![Elizabeth Claypole by John Michael Wright](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Elizabeth_Claypole_by_John_Michael_Wright.jpg)
Elizabeth Claypole
[also ''Cleypole'' and ''Claypoole'' (Noble and Firth DNB)] (''née'' Cromwell; 2 July 1629 – 6 August 1658) was the second daughter of
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...
,
Lord Protector
Lord Protector (plural: ''Lords Protector'') was a title that has been used in British constitutional law for the head of state. It was also a particular title for the British heads of state in respect to the established church. It was sometimes ...
of the
Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
, and his wife,
Elizabeth Cromwell
Elizabeth Cromwell (née Bourchier; 1598–1665) was the wife of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland; and the mother of Richard Cromwell, the second Lord Protector.
Family and marriage
Eli ...
, and reportedly interceded with her father for
royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...
prisoners. After Cromwell created a
peerage
A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks.
Peerages include:
Australia
* Australian peers
Belgium
* Belgi ...
for her husband,
John Claypole
John Claypole (21 August 1625 – 26 June 1688)or John Claypoole . was an officer in the Parliamentary army in 1645 during the English Civil War. He was created Lord Claypole by Oliver Cromwell, but this title naturally came to an end with the ...
, she was known as Lady Claypole. She was buried in
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
.
Biography
Her marriage to John Claypole took place on 13 January 1646. She was the favourite daughter of her father, to whom her spiritual condition seems to have caused some anxiety. On one occasion he writes to his daughter, Bridget, expressing his satisfaction that her sister (i.e. Claypole) "sees her own vanity and carnal mind, bewailing it, and seeks after what will satisfy". But four years later he bade her mother warn her to "take heed of a departing heart and of being cozened with worldly vanities and worldly company, which I doubt she is too subject to".
According to several accounts she was too much exalted by her father's sovereignty, for which reason
Lucy Hutchinson
Lucy Hutchinson (; 29 January 1620 – October 1681) was an English translator, poet, and biographer, and the first person to translate the complete text of Lucretius's ''De rerum natura'' (''On the Nature of Things'') into English verse, du ...
, a biographer and scholar who married
one of the regicides, terms her and all her sisters (excepting
Bridget Fleetwood) "insolent fools."
Captain Titus writes to
Hyde relating a remark of Elizabeth Claypole's at a wedding feast concerning the wives of the major-generals:
![Elizabeth-Claypole](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Elizabeth-Claypole.jpg)
But according to the account of
Harrington, "she acted the part of a princess very naturally, obliging all persons with her civility, and frequently interceding for the unhappy." It was to her he applied with success for the restoration of the confiscated manuscript of ''
Oceana''.
[Firth, DNB, xi,12,13]
According to
Ludlow
Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The t ...
and
Heath
A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...
, she interceded for the life of
Dr. John Hewett, but her own letter on the discovery of the plot in which he had been engaged throws a doubt on this story. Still she is said to have habitually interceded with her father for political offenders. Ludlow reported that her failure in this pleading may have contributed to her death, which happened soon after with the concurrence of an ulcer in her womb. "How many of the royalist prisoners got she not freed? How many did not she save from death whom the laws had condemned?"
She was taken ill in June 1658, and her sickness was aggravated by the death of her youngest son, Oliver. The nature of her disease is variously stated: "The truth is," writes Fleetwood, "it's believed the physicians do not understand thoroughly her case". Clarendon, Heath, Bates, and other royalist writers represent her as upbraiding her father in her last moments with the blood he had shed. The first hint of this report occurs in a newsletter of 16 September, where it is said that the Lady Claypole "did on her deathbed beseech his highness to take away the high court of justice".
She died on 6 August 1658, and the ''
Mercurius Politicus
''Mercurius Politicus'' was a newsbook that was published weekly from June 1650 until the English Restoration in May 1660. Under the editorship of Marchamont Nedham, it supported the republican governments. From 1655 until 1659 it had a monopoly o ...
