Keywords: portrait people indoor Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles PC (31 October 1599 – 17 February 1680) was an English statesman and writer, best known as one of the five members of parliament whom King Charles I of England attempted to arrest in 1642. Holles was the second son (John was one of his brothers) of John Holles, 1st Earl of Clare (c. 1564–1637), by Anne, daughter of Sir Thomas Stanhope. The favourite son of his father and endowed with great natural abilities, Denzil Holles grew up under advantageous circumstances. Destined to become one of the most formidable antagonists of King Charles's arbitrary government, he had been Charles's childhood friend. The Earl of Clare was, however, no friend to the Stuart administration, being especially hostile to the Duke of Buckingham; and on the accession of Charles to the throne the king's offers of favour were rejected. In 1624 Holles was returned to parliament for Mitchell in Cornwall, and in 1628 for Dorchester. He had from the first a keen sense of the humiliations which attended the foreign policy of the Stuart kings. Writing to Strafford, his brother-in-law, on November 29, 1629, he severely censures Buckingham's conduct of the expedition to the Isle of Ré; "since England was England," he declared, "it received not so dishonourable a blow"; and he joined in the demand for Buckingham's impeachment in 1628. To these discontents were now added the abuses arising from the king's arbitrary administration. On March 2, 1629, when Sir John Finch, the speaker, refused to put Sir John Eliot's Protestations and was about to adjourn the House by the king's command, Holles together with another member, Sir Walter Long, thrust him back into the chair and swore "he should sit still till it pleased them to rise." Meanwhile Eliot, on the refusal of the speaker to read the Protestations, had himself thrown them into the fire; the usher of the black rod was knocking at the door for admittance, and the king had sent for the guard. But Holles, declaring that he could not render the king or his country better service, put the Protestations to the House from memory, all the members rising to their feet and applauding. In consequence a warrant was issued for his arrest with others on the following day. They were prosecuted first in the Star Chamber and subsequently in the King's Bench. When brought upon his habeas corpus before the latter court Holles offered with the rest to give bail, but refused sureties for good behaviour, and argued that the court had no jurisdiction over offences supposed to have been committed in parliament. On his refusal to plead he was sentenced to a fine of 1000 marks and to imprisonment during the king's pleasure. Holles had at first been committed and remained for some time a close prisoner in the Tower of London. The "close" confinement, however, was soon changed to a "safe" one, the prisoner then having leave to take the air and exercise, but being obliged to maintain himself at his own expense. On October 29 Holles, with Eliot and Valentine, was transferred to the Marshalsea. His resistance to the king's tyranny did not prove so stout as that of some of his comrades in misfortune. Among the papers of the secretary Sir John Coke is a petition of Holles, couched in humble and submissive terms, to be restored to the king's favour; having given the security demanded for his good behaviour, he was liberated early in 1630, and on October 30 was allowed bail. On the outbreak of the Civil War Holles, who had been made lieutenant of Bristol, was sent with Bedford to the west against the marquess of Hertford, and took part in the unsuccessful siege of the latter at Sherborne Castle. He was present at Edgehill, where his regiment of Puritans recruited in London was one of the few which stood firm and saved the day for the parliament. On November 13, 1642 his men were surprised at Brentford during his absence, and routed after a stout resistance. In December he was proposed for the command of the forces in the west, an appointment which he appears to have refused. Notwithstanding his activity in the field for the cause of the parliament, the appeal to arms had been distasteful to Holles from the first. As early as September he surprised the House by the marked abatement of his former "violent and fiery spirit," and his changed attitude did not escape the taunts of his enemies, who attributed it scornfully to his disaster at Brentford or to his new wife. He probably foresaw that, to whichever side victory fell, the struggle could only terminate in the suppression of the constitution and of the moderate party on which all his hopes were based. His feelings and political opinions, too, were essentially aristocratic, and he regarded with horror the transference of the government of the state from the king and the ruling families to the parliamentary leaders. He now advocated peace and a settlement of the disputes by concessions on both sides; a proposal full of danger because impracticable, and one therefore which could only weaken the parliamentary resistance and prolong the struggle. He warmly supported the peace negotiations on November 21, 1642 and December 22, 1642, and his attitude led to a breach with Pym and the more determined party. In June 1643 he was accused of complicity in Waller's plot, but swore to his innocency; and his arrest with others of the