooper was arrested for complicity in Sir George Booth

George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer

George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer , known as Sir George Booth, 2nd Baronet, from 1652 to 1661, was an English peer.-Civil War:...

's Presbyterian royalist uprising in Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

, but in September the Council found him not guilty of any involvement.

In October 1659, the New Model Army

New Model Army

The New Model Army of England was formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War, and was disbanded in 1660 after the Restoration...

dissolved the Rump Parliament and replaced the Council of State with its own Committee of Safety

English Committee of Safety

The Committee of Safety, established by the Parliamentarians in July 1642, was the first of a number of successive committees set up to oversee the English Civil War against King Charles I, and the Interregnum.-1642–1644:...

. Cooper, republicans Sir Arthur Haselrig

Arthur Haselrig

Sir Arthur Haselrig, 2nd Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1640 and 1659. He was one of the five members of Parliament whom King Charles I tried to arrest in 1642, an event which led to the start of the English Civil War...

and Henry Neville

Henry Neville (writer)

Henry Neville was an English author and satirist, best remembered for his tale of shipwreck and dystopia, The Isle of Pines published in 1668.-Life:...

and six other members of the Council of State continued to meet in secret, referring to themselves as the rightful Council of State. This secret Council of State came to see Sir George Monck

George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle

George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, KG was an English soldier and politician and a key figure in the restoration of Charles II.-Early life and career:...

, commander of the forces in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

as the best hope to restore the Rump, and Cooper and Haselrig met with Monck's commissioners, urging them to restore the Rump. Cooper was involved in several plots to launch pro-Rump uprisings at this time. This proved unnecessary as, on 23 December 1659, troops resolved to stand by the Rump and the Council of State and disobey the Committee of Safety. The Rump Parliament reassembled on 26 December 1659, and on 2 January 1660, Cooper was elected to the Council of State. On 7 January 1659, a special committee reported back on the disputed 1640 Downton election and Cooper was finally allowed to take his seat as member for Downton.

Upon General Monck's march into London, Monck was displeased that the Rump Parliament was not prepared to confirm him as commander-in-chief of the army. On Cooper's urging, Monck's troops marched into London and Monck sent parliament a letter insisting that the vacant seats in the Rump Parliament be filled by-elections. When the Rump insisted on placing restrictions on who could stand in these by-elections, Cooper urged Monck to insist instead on the return of the members of the Long Parliament

Long Parliament

secluded by Pride's Purge

Pride's Purge

Pride’s Purge is an event in December 1648, during the Second English Civil War, when troops under the command of Colonel Thomas Pride forcibly removed from the Long Parliament all those who were not supporters of the Grandees in the New Model Army and the Independents...

, and Monck obliged on 21 February 1660. Two days later, the restored Long Parliament again elected Cooper to the Council of State. On 16 March 1660, the Long Parliament finally voted its own dissolution.

Beginning in spring 1660, Cooper drew closer to the royalist cause. As late as mid-April, Cooper appears to have favoured only a conditional restoration. In April 1660 he was re-elected MP for Wiltshire in the Convention Parliament. On 25 April he voted in favour of an unconditional restoration. On 8 May, the Convention Parliament appointed Cooper as one of twelve members to travel to The Hague

The Hague

The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...

to invite Charles II to return to England.

Restoration politician, 1660-1683

Cooper returned to England with Charles in late May. On the recommendation of General Monck and Cooper's wife's uncle, Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton

Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton

Sir Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton, KG , styled Lord Wriothesley before 1624, was a 17th century English statesman, a staunch supporter of Charles II who would rise to the position of Lord High Treasurer after the English Restoration...

, Charles appointed Cooper to his privy council on 27 May 1660. Cooper took advantage of the Declaration of Breda

Declaration of Breda

The Declaration of Breda was a proclamation by Charles II of England in which he promised a general pardon for crimes committed during the English Civil War and the Interregnum for all those who recognised Charles as the lawful king; the retention by the current owners of property purchased during...

and was formally pardoned for his support of the English Commonwealth on 27 June 1660. During this period, he helped reorganize the privy council's committee on trade and plantations

Board of Trade

The Board of Trade is a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, originating as a committee of inquiry in the 17th century and evolving gradually into a government department with a diverse range of functions...

.

Cooper thus became a spokesman for the government in the Convention Parliament. However, during the debates on the Indemnity and Oblivion Bill

Indemnity and Oblivion Act

The Indemnity and Oblivion Act 1660 is an Act of the Parliament of England , the long title of which is "An Act of Free and General Pardon, Indemnity, and Oblivion"....

, Cooper urged leniency for those who had sided with Parliament during the English Civil Wars or collaborated with the Cromwellian regime. He argued that only those individuals who had personal involvement in the decision to execute Charles I by participating in his trial

High Court of Justice for the trial of Charles I

The High Court of Justice is the name given to the court established by the Rump Parliament to try King Charles I of England. This was an ad hoc tribunal created specifically for the purpose of trying the king, although the same name was used again for subsequent courts.Neither the involvement of...

and execution should be exempt from the general pardon. This view prevailed. After the Indemnity and Oblivion Act became law on 29 August 1660, Cooper sat on the special commission that tried the regicides, and in this capacity took part in sentencing to death several colleagues with whom he had collaborated during the years of the English Interregnum

English Interregnum

The English Interregnum was the period of parliamentary and military rule by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the Commonwealth of England after the English Civil War...

, including Hugh Peters

Hugh Peters

Hugh Peters [or Peter] was an English preacher.-Early life:He was baptized on 29 June 1598 in Fowey, and was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge....

, Thomas Harrison, and Thomas Scot

Thomas Scot

Thomas Scot was an English Member of Parliament and one of the regicides of King Charles I.- Early life :In 1626 Thomas Scot married Alice Allinson of Chesterford in Essex. He was a lawyer in Buckinghamshire and grew to prominence as the treasurer of the region’s County Committee between 1644 to...

. As a long-time foe of the Court of Wards, during the debate on the Tenures Abolition Bill

Tenures Abolition Act 1660

The Tenures Abolition Act 1660 was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of England passed in 1660. The long title of the Act was An act for taking away the Court of Wards and liveries, and tenures in capite, and by knights-service, and purveyance, and for settling a revenue upon his Majesty in...

, Cooper supported continuing the excise

Excise

Excise tax in the United States is a indirect tax on listed items. Excise taxes can be and are made by federal, state and local governments and are far from uniform throughout the United States...

imposed by the Long Parliament to compensate the crown for the loss of revenues associated with the abolition of the court.

On 20 April 1661, three days before his coronation at Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...

, Charles II announced his coronation honours, and in those honours he created Cooper Baron Ashley of Wimborne St Giles.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1661-1672

Following the coronation, the Cavalier Parliament

Cavalier Parliament

met beginning on 8 May 1661. Lord Ashley took his seat in the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

on May 11. On 11 May, the king appointed Ashley as his Chancellor of the Exchequer

Chancellor of the Exchequer

and under-treasurer (Southampton, Ashley's uncle by marriage, was then Lord High Treasurer

Lord High Treasurer

The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Act of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third highest ranked Great Officer of State, below the Lord High Chancellor and above the Lord President...

).

In 1661-1662, Ashley opposed Charles' marriage to Catherine of Braganza

Catherine of Braganza

Catherine of Braganza was a Portuguese infanta and queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland as the wife of King Charles II.She married the king in 1662...

because the marriage would involve supporting the Kingdom of Portugal

Kingdom of Portugal

The Kingdom of Portugal was Portugal's general designation under the monarchy. The kingdom was located in the west of the Iberian Peninsula, Europe and existed from 1139 to 1910...

, and Portugal's ally France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, in Portugal's struggle against Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. Ashley was opposed to a policy that moved England into the French orbit. During this debate, Ashley opposed the policy engineered by Charles' Lord Chancellor

Lord Chancellor

, Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon

Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon

Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon was an English historian and statesman, and grandfather of two English monarchs, Mary II and Queen Anne.-Early life:...

, thus beginning what would prove to be a long-running political rivalry with Clarendon.

