Robert Greville, 2nd Baron Brooke
Robert Greville, 2nd Baron Brooke | |
|---|---|
 Robert Greville, 2nd Baron Brooke | |
| Parliamentarian Commander Staffordshire and Warwickshire | |
| In office August 1642 – March 1643 | |
| Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire | |
| In office April 1642 – March 1643 | |
| Member of Parliament for Warwick | |
| In office January 1628 – May 1628 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 1607 Puritan activist, author and politician |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  England |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Battles/wars | First English Civil War Relief of Warwick Castle; Brentford; First Siege of Lichfield † |
Robert Greville, 2nd Baron Brooke (May 1607 – 4 March 1643) was a radical
The son of a minor member of the
Although less well remembered than other leaders like Pym and Hampden, Greville's early death was viewed as a significant loss at the time. His energy and conviction Charles must be defeated militarily meant many preferred him as commander to the Earl of Essex. His conviction "true religion" required belief in God, rather than a specific form of worship prefigured later divisions between Presbyterian moderates and religious Independents like Oliver Cromwell.
Personal details
Robert Greville was born May 1607 near Helpringham, only surviving son of Fulke Greville (1575–1632), an "obscure Lincolnshire squire", and his wife Mary Copley.[1] His sister Dorothy (1605–1650) married Arthur Haselrig, who was one of the Five Members in January 1642, while Godfrey Bosvile (1596–1658), a half-brother from his mother's first marriage, became a close friend and political associate.[2] Greville's prospects were transformed in 1611 when he was adopted by his childless distant cousin Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke, and inherited his title and Warwick Castle in 1628.[3]
In 1630 he married Catharine (died 1676), daughter of Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford; they had three sons who survived into adulthood, Francis (1637–1658), Robert (1638–after 1680) and Fulke (1643–1710).[2]
Education and political opposition
Greville received what was then considered a comprehensive education, attending
In
Combined with the suspension of Parliament during the 1629 to 1640 period of
Despair at the political situation of the 1630s led Greville to contemplate emigration along with many others, including Oliver Cromwell. To provide a vehicle for this, he and Lord Saye founded the SayeBrooke colony in 1635, an amalgamation of Lord Saye and Lord Brooke.[2] They dropped the idea when their proposed political constitution was rejected by John Winthrop of Massachusetts, who insisted only full church members be allowed to vote. Concern over the potential for religious tyranny led Saye and Brooke to reject clerical involvement in civil affairs, the origin of the subsequent split between Presbyterians such as Pym and religious Independents like Cromwell.[2]
Wars of the Three Kingdoms
At the outbreak of the
Political tensions came to a head with the outbreak of the Irish Rebellion of 1641; Charles and Parliament both supported raising an army to suppress it but feared it would be used against them first.[8] Appointed Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire in April 1642, Greville began recruiting men and securing weapons at Warwick Castle; in June, Parliament made him commander of troops recruited for Ireland but the First English Civil War began in August.[9] He used his contacts in the City of London to raise the funding which proved crucial in enabling Parliament to survive the first months of the war.[10]
Appointed Parliamentarian commander in Staffordshire and Warwickshire, on 23 August Greville repulsed an attempt by the Earl of Northampton to capture Warwick Castle. He raised a regiment which fought at Edgehill in October; although absent on that occasion, he helped repulse the Royalist advance on London at Brentford in November.[11] After he and Sir John Gell secured Stratford-upon-Avon in February 1643, they moved onto Lichfield; on 2 March, Greville was killed by a sniper.[12] He was buried in the Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick.[1]
Greville's death was a serious blow, not least because his energy and commitment to defeating Charles militarily meant many viewed him as a better choice than the Earl of Essex, the current Parliamentarian commander.[13] In addition, his successor in the East Midlands was Sir John Gell, a man whose propensity for feuding and aggressiveness made him unpopular even among his own supporters. According to Puritan diarist Lucy Hutchinson, Gell "had not understanding to judge the equity of the cause, nor piety, nor holiness", while his men were "the most licentious, ungovernable wretches that belonged to the Parliament".[14]
Political and religious views
Despite a well-deserved reputation for religious radicalism, Brooke supported ministers with a wide range of views, including mainstream members of the
In a speech made in February 1643, Greville anticipated Cromwell in urging Parliament to resist hiring mercenaries or professionals in favour of those who "fought for the sake of the cause". Those recruited into his own regiment included Levellers like John Lilburne and Alex Tulidah, as well as radical republican and regicide John Okey.[2]
References
- ^ a b c d Hunneyball 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g Hughes 2004.
- ^ Burke 1938, p. 2519.
- ^ Kupperman 1993, p. 299].
- ^ Duinen 2007, p. 531.
- ^ Hibbert 1993, p. 23.
- ^ Hibbert 1993, p. 26.
- ^ Hutton 2003, p. 4.
- ^ Wedgwood 1958, p. 105.
- ^ Hibbert 1993, p. 49.
- ^ Wedgwood 1958, p. 143.
- ^ Wedgwood 1958, p. 183.
- ^ Wedgwood 1958, p. 198.
- ^ Hibbert 1993, p. 107.
- ^ Milton 1644, p. 35.
Sources
- Burke, Sir Bernard (1938). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage. Shaw.
- Duinen, Jared, van (2007). The Nature of Puritan Opposition in 1630s England in "Prosopography Approaches" and Applications: A Handbook. University of Oxford Linacre College Unit for Prosopographical Research. ISBN 978-1900934121.)
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - Hibbert, Christopher (1993). Cavaliers and Roundheads; the English at war 1642-1649 (1994 ed.). Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0586090084.
- Hughes, Ann (2004). "Greville, Robert, second Baron Brooke of Beauchamps Court". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/11518. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Hunneyball, Paul (2010). GREVILLE, Robert (1607-1643), of Beauchamp's Court, Alcester, Warwickshire in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1604-1629. CUP.
- Hutton, Ronald (2003). The Royalist War Effort 1642-1646. Routledge. ISBN 978-0415305402.
- Kupperman, Karen Ordahl (1993). Providence Island 1630-1641: The Other Puritan Colony. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521558358.
- Milton, John (1644). Areopagitica, A Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc'd Printing to the Parliament of England.
- Wedgwood, C.V. (1958). The King's War, 1641–1647 (1983 ed.). Penguin Classics. ISBN 978-0-14-006991-4.
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