John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford:

A Friend to Kings

He was born about 1485 to James Russell and Alice Wyse in Kingston Russell, Devon, England.  His family was that of moderate standing and wealth.  The family had been wine importers for two centuries by the time of his birth.  The only exception to this was John’s grandfather; also named John and who had been a knight of the shire for Dorset in 1472 till he died in 1505.  There is not much known about John’s early life, but it is known that he did extensive traveling and was fluent in several languages as he reached his adult hood.  John was set to become another in the long line of family who made their living in the wine trade, when a storm hit that would change and alter his fate.

There was a storm off the coast of England in early 1506 that caught a fleet of ships off guard.  This fleet was taking Archduke Phillip of Austria and his wife Juana (King and Queen of Castile) back to Spain.  The couple’s ship lost the fleet during the storm and nearly sank, but amazingly they made Weymouth Bay where their ship was wrecked on the shore.  Archduke Phillip of Austria and his wife Juana were taken to the finest home in this area which belonged to Sir Thomas Trenchard.  Unable to understand his new guests, he sent for his neighbor John Russell.  Trenchard knew that John was fluent in several languages.

The couple was thrilled to speak with John.  Not only was he able to translate for them, he quickly struck up conversation as he had just recently returned from Spain.  Word was sent to London telling of the shipwrecked couple and upon hearing this; King Henry VII invited Archduke Phillip of Austria and his wife Juana to London as his guests.  The couple asked John to accompany them to London not only to be a translator, but also because they came to enjoy his company.

This is how John came to be introduced to the King.   King Henry VII heard nothing but praise about his guest’s interpreter and new friend.  This praise was not lost on the King, as he would appoint John to the office of Gentleman of the Privy Chamber.  This was much like today’s Presidential Cabinet, who advise and help run the country.  Today there is a similar council in England that advises the Prime Minister, as the King no longer is the one who rules the country.  John would hold this post for the rest of Henry VII’s reign.

John's appointment to the office of Gentleman of the Privy Chamber was continued by Henry VIII upon his coronation to the throne.  Though the new King was his junior by six years, John was thought highly of by the new King who quickly selected John for special assignments.  The first mission would be in the war and than later in diplomacy.  He would serve in 1513 as a captain fighting in the northern part of France.  After England took the town of Tournai, he was appointed to an administrative post there and knighted.

Starting with this period of his life he also began to serve as an intermediary and arbitrator between King Henry VIII and the Cardinal, Thomas Wosley.  Both the King and the Cardinal trusted and liked John.  He also became involved in the conspiracy plot to assassinate the York claimant to the throne, Richard de la Pole during this period.  In 1514 he was sent to Paris by the King as a representative from England for the marriage of King Louis XII to Princess Mary and in 1520 he accompanied the King to the Field of Cloth of Gold as peace came between England and France.

In 1522 John fought valiantly in the siege of Morlaix in Spain.  During battle he was shot by an arrow in the eye.  He would loose both his vision and the eye, gaining him the nickname of “One Eyed John.”  For this Valor he was invested as a Knight on July 2, 1522 by the Earl of Surrey.  He later was invested as a Knight-Marshal in 1523.  During this period in his life he also served Cardinal Thomas Wosley as an agent from 1523 to 1527 helping to search for alliances against Francois I.  While doing this, he fought in the Battle of Pavia on February 24th, 1525 and narrowly escaped when Rome was sacked.

In the spring of 1526 he married Anne Sapcote daughter of Sir Guy Sapcote and Margaret Wolston.  This marriage brought him an interest estate, Chenies in Buckinghamshire.  It’s about this time that he ends his travels and settles here.  This would be the beginning of a prosperous time in his life.  He would hold the offices of Sheriff for Dorset and Somerset in 1528.  The expense of his travels had caused for him to dispose of some of his property in Dorset and it is thought this was in part a repayment to him for both his service and personal sacrifices.

The spring of 1529 John was appointed to go to the French court, but his mission was recalled before he left, as he was needed for the discussions between the King and the Cardinal.  Discussions failed and the King dismissed Cardinal Thomas Wosley because the Cardinal had refused to divorce the King.  Henry replaced Wosley with Thomas Cromwell.  Wosley later would be arrested, but died before he was ever brought to trial.