When the Cavalier Parliament set about enacting the Clarendon Code, Ashley supported a policy of moderation towards Protestant dissenters. In July 1662, Ashley sponsored an amendment to the Act of Uniformity

Act of Uniformity 1662

The Act of Uniformity was an Act of the Parliament of England, 13&14 Ch.2 c. 4 ,The '16 Charles II c. 2' nomenclature is reference to the statute book of the numbered year of the reign of the named King in the stated chapter...

that would have allowed Protestant Non-Conformists

Nonconformism

Nonconformity is the refusal to "conform" to, or follow, the governance and usages of the Church of England by the Protestant Christians of England and Wales.- Origins and use:...

to allow for late subscription, giving moderate dissenters an additional opportunity to conform. In the latter half of 1662, Ashley joined Sir Henry Bennet

Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington

Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington KG, PC was an English statesman.- Background and early life :He was the son of Sir John Bennet of Dawley, Middlesex, and of Dorothy Crofts. He was the younger brother of John Bennet, 1st Baron Ossulston; his sister was Elizabeth Bennet who married Robert Kerr,...

, the Earl of Bristol

George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol

George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 until 1641 when he was raised to the House of Lords...

, and Lord Robartes

John Robartes, 1st Earl of Radnor

John Robartes, 1st Earl of Radnor PC , known as The Lord Robartes between 1634 and 1679, was an English politician, who fought for the Parliamentary cause during the English Civil War...

in urging Charles to dispense peaceable Protestant Non-Conformists and loyal Catholics from the Act of Uniformity. This led to Charles issuing his first Declaration of Indulgence on 26 December 1662. The Cavalier Parliament forced Charles to withdraw this declaration in February 1663. Ashley then supported Lord Robartes' Dispensing Bill, which would have dispensed Protestant Non-Conformists, but not Catholics, from the Act of Uniformity. During the debate on the Dispensing Bill in the House of Lords, Ashley criticised Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon

Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon

Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon was an English historian and statesman, and grandfather of two English monarchs, Mary II and Queen Anne.-Early life:...

, Charles' Lord Chancellor

Lord Chancellor

, for opposing the royal prerogative

Royal Prerogative

The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege, and immunity, recognized in common law and, sometimes, in civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy as belonging to the sovereign alone. It is the means by which some of the executive powers of government, possessed by and...

to dispense with laws. Clarendon remarked that in his opinion, the declaration was "Ship-Money

Ship money

Ship money refers to a tax that Charles I of England tried to levy without the consent of Parliament. This tax, which was only applied to coastal towns during a time of war, was intended to offset the cost of defending that part of the coast, and could be paid in actual ships or the equivalent value...

in religion". The king looked favourably on Ashley's remarks and was displeased by Clarendon's.

In May 1663, Ashley was one of eight Lords Proprietors (Lord Clarendon was one of the others) given title to a huge tract of land in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, which eventually became the Province of Carolina

Province of Carolina

, named in honour of King Charles.

By early 1664, Ashley was a member of the circle of John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale

John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale

Sir John Maitland, 1st Duke and 2nd Earl of Lauderdale, 3rd Lord Thirlestane KG PC , was a Scottish politician, and leader within the Cabal Ministry.-Background:...

, who ranged themselves in opposition to Lord Clarendon.

During the debate on the Conventicle Bill

Conventicle Act 1664

The Conventicle Act of 1664 was an Act of the Parliament of England that forbade conventicles...

in May 1664, Ashley proposed mitigating the harshness of the penalties initially suggested by the House of Commons.

Throughout late 1664 and 1665, Ashley was increasingly in the royal favour. For example, in August 1665, the king paid a surprise visit to Ashley at Wimborne St Giles, and, during a later visit, introduced Ashley to his illegitimate son James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth

James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth

.

The Second Anglo–Dutch War began on 4 March 1665. During the parliamentary session of October 1665, Sir George Downing, 1st Baronet

Sir George Downing, 1st Baronet

Sir George Downing, 1st Baronet was an Anglo-Irish soldier, statesman, and diplomat. Downing Street in London is named after him. As Treasury Secretary he is credited with instituting major reforms in public finance. His influence was substantial on the passage and substance of the mercantilist...

proposed that the use of funds voted to the crown should be restricted to the sole purpose of carrying on the war. Ashley opposed this proposal on the grounds that crown ministers should have flexibility in deciding how to use money received from parliamentary taxation.

In the 1666-1667 parliamentary session, Ashley supported the Irish Cattle Bill, introduced by the Duke of Buckingham

George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham

George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, 20th Baron de Ros of Helmsley, KG, PC, FRS was an English statesman and poet.- Upbringing and education :...

, which prevented the importation of Irish cattle into England. During the course of this debate, Ashley attacked Charles' Lord Lieutenant of Ireland

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland

The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was the British King's representative and head of the Irish executive during the Lordship of Ireland , the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...

, James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde

James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde

James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde PC was an Irish statesman and soldier. He was the second of the Kilcash branch of the family to inherit the earldom. He was the friend of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, who appointeed him commander of the Cavalier forces in Ireland. From 1641 to 1647, he...

. He suggested that Irish peers

Peerage of Ireland

The Peerage of Ireland is the term used for those titles of nobility created by the English and later British monarchs of Ireland in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland. The creation of such titles came to an end in the 19th century. The ranks of the Irish peerage are Duke, Marquess, Earl,...

such as Ormonde should have no precedence over English commoners. The debate over the Irish Cattle Bill marks the first time that Ashley began to break with the court over an issue of policy.

In October 1666, Ashley met John Locke

John Locke

, who would in time become his personal secretary. Ashley had gone to Oxford seeking treatment for a liver

Liver

The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...

infection. There he was impressed with Locke and persuaded him to become part of his retinue. Locke had been looking for a career and in spring 1667 moved into Ashley's home at Exeter House

Exeter House

Exeter House was an early 17th century brick-built mansion, which stood in Full Street, Derby until demolished in 1854. Named for the Earls of Exeter, whose family owned the property until 1757, the house was notable for the stay of Charles Edward Stuart during the Jacobite Rising of 1745...

in London

London

, ostensibly as the household physician.

When Southampton died in May 1667, Ashley, as under-treasurer, was expected to succeed Southampton as Lord High Treasurer. King Charles, however, decided to replace Southampton with a nine-man Commission of the Treasury, headed by the Duke of Albemarle

George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle

George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, KG was an English soldier and politician and a key figure in the restoration of Charles II.-Early life and career:...

as First Lord of the Treasury. Ashley was named as one of the nine Treasury Commissioners at this time.

The failures of the English during the Second Anglo-Dutch War led Charles II to lose faith in the Earl of Clarendon, who was dismissed as Lord Chancellor on 31 August 1667. The court then moved to impeach

Impeachment

Impeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....

Clarendon, supported by many of Ashley's former political allies (including George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham

George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham

George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, 20th Baron de Ros of Helmsley, KG, PC, FRS was an English statesman and poet.- Upbringing and education :...

, George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol

George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol

George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 until 1641 when he was raised to the House of Lords...

, and Sir Henry Bennett, who by this point had been created Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington

Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington

). Ashley, however, refused to join in the fight against Clarendon, opposing a motion to have Clarendon committed to the Tower of London

Tower of London

on a charge of treason

Treason

In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...

.

After the fall of Lord Clarendon in 1667, Lord Ashley became a prominent member of the Cabal

Cabal Ministry

, in which he formed the second "A". Although the term "Cabal Ministry" is used by historians, in reality, the five members of the Cabal (Clifford

Thomas Clifford, 1st Baron Clifford of Chudleigh

Thomas Clifford, 1st Baron Clifford of Chudleigh , English statesman and politician, was created the first Baron Clifford of Chudleigh on 22 April 1672 for his suggestion that the King supply himself with money by stopping, for one year, all payments out of the Exchequer.He was born in Ugbrooke,...

, Arlington

Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington

, Buckingham

George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham

George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, 20th Baron de Ros of Helmsley, KG, PC, FRS was an English statesman and poet.- Upbringing and education :...

, Ashley, and Lauderdale

John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale

Sir John Maitland, 1st Duke and 2nd Earl of Lauderdale, 3rd Lord Thirlestane KG PC , was a Scottish politician, and leader within the Cabal Ministry.-Background:...

