Henry Sidney
Sir William Sidney | |
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| Mother | Anne Pakenham |
Sir Henry Sidney
Background
He was the eldest son of
Henry Sidney was brought up at court as the companion of Prince Edward, afterwards King Edward VI, and he continued to enjoy the favour of the Crown,
Career
First trip to Ireland
In 1556, Sidney served in Ireland with the Lord Deputy,
In Scotland
Queen Elizabeth sent Sidney to Scotland in July 1562. He was instructed to defer a meeting between Elizabeth and Mary, Queen of Scots to the next year.[3] The Scottish queen was unhappy at the news and wept.[4]
While he was with Mary Queen of Scots in the garden of
Lord Deputy
In 1565, Sidney was appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland in place of Sir
In 1567, after being defeated by
Sidney's time as Lord Deputy is controversial, due to the fact that the government extended its campaign against not only Gaelic military opponents in the field of battle, but also killings against the general population of the peasantry at large.
One of the grimmer aspects of government activity during this period was the formal extension of military severity over large sections of the ordinary populace. Threatening the peasantry was a guaranteed way to sever the ties binding the broad mass of ordinary people to their traditional local rulers. In the course of the crown campaigns the killing of the low-born became widespread. It was even considered unremarkable. Returning from one of his outings Lord Deputy Sidney joked in a letter to Whitehall that he had killed so many Irish 'varlets', he had lost count.
— David Edwards, Age of Atrocity: Violence and Political Conflict in Early Modern Ireland, 2010.[7]
Desmond Rebellions
In the autumn of 1567, Sidney returned to England, and was absent from Ireland for the next ten months. On his return, he urged
Sidney proposed the appointment of a military governor ("Lord President") in the provinces of
Sidney left Ireland in 1571, aggrieved by the slight appreciation shown by Queen Elizabeth. In September 1575 he returned with greater royal authority, to find matters in a worse state than before. In Antrim the MacQuillan of the Route and Sorley Boy MacDonnell were the chief fomenters of clan warfare, and after pacifying this northern territory Sidney repaired to the south, where he was equally successful in making his authority respected. He left his mark on the administrative areas of the island by creating shire divisions on the English model.[2]
At an earlier period, he had combined the districts of the Ardes and Clandeboye to form the county of Carrickfergus, and had converted the country of Clan O'Farrell into the County Longford. He then carried out a similar policy in Connacht, where the lands of Clan O'Brien in Thomond became County Clare, and the counties of Galway, Mayo, Sligo and Roscommon were also delimited.[2]
Sidney also suppressed a rebellion headed by the earl of
The Cess Controversy
Meantime Sidney's annual levy (the cess), which was designed to fund a central government militia, had caused discontent among the gentry of
Coat of Arms
These arms, which are shown within the Garter in the portrait, are the same as those which appear on Sir Henry's Garter Stall Plate in St. George's Chapel, Windsor. The quarterings are blazoned and identified in 3 D 14, folio 236B. The first is Sidney, the second Clunford, the third Barrington, the fourth Mercy, the fifth Mandeville (the escarbuncle in the portrait is painted in a ghost-like way but it should be black), the sixth Chetwyn, the seventh Belhouse (the lions should be shown between three black cross-croslets), and the eighth Brandon (here the lion's crown should be per pale Gules and Argent).
In the portrait, the porcupine in the crest should be blue with gold prickles, collar and line, as should the sinister supporter. The dexter supporter is simply the lion from the Brandon arms and should be so blazoned with a blue collar and line rather than a gold collar and chain.[9]
Later years
From his position on the Privy Council in London, Sidney used his influence in the bloody suppression of the Second Desmond Rebellion, which led to a great loss of life in Munster in the period 1579–83,[10] and ultimately to the plantation of the province with settler and planter families.
He lived chiefly at Ludlow Castle for the remainder of his life, performing his duties as president of the Welsh Marches.[2]
Marriage and family
Sidney married
His daughter, Mary Sidney, married Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, and by reason of her literary achievements, was one of the most celebrated women of her time.[2]
Richard Chancellor grew up in Sidney's household.
See also
- Rathlin Island Massacre
References
- ^ "Sir William Sidney, of Penshurst". 1482.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k McNeill 1911, p. 42.
- ^ David Hay Fleming, Mary Queen of Scots (London, 1897), 74: Calendar of State Papers Foreign: Elizabeth, 5 (London, 1867), 182.
- ^ Joseph Bain, Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1547-1563, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1898), pp. 635, 641.
- ^ Joseph Bain, Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1547-1563, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1898), pp. 646-647.
- ^ Webb, Alfred A Compendium of Irish Biography, Dublin, M.H. Gill & Son, 1878.
- ^ Edwards 2010, p. 74.
- ^ "Turtle Bunbury - Award-winning travel writer, historian and author based in Ireland". www.turtlebunbury.com. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
- ^ Tudor & Jacobean Portraits, Roy Strong, London: National Portrait Gallery, 1969. p 289
- ISBN 0-86327-190-1.
Bibliography
- Edwards, David (2010). Age of Atrocity: Violence and Political Conflict in Early Modern Ireland. Four Courts Press. ISBN 978-1846822674.
- Holinshed's Chronicles, vol. iii. (6 vols., London, 1807).
- Calendar of Ancient Records of Dublin, edited by J. T. Gilbert, vols. i. and ii. (Dublin, 1889).
- Crawford, Jon G. A Star Chamber Court in Ireland-the Court of Castle Chamber 1571-1641 Four Courts Press Dublin 2005
- J. T. Gilbert (1865). History of the Viceroys of Ireland. Dublin.)
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - )
- Richard Bagwell (1885–1890). Ireland under the Tudors. Vol. 3 vols. London.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - 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)
- Colm Lennon Sixteenth Century Ireland — The Incomplete Conquest (Dublin, 1995) ISBN 0-312-12462-7.
- Nicholas P. Canny The Elizabethan Conquest of Ireland: A Pattern Established, 1565–76 (London, 1976) ISBN 0-85527-034-9.
- N. P. Canny Making Ireland British, 1580–1650 (Oxford University Press, 2001) ISBN 0-19-820091-9.
- Steven G. Ellis Tudor Ireland (London, 1985) ISBN 0-582-49341-2.
- Cyril Falls Elizabeth's Irish Wars (1950; reprint London, 1996) ISBN 0-09-477220-7.
- Gerard A. H. McCoy Irish Battles (Belfast, 1989) ISBN 0-86281-212-7.
- Thomas Rymer: Foedera (2.ed., London, 1726–35), vol.XV, p. 746-8 et pass.
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: McNeill, Ronald John (1911). "Sidney, Sir Henry". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 42–43.
External links
- Hutchinson, John (1892). . Men of Kent and Kentishmen (Subscription ed.). Canterbury: Cross & Jackman. p. 121.
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