Making and Maintaining Political Alliances during the Personal Rule of Charles I: Wentworth's Associations with Laud and Cottington

Abstract

This article investigates one of the least explored aspects of the career of Thomas Wentworth, earl of Strafford: his associations with key figures at the English court. In particular, it examines his relationships with Archbishop Laud and Francis, Lord Cottington, who during the 1630s were often at odds with each other. While Laud and Wentworth shared fundamental beliefs, and much important administrative business passed, with some show of joviality, between them, there were also limits to what they had to say. Close examination of their correspondence reveals that pressing political issues, of mutual interest, often went undiscussed. In contrast, Wentworth enjoyed a genuine friendship with Cottington and, more important, gained vital information from him both directly and through other channels. Cottington's value lay in his superior grasp of high politics; Laud's in his conscientiousness and regular access to the king. Wentworth's varied political alliances required careful handling, but they were essential for an administrator working at a distance from the court. As his correspondence shows, the notion of ‘thorough’ should be handled with care and not allowed to sustain the belief that court politics during the personal rule of Charles I operated through rigid ‘factions’. Wentworth, in practice, depended on their fluidity.