Even though he was the intermediary and arbitrator for the failed talks he still remained in good favor with Henry and it did not affect their relationship.  Evidence of this is in the fact he would become a Member of Parliament as a knight of the shire for his adopted county.  His appointment for Buckinghamshire was one that was called for by the King when he was at Windsor in August of 1529.  John would serve in Parliament from 1529 to 1536 for Buckinghamshire.

There was one relationship affected by the role he played between the King and Cardinal.  This was with Anne Boleyn.  During this time, she saw John as not agreeing with the fact that the King should get divorced.  This was worsened when John would defend the Cardinals point of view.  Also because the talks were so drawn out, she blamed John for it taking so long for her to become queen.  She was hostile and made it quite evident of her dislike towards him.  This was evident from the fact that he was not part of the Kings council during the time of this marriage but returned upon the Kings next marriage.

This time period would be one of the quieter periods of John’s life.  During 1532 he traveled to Calais with the King and a year later was offered, but did not accept deputyship of the town.  In 1534, King Henry VIII had the Parliament pass a law saying that the King, not the Pope, would from then on be the supreme head of the church.  Henry VIII married Jane Seymour in 1536.  In compliance with the King's request, John sat in the Parliament which opened nine days after the marriage.  The purpose of this was to complete the destruction of Anne Boleyn.  This must have been a joyous occasion and perhaps was his favorite moment while being Member of Parliament.

John would go on to distinguish himself further in the Lincolnshire rebellion that started on Saturday September 30th, 1536 in the little village of Louth, in Lincolnshire.  He would continue to help during that November’s “Pilgrimage of Grace” which was to be the worst uprisings during the reign of Henry VIII.  Also during this same time period that he grew closer to Cromwell who saw John as a potential Canidate for a high office.

Opportunity came to John with the establishment of the council in the west after the uprising. The execution of the Marques of Exeter had created a political vacuum in Devon and Cornwall.  The King would not risk making the mistake of appointing anyone whose loyalty he did not trust.  John had proved his worth and the decision by the king proved to be a wise one.  John’s family ties to the region were an added qualification.

During this time he regained some of the properties that he had lost earlier and added countless more properties to bolster his land holdings.  He received substantial grants of land in the south-west, the High Stewardship of the Duchy of Cornwall and the Lord Warden Ship of the Stannaries (both previously held by Exeter).  The western council came into being in 1539, but failed to establish itself, perhaps because its president (John) was often needed at court.  There was no natural successor to Exeter, making his personal ascendancy in the south-west of England to remain unchallenged for the rest of his life.

John continued with success as he went on to gain great honors and distinguish himself as one of the country’s leaders of the time.  He would hold the office of Comptroller of the Household from 1537 to 1539.  He was once again invested as a Privy Counselor (P.C.) in 1538.  He would be invested to Monarch’s of England Privy Counsel from this point till the time of his death.  At this time he would also gain a title to his name.  He was created 1st Baron Russell of England on March 9, 1538.  This was a considerable gain in peerage for both himself and his family.

He was invested as a Knight, Order of the Garter (K.G.) on April 24th of 1539.  Founded in 1348 by Edward III, the Garter is England's highest and most coveted order of chivalry.  The Order is comprised of the Monarch, the heir to the throne and twenty-four elected Knights who were only replaced upon death or disgrace.  It’s thought that in 1344 King Edward III inspired by the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, made a spectacular demonstration of his interest in Arthurian legend during a massive joust at Windsor Castle.  Edward III also promised to renew King Arthur's fraternity of knights with all the paragons of knightly virtues.  This would become the Order of the Garter.  John was the 301st member to join this order since it had been founded.

Thomas Cromwell, who John had become close with fell out of the Kings favor about this time period.  Henry had married Anne of Cleves as part of Cromwell’s plan for a Protestant union with German Princes, but they were divorced after only six months.  The King had also blamed Cromwell for the uprisings in his kingdom.  For these reasons, Henry would have Cromwell executed in 1540.  Once again, despite John’s closeness to Cromwell at one time, it did not cause any problems with Henry and did not affect their relationship.

He would come to hold some rather high posts at this time as well.  John was Lord High Admiral from 1540 to 1542, in charge of England’s Royal Navy.  He held the office of High Steward of Oxford University, a position he had from 1543 till his death.  This period also included Captain-General of the Vanguard for the army during the attack on Boulogne in 1545.  Also at this time he and his wife Anne, obtained the wealthy lands of Tavistock Abbey, and they renewed their lease to the Drakes in 1546.