) never formed a coherent ministerial team. In the period immediately after the fall of Clarendon, the government was dominated by Arlington and Buckingham, and Ashley was out of royal favour and not admitted to the most powerful group of royal advisors, the privy council's committee on foreign affairs. Nevertheless, Ashley joined Arlington and Buckingham, as well as John Wilkins

John Wilkins

John Wilkins FRS was an English clergyman, natural philosopher and author, as well as a founder of the Invisible College and one of the founders of the Royal Society, and Bishop of Chester from 1668 until his death....

, Bishop of Chester

Bishop of Chester

The Bishop of Chester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chester in the Province of York.The diocese expands across most of the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, including the Wirral Peninsula and has its see in the City of Chester where the seat is located at the Cathedral...

, in introducing government-backed bills in October 1667 and February 1668 to include moderate dissenters within the Church of England

Church of England

. Nothing came of these bills, however. In January 1668, the privy council's committees were reorganised, but Ashley retained a prominent position on the committee for trade and plantations.
In May 1668, Ashley became ill, apparently with a hydatid cyst. His secretary, John Locke, recommended an operation that almost certainly saved Ashley's life and Ashley was grateful to Locke for the rest of his life. As part of the operation, a tube was inserted to drain fluid from the abscess

Abscess

An abscess is a collection of pus that has accumulated in a cavity formed by the tissue in which the pus resides due to an infectious process or other foreign materials...

, and after the operation, the physician left the tube in the body, and installed a copper tap to allow for possible future drainage. In later years, this would be the occasion for his Tory enemies to dub him "Tapski", with the Polish ending

Polish name

A Polish personal name, like names in most European cultures, consists of two main elements: imię, the first name, or given name, followed by nazwisko, the last name, surname, or family name....

because Tories accused him of wanting to make England an elective monarchy

Elective monarchy

An elective monarchy is a monarchy ruled by an elected rather than hereditary monarch. The manner of election, the nature of the candidacy and the electors vary from case to case...

like the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
In 1669, Ashley supported Arlington and Buckingham's proposal for a political union

Political union

A political union is a type of state which is composed of or created out of smaller states. Unlike a personal union, the individual states share a common government and the union is recognized internationally as a single political entity...

of England with the Kingdom of Scotland

Kingdom of Scotland

The Kingdom of Scotland was a Sovereign state in North-West Europe that existed from 843 until 1707. It occupied the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shared a land border to the south with the Kingdom of England...

, although this proposal floundered when the Scottish insisted on equal representation with the English in parliament. Ashley probably did not support the Conventicles Act

Conventicles Act 1670

The Conventicles Act 1670 is an Act of the Parliament of England with the long title "An Act to prevent and suppress Seditious Conventicles." The Act imposed a fine on any person who attended a conventicle of five shillings for the first offence and ten shillings for a second offence...

of 1670, but he did not sign the formal protest against the passage of the act either.

Ashley, in his role as one of the eight Lords Proprietor

Lords Proprietor

Lords Proprietor was the name for the chief or highest owners or proprietors of certain English proprietary colonies in America, such as Carolina, New Jersey and Barbados....

of the Province of Carolina

Province of Carolina

, along with his secretary, John Locke

John Locke

, drafted the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina

Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina

, which were adopted by the eight Lords Proprietor in March 1669.

By this point, it had become obvious that the queen, Catherine of Braganza, was barren

Female infertility

-Causes and factors:Causes or factors of female infertility can basically be classified regarding whether they are acquired or genetic, or strictly by location.-Acquired versus genetic:...

and would never produce an heir, making the king's brother, James, Duke of York

James II of England

heir to the throne, which worried Ashley because he suspected that James was a Roman Catholic. Ashley, Buckingham, and Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Carlisle

Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Carlisle

Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Carlisle was an English politician and military leader.The first in the Howard line of earls, he was the son and heir of Sir William Howard, of Naworth in Cumberland, by Mary, daughter of William, Lord Eure, and great-grandson of Lord William Howard, "Belted Will" , the...

urged Charles to declare his illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth, legitimate. When it became clear that Charles would not do so, they urged Charles to divorce Catherine and remarry. This was the background to the famous Roos debate case: John Manners, Lord Roos

John Manners, 1st Duke of Rutland

John Manners, 1st Duke of Rutland and 9th Earl of Rutland was the son of John Manners, 8th Earl of Rutland and Frances Montagu. His maternal grandparents were Sir Edward Montagu, 1st Baron Montagu of Boughton and his wife Elizabeth Jeffries...

had obtained a separation from bed and board

Legal separation

Legal separation is a legal process by which a married couple may formalize a de facto separation while remaining legally married. A legal separation is granted in the form of a court order, which can be in the form of a legally binding consent decree...

from his wife in 1663, after he discovered she was committing adultery

Adultery

Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...

, and he had also been granted a divorce

Divorce

Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...

by an ecclesiastical court

Ecclesiastical court

An ecclesiastical court is any of certain courts having jurisdiction mainly in spiritual or religious matters. In the Middle Ages in many areas of Europe these courts had much wider powers than before the development of nation states...

and had Lady Roos' children declared illegitimate. In March 1670, Lord Roos asked Parliament to allow him to remarry. The debate on the Roos divorce bill became politically charged because it impacted on whether Parliament could legally allow Charles to remarry. During the debate, Ashley spoke out strongly in favour of the Roos divorce bill, arguing that marriage

Marriage

Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

was a civil contract, not a sacrament

Sacrament

A sacrament is a sacred rite recognized as of particular importance and significance. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites.-General definitions and terms:...

. Parliament ultimately gave Lord Roos permission to remarry, but Charles II never attempted to divorce his wife.

Ashley did not know about the Secret Treaty of Dover

Secret treaty of Dover

The Treaty of Dover, also known as the Secret Treaty of Dover, was a treaty between England and France signed at Dover on June 1 in 1670. It required France to assist England in the king's aim that it would rejoin the Roman Catholic Church and England to assist France in her war of conquest...

, arranged by Charles II's sister Henrietta Anne Stuart and signed 22 May 1670, whereby Charles II concluded an alliance with Louis XIV of France

Louis XIV of France

Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...

against the Dutch Republic

Dutch Republic

. Under the terms of the Secret Treaty of Dover, Charles would receive an annual subsidy from France (to enable him to govern without calling a parliament) in exchange for a promise that he would convert to Catholicism and re-Catholicize England at an unspecified future date. Of the members of the Cabal, only Arlington and Clifford were aware of the Catholic Clauses contained in the Secret Treaty of Dover. For the benefit of Ashley, Buckingham, and Lauderdale, Charles II arranged a mock treaty (traité simulé) concluding an alliance with France. Although he was suspicious of France, Ashley was also wary of Dutch commercial competition, and he therefore signed the mock Treaty of Dover on 21 December 1670.

Throughout 1671, Ashley argued in favour of reducing the duty

Duty (economics)

In economics, a duty is a kind of tax, often associated with customs, a payment due to the revenue of a state, levied by force of law. It is a tax on certain items purchased abroad...

on sugar

Sugar

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...

imports, arguing that the duty would have an adverse effect on colonial sugar planters.

In September 1671, Ashley and Clifford oversaw a massive reform of England's customs

Customs

Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, transports, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country...

system, whereby customs farmers were replaced with royal commissioners responsible for collecting customs. This change was ultimately to the benefit of the crown, but it caused a short-term loss of revenues that led to the Great Stop of the Exchequer

Great Stop of the Exchequer

The Great Stop of the Exchequer or Stop of the Exchequer was a repudiation of state debt that occurred in England in 1672 under the reign of Charles II of England....

. Ashley was widely blamed for the Great Stop of the Exchequer, although Clifford was the chief advocate of stopping the exchequer and Ashley in fact opposed the move.

In early 1672, with the Third Anglo–Dutch War looming, many in the government feared that Protestant dissenters in England would form a fifth column

Fifth column

A fifth column is a group of people who clandestinely undermine a larger group such as a nation from within.-Origin:The term originated with a 1936 radio address by Emilio Mola, a Nationalist General during the 1936–39 Spanish Civil War...

and support their Dutch co-religionists against England. In an attempt to conciliate the nonconformists, on 15 March 1672, Charles II issued his Royal Declaration of Indulgence

Royal Declaration of Indulgence

The Royal Declaration of Indulgence was Charles II of England's attempt to extend religious liberty to Protestant nonconformists and Roman Catholics in his realms, by suspending the execution of the penal laws that punished recusants from the Church of England...

