John Norris (soldier)
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Sir John Norris, or Norreys (ca. 1547 – 3 September 1597), of Rycote, Oxfordshire, and of Yattendon and Notley in Berkshire,
The most acclaimed English soldier of his day, Norreys participated in every Elizabethan theatre of war: in the
Early life
The eldest son of
Norreys' great uncle had been a guardian of the young Elizabeth, who was well acquainted with the family. She had stayed at Yattendon Castle on her way to imprisonment at Woodstock. The future Queen was a great friend of Norreys' mother, whom she nicknamed "Black Crow" on account of her jet black hair. Norreys inherited his mother's hair colour so that he was known as "Black Jack" by his troops.
Norreys grew up with five brothers, several of whom were to serve alongside him during Elizabeth's wars. He may briefly have attended Magdalen College, Oxford.
In 1566, Norreys' father was posted as
Early military career
When his father was recalled from France in January 1571, Norreys stayed behind and developed a friendship with the new ambassador,
Two years later, Norreys served as a captain under
While in Ulster Norreys took part in the arrest of Sir
When Lord Essex entered
A fort was erected on the island, but was evacuated by Norreys, and he was recalled with his troops to Dublin within 3 months, when it was clear that the colonisation would fail. William, his brother, died of fever in Newry, Christmas Day 1579 on returning to Ireland from England.
In 1577, Norreys led a force of English volunteers to the
Throughout 1579, he co-operated with the French army under
On account of these successes, essentially as a mercenary, he boosted the morale in the Protestant armies and became famous in England. The morale of his own troops depended on prompt and regular payment by the States General for their campaign, and Norreys gained a reputation for forceful leadership.
In February 1581, he defeated the
After more campaigns in Flanders in support of
In 1584, he returned to England to encourage an English declaration of war on Spain in order to support the States General's war against the House of Habsburg.
Return to Ireland
In March 1584, Norreys departed the Low Countries and was sent to
In September 1584 Norreys accompanied the
In April 1585, the jailer at
The jailer, however, had secretly tipped off Lord President of Munster Sir John Norreys, who had just arrived at Clonmel. According to historian James Coombes, "Norris (sic) arranged to have White's house surrounded by soldiers and raided. The raiding party entered it shortly before Mass was due to begin and naturally caused great panic. Some people tried to hide in the basement; others jumped through the windows; one woman broke her arm in an attempt to escape. The priest hid in a heap of straw and was wounded in the thigh by the probing sword of a soldier. Despite the pain, he remained silent and later escaped. The soldiers dismantled the altar and seized the sacred vessels."[5]
Meanwhile, Victor White was arrested and threatened with execution unless he revealed where Fr. Muiris Mac Ionrachtaigh could be arrested. Upon hearing of the situation, Fr. Mac Ionrachtaigh sent an emissary to speak to White. Despite White's pleas that he preferred to lose his own life rather than have Fr. Mac Ionrachtaigh come to harm, the priest insisted upon giving himself up and was again thrown into Clonmel Gaol.[6]
The trial of Fr. Mac Ionrachtaigh by
On 30 April 1585, Fr. Muiris Mac Ionrachtaigh was dragged at the tail of a horse to be executed as a traitor. According to Bishop David Rothe, "When he came to the place of execution, he turned to the people and addressed them some pious words as far as time allowed; in the end he asked all Catholics to pray for him and he gave them his blessing."[8]
He was hanged, cut down while still alive, and then executed by
Norreys was then summoned to
Anglo-Spanish War
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Upon news of the siege of
In December 1585, the
The two commanders quarrelled for the rest of the campaign, which turned out a failure. Leicester complained that Norreys was like the
By the autumn of 1586 Leicester seems to have relented and was full of praise for Norreys, while at the same time the States General held golden opinions of him. But he was recalled in October, and the queen received him with disdain, apparently owing to his enmity for Leicester; within a year he had returned to the Low Countries, where the new commander, Willoughby, recognised that Norreys would be better for the job, with the comment, "If I were sufficient, Norreys were superfluous". Willoughby resented having Norris around and observed that he was, "more happy than a caesar".
At the beginning of 1588, Norreys returned to England, where he was presented with the degree of Master of Arts at the University of Oxford.
