John Coventry
Encyclopedia
Sir John Coventry was son of John Coventry
(died 1652), the second son of lord keeper
Thomas Coventry
.
Between 1655 and 1659, he travelled in the continent with his tutor the poet Edward Sherburne. He matriculated from Queen's College, Oxford in 1660 and was made a Knight of the Bath at the coronation of Charles II
, the following year.
In 1667, he went with his uncle Henry Coventry
to the negotiations leading to the Treaty of Breda, ending the Second Anglo-Dutch War
. That year and in the following parliaments of 1678, 1679 and 1681, he was elected for Weymouth. He followed Lord Ashley in politics, and was a fairly active member.
On 21 December 1670, owing to a jest made by Coventry in the House of Commons on the subject of the King's amours, Sir Thomas Sandys, an officer of the guards, with other accomplices, by the order of Monmouth
, and (it was said) with the approval of the king himself, waylaid him as he was returning home to Suffolk Street and slit his nose to the bone. The outrage created an extraordinary sensation in the Commons, and in consequence Parliament passed an Act ‘to prevent malicious maiming and wounding’ (22 & 23 Chas. II, c.1), a measure known as the "Coventry Act" was passed, declaring assaults accompanied by personal mutilation a felony without benefit of clergy, an Act not repealed until 1828.
Sir William Coventry
, his uncle, speaks slightingly of him, ridicules his vanity and wishes him out of the House of Commons to be out of harm's way. The character of Amnon in John Dryden
's Absalom and Achitophel
(1681) is thought to be based on him.
He was suspected of having become a Roman Catholic while abroad in the 1650s and evidently was when he made his will in 1667. However during the Exclusion Crisis, he sided with the party seeking the exclusion of the Duke of York
from the king's presence.
He died unmarried.
John Coventry (Royalist)
John Coventry was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1641 to 1642.Coventry was the son of Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry by his second wife Elizabeth Aldersley, daughter of John Aldersley of Spurstow, Cheshire, and widow of William Pitchford...
(died 1652), the second son of lord keeper
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....
Thomas Coventry
Thomas Coventry
Thomas Coventry may refer to:* Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry*Thomas Coventry, 2nd Earl of Coventry*Thomas Coventry, 1st Earl of Coventry*Thomas Henry Coventry, Viscount Deerhurst...
.
Between 1655 and 1659, he travelled in the continent with his tutor the poet Edward Sherburne. He matriculated from Queen's College, Oxford in 1660 and was made a Knight of the Bath at the coronation of 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...
, the following year.
In 1667, he went with his uncle 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:...
to the negotiations leading to the Treaty of Breda, ending the Second Anglo-Dutch War
Second Anglo-Dutch War
The Second Anglo–Dutch War was part of a series of four Anglo–Dutch Wars fought between the English and the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries for control over the seas and trade routes....
. That year and in the following parliaments of 1678, 1679 and 1681, he was elected for Weymouth. He followed Lord Ashley in politics, and was a fairly active member.
On 21 December 1670, owing to a jest made by Coventry in the House of Commons on the subject of the King's amours, Sir Thomas Sandys, an officer of the guards, with other accomplices, by the order 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...
, and (it was said) with the approval of the king himself, waylaid him as he was returning home to Suffolk Street and slit his nose to the bone. The outrage created an extraordinary sensation in the Commons, and in consequence Parliament passed an Act ‘to prevent malicious maiming and wounding’ (22 & 23 Chas. II, c.1), a measure known as the "Coventry Act" was passed, declaring assaults accompanied by personal mutilation a felony without benefit of clergy, an Act not repealed until 1828.
Sir William Coventry
William Coventry
-Early life and Civil War:William was the son of the lord keeper Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry, by his second wife Elizabeth Aldersley. Coventry matriculated at Queens College, Oxford, at the age of fourteen...
, his uncle, speaks slightingly of him, ridicules his vanity and wishes him out of the House of Commons to be out of harm's way. The character of Amnon in John Dryden
John Dryden
John Dryden was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden.Walter Scott called him "Glorious John." He was made Poet...
's Absalom and Achitophel
Absalom and Achitophel
Absalom and Achitophel is a landmark poetic political satire by John Dryden. The poem exists in two parts. The first part, of 1681, is undoubtedly by Dryden...
(1681) is thought to be based on him.
He was suspected of having become a Roman Catholic while abroad in the 1650s and evidently was when he made his will in 1667. However during the Exclusion Crisis, he sided with the party seeking the exclusion of the 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...
from the king's presence.
He died unmarried.