Roman Catholic Royalist Officers in the North Midlands, 1642-1646

Authors

  • Martyn Bennett Director of the School of Graduate Studies Research, Faculty of Humanities, Nottingham Trent University

Abstract

Throughout the first civil war in England (1642-1646) Henry Hastings, Lord Loughborough led the royalist forces in the North Midland counties (Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland and Staffordshire). His enemies labelled him as a ‘fellow-traveller’ of the Roman Catholic faction and asserted that his army was filled with papists. This article examines this claim by examining the structure of the officer corps in the army and assessing the numbers, distribution and service record of Roman Catholics within it. This analysis is set against the national picture of Roman Catholic militant royalism and against Hastings’s own religious background, questioning both his and King Charles I’s motivation for employing Roman Catholic officers in the royalist armed forces.

Author Biography

Martyn Bennett, Director of the School of Graduate Studies Research, Faculty of Humanities, Nottingham Trent University

Martyn Bennet is a reader in History and Director of the School of Graduate Studies Research, Faculty of Humanities, Nottingham Trent University. Research interests include, formation of a 'united kingdom' 1590[-]1720, early modern wars and civil wars in Britain and Ireland, local government and administration. His publications include: The Civil Wars Experienced, (2000), The Civil Wars of Britain and Ireland 1637-1651, (1997) and A Nottinghamshire Village in War and Peace: The Accounts of the Constables of Upton 1640-1666, (1995). He is currently writing a biography of Oliver Cromwell for Routledge.

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Issue

Vol. 6 No. 2 (2003): Fall 2003

Section

Articles