Sir John Coventry (c. 1636–1685) was an English politician who sat in 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 ...

between 1667 and 1682. Coventry was son of John Coventry (died 1652), the second son of

lord keeper The Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England, and later of Great Britain, was formerly an officer of the English Crown charged with physical custody of the Great Seal of England. This position evolved into that of one of the Great Officers of ...

Thomas Coventry of Croome Park, Worcestershire. Between 1655 and 1659, he travelled on the continent with his tutor the poet Edward Sherburne. He matriculated at

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...

in 1660 and was made a

Knight of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as on ...

at the coronation of Charles II, the following year. In 1667, he went with his uncle

Henry Coventry Henry Coventry (1619–1686), styled "The Honourable" from 1628, was an English politician who was Secretary of State for the Northern Department between 1672 and 1674 and the Southern Department between 1674 and 1680. Origins and education Co ...

to the negotiations leading to the Treaty of Breda, ending the

Second Anglo-Dutch War The Second Anglo-Dutch War or the Second Dutch War (4 March 1665 – 31 July 1667; nl, Tweede Engelse Oorlog "Second English War") was a conflict between England and the Dutch Republic partly for control over the seas and trade routes, whe ...

. That year and in the following parliaments of 1678, 1679 and 1681, he was elected for Weymouth.History of Parliament Online - Coventry, John
/ref> He followed Lord Ashley in politics, and was a fairly active member. On 21 December 1670, owing to a jest made by Coventry in the House of Commons on the subject of the King's amours, Sir Thomas Sandys, an officer of the guards, with other accomplices, by the order of Monmouth, and (it was said) with the approval of the king himself, waylaid him as he was returning home to Suffolk Street and slit his nose to the bone. The outrage created an extraordinary sensation in the Commons, and in consequence Parliament debated a bill ‘to prevent malicious maiming and wounding’ (22 & 23 Chas. II, c.1), a measure known as the "Coventry Act" was passed, declaring assaults accompanied by personal mutilation a felony without

benefit of clergy In English law, the benefit of clergy (Law Latin: ''privilegium clericale'') was originally a provision by which clergymen accused of a crime could claim that they were outside the jurisdiction of the secular courts and be tried instead in an ec ...

, an Act not repealed until 1828. Sir

William Coventry Sir William Coventry (4th October 162723 June 1686) was an English statesman. Early life and Civil War William was the son of the lord keeper Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry, by his second wife Elizabeth Aldersley. Coventry matriculated ...

, his uncle, speaks slightingly of him, ridicules his vanity and wishes him out of the House of Commons to be out of harm's way. The character of Amnon in

John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the per ...

's ''

Absalom and Achitophel ''Absalom and Achitophel'' is a celebrated satirical poem by John Dryden, written in heroic couplets and first published in 1681. The poem tells the Biblical tale of the rebellion of Absalom against King David; in this context it is an all ...

'' (1681) is thought to be based on him. He was suspected of having become a Roman Catholic while abroad in the 1650s and evidently was when he made his will in 1667. However, during the Exclusion Crisis, he sided with the party seeking the exclusion of the Duke of York from the king's presence. He died unmarried.

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References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coventry, John 1630s births 1685 deaths Year of birth uncertain Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford Knights of the Bath English MPs 1661–1679 English MPs 1679 English MPs 1680–1681 English MPs 1681