Clarendon, Edward Hyde, 1st earl of
Clarendon, Edward Hyde, 1st earl of (1609–74). Constitutionalism and the rule of law provided the guiding principles of Clarendon's life. In the first session of the Long Parliament, 1640–1, he led the attack on Charles I's prerogative courts, but in the second he perceived John Pym's radical policies as an equal threat to constitutional liberties and religious order. He co-authored Charles's declarations, joining him at York in May 1642. In 1643 as privy counsellor and chancellor of the Exchequer he persuaded Charles to convoke a parliament of royalist peers and MPs at Oxford to offset the absolutist advice of courtiers and soldiers. Similarly as adviser to the exiled Charles II he counselled him not to owe his restoration to Scottish, French, or Spanish intervention purchased by the abandonment of the Church of England.
In 1660 he became earl and lord chancellor. He did not think it proper to act as a prime minister, but his pregnant daughter Anne's marriage to James, duke of York, provoked charges that he dominated the royal family. Nor would he engage in systematic parliamentary management. He opposed all governmental innovations and the second Anglo-Dutch War, and lost control over junior ministers who combined against him when the war ended in failure. Charles cynically abandoned him, encouraging his impeachment. Clarendon fled to France, where he completed his monumental History of the Rebellion.
In 1660 he became earl and lord chancellor. He did not think it proper to act as a prime minister, but his pregnant daughter Anne's marriage to James, duke of York, provoked charges that he dominated the royal family. Nor would he engage in systematic parliamentary management. He opposed all governmental innovations and the second Anglo-Dutch War, and lost control over junior ministers who combined against him when the war ended in failure. Charles cynically abandoned him, encouraging his impeachment. Clarendon fled to France, where he completed his monumental History of the Rebellion.
J. R. Jones
More From encyclopedia.com
About this article
Clarendon, Edward Hyde, 1st earl of
NEARBY TERMS
Clarendon, Edward Hyde, 1st earl of