Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester

Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester
Peter Lely · Public domain · source
Name	Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester
Birth date	c. 1602
Death date	20 February 1671
Nationality	English
Title	Earl of Manchester
Spouse	Anne Rich
Parents	Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester; Alice Winthrop

Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester was an English nobleman, politician and military commander active in the tumult of the Stuart period, the English Civil War, and the early Interregnum. A member of a prominent Northamptonshire family, he combined participation in parliamentary politics with service in the field, and his career intersected with leading figures of the era including Oliver Cromwell, John Hampden, Earl of Essex, and Sir Thomas Fairfax.

Early life and family

Born about 1602 at Bridgwater or the family seat in Kimbolton, he was the son of Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester and Alice Winthrop, linking him to the mercantile and colonial interests of the Winthrops and the parliamentary aristocracy of Lincolnshire and Huntingdonshire. Educated in the milieu of Elizabethan and Jacobean gentry, his upbringing placed him among peers who would later sit in the House of Commons and the House of Lords, and associate with political networks around Sir Oliver Luke, Sir John Harington, and William Laud. The Montagu household maintained connections with the families of Rich, Sir Ralph Winwood, and the Cromwells.

Political career and roles

He represented constituencies in Parliament of England during sessions that debated the Petition of Right, royal prerogative, and taxation policies under Charles I. Succeeding to the earldom after his father, he took his place among the Lords during the escalating conflicts with the Crown and sat alongside peers such as Duke of Newcastle, Earl of Northumberland, and Viscount Falkland. His political alignment shifted into the parliamentary camp that included John Pym, Oliver Cromwell, John Lilburne, and Lord Brooke, while negotiating with figures such as Clarendon and military commanders like Essex. He served on commissions and councils alongside Committees and was engaged with issues raised in the Long Parliament and during the Solemn League and Covenant discussions.

Military involvement in the English Civil War

As commander of the Eastern Association forces and later as one of the principal parliamentary generals, he campaigned in major theatres alongside commanders including Oliver Cromwell, Fairfax, his father’s contemporaries, and opponents such as Prince Rupert, Montrose, and Royalist field commanders. He bore responsibility at actions related to the Battle of Edgehill, operations around Cambridge, and maneuvers tied to the Siege of York and the northern campaigns where coordination with Sir Thomas Glemham and the Marquess of Newcastle influenced outcomes. His relations with Oliver Cromwell were complex during disputes over discipline and the formation of the New Model Army, which involved figures like Henry Ireton, Philip Skippon, and Cornet Joyce. His tenure saw tensions over prisoner treatment exemplified in events connected to the Putney Debates and political fallout involving Presbyterian and Independent factions.

Marriage, children and personal life

He married Anne Rich, daughter of Earl of Warwick and Penelope, cementing alliances with the Rich family and linking to networks around Warwickshire patronage and maritime interests of the East India Company and colonial ventures tied to the Virginia Company. Their children included heirs and connections to families such as the Montagus, Drummonds, and the Bourchier family, who intermarried with peers including Russell and Howard. His private life reflected the social and religious currents of the time, interacting with clergy like John Cotton, Richard Baxter, and activists from Puritanism and the Laudian movement, while maintaining patronage links to artists, lawyers and gentry from Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, and Hertfordshire.

Later life, death and legacy

After the military and political shifts of the 1640s and 1650s, he navigated the changing regimes of the Commonwealth of England, the Protectorate, and the early stirrings that preceded the Restoration. He witnessed the return of figures like Charles II, the rehabilitation of peers including Clarendon, and the reevaluation of parliamentary leaders such as John Pym and Oliver Cromwell. He died on 20 February 1671, his death noted by contemporaries in correspondence with families like the Rich, Saye and Sele, and Wentworths, and his estates and titles passed according to settlements that engaged solicitors and trustees in Lincolnshire and Huntingdonshire. His legacy persisted in the histories compiled by Clarendon, debated in pamphlets alongside works by Marchamont Nedham and Jeremy Taylor, and memorialized in county histories and genealogies that connected the Montagu line to subsequent peers such as the Duke of Manchester and other noble houses.

Category:English Civil War figures Category:17th-century English nobility