John Maitland
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Short Stats
- Character Name: John Maitland
- Title: Duke of Lauderdale, Earl of March (Scottish Peerage), Earl of Guilford, Baron Petersham (English Peerage)
- Estate Name:
- Nationality: Scottish
- Age: 59 (b.1616)
- Gender: Male
- Eye Colour: Blue
- Hair Colour: Blond
Physical Attributes
John Maitland was not just plain. He was ugly, his face somewhat bloated, and lines noting his age. His nose was grotesque. His waistline had grown considerably through the years.
Initial Impression of Personality
Although able, John is arrogant and unscrupulous and ruthless, and is widely disliked. He is a Presbyterian. Clarendon described him
- "Insolent, imperious, flattering and dissembling, and having no impediment of honour to restrain him from doing anything that might satisfy any of his passions".
One of these passions was the arts.
Background
He was a member of an ancient family of Berwickshire, the eldest surviving son of John Maitland, 2nd Lord Maitland of Thirlestane (d. 1645), who was created Earl of Lauderdale in 1624, and of Lady Isabel Seton, daughter of Alexander, Earl of Dunfermline and great-grandson of Sir Richard Maitland, the poet.
Covenanter
Maitland began public life as a zealous adherent of the Presbyterian cause, took the Covenant, sat as an elder in the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland at St Andrews in July 1643, and was sent to the Kingdom of England as a Commissioner for the Covenant in August, and to attend the Westminster Assembly in November.
Privy Councillor in two kingdoms
In February 1644 he was a member of the Privy Council of England and the Privy Council of Scotland, and on November 20 was one of the Commissioners appointed to treat with the king at Uxbridge, when he made efforts to persuade King Charles I to agree to the establishment of Presbyterianism. In 1645 he advised Charles to reject the proposals of the Independents, and in 1647 approved of the king's surrender to the Scots.
Restoration
At this period Lauderdale veered round completely to the King's cause, had several interviews with him, and engaged in various projects for his restoration, offering the aid of the Scots, on the condition of Charles's consent to the establishment of Presbyterianism, and on December 26 he obtained from Charles at Carisbrooke "the engagement" by which Presbyterianism was to be established for three years, schismatics were to be suppressed, and the Acts of the Parliament of Scotland ratified, the king in addition promising to admit the Scottish nobles into public employment in England and to reside frequently in Scotland.
Returning to Scotland, in the spring of 1648, Lauderdale joined the party of Hamilton in alliance with the English royalists. Their defeat at Preston postponed the arrival of the Prince of Wales, but Lauderdale had an interview with the prince in the Downs in August, and from this period obtained supreme influence over the future king. He persuaded him later to accept the invitation to Scotland from the Argyll faction, accompanied him thither in 1650 and in the expedition into England, and was taken prisoner at Worcester in 1651, remaining in confinement till March 1660.
He joined Charles in May 1660 at Breda, the Netherlands, and in spite of the opposition of Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon and George Monck, was appointed Secretary of State for Scotland.
King's councillor
From this time onwards he kept his hold upon the king, was lodged at Whitehall, was "never from the king's ear nor council," and maintained his position against his numerous adversaries by a crafty dexterity in dealing with men, a fearless unscrupulousness, and a robust strength of will, which overcame all opposition. Though a man of considerable learning and intellectual attainment, his character was exceptionally and grossly licentious, and his base and ignoble career was henceforward unrelieved by a single redeeming feature.
He abandoned Argyll to his fate, permitted, if he did not assist in, the restoration of episcopacy in Scotland, and after triumphing over all his opponents in Scotland drew into his own hands the whole administration of that kingdom, and proceeded to impose upon it the absolute supremacy of the crown in kirk and state, restoring the nomination of the lords of the articles to the king and initiating severe measures against the Covenanters. In 1669 he was able to boast with truth that "the king is now master here in all causes and over all persons."
The Cabal Ministry
His own power was now at its height, and his position as the favourite of Charles, controlled by no considerations of patriotism or statesmanship, and completely independent of the English parliament, recalled the worst scandals and abuses of the Stuart administration before the English Civil War.
He was a member of the Cabal Ministry, but took little part in English affairs, and was not entrusted with the first secret Treaty of Dover, but gave personal support to Charles in his degrading demands for pensions from Louis XIV. On May 2 1672 he was created Duke of Lauderdale and Earl of March, and on June 3 Knight of the Garter. He was also appointed Lord President of the Privy Council of Scotland in 1672, a position he held until 1681.
In 1673, on the resignation of James in consequence of the Test Act, he was appointed a Lord Commissioners of the Admiralty. In October he visited Scotland to suppress the dissenters and obtain money for the Anglo-Dutch War, and the intrigues organised by Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury against his power in his absence, and the attacks made upon him in the House of Commons in January 1674 and April 1675, were alike rendered futile by the steady support of Charles and James.
See Also
- Portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Lauderdale
