Charles Middleton, 2nd Earl of Middleton, Jacobite 1st Earl of Monmouth, PC (1649/1650 – 9 August 1719) was a Scottish and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

politician who held several offices under Charles II and James II & VII. He served as Secretary of State for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, the Northern Department and the Southern Department, before acting as

Jacobite Secretary of State The Secretary of State was one of the senior ministers of the Jacobite court in exile following the Glorious Revolution of 1688. In common with Jacobite attempts to create a shadow court in exile that matched of that in London, the role was ba ...

and chief advisor to James II and then his son James III during their exile in France.

Life

Charles Middleton was born around 1650, the only son of

John Middleton, 1st Earl of Middleton John Middleton, 1st Earl of Middleton ( – 3 July 1674) was a professional soldier and mercenary from Kincardineshire in Scotland. Beginning his career in the Thirty Years War, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms he fought for the Covenanters ...

, and his first wife Grizel Durham. He had two elder sisters, Helen and Grizel. Originally from

Kincardineshire Kincardineshire, also known as the Mearns (from the Scottish Gaelic meaning "the Stewartry"), is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area on the coast of northeast Scotland. It is bounded by Aberdeenshire on the north and ...

, in the first part of the 1638 to 1651

Wars of the Three Kingdoms The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of related conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, then separate entities united in a personal union under Charles I. They include the 1639 to 1640 Bi ...

, John Middleton supported the

Covenanter Covenanters ( gd, Cùmhnantaich) were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. The name is derived from '' Covena ...

s, who appointed him commander-in-chief in 1644. After switching sides in 1648, he accompanied Charles II into exile, and Charles grew up in exile, returning home in the 1660 Restoration. His father died in 1674 leaving him little except for the title and debts; in 1683, Charles married Lady Catherine Brudenell, (1648-1743), daughter of the Catholic

Earl of Cardigan Earl of Cardigan is a title in the Peerage of England, currently held by the Marquesses of Ailesbury, and used as a courtesy title by the heir apparent to that Marquessate, currently David Brudenell-Bruce, Earl of Cardigan, son of the 8th Mar ...

. They had four children; John (1683-1746), Katherine (1685-1763), Charles (1688-1738), and Elizabeth (1690-1773). Middleton was described by

Gilbert Burnet Gilbert Burnet (18 September 1643 – 17 March 1715) was a Scottish philosopher and historian, and Bishop of Salisbury. He was fluent in Dutch, French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Burnet was highly respected as a cleric, a preacher, an academi ...

as ‘a man of generous temper, but without much religion’; he remained a Protestant until 1701, when he converted to Catholicism at the request of the dying James II.

Career

Middleton is thought to have spent 1669 to 1671 in France and Italy; in 1673, he was commissioned as a captain in the 3rd Foot, later the Buffs, which served in the 1672-1678

Franco-Dutch War The Franco-Dutch War, also known as the Dutch War (french: Guerre de Hollande; nl, Hollandse Oorlog), was fought between France and the Dutch Republic, supported by its allies the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, Brandenburg-Prussia and Denmark-Nor ...

as part of the Dutch

Scots Brigade The Scots Brigade, also referred to as the Anglo-Dutch Brigade or the Anglo-Scots Brigade, was an infantry brigade of the Dutch States Army. First formed in 1586, by the late 17th century it usually comprised six infantry regiments, three recrui ...

. By 1678, he was a Lieutenant-Colonel and governor of

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

. Shortly after this, he was suggested as

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the Unit ...

, in place of the

Duke of Lauderdale Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

. This went to

Alexander Stuart, 5th Earl of Moray Alexander Stuart, 5th Earl of Moray (8 May 1634 – 1 November 1701), was a Scottish peer who held senior political office in Scotland under Charles II and his Catholic brother, James II & VII. He was first brought into government in 1676 by ...

and in June 1680, Middleton was made envoy to

Emperor Leopold I Leopold I (Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Franz Felician; hu, I. Lipót; 9 June 1640 – 5 May 1705) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. The second son of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, by his first wife, Maria An ...