On January 28, 1547 Henry VIII of England died in the city of London.  It was said that as the King’s life was nearing an end, that in his last few years John’s role was no longer just of giving advice as part of the Kings counsel, but he was more of a friend to aging King.  They enjoyed eating and keeping each other company.  John was rarely absent from Henry's side during the last years of the reign.  Their closeness is also shown as John was the executor of the King’s will and in it received £500 from Henry.

King Edward VI had at first meant to promote John in the peerage but this would not happen.  He did not receive any of the honors that Edward gave out upon the start of his reign.  King Edward VI was only 8 years old when he took the throne and because of this Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset was named Lord Protector for King Edward VI because the King was his nephew.  Lord Protector was to rule and to protect the new King until he was old enough to rule himself.  Seymour ruled more as an autocrat, not listening to the counsel as he was supposed to under law.  Seymour would be the one to give out honors, giving them to whom he wanted and not who Edward VI wanted.

On the outbreak of the Prayer Book Rebellion of 1549 John was commissioned to restore order.  When the rebels failed to capture Exeter, the insurgents were soon suppressed by an army of Italian mercenaries commanded by John.  He had an additional satisfaction in putting down this particular revolt.  Among the demands made by these rebels was for the return of and restitution paid to the Church for the King taking Tavistock Abbey from the monks.  By this time the Abbey belonged to John and he was not about to give it up.

Putting down the revolt, John would be criticized by Seymour for not doing it in a quicker and timelier fashion.  This did not sit well with John and he looked for a way to make Seymour pay for this.  The opportunity for revenge would come when Seymour would request the help of John’s army in battle.  Seymour called upon John’s and Sir William Herbert’s armies to come to his aid.  They came with their armies to join the battle, but to Seymour’s surprise the two had had switched sides, going with the Earl of Warwick’s and they ousted Seymour from power.

The defection by John had sealed Seymour's fate and he was rewarded for this by becoming the Earl of Bedford on January 19, 1550.  He was given more lands in the south-west and the east midlands, this included Woburn Abbey, which was to become the home of the Russell family and remains as such to the present day.  He also was asked and given the honor to be the one who would educate Edward VI.  Along with this, in 1550 he was sent to negotiate peace with the French for the war Seymour had started.

Edward VI’s life and reign would be a short one.  In the summer of 1553 he became ill and it became evident he would die.  Northumberland hatched a scheme looking to take advantage of this situation and seize power.  After Edwards two sisters’s the Grey family was the next in succession to the throne.  This would be Jane Grey.  It was his plan to have his son Guildford Dudley marry Jane Grey and have The King in his weak and frail state sign that his two sisters would be passed over in favor of the Jane.  He then threatened the lives of any counsel member who would not go along with his plan.

 On Thursday July 6, 1553 the fifteen year old King died, with John and the other Privy Councilors gathered at the bedside.  John would sign the device which put Lady Jane Grey on the throne and swore allegiance to her, but as soon as the Duke of Northumberland left London he quit with other Privy Councilors and helped to proclaim Mary, Edward’s sister and Henry VIII’s oldest child as rightful heir to the throne.

Mary would retain John as a Councilor.  He first opposed Mary’s marriage to Phillip of Spain that had been planned.  At first he supported the petition for an English marriage.  The thought of a Spaniard sitting on the English throne was not something a lot of people liked.  This disagreement did not last long.  He would come to the aid of the Queen during Wyatt's rebellion, thus regaining her confidence and a leading place in her counsels.  She trusted him with the job to bring Phillip from Spain for the wedding, and it was perhaps on his advice that Phillip landed at Southampton instead of western England where the feeling was strong against the marriage.  He was also present at the couple’s royal wedding as well.

At the beginning of 1555 John became ill.  He made his last appearance in Council on January 11, 1555. He would write his will which would be dated February 2, 1555.  He left only a son named Francis as an heir, who would succeed him in the title.  He provided for his wife, son, grandchildren, kinsmen and servants.  He died on March 14, 1555 at Russell House on the Strand and was buried with pomp and circumstance six days later at Chenies where a monument was erected to his memory.  Across England his death was marked by the tolling of bells and other signs of public mourning.