peace party was even proposed in August, when Holles applied for a pass to leave the country. On January 26, 1648 the eleven members, who had not appeared when summoned to answer the charges against them, were expelled. Not long afterwards, however, on June 3, these proceedings were annulled; and Holles, who had then returned and was a prisoner in the Tower with the rest of the eleven members, was discharged. He returned to his seat on August 14. Holles was one of the commissioners appointed to treat with the king at Newport on September 18, 1648. Aware of the plans of the extreme party, Holles threw himself at the king's feet and implored him not to waste time in useless negotiations, and he was one of those who stayed behind the rest in order to urge Charles to compliance. On December 1 he received the thanks of the House. On the occasion of Pride's Purge on December 6 Holles absented himself and escaped again to France. From his retirement there he wrote to Charles II in 1651, advising him to come to terms with the Scots as the only means of effecting a restoration; but after the alliance he refused Charles's offer of the secretaryship a state. In March 1654 Cromwell, who in alarm at the plots being formed against him was attempting to reconcile some of his opponents to his government, sent Holles a pass "with notable circumstances of kindness and esteem." His subsequent movements and the date of his return to England are uncertain, but in 1656 Cromwell's resentment was again excited against him as the supposed author of a tract, really written by Clarendon. He appears to have been imprisoned, for his release was ordered by the council on September 2, 1659. His long and eventful career closed by his death on February 17, 1680. He was buried at Westminster Abbey on 21st February 1680[1]. The character of Holles has been drawn by Burnet, with whom he was on terms of friendship. "Holles was a man of great courage and of as great pride... He was faithful and firm to his side and never changed through the whole course of his life." He argued well but too vehemently; for he could not bear contradiction. He had the soul of an old stubborn Roman in him. He was a faithful but a rough friend, and a severe but fair enemy. He had a true sense of religion; and was a man of an unblameable course of life and of a sound judgment when it was not biased by passion. Holles was essentially an aristocrat and a Whig in feeling, making Cromwell's supposed hatred of "Lords" a special charge against him; regarding the civil wars rather as a social than as a political revolution, and attributing all the evils of his time to the transference of political power from the governing families to the "meanest of men." Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles PC (31 October 1599 – 17 February 1680) was an English statesman and writer, best known as one of the five members of parliament whom King Charles I of England attempted to arrest in 1642. Holles was the second son (John was one of his brothers) of John Holles, 1st Earl of Clare (c. 1564–1637), by Anne, daughter of Sir Thomas Stanhope. The favourite son of his father and endowed with great natural abilities, Denzil Holles grew up under advantageous circumstances. Destined to become one of the most formidable antagonists of King Charles's arbitrary government, he had been Charles's childhood friend. The Earl of Clare was, however, no friend to the Stuart administration, being especially hostile to the Duke of Buckingham; and on the accession of Charles to the throne the king's offers of favour were rejected. In 1624 Holles was returned to parliament for Mitchell in Cornwall, and in 1628 for Dorchester. He had from the first a keen sense of the humiliations which attended the foreign policy of the Stuart kings. Writing to Strafford, his brother-in-law, on November 29, 1629, he severely censures Buckingham's conduct of the expedition to the Isle of Ré; "since England was England," he declared, "it received not so dishonourable a blow"; and he joined in the demand for Buckingham's impeachment in 1628. To these discontents were now added the abuses arising from the king's arbitrary administration. On March 2, 1629, when Sir John Finch, the speaker, refused to put Sir John Eliot's Protestations and was about to adjourn the House by the king's command, Holles together with another member, Sir Walter Long, thrust him back into the chair and swore "he should sit still till it pleased them to rise." Meanwhile Eliot, on the refusal of the speaker to read the Protestations, had himself thrown them into the fire; the usher of the black rod was knocking at the door for admittance, and the king had sent for the guard. But Holles, declaring that he could not render the king or his country better service, put the Protestations to the House from memory, all the members rising to their feet and applauding. In consequence a warrant was issued for his arrest with others on the following day. They were prosecuted first in the Star Chamber and subsequently in the King's Bench. When brought upon his habeas corpus before the latter court Holles offered with the rest to give bail, but refused sureties for good behaviour, and argued that the court had no jurisdiction over offences supposed to have been committed in parliament. On his refusal to plead he was sentenced to a fine of 1000 marks and to imprisonment during the king's