Sir Henry Vane the Younger

  General Notes:

Occupation: Knight

Sir Henry Vane (the younger) 1613-62
A leading Parliamentarian and statesman of the Commonwealth who opposed Cromwell's Protectorate but was executed at the Restoration.
Eldest son of Sir Henry Vane (1589-1655), a courtier who became Secretary of State to King Charles I. Vane's family background was patrician and privileged. He attended Westminster School and was brought up to be a gentleman, well-versed in the classics and humanities, with a finely cultivated wit and appreciation of "good fellowship". But in his mid-teens, he experienced an intense spiritual awakening that caused him to repent his sinful ways and dedicate himself to seeking God and Christ. He made a firm inner resolve to follow the dictates of his conscience in all matters from that time forward. After attending Magdelen College, Oxford, Vane went on a tour of Europe, visiting Paris, Geneva and Leiden. In 1631, his father secured for him an appointment as aide to the English Ambassador at the court of the Emperor Ferdinand II in Vienna, where he gained valuable experience in diplomacy, as well as an insight into European politics.
When he returned to England in February 1632, Vane was graciously received by King Charles. He was expected to advance rapidly at Court, but he objected to the ceremony and ritual of the Laudian Church that prevailed there. In particular, he was adamant in his refusal to kneel to receive the sacrament, despite the attempts of clergymen and his father to persuade him to conform. In 1635, Vane resolved to go to America to seek freedom to worship according to his conscience. King Charles granted him a license to stay in New England for three years.
Arriving in Massachusetts in October 1635, Vane was welcomed by the Puritan colonists, who recognised his religious sincerity and appreciated his background and connections. He was admitted a member of the church at Boston and became a freeman of the colony in March 1636. Vane put his diplomatic skills to use to intervene in a quarrel between the former governors John Winthrop and Thomas Dudley. His prestige grew to the extent that he was elected Governor of Massachusetts in May 1636. During his governorship, the colony was threatened by local Native American tribes aided by the French. Vane was unable to prevent the outbreak of war with the Pequots, but he secured peace with the Narragansetts and negotiated the purchase of Rhode Island as a refuge for religious separatists. In the autumn of 1636, Vane became embroiled in religious disputes amongst the colonists. This brought him into conflict with John Winthrop and led to his political downfall in the elections of May 1637. He returned to England in August 1637 having learned valuable lessons about the difficulties of reconciling religious idealism with practical politics.
Vane was regarded as a reformed character on his return to England. Through the influence of his father and the Earl of Northumberland, he was appointed to the post of Treasurer of the Navy. In April 1640, he was elected to the Short Parliament <../glossary/short-parliament.htm> but was preoccupied with his duties at the Admiralty and took no active part in the proceedings. He was knighted by King Charles on 23 June 1640 and married Frances Wray eight days later; the marriage settlement made him a wealthy man.

In November 1640, Vane was elected to the Long Parliament <../glossary/long-parliament.htm> as MP for Hull. He became involved in the impeachment of the Earl of Strafford when he allowed John Pym <pym.htm> to copy private papers in the possession of his father that apparently confirmed Strafford's intention to raise an Irish army for the King to use in England. Pym's dramatic revelation of these papers sealed Strafford's fate at his trial in April 1641. Vane justified the betrayal of his father's trust by pleading that it was his patriotic duty to reveal the design. King Charles dismissed Vane and his father from their offices, but the House of Commons reinstated the younger Vane as Navy Treasurer in August 1642. He was also a leading advocate for the abolition of episcopacy <../glossary/episcopacy.htm>, proposing a gradual change from the rule of bishops in the Church to diocesan commissions of clergymen and laity.
Vane threw himself wholeheartedly into Parliament's cause during the First Civil War, regarding the war as the only way to safeguard the nation's liberties and religion. He led the delegation sent to Edinburgh to negotiate the Solemn League and Covenant <../glossary/solemn-league-covenant.htm> in 1643. The Scots were unwilling to enter a military alliance unless Parliament pledged to reform the English Church along Presbyterian lines, but Vane qualified the clause to read that reform would be carried out "according to the Word of God" — which could be interpreted in different ways.
After Pym's death in December 1643, Vane and his colleague Oliver St John <st-john.htm> came to be regarded as the leaders of the "War Party" in Parliament. Vane manoeuvred to replace the Committee of Safety with the more powerful Committee for Both Kingdoms <../glossary/committee-both-kingdoms.htm> in February 1644 and regularly acted as its spokesman. In June 1644, he personally conveyed orders from the committee to the commanders of the allied Scottish and Parliamentarian armies at the siege of York <../military/1644-york-march-marston-moor.htm>, directing them to abandon the siege and march to counter Prince Rupert's campaign in Lancashire. The generals disagreed with the plan, and Vane was flexible enough to acknowledge that they were right. It has also been suggested that the real purpose of Vane's journey to York was to gain the support of the generals for a plan to depose King Charles, but that they unanimously rejected the scheme. In the autumn of 1644, Vane was prominent in advocating the reorganisation of Parliament's army and removing the Earl of Essex from command, resulting in the Self-Denying Ordinance <../glossary/self-denying-ordinance.htm> of December 1644 and the formation of the New Model Army <../glossary/new-model-army.htm> in 1645. Vane was active in raising finances from the City for the final campaigns of the First Civil War. After hostilities had ended, he was acknowledged as a leading architect of Parliament's victory over the King.
In 1646, as the Presbyterian <../glossary/presbyterian.htm> party grew more powerful in Parliament, Vane's influence declined. During the struggle between Parliament and the Army in 1647, his support for Cromwell and the Grandees earned him the mistrust of the Levellers as well as the Presbyterians. As negotiations for a settlement with the King proceeded, a rift opened with the Army leaders. Despite King Charles' deliberate provocation of the Second Civil War, Vane opposed any move to alter the fundamental government of the nation. He was one of the fifteen commissioners who attempted to reach a settlement at the Treaty of Newport <../glossary/treaty-newport.htm> and voted to continue negotiations with Charles even after the Newport talks had broken down. The Army took matters into its own hands with Pride's Purge <../glossary/prides-purge.htm> in December 1648, after which Vane withdrew from the House of Commons in protest. He refused to sit as one of the King's judges and disassociated himself from his execution.

