Robert Wingfield (diplomat)
Encyclopedia
Early life
Born about 1464, he was the seventh son of Sir John WingfieldJohn Wingfield
Sir John Wingfield was an English soldier.-Life:He was the third son of Richard Wingfield of Wantisden in Suffolk, and Mary, daughter and coheiress of John Hardwick of Derby, and the sister of Bess of Hardwick...
of Letheringham
Letheringham
Letheringham is a sparsely populated civil parish in the Suffolk Coastal in Suffolk, England, on the Deben River.-Sights:St Mary is a tiny church, the remains of the tower and nave of a Priory church, and sits in a farmyard...
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
. Humphrey Wingfield
Humphrey Wingfield
Humphrey Wingfield was an English lawyer, Speaker of the House of Commons of England between 1533 and 1536.-Early life:He was the twelfth son of Sir John Wingfield of Letheringham, Suffolk, by Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John FitzLewis of West Horndon, Essex; Sir Richard Wingfield and Sir Robert...
and Richard Wingfield
Richard Wingfield
Sir Richard Wingfield, of Kimbolton Castle was an influential courtier and diplomat in the early years of the Tudor dynasty of England.-Life:...
were his brothers. He was brought up by Anne, Lady Scrope, his stepmother.He first rose to favour under Henry VII
Henry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
when he fought with his brother Richard against the Cornish rebels in 1497.
Diplomatic failure
He was employed by Henry VII on a mission to the Emperor MaximilianMaximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian I , the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleanor of Portugal, was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 until his death, though he was never in fact crowned by the Pope, the journey to Rome always being too risky...
, returning in January 1508. On 2 July 1509 he is mentioned as a knight, the occasion being a grant to him by Henry VIII, part of the forfeitures of Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk
Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk
Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk, 6th Earl of Suffolk , Duke of Suffolk, was a son of John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk and his wife Elizabeth of York.-Family:...
. Further grants followed, and on 10 February 1511 he is styled ‘councillor and knight of the body.’
In the same month Wingfield was despatched again on a mission to Maximilian, and in August following he and Silvester de Giglis, bishop of Worcester
Bishop of Worcester
The Bishop of Worcester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury, England. He is the head of the Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury...
, were nominated ambassadors to a council convoked by Pope Julius II
Pope Julius II
Pope Julius II , nicknamed "The Fearsome Pope" and "The Warrior Pope" , born Giuliano della Rovere, was Pope from 1503 to 1513...
at the Lateran
Lateran
Lateran and Laterano are the shared names of several architectural projects throughout Rome. The properties were once owned by the Lateranus family of the former Roman Empire...
. The intention of the pope was to form a league against France, which Henry joined on 17 November The council was not actually opened till May 1512. Wingfield remained with the Emperor at 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...
and elsewhere, and does not appear to have attended its sittings. On 30 Sept. Maximilian, hearing that Julius II was ill, appointed Wingfield and the bishop of Gurk
Bishop of Gurk
The Bishop of Gurk is the head of the Diocese of Gurk, which was established in 1072, as the first suffragan bishop of the Archdiocese of Salzburg...
his envoys to support the candidature of his nominee at Rome; but, exasperated at being left without money, Wingfield unceremoniously disappeared from the court of Brussels, ostensibly on a pilgrimage, but in reality to join his brother Sir Richard at Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
. Meanwhile he had been ordered to go back to the Emperor, then in Germany, and on 9 March 1513 he was at the imperial court at Worms
Worms, Germany
Worms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River. At the end of 2004, it had 85,829 inhabitants.Established by the Celts, who called it Borbetomagus, Worms today remains embattled with the cities Trier and Cologne over the title of "Oldest City in Germany." Worms is the only...
. On 18 April 1513 he was again at Brussels, on that day despatched back to the Emperor at Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
to secure his support for Henry VIII's scheme of a general confederation against France.
As a reward for his services he had already (14 July) received a joint grant in survivorship with his brother Sir Richard of the office of marshal of Calais. During the early autumn of 1513 he paid a brief visit to England, but in May 1514 he was at Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, asking for money and for his recall. The military success of the French in Italy in 1515 meant that Henry was even more eager to bring Maximilian in a confederacy against France. Maximilian on his part was ready to sell himself to the highest bidder. Thomas Wolsey, seeing the ambassador as duped by Maximilian, sent Richard Pace
Richard Pace
Richard Pace was an English diplomat of the Tudor period. He was educated at Winchester College under Thomas Langton, and later at Padua, at Bologna, and probably at the University of Oxford...
to act as a check on Wingfield. An acrimonious correspondence ensued between Wolsey and Wingfield. Pace, too, ridiculed Wingfield's credulity, as Wingfield discovered by opening Pace's correspondence. He also feigned Pace's signature and seal to a receipt for money sent to Pace, and obtained sole control of its distribution. Maximilian dangled before Henry becoming Duke of Milan, with the resignation of the Empire in his favour. Henry in reply took Pace's advice and refused to provide any more money, and expressed his displeasure with Wingfield for having advanced sixty thousand florins to the Emperor on his own responsibility.
In the summer of 1516 Henry wrote to Wingfield a letter of censure. A treaty was, however, drawn up between Henry and the emperor, dated 29 October 1516, providing for a monetary advance by Henry, in return for the offer of the imperial crown, to be formally made by Wingfield and the Cardinal of Sion. Wingfield received the emperor's oath but then heard rumours that Maximilian had secretly subscribed to the obnoxious Treaty of Noyon.