pleasure. Holles had at first been committed and remained for some time a close prisoner in the Tower of London. The "close" confinement, however, was soon changed to a "safe" one, the prisoner then having leave to take the air and exercise, but being obliged to maintain himself at his own expense. On October 29 Holles, with Eliot and Valentine, was transferred to the Marshalsea. His resistance to the king's tyranny did not prove so stout as that of some of his comrades in misfortune. Among the papers of the secretary Sir John Coke is a petition of Holles, couched in humble and submissive terms, to be restored to the king's favour; having given the security demanded for his good behaviour, he was liberated early in 1630, and on October 30 was allowed bail. On the outbreak of the Civil War Holles, who had been made lieutenant of Bristol, was sent with Bedford to the west against the marquess of Hertford, and took part in the unsuccessful siege of the latter at Sherborne Castle. He was present at Edgehill, where his regiment of Puritans recruited in London was one of the few which stood firm and saved the day for the parliament. On November 13, 1642 his men were surprised at Brentford during his absence, and routed after a stout resistance. In December he was proposed for the command of the forces in the west, an appointment which he appears to have refused. Notwithstanding his activity in the field for the cause of the parliament, the appeal to arms had been distasteful to Holles from the first. As early as September he surprised the House by the marked abatement of his former "violent and fiery spirit," and his changed attitude did not escape the taunts of his enemies, who attributed it scornfully to his disaster at Brentford or to his new wife. He probably foresaw that, to whichever side victory fell, the struggle could only terminate in the suppression of the constitution and of the moderate party on which all his hopes were based. His feelings and political opinions, too, were essentially aristocratic, and he regarded with horror the transference of the government of the state from the king and the ruling families to the parliamentary leaders. He now advocated peace and a settlement of the disputes by concessions on both sides; a proposal full of danger because impracticable, and one therefore which could only weaken the parliamentary resistance and prolong the struggle. He warmly supported the peace negotiations on November 21, 1642 and December 22, 1642, and his attitude led to a breach with Pym and the more determined party. In June 1643 he was accused of complicity in Waller's plot, but swore to his innocency; and his arrest with others of the peace party was even proposed in August, when Holles applied for a pass to leave the country. On January 26, 1648 the eleven members, who had not appeared when summoned to answer the charges against them, were expelled. Not long afterwards, however, on June 3, these proceedings were annulled; and Holles, who had then returned and was a prisoner in the Tower with the rest of the eleven members, was discharged. He returned to his seat on August 14. Holles was one of the commissioners appointed to treat with the king at Newport on September 18, 1648. Aware of the plans of the extreme party, Holles threw himself at the king's feet and implored him not to waste time in useless negotiations, and he was one of those who stayed behind the rest in order to urge Charles to compliance. On December 1 he received the thanks of the House. On the occasion of Pride's Purge on December 6 Holles absented himself and escaped again to France. From his retirement there he wrote to Charles II in 1651, advising him to come to terms with the Scots as the only means of effecting a restoration; but after the alliance he refused Charles's offer of the secretaryship a state. In March 1654 Cromwell, who in alarm at the plots being formed against him was attempting to reconcile some of his opponents to his government, sent Holles a pass "with notable circumstances of kindness and esteem." His subsequent movements and the date of his return to England are uncertain, but in 1656 Cromwell's resentment was again excited against him as the supposed author of a tract, really written by Clarendon. He appears to have been imprisoned, for his release was ordered by the council on September 2, 1659. His long and eventful career closed by his death on February 17, 1680. He was buried at Westminster Abbey on 21st February 1680[1]. The character of Holles has been drawn by Burnet, with whom he was on terms of friendship. "Holles was a man of great courage and of as great pride... He was faithful and firm to his side and never changed through the whole course of his life." He argued well but too vehemently; for he could not bear contradiction. He had the soul of an old stubborn Roman in him. He was a faithful but a rough friend, and a severe but fair enemy. He had a true sense of religion; and was a man of an unblameable course of life and of a sound judgment when it was not biased by passion. Holles was essentially an aristocrat and a Whig in feeling, making Cromwell's supposed hatred of "Lords" a special charge against him; regarding the civil wars rather as a social than as a political revolution, and attributing all the evils of his time to the transference of political power from the governing families to the "meanest of men." |