Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury

Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury
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Name	The Earl of Shaftesbury
Caption	Portrait by John Greenhill
Office	Lord Chancellor
Term start	1672
Term end	1673
Predecessor	The Earl of Clarendon
Successor	The Earl of Nottingham
Office1	Chancellor of the Exchequer
Term start1	1661
Term end1	1672
Predecessor1	Sir Edward Hyde
Successor1	Sir John Duncombe
Birth date	22 July 1621
Birth place	Dorset, England
Death date	21 January 1683 (aged 61)
Death place	Amsterdam, Dutch Republic
Party	Country Party
Spouse	Margaret Coventry, Frances Cecil
Children	Anthony Ashley Cooper, 2nd Earl of Shaftesbury
Alma mater	Exeter College, Oxford

Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury was a pivotal and controversial statesman of the Stuart period, whose career spanned the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration. A master political tactician, he served as a minister under Oliver Cromwell and King Charles II before becoming the leading parliamentary opponent of James, Duke of York. His fierce advocacy for the Exclusion Bill and championing of Protestantism against perceived Catholic absolutism made him a foundational figure in the development of the Whig party.

Early life and education

Born at Wimborne St Giles in Dorset to a wealthy landowning family, Cooper was orphaned at a young age and became a ward of the crown. His early education was overseen by the eminent jurist Sir Edward Coke, whose legal principles deeply influenced him. He entered Exeter College, Oxford in 1637 but left without a degree, subsequently studying law at Lincoln's Inn in London. His first marriage, to Margaret Coventry, daughter of Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry, connected him to a powerful Puritan family, shaping his initial political and religious sympathies.

Political career and the Civil War

Cooper’s political life began in the Short Parliament and Long Parliament, where he initially supported King Charles I against the Scottish Covenanters. However, he switched allegiance to the Parliamentarian cause in 1644, citing the king’s unconstitutional actions. He raised a regiment of foot and a troop of horse for Parliament and served on the Committee for Both Kingdoms. During the Interregnum, he served in the Barebone's Parliament and the First Protectorate Parliament, becoming a member of Oliver Cromwell’s Council of State. His relationship with The Protectorate grew strained over its authoritarian tendencies, leading to his brief imprisonment in the Tower of London in 1655.

Role in the Restoration and the Cabal

Cooper played a crucial role in the Stuart Restoration, helping to orchestrate the return of Charles II in 1660. Rewarded with a peerage as Baron Ashley, he held significant offices including Chancellor of the Exchequer and served on the Committee for Foreign Affairs. He was a leading member of the infamous Cabal Ministry, a group of ministers whose initials formed the acronym. During this period, he promoted the Triple Alliance with the Dutch Republic and Sweden, and sponsored the influential Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina. Created Earl of Shaftesbury in 1672, he was appointed Lord Chancellor but was dismissed the following year for opposing the Royal Declaration of Indulgence and the Third Anglo-Dutch War.

Leadership of the Opposition and the Exclusion Crisis

Dismissal transformed Shaftesbury into the king’s most formidable opponent. He emerged as the leader of the Country Party, the precursor to the Whigs, using the Popish Plot revelations of Titus Oates to galvanize anti-Catholic sentiment. His primary objective was to pass the Exclusion Bill, which aimed to bar the Catholic Duke of York from the line of succession. He championed the cause of the Duke of Monmouth, Charles II’s Protestant illegitimate son. This period saw intense political warfare, including Shaftesbury’s imprisonment in the Tower of London in 1681 on charges of high treason, from which he was acquitted by a London grand jury.

Later years, exile, and death

Following the collapse of the Exclusion Crisis and the Tory reaction, Shaftesbury’s position became untenable. Fearing another arrest after the king moved to revoke the charters of London and other boroughs, he fled to the Dutch Republic in November 1682. He was given refuge in Amsterdam but his health, long plagued by a hydatid cyst, rapidly declined. He died in exile in January 1683. His political philosophy, particularly his arguments for parliamentary sovereignty and against hereditary Catholic monarchy, profoundly influenced later Whig thought and the Glorious Revolution.

Category:1621 births Category:1683 deaths Category:People from Dorset Category:Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford Category:Lord Chancellors of England