, suspending the penal laws that punished non-attendance at Church of England services. Ashley strongly supported this Declaration.

According to the terms of the Treaty of Dover, England declared war on the Dutch Republic on 7 April 1672, thus launching the Third Anglo-Dutch War. To accompany the commencement of the war, Charles issued a new round of honours, as part of which Ashley was named Earl of Shaftesbury and Baron Cooper of Paulet on April 23, 1672.

In autumn 1672, Shaftesbury played a key role in setting up the Bahamas Adventurers' Company.

Lord Chancellor, 1672-1673

On 17 November 1672, the king named Shaftesbury Lord Chancellor

Lord Chancellor

of England, with Sir John Duncombe

John Duncombe

Sir John Duncombe was an English politician.John Duncombe was the son of William Duncombe. He was educated at Eton College and St John's College, Cambridge. He was knighted in 1646. Duncombe was Member of Parliament for Bury St Edmunds from 1660 to 1678, and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 22...

replacing Shaftesbury as Chancellor of the Exchequer

Chancellor of the Exchequer

. As Lord Chancellor, he addressed the opening of a new session of the Cavalier Parliament

Cavalier Parliament

on 4 February 1673, calling on parliament to vote funds sufficient to carry out the war, arguing that the Dutch were the enemy of monarchy and England's only major trade rival, and therefore had to be destroyed (at one point he exclaimed "Delenda est Carthago

Carthago delenda est

"Carthago delenda est" or the fuller "Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam" or "Ceterum autem censeo, Carthaginem esse delendam" are Latin political phrases which were popular in the Roman Republic during the latter years of the Punic Wars against Carthage...

"); defending the Great Stop of the Exchequer; and arguing in support of the Royal Declaration of Indulgence.

Shaftesbury was not, however, well received by the House of Commons. One of Shaftesbury's old Dorset rivals, Colonel Giles Strangways

Giles Strangways

Giles Strangways was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1640 and 1675. He fought on the Royalist side in the English Civil War...

, led an attack on writs of election that Lord Chancellor Shaftesbury had issued to fill 36 vacant seats in the House of Commons; Strangways argued that Shaftesbury was attempting to pack the Commons with his supporters and that only the Speaker of the House could issue writs to fill the vacant seats. The House of Commons agreed with Strangways and declared the elections void and the seats vacant. Furthermore, the Commons attacked the Declaration of Indulgence and demanded its withdrawal. Charles ultimately withdrew the address and cancelled the Declaration of Indulgence.

The Commons then passed an address condemning the growth of popery in England. To shore up the Protestantism of the nation, Parliament passed the Test Act

Test Act

The Test Acts were a series of English penal laws that served as a religious test for public office and imposed various civil disabilities on Roman Catholics and Nonconformists...

of 1673, which became law on 20 March 1673. The Test Act required all holders of civil and military office in England to take communion

Eucharist

The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...

in the Church of England at least once a year and to make a declaration renouncing the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation

Transubstantiation

In Roman Catholic theology, transubstantiation means the change, in the Eucharist, of the substance of wheat bread and grape wine into the substance of the Body and Blood, respectively, of Jesus, while all that is accessible to the senses remains as before.The Eastern Orthodox...

. Shaftesbury supported the Test Act, and, alongside James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth

James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth

, received the sacrament at St Clement Danes

St Clement Danes

St Clement Danes is a church in the City of Westminster, London. It is situated outside the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand. The current building was completed in 1682 by Sir Christopher Wren and it now functions as the central church of the Royal Air Force.The church is sometimes claimed to...

, with John Locke serving as the legal witness for each man's conformity with the Test Act. In March 1673, Shaftesbury supported a bill for easing the plight of the Protestant dissenters in England, but nothing came of this bill.

Following the failure of the Declaration of Indulgence and the passage of the Test Act, it was obvious to all that the Cabal Ministry's days were numbered. Shaftesbury moved closer to the parliamentary opposition during this period, and became a supporter of ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War.

The Duke of York failed to take the Anglican sacrament at Easter

Easter

Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...

1673, further heightening Shaftesbury's concern that he was secretly a Catholic. Shaftesbury was initially mollified by the fact that both of the Duke of York's daughters, Mary

Mary II of England

Mary II was joint Sovereign of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William III and II, from 1689 until her death. William and Mary, both Protestants, became king and queen regnant, respectively, following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of...

and Anne

Anne of Great Britain

Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...

, were committed Protestants. However, in autumn 1673, the Duke of York married the Catholic Mary of Modena

Mary of Modena

Mary of Modena was Queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland as the second wife of King James II and VII. A devout Catholic, Mary became, in 1673, the second wife of James, Duke of York, who later succeeded his older brother Charles II as King James II...

by proxy, thus raising the possibility that James might have a son who would succeed to the throne ahead of Mary and Anne and thus give rise to a succession of Catholic monarchs. York urged the king to prorogue parliament before it could vote on a motion condemning his marriage to Mary of Modena, but Shaftesbury used procedural techniques in the House of Lords to ensure that parliament continued sitting long enough to allow the House of Commons to pass a motion condemning the match. Shaftesbury, Arlington, James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde

James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde

, and Henry Coventry

Henry Coventry

The Honourable Henry Coventry was an English politician, who was Secretary of State for the Northern Department between 1672 and 1674 and the Southern Department between 1674 and 1680.-Origins and education:...

all urged Charles II to divorce Catherine of Braganza and re-marry a Protestant princess. York began denouncing Shaftesbury to Charles II, and Charles II decided to remove Shaftesbury from his post as Lord Chancellor. On 9 November 1673, Henry Coventry travelled to Exeter House

Exeter House

to inform Shaftesbury that he was relieved of his post as Lord Chancellor, but also issuing him a royal pardon for all crimes committed before 5 November 1673.

Opposition to Catholicism and break with Charles II, 1673-1674

Following Shaftesbury's fall from royal favour, Arlington attempted to effect a reconciliation, in November 1673 convincing the French ambassador to offer Shaftesbury a bribe in exchange for supporting the French party at court. Shaftesbury refused this offer, saying he could never support "an interest that was so apparently destructive to [England's] religion and trade." Instead, he allied himself with the Spanish party at court, and urged peace with the Netherlands. He also continued to urge the king to divorce and re-marry.

In the session of the Cavalier Parliament

Cavalier Parliament

that began on 7 January 1674, Shaftesbury led the charge to keep England free from popery. He coordinated his efforts with a group of other peers who were displeased with the possibility of a Catholic succession; this group met at the home of Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles

Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles

Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles PC was an English statesman and writer, best known as one of the five members of parliament whom King Charles I of England attempted to arrest in 1642.-Early life:...

, and included Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Carlisle

Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Carlisle

, Thomas Belasyse, 2nd Viscount Fauconberg

Thomas Belasyse, 1st Earl Fauconberg

Thomas Belasyse, 1st Earl Fauconberg PC was an English peer. He supported the Parliamentary cause in the English Civil War drawing close to Oliver Cromwell and married Cromwell's third daughter Mary...

, James Cecil, 3rd Earl of Salisbury

James Cecil, 3rd Earl of Salisbury

James Cecil, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, KG, PC , known as Viscount Cranborne from 1660 to 1668, was an English nobleman....

, George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham

George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham

George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, 20th Baron de Ros of Helmsley, KG, PC, FRS was an English statesman and poet.- Upbringing and education :...

, and George Savile, 1st Viscount Halifax

George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax

George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax PC was an English statesman, writer, and politician.-Family and early life, 1633–1667:...

. On 8 January 1674, Shaftesbury gave a speech in the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

warning that the 16,000 Catholics living in London were on the verge of rebellion, which caused the Lords to pass an address expelling all Catholics from within 10 miles of London. On 12 January, he introduced a measure that would require every peer, including the Duke of York, to take the Oath of Allegiance renouncing the pope and recognising the royal supremacy in the church (the oath was first required by the Popish Recusants Act of 1605

Popish Recusants Act 1605

The Popish Recusants Act 1605 was an Act of the Parliament of England which quickly followed the Gunpowder Plot of the same year, an attempt by English Roman Catholics to assassinate King James I and many of the Parliament....