Despite his objections to the regicide, Vane soon became active in the administration of the Commonwealth, and was elected to the Council of State <../glossary/council-state.htm> in February 1649. He took special responsibility for supplying Cromwell's army in Scotland with money and provisions and maintained a close correspondence with Cromwell regarding home and foreign politics. In January 1652, he was one of the commissioners sent to Scotland to negotiate union with England. His diplomatic skills were used to advantage in negotiations with foreign governments as the Commonwealth struggled for recognition in Europe. He was appointed to the Admiralty Committee which took over the office of Lord High Admiral and was one of the special Commissioners appointed to review naval administration during the first Anglo-Dutch War <../military/first-anglo-dutch-war.htm>. Vane's skilful management of the navy was recognised as an important contribution to the defeat of the Dutch.
In 1651, Vane published his first major written work: Zeal Examined, in which he advocated complete liberty of conscience in matters of religion. He opposed all moves towards an established national church and argued against any restrictions to freedom of worship. His religious views brought him into disagreement with Cromwell, who favoured an ordained clergy and did not share Vane's tolerance of the extreme sects. They also clashed over the future government of the Commonwealth. Vane proposed a Parliament consisting of four hundred members with the sitting members of the Long Parliament retaining their seats. Cromwell and the Army wanted an entirely new Parliament, and criticised Vane's scheme for promoting the self-interest of MPs. The quarrel culminated with Cromwell's forced dissolution of Parliament in April 1653, after which Vane withdrew from government.
In 1655, he published The Retired Man's Meditations, a complex spiritual work in which he sought to reconcile the fragmented religious movements of the Commonwealth. The following year, he produced A Healing Question <http://www.constitution.org/lev/healing.htm>, written in response to Cromwell's call for a national religious fast to consider the continuing troubles of the nation. Vane outlined the principles of civil and religious liberty and proposed a convention to write a national constitution — a method that was followed in America after the War of Independence. However, Vane was summoned to appear before the Council of State to answer for his implied criticisms of the Protectorate in July 1656. He was imprisoned at Carisbrooke Castle until December, which prevented him from standing for election in the Second Protectorate Parliament.

After Oliver's death, Vane stood for election in Third Protectorate Parliament <../glossary/protectorate-parliament-3.htm> called by Richard Cromwell in January 1659. The government blocked Vane's candidacy for Hull and Bristol, but he was finally elected for the "rotten borough" of Whitchurch, Hampshire. He worked closely with Sir Arthur Haselrig <index_h.htm> and the republicans in seeking to reinstate the pre-Protectorate Commonwealth. The old Rump Parliament <../glossary/rump-parliament.htm> was restored in April 1659 and Richard stepped down the following month. Once again, Vane became a leading figure in the administration. He was reappointed to the Council of State, was made a commissioner of the Navy and sat on various important committees. In addition, he became almost solely responsible for foreign affairs, following a moderate policy aimed at remaining on peaceable terms with other nations.
Vane became a mediator between Parliament and the Army. He was appointed one of seven commissioners responsible for the nomination of officers and attempted to replace Cromwellians with sound republicans. However, Vane's close association with John Lambert <lambert.htm> brought him under suspicion of attempting to establish a new dictatorship. When Lambert dissolved Parliament in October 1659, Vane remained the only civilian official trusted by the Army. He continued his attempts to mediate between Lambert and the republicans, but his association with the Army had made him deeply unpopular. When General Monck <monck.htm> occupied London and restored the Rump in January 1660, Vane was expelled from Parliament.
After the Restoration, Vane was one of twenty non-regicides excluded from the Act of Indemnity. He was brought to trial in June 1662 charged with high treason. He conducted a skilful defence in which he asserted the supreme power of Parliament, prompting Charles II to remark that Vane was "too dangerous a man to let live". He was found guilty and sentenced to death. Rather than the usual traitor's death, Vane was beheaded at Tower Hill on 14 June 1662, his courage and dignity on the scaffold greatly impressing observers.
http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/biog/vane.htm

Henry married Frances Wray, daughter of Sir Christopher Wray and Albinia Cecil, on 1 Jul 1640 in Lambeth, Surrey, England. (Frances Wray was born circa 1622 in Lambeth, Surrey, England and died in 1679.)