Later in the year, when the
On Wednesday 17 April 1589
From 1591 to 1594, Norreys aided
He seized the town of Morlaix after he had outmanoeuvred the Duke of Mercour and Juan del Águila. Afterwards, he was part of the force that besieged and brutally assaulted and captured Fort Crozon outside Brest, defended by 400 Spanish troops, as well as foiling the relief army under Águila. This was his most notable military success, despite heavy casualties and suffering wounds himself. His youngest brother, Maximilian, was slain while serving under him in this year. Having fallen afoul of his French Protestant colleagues, Norreys returned from Brest at the end of 1594.
Return to Ulster
Norreys was selected as the military commander under the new lord deputy of Ireland, Sir William Russell, in April 1595. The waspish Russell had been governor of Flushing, but the two men were on bad terms. Sir Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex had wanted his men placed as Russell's subordinates, but Norreys rejected this and was issued with a special patent that made him independent of the lord deputy's authority in Ulster. It was expected that the terror of the reputation he had gained in combatting the Spanish would be sufficient to cause the rebellion to collapse.
Norreys arrived at
So long as Russell was with the army, Norreys refused to assume full responsibility, which prompted the lord deputy to return to Dublin in July 1595, leaving his commander a free hand in the conquest of Ulster. But already, Norreys had misgivings: he thought the task impossible without reinforcements and accused Russell of thwarting him and of concealing from the London government the imperfections of the army. He informed the queen's secretary, Sir William Cecil, that the Ulster Clans were far superior in strength, arms and munitions to any he had previously encountered, and that the English needed commensurate reinforcement.
So quickly did the situation deteriorate, that Norreys declined to risk marching his troops 10 miles through the Moyry Pass, from Newry to Dundalk, choosing instead to move them by sea; but in a blow to his reputation, Russell confounded him later that summer by brazenly marching up to the Blackwater with little difficulty. More troops were shipped into Ireland, and the companies were ordered to take on 20 Irishmen apiece, which was admitted to be risky. But Norreys still complained that his units were made up of poor old ploughmen and rogues.
O'Neill presented Norreys with a written submission, but this was rejected on the advice of the Dublin council, owing to Aodh Mór O'Neill's demand for recognition of his supremacy over the
With approval from London, Norreys backed off Tyrone, for fear of Spanish and papal intervention, and a truce was arranged, to expire on 1 January 1596; this was extended to May. In the following year, a new arrangement was entered by Norreys at Dundalk, which Russell criticised since it allowed Tyrone to win time for outside intervention. To Russell's way of thinking, Norreys was too well affected to Tyrone, and his tendency to show mercy to the conquered was wholly unsuited to the circumstances. In May, Tyrone informed Norreys of his meeting with a Spaniard from a ship that had put into Killybegs, and assured him that he had refused such aid as had been offered by Philip II of Spain.
Owing to troubles in the province of Connaught, Norreys travelled there with Sir Geoffrey Fenton in June 1596 to parley with the local lords. He censured the presidential government of Sir Richard Bingham for having stirred up the lords into rebellion - although the influence of Tyrone's ally, Hugh Roe O'Donnell, in this respect was also recognised, especially since Sligo castle had lately fallen to the rebels. Bingham was suspended and detained in Dublin (he was later detained in the Fleet in London). However, during a campaign of six months, Norreys failed to restore peace to Connaught, and despite a nominal submission by the lords, hostilities broke out again as soon as he had returned north to Newry in December 1596.
At this point, Norreys was heartily sick of his situation. He sought to be recalled, citing poor health and the effect upon him of various controversies. As always, Russell weighed in with criticism and claimed that Norreys was feigning poor health in Athlone and seeking to have the lord deputy caught up in his failure. An analysis of this situation in October 1596, which was backed by the Earl of Essex, had it that Norreys' style was "to invite to dance and be merry upon false hopes of a hollow peace". This approach was in such contrast to Russell's instincts that there was a risk of collapse in the Irish government.
In the end, it was decided in late 1596 to remove both men from Ulster, sending Russell back to England and Norreys to Munster. Being unclear as to how Dublin wanted to deal with him, Norreys remained at Newry negotiating with Tyrone, while Russell was replaced as lord deputy by
Death
Norreys returned to Munster to serve as president, but his health was fragile and he soon sought leave to give up his responsibilities. He complained that he had "lost more blood in her Majesty's service than any he knew". At his brother's house in Mallow, he developed gangrene, owing to poor treatment of old wounds, and was also suffering from a settled melancholia over the disregard by the crown of his 26 years’ service. On 3 September 1597 he went up to his chamber, where he died in the arms of his brother Thomas.[15]
It was generally supposed that his death was caused by a broken heart. Another version, recounted by Philip O'Sullivan Beare, states that a servant boy, on seeing Norreys go into the chamber in the company of a shadowy figure, had listened at the door and heard the soldier enter a pact with the Devil. At midnight the pact was enforced, and on breaking in the door the next morning the frightened servants found that Norreys' head and upper chest were facing backwards.