). On 24 January, the Earl of Salisbury introduced a bill requiring that any children of the Duke of York should be raised as Protestants. His proposed legislation further provided that neither the king nor any prince of the blood could marry a Catholic without parliamentary consent, on pain of being excluded from the royal succession. Shaftesbury spoke forcefully in favour of Salisbury's proposal; he was opposed by the bishops and Lord Finch

Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham

Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham, PC , Lord Chancellor of England, was descended from the old family of Finch, many of whose members had attained high legal eminence, and was the eldest son of Sir Heneage Finch, recorder of London, by his first wife Frances Bell, daughter of Sir Edmond Bell of...

. By February, the opposition lords were considering accusing the Duke of York of high treason

High treason in the United Kingdom

Under the law of the United Kingdom, high treason is the crime of disloyalty to the Crown. Offences constituting high treason include plotting the murder of the sovereign; having sexual intercourse with the sovereign's consort, with his eldest unmarried daughter, or with the wife of the heir to the...

, which resulted in the king proroguing parliament on February 24 in order to protect his brother.

Shaftesbury's actions in the 1674 session further angered Charles II, so on 19 May 1674, Shaftesbury was expelled from the privy council, and subsequently sacked as Lord Lieutenant of Dorset

Lord Lieutenant of Dorset

The Office of the Lord Lieutenant was created during the reign of Henry VIII, taking over the military duties of the Sheriff and control of the military forces of the Crown. From 1569, there was provision for the appointment of Deputies, and in 1662 the Lord-Lieutenant was given entire control of...

and ordered to leave London.

Leader of Opposition to Danby, 1674-1678

Charles II now turned to Thomas Osborne, Earl of Danby

Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds

. Danby proceeded to freeze out peers who had collaborated during the Cromwellian regime and promoted former royalists. Danby was a champion of the Church of England who favoured strict interpretation of the penal laws against both Catholics and Protestant Non-Conformists.

On 3 February 1675, Shaftesbury wrote a letter to Carlisle in which he argued that the king needed to dissolve the Cavalier Parliament

Cavalier Parliament

, which had been elected in early 1661, and call fresh elections. He argued that frequent parliamentary elections were in the best interest of both the crown and the people of England. This letter circulated widely in manuscript form.

The Duke of York was opposed to Danby's strict enforcement of the penal laws against Catholics, and by April 1675, he had reached out to Shaftesbury to make a truce between them whereby they would be united in opposition to Danby's brand of Anglican royalism. In late April 1675, Danby introduced a Test Oath by which all holding office or seats in either House of Parliament were to declare resistance to the royal power a crime, and promise to abstain from all attempts to alter the government of either church or state. Shaftesbury led the parliamentary opposition to Danby's Test Bill, arguing that, under certain circumstances, it was lawful to resist the king's ministers, and that, as in the case of the Protestant Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

, it was sometimes necessary to alter the church so as to restore it.

In spite of Shaftesbury's eloquence, his view remained the minority view in the parliament, forcing the king to prorogue parliament on 9 June 1675 in order to avoid the passage of the bill. The Duke of York, grateful for Shaftesbury's assistance in the debate against Danby's bill, now attempted to reconcile Shaftesbury with the king, and Shaftesbury was admitted to kiss the king's hand on 13 June 1675. This, however, angered Danby, who intervened with the king, and on 24 June, the king again ordered Shaftesbury to leave court.

In 1675, following the death of Sir Giles Strangways, MP for Dorset, Shaftesbury initially endorsed Lord Digby, son of George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol

George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol

George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 until 1641 when he was raised to the House of Lords...

for the seat, but, upon learning that Digby was a strong supporter of the court, he decided to back Thomas Moore, who was the chief supporter of conventicles in the county. This led to Shaftesbury making an enemy of both Digby and Bristol, who accused him of supporting sedition and faction and wanting a return of the English Commonwealth.
In summer 1675, Shaftesbury wrote a 15,000-word pamphlet entitled A Letter from a Person of Quality to his Friend in the Country denouncing Danby's Test Bill. (Shaftesbury's secretary, John Locke

John Locke

, appears to have played a role in drafting the Letter, although whether solely as amanuensis

Amanuensis

Amanuensis is a Latin word adopted in various languages, including English, for certain persons performing a function by hand, either writing down the words of another or performing manual labour...

or in a more active role, perhaps even as ghostwriter

Ghostwriter

A ghostwriter is a professional writer who is paid to write books, articles, stories, reports, or other texts that are officially credited to another person. Celebrities, executives, and political leaders often hire ghostwriters to draft or edit autobiographies, magazine articles, or other written...

, remains unclear.) The Letter argued that since the time of the Restoration

English Restoration

, "the High Episcopal Man, and the Old Cavalier

Cavalier

Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...

" (now led by Danby) had conspired to make "the Government absolute

Absolute monarchy

and arbitrary." According to the Letter, this party was attempting to establish divine right monarchy

Divine Right of Kings

The divine right of kings or divine-right theory of kingship is a political and religious doctrine of royal and political legitimacy. It asserts that a monarch is subject to no earthly authority, deriving his right to rule directly from the will of God...

and divine right episcopacy, meaning that neither the king nor the bishops could be constrained by the rule of law

Rule of law

The rule of law, sometimes called supremacy of law, is a legal maxim that says that governmental decisions should be made by applying known principles or laws with minimal discretion in their application...

. Danby's Test Oath proposal was merely the latest, most nefarious attempt to introduce divine right monarchy and episcopacy on the country. The Letter went on to describe the debates of the House of Lords during the last session, setting forth the arguments that Shaftesbury and other lords used in opposition to Danby and the bishops. This letter was published anonymously in November 1675, and quickly became a bestseller

Bestseller

A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and book trade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and...

, in no small part because it was one of the first books ever to inform the public about the debates that occurred within the House of Lords.

Shaftesbury repeated the accusations of the Letter from a Person of Quality on the floor of the House of Lords during the parliamentary session of October–November 1675. During the debate on the case of Shirley v. Fagg, a jurisdictional dispute about whether the House of Lords could hear appeals from lower courts when the case involved members of the House of Commons, Shaftesbury gave a celebrated speech on 20 October 1675. He argued that Danby and the bishops were attempting to neuter the power of the House of Lords. Shaftesbury argued that every king could only rule either through the nobility

Nobility

Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...

or through a standing army

Standing army

A standing army is a professional permanent army. It is composed of full-time career soldiers and is not disbanded during times of peace. It differs from army reserves, who are activated only during wars or natural disasters...

; thus, this attempt to restrict the power of the nobility was part of a plot to rule the country through a standing army. He argued that the bishops believed that the king was king by divine right

Divine Right of Kings

, not by law

Constitutional monarchy

Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution...

and that, if the bishops' propositions were taken to their logical conclusion, "our Magna Charta is of no force, our Laws are but Rules amongst our selves during the Kings pleasure" and "All the Properties and Liberties of the People, are to give away, not onely to the interest, but the will and pleasure of the Crown."

On 20 November 1675, Shaftesbury seconded a motion by Charles Mohun, 3rd Baron Mohun of Okehampton calling on the king to end the dispute of Shirley v. Fagg by dissolving parliament

Dissolution of parliament

In parliamentary systems, a dissolution of parliament is the dispersal of a legislature at the call of an election.Usually there is a maximum length of a legislature, and a dissolution must happen before the maximum time...

. This motion, which was supported by the Duke of York and the Catholic peers, was defeated by a vote of 50-48, prompting Shaftesbury and 21 other peers to enter a protest on the grounds that "according to the ancient Lawes and Statutes of this Realm ... there should be frequent and new Parliaments" and that the House of Commons was being unnecessarily obstructionist. Parliament was prorogued on 22 November 1675, with the prorogation saying that parliament would not sit again until 15 February 1677. Shortly thereafter, there appeared a pamphlet entitled Two Seasonable Discourses Concerning the Present Parliament, that argued that the king should call a new parliament because a new parliament would vote the king money, preserve the Church of England, introduce religious toleration

Religious toleration

Toleration is "the practice of deliberately allowing or permitting a thing of which one disapproves. One can meaningfully speak of tolerating, ie of allowing or permitting, only if one is in a position to disallow”. It has also been defined as "to bear or endure" or "to nourish, sustain or preserve"...

for the Non-Conformists, and deliver Catholics from the penal laws in an exchange for Catholics being deprived of access to court, holding office, and the right to bear arms.