'' in announcing her death describes her as "a lady of an excellent spirit and judgment, and of a most noble disposition, eminent in all princely qualities conjoined with sincere resentments of true religion and piety." She was buried on 10 August in
Henry VII's chapel
The Henry VII Lady Chapel, now more often known just as the Henry VII Chapel, is a large Lady chapel at the far eastern end of Westminster Abbey, paid for by the will of King Henry VII. It is separated from the rest of the abbey by brass gates a ...
in
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
. After the
Restoration
Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to:
* Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage
** Audio restoration
** Film restoration
** Image restoration
** Textile restoration
* Restoration ecology
...
,
Firth
Firth is a word in the English and Scots languages used to denote various coastal waters in the United Kingdom, predominantly within Scotland. In the Northern Isles, it more usually refers to a smaller inlet. It is linguistically cognate to ''fj ...
states in the ''
Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'' that her body was exhumed, along with about twenty others, and placed into a pit in a graveyard near the back door of the
prebendary
A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the ...
's lodgings. However, Peter Gaunt states in the more recent ''
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'' that her body was allowed to remain in the Abbey. Dean Stanley, during his search for the body of James I, found it in situ in 1869.
Of her four children, three sons and a daughter, Cromwell Claypole died in May 1678 unmarried; Henry is reported to have predeceased his brother; Oliver died in June 1658; and Martha died in January 1664. None left any descendants.
[Firth, DNB, xi,13]
Influences
She inspired the figure of Delmira, in the Italian
tragedy
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...
of 1671 ''
Il Cromuele'' (''The Cromwell'') written by
Girolamo Graziani
Girolamo Graziani (; 1 October 1604 – 12 September 1675), was an Italian poet and diplomat.
Graziani was one of the most famous poets of the 17th century, but his fame didn't survive him. During his life he was appreciated mainly for his epic p ...
, set in England during the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
.
[Delmira is a ]loyalist
Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...
friend of Queen Henrietta Maria
Henrietta Maria (french: link=no, Henriette Marie; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland from her marriage to King Charles I on 13 June 1625 until Charles was executed on 30 January 1649. She was ...
, wife of Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
, executed by the will of Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...
and then by an Anagnorisis
Anagnorisis (; grc, ἀναγνώρισις) is a moment in a play or other work when a character makes a critical discovery. Anagnorisis originally meant recognition in its Greek context, not only of a person but also of what that person stood ...
discovered to be his daughter.
Ancestry
Notes
;Footnotes
;Citations
References
*
C. H. Firth.
Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
br>
Volume XI, pages 12,13 Sources
**Noble's House of Cromwell
**Carlyle's Letters and Speeches of Cromwell ;
**Ludlow's Memoirs, 1751;
**Clarendon State Papers ;
**Thurloe Papers.
*C. H. Firth, ''Claypole , Elizabeth (bap. 1629, d. 1658)'', rev. Peter Gaunt, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 9 Aug 2009*
Thomas Bayly Howell
Thomas Bayly Howell FRS (6 September 1767 – 13 April 1815) was an English lawyer and writer who edited and lent his name to ''Howell's State Trials''.
Life
Thomas Bayly Howell was born in Jamaica. His family returned to England in 1770 to set ...
(editor),
Thomas Jones Howell
Thomas Jones Howell (died 1858), who edited the 'State Trials' (vols. xxii. 1815-xxxiii. 1826), was admitted of Lincoln's Inn on 9 November 1814 (Register). He sold Prinknash after 1842. He died at Eaton Place West, London, on 4 June 1858 (Gent. M ...
,
William Cobbett
William Cobbett (9 March 1763 – 18 June 1835) was an English pamphleteer, journalist, politician, and farmer born in Farnham, Surrey. He was one of an agrarian faction seeking to reform Parliament, abolish "rotten boroughs", restrain foreign ...
,
David Jardine. ''A complete collection of state trials and proceedings for high treason and other crimes and misdemeanors from the earliest period to the year 1783, with notes and other illustrations'',Edition 5, Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown, 1816.
*Ramsey, R. W. ''Elizabeth Claypole'', The English Historical Review, Vol. 7, No. 25 (Jan. 1892), pp. 37–47
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Claypole, Elizabeth
1629 births
1658 deaths
17th-century English people
Burials at Westminster Abbey
Elizabeth
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist
Ships
* HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships
* ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...
17th-century English women
Children of Oliver Cromwell