Norreys' body was embalmed, and the queen sent a letter of condolence to his parents, who had by now lost several of their sons in the Irish service. He was interred in
Legacy
In 1600, during the course of the Nine Years' War, Sir
Mountjoy referred to Norreys as his tutor in war, and took note of his former understanding that
The most significant legacy of Norreys' long military career lay in his support of the
In addition to his role in the destruction of both the
Family
Norreys never married, and he had no children.
Norreys is pronounced "Norr-iss".
See also
- English Armada (Drake-Norris Expedition)
References
- ^ "NORRIS, Sir John (C.1547-97), of Rycote, Oxon. And Yattendon and Notley, Berks. | History of Parliament Online".
- ISBN 9780313337338. Page 269.
- ^ Kinrechtan (MacKenraghty), Maurice, Dictionary of Irish Biography
- ^ Edited by Patrick J. Cornish and Benignus Millet (2005), The Irish Martyrs, Four Courts Press, Dublin. Page 88.
- ^ Edited by Patrick J. Cornish and Benignus Millet (2005), The Irish Martyrs, Four Courts Press, Dublin. Page 88.
- ^ Edited by Patrick J. Cornish and Benignus Millet (2005), The Irish Martyrs, Four Courts Press, Dublin. Page 88.
- ^ Edited by Patrick J. Cornish and Benignus Millet (2005), The Irish Martyrs, Four Courts Press, Dublin. Page 89.
- ^ Edited by Patrick J. Cornish and Benignus Millet (2005), The Irish Martyrs, Four Courts Press, Dublin. Page 90.
- ^ Edited by Patrick J. Cornish and Benignus Millet (2005), The Irish Martyrs, Four Courts Press, Dublin. Page 90.
- ^ Van Meteren, Emanuel (1602). A True Discourse Historical of the Succeeding Governors in the Netherlands. Amsterdam: Da Capo. p. 114.
- ^ Wingfield, Anthony (1589). Discourse Written by a Gentleman. Amsterdam: Da Capo. p. 1.
- ^ Bindoff, S T (1950). Tudor England. Penguin. p. 280.
- ^ Wingfield, Anthony (1589). Discourse Written by a Gentleman. Amsterdam: Da Capo. p. 1.
- ^ Van Meteren, Emanuel (1602). A True Discourse Historical of the Succeeding Governors in the Netherlands. Amsterdam: De Capo. p. 118.
- ^ Nolan, Sir John Norreys, p. 239
- ^ Profile Archived 2007-11-17 at the Wayback Machine, CatholicIreland.net; accessed 11 December 2015.
- ^ "Beato Maurizio Mac Kenraghty Sacerdote e martire". santiebeati.it (in Italian).
Bibliography
- John S Nolan, Sir John Norreys and the Elizabethan Military World (University of Exeter, 1997) ISBN 0-85989-548-3
- Richard Bagwell, Ireland under the Tudors 3 vols. (London, 1885–1890)
- John O'Donovan (ed.) Annals of Ireland by the Four Masters (1851).
- Calendar of State Papers: Carew MSS. 6 vols (London, 1867–1873).
- Calendar of State Papers: Ireland (London)
- Nicholas Canny The Elizabethan Conquest of Ireland (Dublin, 1976); Kingdom and Colony (2002).
- Steven G. Ellis Tudor Ireland (London, 1985) ISBN 0-582-49341-2.
- Hiram Morgan Tyrone's War (1995).
- Standish O'Grady (ed.) "Pacata Hibernia" 2 vols. (London, 1896).
- Cyril Falls Elizabeth's Irish Wars (1950; reprint London, 1996) ISBN 0-09-477220-7.
- John, Bruce, ed. (1844). Correspondence of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leycester, during his Government of the Low Countries, in the Years 1585 and 1586. Camden Society.
- Lee, Sidney, ed. (1895). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 41. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
External links
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 757. .
- "Sir John Norreys". tudorplace.com.ar.