In mid-February 1676, Charles sent his Secretary of State for the Southern Department

Secretary of State for the Southern Department

The Secretary of State for the Southern Department was a position in the cabinet of the government of Kingdom of Great Britain up to 1782.Before 1782, the responsibilities of the two British Secretaries of State were divided not based on the principles of modern ministerial divisions, but...

, Sir Joseph Williamson

Joseph Williamson (politician)

Sir Joseph Williamson, FRS was an English civil servant, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons of England variously between 1665 and 1701 and in the Irish House of Commons between 1692 and 1699....

to tell Shaftesbury to leave town. Shaftesbury refused and continued to receive visits at Exeter House

Exeter House

from opposition MPs and other discontented elements. Danby argued that Charles should order Shaftesbury arrested and sent to the Tower of London

Tower of London

, but Sir Joseph Williamson refused to sign the warrant

Warrant (law)

Most often, the term warrant refers to a specific type of authorization; a writ issued by a competent officer, usually a judge or magistrate, which permits an otherwise illegal act that would violate individual rights and affords the person executing the writ protection from damages if the act is...

. In this period, Shaftesbury relocated from Exeter House to the less expensive Thanet

Thanet

Thanet is a local government district of Kent, England which was formed under the Local Government Act 1972, and came into being on 1 April 1974...

House.

On 24 June 1676, during the election of the Sheriffs of the City of London

Sheriffs of the City of London

There are two Sheriffs of the City of London. The sheriffs are elected annually by the Liverymen of the Livery Companies, and it is a requirement for a Lord Mayor of the City of London to previously have served as a Sheriff. Sheriffs have only nominal duties now, but previously had large judicial...

at the Guildhall

Guildhall, London

The Guildhall is a building in the City of London, off Gresham and Basinghall streets, in the wards of Bassishaw and Cheap. It has been used as a town hall for several hundred years, and is still the ceremonial and administrative centre of the City of London and its Corporation...

, linen

Linen

Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....

draper

Draper

Draper is the now largely obsolete term for a wholesaler, or especially retailer, of cloth, mainly for clothing, or one who works in a draper's shop. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. The drapers were an important trade guild...

Francis Jenks gave a sensational speech arguing that two statutes from the reign of Edward III

Edward III of England

Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...

required that parliament sit every year, and that by proroguing the Cavalier Parliament until 15 February 1677 (meaning no session would be held in 1676 at all), the king had inadvertently dissolved parliament and that the Cavalier Parliament was now legally dissolved. Although Buckingham, not Shaftesbury, was behind Jenks' speech, many suspected Shaftesbury's involvement; after Jenks' speech, Shaftesbury decided to take full advantage of the argument, arranging with his allies for a number of pamphlets arguing the case. One of these pamphlets, Some considerations upon the question, whether the parliament is dissolved, by its prorogation for 15 months? argued that parliament had the authority to restrict the royal prerogative and could even "bind, limit, restrain and govern the Descent and Inheritance of the Crown it self." The Duke of York was furious at the inclusion of this argument; Buckingham told York that Shaftesbury had drafted the controversial passage, but Shaftesbury claimed that the passage was inserted in the pamphlet without his knowledge.

When parliament finally met on 15 February 1677, Buckingham, backed by Shaftesbury, Salisbury, and Philip Wharton, 4th Baron Wharton

Philip Wharton, 4th Baron Wharton

Philip Wharton, 4th Baron Wharton was an English peer.A Parliamentarian during the English Civil War, he served in various offices including soldier, politician and diplomat. He was appointed as the Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire by Parliament in July 1642...

, introduced a motion declaring that, because of the 15-month prorogation, on the basis of the statutes from the reign of Edward III, no parliament was legally in existence. Parliament not only rejected this argument, but also resolved that the four peers had committed Contempt of Parliament

Contempt of Parliament

In some countries, contempt of parliament is the offence of obstructing the legislature in the carrying out of its functions, or of hindering any legislator in the performance of his or her duties. The offence is known by various other names in jurisdictions in which the legislature is not called...

and should apologize. When the four refused, they were committed to the Tower of London. Shaftesbury petitioned for his release, and in June 1677, brought a writ

Writ

In common law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court...

of habeas corpus

Habeas corpus

is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...

before the Court of King's Bench

Court of King's Bench (England)

The Court of King's Bench , formally known as The Court of the King Before the King Himself, was an English court of common law in the English legal system...

. The court, however, determined that it lacked jurisdiction because Parliament, a superior court, was currently in session. Charles ordered Buckingham, Salisbury, and Wharton released from the Tower shortly thereafter, but Shaftesbury continued to refuse to apologize. Shaftesbury had grown increasingly suspicious of Charles II. Charles had begun raising an army, ostensibly for war with France, but Shaftesbury worried that Charles was really preparing to abolish parliament and rule the country with a standing army

Standing army

on the model of Louis XIV of France

Louis XIV of France

. It was not until 25 February 1678 that Shaftesbury finally apologised to the king and to parliament for his support of the motion in the House of Lords and for bringing a writ of habeas corpus against Parliament.

With war with France looming, in March 1678, Shaftesbury, Buckingham, Holles, and Halifax spoke out in favour of immediately declaring war on France. Charles delayed declaring war, however, leading Shaftesbury to support a resolution of the House of Commons providing for immediately disbanding the army that Charles was raising. Charles prorogued parliament on 25 June, but the army was not disbanded, which worried Shaftesbury.

In August and September 1678, Titus Oates

Titus Oates

Titus Oates was an English perjurer who fabricated the "Popish Plot", a supposed Catholic conspiracy to kill King Charles II.-Early life:...

made accusations that there was a Popish Plot

Popish Plot

The Popish Plot was a fictitious conspiracy concocted by Titus Oates that gripped England, Wales and Scotland in Anti-Catholic hysteria between 1678 and 1681. Oates alleged that there existed an extensive Catholic conspiracy to assassinate Charles II, accusations that led to the execution of at...

to assassinate the king, overthrow the government, and massacre English Protestants. It was later revealed that Oates had simply made up most of the details of the plot, and that there was no elaborate Popish Plot. However, when Parliament re-convened on 21 October 1678, Oates had not yet been discredited and the Popish Plot was the major topic of concern. Shaftesbury was a member of all the important committees of the House of Lords designed to combat the Popish Plot. On 2 November 1678, he introduced a motion demanding that the Duke of York be removed from the king's presence, although this motion was never voted on. He supported the Test Act

Test Act

The Test Acts were a series of English penal laws that served as a religious test for public office and imposed various civil disabilities on Roman Catholics and Nonconformists...

of 1678, which required that all peers and members of the House of Commons should make a declaration against transubstantiation

Transubstantiation

, invocation of saints

Intercession of saints

Intercession of the saints is a Christian doctrine held by Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and some Anglican churches, that deceased saints and the Blessed Virgin Mary intercede for believers, and that it is possible to ask deceased saints for their prayers...

, and the sacrifice of the mass

Mass (liturgy)

"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...

, effectively excluding all Catholics from Parliament. Oates had accused the queen, Mary of Modena

Mary of Modena

, of involvement in the Popish Plot, leading the House of Commons to pass a resolution calling for the queen and her retinue to be removed from court; when the House of Lords rejected this resolution, Shaftesbury entered a formal protest. Shaftesbury was now gaining a great reputation amongst the common people as a Protestant hero. On 9 November 1678, Charles promised that he would sign any bill that would make them safe during the reign of his successor, so long as they did not impeach the right of his successor; this speech was widely misreported as Charles' having agreed to name the Duke of Monmouth as his successor, leading to celebratory bonfires throughout London, with crowds drinking the health of "the King, the Duke of Monmouth, and Earl of Shaftesbury, as the only three pillars of all safety." The citizens of London, fearing a Catholic plot on Shaftesbury's life, paid for a special guard to protect him.

In December 1678, discussion turned to impeaching the Earl of Danby, and, in order to protect his minister, Charles II prorogued parliament on 30 December 1678. On 24 January 1679, Charles II finally dissolved the Cavalier Parliament, which had sat for 18 years.