Wolsey, however, continued to employ Wingfield, and despatched him, together with Cuthbert Tunstall
Cuthbert Tunstall
Cuthbert Tunstall was an English Scholastic, church leader, diplomat, administrator and royal adviser...
and the Earl of Worcester, to Brussels to negotiate with Charles (the future Emperor Charles V). The mission succeeded in obtaining from Charles on 11 May 1517 a ratification of Henry's treaty with the emperor of the previous October. Wingfield left Brussels on 16 March to return to the imperial court, then in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. On 5 June, having received instructions from Henry to follow Maximilian back to Germany, Wingfield wrote to the king a point-blank refusal. He was unpaid, his servants refused to remain with him, and he was under vows to make pilgrimages in England.
Return to diplomacy
On 18 August 1517 he was at Wenham Hall, SuffolkSuffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
. During the next two and a half years Wingfield appears to have remained in retirement in England. In November 1520 he vacated his post of joint-deputy of Calais and apparently in December 1521 was appointed ambassador at Charles V's court. He was now not only a king's councillor but on the privy council, and vice-chamberlain. He arrived at Brussels on 8 February 1522. He apparently accompanied Charles to England in July. But on 14 Aug. he again crossed the Channel as an ambassador, on this occasion to the court of Margaret of Savoy at Brussels. His instructions were to induce Margaret to lend active assistance to the projected operations of Charles and Henry against France. He returned to England in May 1523, but in August was appointed to a command in the Duke of Suffolk
Duke of Suffolk
Duke of Suffolk is a title that has been created three times in British history, all three times in the Peerage of England.The third creation of the dukedom of Suffolk was for Henry Grey, 3rd Marquess of Dorset, in 1551. The duke also held the title Baron Ferrers of Groby...
's army for the invasion of France. He seems to have taken no part in the campaign, remaining apparently in Calais, and he was appointed lieutenant of the castle by the influence of Wolsey.
After the battle of Pavia
Battle of Pavia
The Battle of Pavia, fought on the morning of 24 February 1525, was the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521–26.A Spanish-Imperial army under the nominal command of Charles de Lannoy attacked the French army under the personal command of Francis I of France in the great hunting preserve...
(23 February 1525) preparations were made by Henry for an invasion of France. Wingfield was nominated (11 April) to the council of war under the Duke of Norfolk
Duke of Norfolk
The Duke of Norfolk is the premier duke in the peerage of England, and also, as Earl of Arundel, the premier earl. The Duke of Norfolk is, moreover, the Earl Marshal and hereditary Marshal of England. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the title refers to the...
, and was at the same time despatched, together with Sir William Fitzwilliam
William Fitzwilliam, 1st Earl of Southampton
William FitzWilliam, 1st Earl of Southampton, KG , English courtier, was the third son of Sir Thomas FitzWilliam of Aldwark and Lady Lucy Neville .His father died while FitzWilliam was in his infancy, and his mother remarried Sir Anthony Browne, the elder, so that...
, to the court of Brussels to discuss concerted measures with the regent of the Netherlands. A series of evasive negotiations followed, and when Henry's projects of a joint invasion of France had given place to an alliance with the French (30 August), Wingfield had explain the change of policy by talking abot on the necessity of international peace for the extirpation of Lutheranism
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
.
Lord Deputy of Calais, and later
In May 1526 he returned to Calais, and was appointed Lord DeputyLord Deputy of Calais
The town of Calais, now part of France, was in English hands from 1347 to 1558, and this page lists the commanders of Calais, holding office from the English Crown, called at different times Captain of Calais, King's Lieutenant of Calais , or Lord Deputy of Calais.-Terminology and...
on 1 October 1526. His reform led to much dissatisfaction, into which Wingfield was in 1533 one of the commissioners appointed to inquire. In the autumn and winter of 1530–1 he expanded the defences. His successor, Lord Berners, was appointed deputy of Calais on 27 March 1531.
Wingfield continued to reside in Calais, of which he became mayor in 1534. He had a valuable property in the outskirts of the town, four thousand acres in extent, which he had rented from the English Crown; it had been a marsh, which Wingfield drained, so impairing the defences of the town. After the adverse report of a commission on the matter, the houses Wingfield had built were destroyed and the sea let in. Wingfield's grievance against Lord Lisle
Lord Lisle
Lord Lisle may refer to any man who held the title:* Baron Lisle* Viscount LisleSee also* Viscount De L'Isle...
, who had succeeded Berners as deputy, culminated in a quarrel in December 1535 as to the relative rights of the mayor and deputy. The king supported Lisle, and Wingfield was threatened with expulsion from the council. This was followed in July 1536 by the introduction of a bill into parliament for the revocation of Wingfield's grant. The bill passed the commons, but with difficulty, and was withdrawn, but Wingfield was persuaded to surrender his patent to the king on 25 July. In return Wingfield received a grant of lands in the neighbourhood of Guisnes. Wingfield, however, now brought an action at Guisnes against minor officials concerned in the destruction of his property. Lisle stayed the proceedings, and Wingfield retaliated by procuring the election of Lisle's enemy, Lord Edmund Howard
Lord Edmund Howard
Lord Edmund Howard was the third son of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk and first wife Elizabeth Tilney. His sister, Elizabeth, was the mother of Henry VIII's second Queen, Anne Boleyn, and he was the father of the King's fifth Queen, Katherine Howard.-Biography:Howard was born about 1478...
, as mayor of Calais. Howard was, however, displaced, and Wingfield in January 1538 renewed his action before the courts at Westminster.
Death
Wingfield died on 18 March 1539. He married Joan, widow of Thomas Clinton, lord Clinton and Say, who survived him, but left no issue. He was patron of the college of Rushworth or Rushford, Norfolk. In 1520 he was specially admitted at Lincoln's InnLincoln'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...
. During the greater part of his life he was an opponent of Lutheranism, but on 25 February 1539, shortly before his death, he wrote Henry a letter praising his ecclesiastical policy and lamenting his own former ignorance.