. He returned to Scotland in July 1681, where he became a close associate of James and his wife

Mary of Modena Mary of Modena ( it, Maria Beatrice Eleonora Anna Margherita Isabella d'Este; ) was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland as the second wife of James II and VII. A devout Roman Catholic, Mary married the widower James, who was then the younger ...

. He was appointed to the

Scottish Privy Council The Privy Council of Scotland ( — 1 May 1708) was a body that advised the Scottish monarch. In the range of its functions the council was often more important than the Estates in the running the country. Its registers include a wide range of ...

and made joint Secretary of State for Scotland with Moray on 26 September 1682. In 1684, he relocated to London and joined the English Privy Council in July and

Secretary of State for the Northern Department The Secretary of State for the Northern Department was a position in the Cabinet of the government of Great Britain up to 1782, when the Northern Department became the Foreign Office. History Before the Act of Union, 1707, the Secretary of ...

in August. After James succeeded as king in February 1685, he was elected for

Winchelsea Winchelsea () is a small town in the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex, within the historic county of Sussex, England, located between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh, approximately south west of Rye and north east of Hastings. The ...

and given the task of managing the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

. Parliament was suspended for refusing to repeal the

Test Act The Test Acts were a series of English penal laws that served as a religious test for public office and imposed various civil disabilities on Roman Catholics and nonconformists. The underlying principle was that only people taking communion in ...

, while James' reliance on a small circle of Catholics made Middleton suspect as one of the few remaining Protestants. He was present at the birth of the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rule ...

in June 1688 and became

Secretary of State for the Southern Department The Secretary of State for the Southern Department was a position in the cabinet of the government of the Kingdom of Great Britain up to 1782, when the Southern Department became the Home Office. History Before 1782, the responsibilities of ...

in September 1688. When James fled to France after the November 1688

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...

, he remained in England; in 1692, he was held in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

for plotting to restore him and after his release, joined the exiled court at Saint-Germain. He proposed a more moderate declaration for a Jacobite restoration than James' chief advisor and Secretary of State,

John Drummond, 1st Earl of Melfort John Drummond, 1st Earl of Melfort, styled Duke of Melfort in the Jacobite peerage (8 August 1650 - 25 January 1715), was a Scottish politician and close advisor to James II. A Catholic convert, Melfort and his brother the Earl of Perth consist ...

. He became joint Secretary of State with Melfort, responsible for correspondence with England and Scotland, and became sole Secretary of State after Melfort was dismissed in June 1694. In England, he was tried for treason and outlawed on 23 July 1694, and

attainted In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and heredit ...

on 2 July 1695. He continued as Secretary until James' death in September 1701, when he was appointed to the Regency Council during the minority of his son, James III. Despite his wish to resign, he was persuaded to remain in office and made the Earl of Monmouth in the Jacobite peerage. With his two sons, Middleton accompanied James in 1708 during the attempted Franco-Jacobite landing in Scotland and allowed to resign as Secretary in 1713. He briefly joined James in Scotland during the 1715 Rising, before returning to France, where he served as Mary's

Lord Chamberlain The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom while also acting as the main c ...

until her death in 1718. Granted a pension by the French government, he died on 9 August 1719 and was buried at the parish church of Saint-Germain.

References

Sources

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Middleton, Charles Middleton, 2nd Earl of Year of birth uncertain Date of birth unknown 1719 deaths Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) officers British Secretaries of State Earls of Middleton People from Kincardine and Mearns Members of the Privy Council of Scotland Members of the Privy Council of England Monmouth, Charles Middleton, 1st Earl of Monmouth, Charles Middleton, 1st Earl of Secretaries of State for the Northern Department Secretaries of State for the Southern Department English MPs 1685–1687 Converts to Roman Catholicism Extraordinary Lords of Session 1650 births