The Habeas Corpus Parliament, 1679

In February 1679, elections were held for a new parliament, known to history as the Habeas Corpus Parliament

Habeas Corpus Parliament

The Habeas Corpus Parliament, also known as the First Exclusion Parliament, was a short-lived English Parliament which assembled on 6 March 1679 during the reign of Charles II of England, the third parliament of the King's reign. It is named after the Habeas Corpus Act, which it enacted in May,...

. In preparation for this parliament, Shaftesbury drew up a list of members of the House of Commons in which he estimated that 32% of the members were friends of the court, 61% favored the opposition, and 7% could go either way. He also drafted a pamphlet that was never published, entitled "The Present State of the Kingdom": in this pamphlet, Shaftesbury expressed concern about the power of France, the Popish Plot, and the bad influence exerted on the king by Danby, the royal mistress

Royal mistress

A royal mistress is the historical position of a mistress to a monarch or senior Royal. Some mistresses have had considerable power. The prevalence of the institution can be attributed to the fact that royal marriages were until recent times conducted solely on the basis of political and dynastic...

Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth

Louise Renée de Penancoët de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth was a mistress of Charles II of England. Through her son by Charles II, Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, she is ancestress of both wives of The Prince of Wales: the late Diana, Princess of Wales, as well as The Duchess of...

(a Catholic), and the Duke of York, who, according to Shaftesbury was now attempting "to introduce a military and arbitrary government in his brother's time."

The new parliament met on 6 March 1679, and on 25 March, Shaftesbury delivered a dramatic address in the House of Lords in which he warned of the threat of popery and arbitrary government; denounced the royal administration in Scotland

Kingdom of Scotland

under John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale

John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale

Sir John Maitland, 1st Duke and 2nd Earl of Lauderdale, 3rd Lord Thirlestane KG PC , was a Scottish politician, and leader within the Cabal Ministry.-Background:...

and Ireland

Kingdom of Ireland

The Kingdom of Ireland refers to the country of Ireland in the period between the proclamation of Henry VIII as King of Ireland by the Crown of Ireland Act 1542 and the Act of Union in 1800. It replaced the Lordship of Ireland, which had been created in 1171...

under James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde

James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde

; and loudly denounced the policies of Thomas Osborne, Earl of Danby

Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds

in England. Shaftesbury supported the House of Commons when they introduced a Bill of Attainder

Bill of attainder

A bill of attainder is an act of a legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime and punishing them without benefit of a judicial trial.-English law:...

against Danby, and voted in favour of the bill in the House of Lords on 14 April 1679. Shaftesbury attempted to neutralise the influence of the episcopal bench in favour of Danby by introducing a bill moving that the bishops should not be able to sit in the House of Lords during capital trials.

Lord President of the Council, 1679

Charles II thought that Shaftesbury was mainly angry because he had been out of royal favor for long, and hoped that he could rein Shaftesbury in by naming him Lord President of the Council

Lord President of the Council

The Lord President of the Council is the fourth of the Great Officers of State of the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord High Treasurer and above the Lord Privy Seal. The Lord President usually attends each meeting of the Privy Council, presenting business for the monarch's approval...

on 21 April 1679, with a salary of ₤4,000 a year. Soon, however, Shaftesbury made it clear that he could not be bought off. During meetings of the now reconstituted privy council, Shaftesbury repeatedly argued that the Duke of York must be excluded from the line of succession. He also continued to argue that Charles should re-marry a Protestant princess, or legitimize James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth

James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth

. During these meetings, Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex

Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex

Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex PC , whose surname is sometimes spelled Capel, was an English statesman.-Early life:...

and George Savile, 1st Earl of Halifax

George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax

George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax PC was an English statesman, writer, and politician.-Family and early life, 1633–1667:...

argued that the powers of a Catholic successor could be limited, but Shaftesbury argued that that would change "the whole government, and set up a democracy

Democracy

Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...

instead of a monarchy

Monarchy

A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...

."
On 11 May 1679, Shaftesbury's close political ally, William Russell, Lord Russell

William Russell, Lord Russell

William Russell, Lord Russell was an English politician. He was a leading member of the Country Party, forerunners of the Whigs, who opposed the succession of James II during the reign of Charles II, ultimately resulting in his execution for treason.-Early life and marriage:Russell was the third...

, introduced an Exclusion Bill in the House of Commons, which would have excluded the Duke of York from the succession. This bill passed first and second reading

Reading (legislature)

A reading of a bill is a debate on the bill held before the general body of a legislature, as opposed to before a committee or other group. In the Westminster system, there are usually several readings of a bill among the stages it passes through before becoming law as an Act of Parliament...

on 21 May 1679. In order to stop the Exclusion Bill and the Bill of Attainder directed at Danby, Charles II prorogued the parliament on 27 May 1679 and dissolved it on 3 July 1679, both of which moves infuriated Shaftesbury. As its name implies, the only achievement of the Habeas Corpus Parliament

Habeas Corpus Parliament

was the passage of the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679

Habeas Corpus Act 1679

The Habeas Corpus Act 1679 is an Act of the Parliament of England passed during the reign of King Charles II by what became known as the Habeas Corpus Parliament to define and strengthen the ancient prerogative writ of habeas corpus, whereby persons unlawfully detained cannot be ordered to be...

.

For the time being, Shaftesbury retained his position on the privy council, and he and the Duke of Monmouth formed an alliance on the council designed to be obstructionist. There were some disagreements between Shaftesbury and Monmouth: for example, Shaftesbury was critical of Monmouth's decision to crush a rebellion by Scottish Covenanters quickly at the Battle of Bothwell Brig in June 1679, arguing that the rebellion should have been drawn out to force Charles II to recall parliament.

On 21 August 1679, the king fell ill, leading Essex and Halifax (who feared Monmouth was about to launch a coup) to ask the Duke of York, whom Charles had sent to Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

in late 1678, to return to England. Charles soon recovered and then ordered both York and Monmouth into exile. When Charles agreed to allow his brother to move from Flanders to Scotland in October 1679, Shaftesbury summoned an extraordinary meeting of the privy council to discuss the Duke's move, acting on his own authority as Lord President of the Council because the king was at Newmarket at the time. Angered by this insubordination, Charles removed Shaftesbury from the privy council on 14 October 1679.

The Exclusion Bill Parliament, 1679-1680

Elections for a new parliament, which ultimately came to be known as the Exclusion Bill Parliament, were held in summer 1679, but they went badly for the court, so, with parliament scheduled to meet in October 1679, Charles prorogued the parliament until 26 January 1680. Shaftesbury worried that the king might be intending to not meet this new parliament, so he launched a massive petitioning campaign to pressure the king to meet parliament. He wrote to the Duke of Monmouth, telling him that he should return from exile, and on 27 November 1679 Monmouth rode back into London amidst scenes of widespread celebration. On 7 December 1679, a petition signed by Shaftesbury and fifteen other Whig peers calling on Charles to meet parliament, followed up with a 20,000-name petition on 13 January 1680. However, instead of meeting parliament, Charles further prorogued parliament and recalled his brother from Scotland. Shaftesbury now urged his friends on the privy council to resign and four did so.

On 24 March 1680, Shaftesbury told the privy council of information he had received that the Irish Catholics were about to launch a rebellion, backed by the French. Several privy councillors, especially Henry Coventry

Henry Coventry

, thought that Shaftesbury was making the entire story up in order to inflame public opinion, but an investigation was launched. This investigation ultimately resulted in the execution of Oliver Plunkett

Oliver Plunkett

Saint Oliver Plunkett was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland....

, Catholic Archbishop of Armagh

Archbishop of Armagh

The Archbishop of Armagh is the title of the presiding ecclesiastical figure of each of the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland in the region around Armagh in Northern Ireland...

, on trumped-up charges.

On 26 June 1680, Shaftesbury led a group of fifteen peers and commoners who presented an indictment

Indictment

An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...

to the Middlesex

Middlesex

Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...

grand jury

Grand jury

A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...

in Westminster Hall, charging the Duke of York with being a popish recusant in violation of the penal laws. Before the grand jury could act, they were dismissed for interfering in matters of state. The next week, Shaftesbury again tried to indict the Duke of York, but again the grand jury was dismissed before it could take any action.

