Sir Francis Windebank and the personal rule of Charles I

Abstract

The study opens with a survey of the rise and fall of the Windebank family over five generations, in relation to office-holding and property ownership. An examination of the circumstances leading up to Windebank's appointment as Secretary of State in 1632 is followed by an indication of his profits of office, which shows that he was neither corrupt nor grasping, and suggests reasons for the relatively low yield of the Secretaryship in the 1630's. His work on committees and commissions illustrates the scope and burden of Secretarial duties, and reveals deep ministerial rifts. Windebank conducted the King's most confidential foreign negotiations,particularly with Habsburg states. The traditional view of the central position occupied by the Palatinate in Caroline foreign policy is contested, and Flanders appears as a more significant determinant of English action. Windebank showed a sustained concern for English naval and commercial interests, and tried to maintain the European balance threatened by growing Franco-Dutch power. His advocacy of negotiation with Spain was rooted in these considerations, and was so tempered by scepticism as to render misleading the pro-Spanish label usually attached to him. His dealings with foreign ambassadors illustrate royal oscillations between Habsburg and Bourbon alliances, but also reveal Windebank's continuing and informed conviction of French Insincerity.His initiative in seeking better relations with Rome was founded in humanitarianism and an enlightened wish for compromise. The response to his efforts in 1638-40 at mobilising sufficient resources to re-establish royal authority in Scotland revealed widespread lack of co-operation at all social levels. His policies provoked many,of the grievances enunciated in 1640, and his flight marks the first stage of the Long Parliament's search for ministerial accountability.

More information

Identifiers

Catalogue record

Export record

ASCII CitationAtomBibTeXData Cite XMLDublin CoreDublin CoreEP3 XMLEndNoteHTML CitationHTML CitationHTML ListJSONMETSMODSMPEG-21 DIDLOpenURL ContextObjectOpenURL ContextObject in SpanRDF+N-TriplesRDF+N3RDF+XMLRIOXX2 XMLReferReference ManagerSimple Metadata