Joseph Jane (1595 – 1658) was an English royalist politician and

controversialist Polemic () is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called ''polemics'', which are seen in arguments on controversial topics ...

Life

He was born into an old family which had long been influential in

Liskeard Liskeard ( ; kw, Lyskerrys) is a small ancient stannary and market town in south-east Cornwall, South West England. It is situated approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Plymouth, west of the Devon border, and 12 miles (20 km) eas ...

, Cornwall; his father Thomas was mayor there in 1621, Joseph himself was mayor of Liskeard in 1625, and

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for the town in 1626. He was re-elected in 1640 to the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

. He was a royalist and followed the king to

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 1643 and sat in the Oxford Parliament. As a result he was disabled in 1644 from sitting in the Long Parliament. That same year he was one of the royal commissioners in Cornwall, where in August 1644 he entertained

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 ...

in his house. During 1645 and 1646 he was in correspondence with Sir Edward Hyde, afterwards

Earl of Clarendon Earl of Clarendon is a title that has been created twice in British history, in 1661 and 1776. The family seat is Holywell House, near Swanmore, Hampshire. First creation of the title The title was created for the first time in the Peer ...

, on the state of the royalist cause in Cornwall. He was at

Pendennis Castle Pendennis Castle (Cornish: ''Penn Dinas'', meaning "headland fortification") is an artillery fort constructed by Henry VIII near Falmouth, Cornwall, England between 1540 and 1542. It formed part of the King's Device programme to protect agai ...

when it was taken by the Parliamentary forces in 1646 and suffered the confiscation of his estates. By 1649 he had moved to the continent to live at the Hague, where he took up writing. Remaining true to his principles, in 1650 and again in 1654 he was named clerk of the royal council. He died at Middelburg in the United Provinces in 1658. His son

William Jane William Jane (1645–1707) was an English academic and clergyman, Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford from 1680. Life The son of Joseph Jane, he was born at Liskeard, Cornwall, where he was baptised on 22 October 1645. He was educated at Westm ...

was Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford.

Works

Jane undertook to answer

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...

's ‘ Eἰκονοκλάστης’ in a work ‘Eἰκών Ἂκλαστος; the Image Unbroken, a Perspective of the Impudence, Falsehoode, Vanitie, and Prophaneness published in a libel entitled "Eἰκονοκλάστης against Eἰκών Βασιλικὴ,"’ published in 1651 (without place). It is a laborious answer to Milton, and takes his paragraphs in detail. Writing to Secretary Nicholas in June 1652, Edward Hyde said ‘the king has a singular good esteem both of Joseph Jane and of his book.’ Hyde shared this high opinion of the man, but doubted whether the book was worth translating into French, the better to counteract the effect of Milton's, as had been proposed.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jane, Joseph 1595 births 1658 deaths People from Liskeard Cavaliers Politicians from Cornwall Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Liskeard English MPs 1626 English MPs 1640–1648