Edward Hyde Clarendon

Background

Edward was the son of Henry Hyde of Din ton, Wiltshire, a member of a family for some time established at Norbury, Cheshire. He was born on the 18th of February, 1609.

Education

He entered Magdalen Hall, Oxford, in 1622 (having been refused a demyship at Magdalen College), and graduated B. A. in 1626.

Career

Elected (1640) to the Short and Long parliaments, he was at first associated with the opposition to Charles I and helped prepare the impeachment of the earl of Strafford.

After the outbreak of the civil war, Hyde was appointed (1643) chancellor of the exchequer, and he represented (1645) Charles in the unsuccessful Uxbridge negotiations to end the war.

Hyde followed Prince Charles (later Charles II) into exile in 1646 and became one of his chief advisers.

Pursuing Hyde's policy, Charles awaited the appearance of a strong, friendly faction in England and successfully negotiated his own restoration (1660) without foreign aid.

In 1667, Charles dismissed him from office, using him as a scapegoat for military failures and financial breakdown in the Dutch War.

Impeachment proceedings were begun, and Clarendon fled England to live the remainder of his life in exile.

His renowned History of the Rebellion (standard ed. , 6 vol. , 1888), written partly from memory and partly from documents, is an indispensable account of the civil war.

Achievements

• He was one of the most important historians of England, as the author of the most influential contemporary history of the Civil War, The History of the Rebellion (1702).

Works

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• book

  • The History of the Rebellion

    (Here is the only affordable selection of Clarendon's clas...)

Religion

He became a Roman Catholic in 1670 shortly before her death and was buried in the vault of Mary, Queen of Scots, in Henry VII.

The Corporations Act, obliging members of corporations to denounce the Covenant and take the sacrament according to the Anglican usage, became law on the 20th of December 1661, the Act of Uniformity enforcing the use of the prayer-book on ministers, as well as a declaration that it was unlawful to bear arms against the sovereign, on the 19th of May 1662, and these were followed by the Conventicle Act in 1664 suppressing conventicles and by the Five-Mile Act in 1665 forbidding ministers who had refused subscription to the Act of Uniformity to teach or reside within 5 m. of a borough.

He supported the continuance of the tenure by Presbyterian ministers of livings not held by Anglicans and an amendment in the Lords allowing a pension to those deprived, earning the gratitude of Baxter and the nonconformists.

He was, to some extent at least, responsible for the settlement in Ireland, but, while anxious for an establishment upon a solid Protestant basis, urged " temper and moderation and justice " in securing it.

In general, Clarendon, like many of his contemporaries, failed signally to comprehend the real issues and principles at stake in the great struggle, laying far too much stress on personalities and never understanding the real aims and motives of the Presbyterian party.

Politics

Hyde opposed legislation restricting the power of the King to appoint his own advisors, viewing it unnecessary and an affront to royal prerogative. He gradually moved over towards the royalist side, championing the Church of England and opposing the execution of the Earl of Strafford, Charles's primary advisor. Following the Grand Remonstrance of 1641, Hyde became an informal advisor to the King. He left London about 20 May 1642, and rejoined the king at York. In February 1643, Hyde was knighted and was officially appointed to the Privy Council; the following month he was made Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Membership

In April 1640, Hyde was elected Member of Parliament for both Shaftesbury and Wootton Bassett in the Short Parliament and chose to sit for Wootton Bassett. In November 1640 he was elected MP for Saltash in the Long Parliament, Hyde was at first a moderate critic of King Charles I, but became more supportive of the king after he began to accept reforming bills from Parliament.

Connections

Clarendon married twice. Firstly, in 1629, he married Anne, daughter of Sir George Ayliffe of Grittenham, Wiltshire, who died 6 months later, and to Edward's intense grief. Secondly, he married, in 1634, Frances, daughter of Sir Thomas Aylesbury, Master of Requests, and his wife, Anne.

1- st spouse:

Anne Ayliffe

parents:

Henry Hyde

Mary Langford

2-nd spouse:

Frances Aylesbury