Henry
Vane, the son of Sir Henry Vane, Secretary of State to Charles
I, was born in Hadlow, Kent, in 1613. Vane was educated at Oxford
University. A Presbyterian,
Vane emigrated to America in 1635 and eventually became Governor of
Massachusetts.
In
1637 Vane returned to England and in 1640 he was elected to represent
Hull in the House
of Commons. Over the next couple of years he advocated religious
toleration and the establishment of a constitutional monarchy. Along
with John
Pym he
led
the campaign to have Thomas
Wentworth,
Earl of Strafford, ousted from power.
During
the Civil
War Vane
became leader of the Republicans in Parliament (1643-1653). Later
he opposed the authoritarianism of Oliver
Cromwell and
in 1656 was prosecuted for writing the pamphlet, A
Healing Question.
On 3rd September 1658,
Oliver Cromwell died. Parliament
and the leaders of the army now began arguing amongst themselves about
how England should be ruled. General George
Monck, the officer in charge of the English army based in Scotland,
decided to take action, and in 1660 he marched his army to London.
When Monck arrived he reinstated
the House of Lords and the Parliament of
1640. Royalists were now in control of Parliament. Monk
now contacted Charles
II, who was living
in Holland. Charles agreed that if he was made king he would pardon
all members of the parliamentary army and would continue with the
Commonwealth's policy of religious toleration. Charles also accepted
that he would share power with Parliament and would not rule as an
'absolute' monarch as his father had
tried to do in the 1630s.
This information was passed
to Parliament and it was eventually agreed to abolish the Commonwealth
and bring back the monarchy. In
August 1660, Charles
II and Parliament
agreed to pass the Act of Indemnity and Oblivion. This resulted in
the granting of a free pardon to anyone who had supported the Commonwealth
government. However, the king retained the right to punish those people
who had participated in the trial and execution of Charles
I.
Henry Vane was arrested
and charged with conspiring against Charles
I. He was found
guilty of high treason and executed on 14th June 1662.
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