The parliament finally met on 21 October 1680, and on 23 October, Shaftesbury called for a committee to be set up to investigate the Popish Plot. When the Exclusion Bill

Exclusion Bill

again came before the House of Lords, Shaftesbury gave an impassioned pro-Exclusion speech on November 15. The Lords, however, rejected the Exclusion Bill by a vote of 63-30. The Lords now explored alternative ways of limiting the powers of a Catholic successor, but Shaftesbury argued that the only viable alternative to exclusion was calling on the king to remarry. On 23 December 1680, Shaftesbury gave another fiery pro-Exclusion speech in the Lords, in the course of which he attacked the Duke of York, expressed mistrust of Charles II, and urged the parliament to not approve any taxes until "the King shall satisfie the People, that what we give is not to make us Slaves and Papists." With parliament pursuing the Irish investigation vigorously, and threatening to impeach some of Charles II's judges, Charles prorogued parliament on 10 January 1681, and then dissolved it on 18 January, calling for fresh elections for a new parliament, to meet at Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

on 21 March 1681. On 25 January 1681, Shaftesbury, Essex, and Salisbury presented the king a petition signed by sixteen peers asking that parliament should be held at Westminster Hall rather than Oxford, but the king remained committed to Oxford.

The Oxford Parliament, 1681

In February 1681, Shaftesbury and his supporters brought another indictment against York, this time at the Old Bailey

Old Bailey

The Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court...

, with the grand jury this time finding the bill true, although York's counsel were able to pursue procedural delays until the prosecution lapsed.

At the Oxford Parliament

Oxford Parliament (1681)

An English Parliament assembled in the city of Oxford for one week from 21 March 1681 until 28 March 1681 during the reign of Charles II of England.Succeeding the Exclusion Bill Parliament, this was the fifth and last parliament of the King's reign. Both Houses of Parliament met and the King...

, Charles insisted he would listen to any reasonable expedient short of changing the line of succession that would assuage the nation's concerns about a Catholic successor. On 24 March 1681, Shaftesbury announced in the House of Lords that he had received an anonymous letter suggesting that the king's condition could be met if he were to declare the Duke of Monmouth legitimate. Charles was furious. On 26 March 1681, an Exclusion Bill was introduced in the Oxford Parliament and Charles dissolved parliament. The only issue the Oxford Parliament had resolved had been the case of Edward Fitzharris

Edward Fitzharris

Edward Fitzharris was an Anglo-Irish conspirator. His prosecution at the time of the Popish Plot hoax became a struggle for jurisdiction involving the courts and the two Houses of Parliament.-Life:...

, who was to be left to the common law

Common law

Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...

, although Shaftesbury and 19 other peers signed a formal protest of this result.

Prosecution for high treason, 1681-1682

The end of the Oxford Parliament marked the beginning of the so-called Tory Reaction. On 2 July 1681, Shaftesbury was arrested on suspicion of high treason and committed to the Tower of London. He immediately petitioned the Old Bailey on a writ of habeas corpus, but the Old Bailey said it did not have jurisdiction over prisoners in the Tower of London, so Shaftesbury had to wait for the next session of the Court of King's Bench

Court of King's Bench (England)

The Court of King's Bench , formally known as The Court of the King Before the King Himself, was an English court of common law in the English legal system...

. Shaftesbury moved for a writ of habeas corpus on 24 October 1681, and his case finally came before a grand jury on 24 November 1681.

The government's case against Shaftesbury was particularly weak - most of the witnesses brought forth against Shaftesbury were witnesses whom the government admitted had already perjured themselves, and the documentary evidence was inconclusive. This, combined with the fact that the jury was handpicked by the Whig Sheriff of London, meant the government had little chance of securing a conviction and on 13 February 1682, the case against Shaftesbury was dropped. The announcement prompted great celebrations in London, with crowds yelling "No Popish Successor, No York, A Monmouth" and "God bless the Earl of Shaftesbury".

Attempts at an uprising, 1682

In May 1682, Charles II fell ill, and Shaftesbury convened a group including the Monmouth, Russell, Ford Grey, 3rd Baron Grey of Werke

Ford Grey, 1st Earl of Tankerville

Ford Grey, 1st Earl of Tankerville , 1st Viscount Glendale, and 3rd Baron Grey of Warke, was a British nobleman and statesman. He was the son of Ralph Grey, 2nd Baron Grey of Werke and Catherine Ford, daughter of Sir Edward Ford of Harting in West Sussex. He was baptized the day of his birth at...

, and Sir Thomas Armstrong

Sir Thomas Armstrong

Sir Thomas Armstrong was an army officer and MP executed for Treason.During the Interregnum he was a supporter of Charles II, participating in the plot to seize Chester Castle in 1655, and carrying funds from Aubrey de Vere, 20th Earl of Oxford to Charles in exile. He was possibly imprisoned for a...

to determine what to do if the king died. They determined they would launch a rebellion demanding a parliament to settle the succession. The king recovered, however, and this was not necessary.

At the election of the Sheriffs of London in July 1682, the Tory

Tory

candidates prevailed. Shaftesbury was worried that these Sheriffs would be able to fill juries with Tory supporters and he was desperately afraid of another prosecution for high treason. Shaftesbury, therefore began discussions with Monmouth, Russell, and Grey to launch co-ordinated rebellions in different parts of the country. Shaftesbury was much more eager for a rebellion than the other three, and the uprising was postponed several times, to Shaftesbury's chagrin.

Following the installation of the new Tory sheriffs on September 28, 1682, Shaftesbury grew desperate. He continued to urge an immediate uprising, and also opened discussions with John Wildman

John Wildman

Sir John Wildman was an English soldier and politician.-Biography:Wildman was born in the Norfolk town of Wymondham, the son of Jeffrey and Dorothy Wildman. His father was a butcher. John was educated as a sizar at Corpus Christi College University of Cambridge taking an MA in 1644...

about the possibility of assassinating the king and the Duke of York.

Flight from England and death, 1682-1683

With his plots having proved unsuccessful, Shaftesbury determined to flee the country. He landed at Brielle

Brielle

Brielle , also called Den Briel is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland, on the north side of the island of Voorne-Putten, at the mouth of the New Maas. The municipality covers an area of 31.12 km² of which 3.63 km² is water...

sometime between 20 November and 26 November 1682, reached Rotterdam

Rotterdam

Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...

on 28 November, and finally, arrived in Amsterdam

Amsterdam

on 2 December 1682.

Shaftesbury's health had deteriorated markedly during this voyage. In Amsterdam, he fell ill, and by the end of December he found it difficult to keep down any food. He drew up a will

Will (law)

A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...

on 17 January 1683. On 20 January, in a conversation with Robert Ferguson, who had accompanied him to Amsterdam, he professed himself an Arian

Arianism

Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...

. He died the next day, on 21 January 1683.

According to the provisions of his will, Shaftesbury's body was shipped back to Dorset

Dorset

on 13 February 1683, and he was buried at Wimborne St Giles

Wimborne St Giles

Wimborne St Giles is a village in east Dorset, England, situated on Cranborne Chase seven miles north of Wimborne Minster which is north of Poole. The village has a population of 366 ....

on 26 February 1683. Shaftesbury's son, Lord Ashley

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 2nd Earl of Shaftesbury

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 2nd Earl of Shaftesbury , known as Lord Ashley from 1672 to 1683, was an English peer and Member of Parliament....

, succeeded him as Earl of Shaftesbury.

Legacy

Back in North America, both the Ashley River

Ashley River (South Carolina)

The Ashley River is a blackwater / tidal river in South Carolina, rising from the Wassamassaw and Great Cypress Swamps in western Berkeley County. It consolidates its main channel about five miles west of Summerville, widening into a tidal estuary just south of Fort Dorchester...

and the Cooper River

Cooper River (South Carolina)

The Cooper River is a mainly tidal river in the U.S. state of South Carolina. These cities are located along the river, Mt. Pleasant, Charleston, North Charleston, Goose Creek and Hanahan. Short and wide, it is joined first by the blackwater East Branch, then farther downstream, the tidal Wando River...

in South Carolina were eventually named in his honor.

Footnotes

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