Sir John Perrot (c. 1527 - September, 1592) was lord deputy of Ireland under Queen Elizabeth I of England and is best known for his part in the Tudor re-conquest of Ireland. Events January 5 - Felix Manz, co-founder of the Swiss Anabaptists, was drowned in the Limmat River in Zürich by the Zürich Reformed state church. ... September is the ninth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four Gregorian months with 30 days. ... Events January 30 - The death of Pope Innocent IX during the previous year had left the Papal throne vacant. ... Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603 ) was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. ... The Tudor re-conquest of Ireland took place under the English Tudor dynasty during the 16th century. ...

Early Life

Perrot was borne at Harroldston by Mary Berkley - who soon after married Thomas Perrot, a Pembrokeshire gentleman - and was reputed to be a son of Henry VIII (whom he was said to resemble in temperament and appearance). He was attached to the household of William Paulet, 1st marquess of Winchester, and thereby gained his introduction to the king. Before the promise of advancement could be fulfilled, the king died, but Perrot did receive a knighthood at the coronation of the king's successor, Edward VI. Pembrokeshire (Welsh: Sir Benfro) is a county in the south-west of Wales in the United Kingdom. ... Henry VIII (28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547) was King of England and Lord of Ireland (later King of Ireland) from 22 April 1509 until his death. ... Edward Tudor redirects here; for another (though unlikely) Edward Tudor, see a putative younger son of Henry VII of England, who, if existed, would be the uncle of this Edward Edward VI (12 October 1537–6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland from 28 January 1547...

In June 1551 Perrot visited France in the train of the Marquis of Northampton, which had been sent to arrange the marriage of the king to the infant daughter of Henry II of France. His skill as a knight and in the hunt fascinated the French king, who sought to retain him for reward, but Perrot declined and on his return to England his debts were paid by Edward VI. This article is about Northampton in England; for other places of the same name see Northampton (disambiguation) Northampton Guildhall, built 1861-4, E.W. Godwin, architect Northampton is a large market town and a local government district in central England upon the River Nene, and the county town of Northamptonshire. ... Henry II (French: Henri II) (March 31, 1519 – July 10, 1559), a member of the Valois Dynasty, was King of France from July 31, 1547 until his death. ...

During the reign of Mary, Perrot suffered a brief imprisonment in the Fleet with his uncle, Robert Perrot, on a charge of sheltering heretics at his house in Wales. Following his release, he declined to assist the Earl of Pembroke in seeking out heretics in south Wales, but went on to serve with him at the capture of St Quentin in 1557. In spite of his Protestantism Perrot was granted the castle and lordship of Carew in Pembrokeshire, and at the beginning of Elizabeth's reign the naval defence of South Wales was entrusted to his care. Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 6 July 1553 (de jure) or 19 July 1553 (de facto) until her death. ... Heretic, meaning literally a person guilty or accused of heresy, is also often used as a title. ... The Earldom of Pembroke, associated with Pembroke Castle in Wales, was created by King Stephen of England. ... Saint-Quentin is a commune of northern France. ... Protestantism is a movement within Christianity, representing a split from within the Roman Catholic Church during the mid-to-late Renaissance in Europe —a period known as the Protestant Reformation. ... Thomas Carew (pronounced Carey) (1595 - 1645?) was an English poet. ... Pembrokeshire (Welsh: Sir Benfro) is a county in the south-west of Wales in the United Kingdom. ... Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603 ) was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. ... South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the East and South, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the North and West. ...

Munster

In 1570 Perrot reluctantly accepted the newly created post of lord president of the Irish province of Munster, which was then undergoing the first of the Desmond Rebellions. He landed at the port of Waterford in February of the following year and, during the course of a vigorous campaign in which he pursued the rebel James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald, the province was reduced to peace. In one grisly incident, after his forces had slain fifty rebels, Perrot sought to awe the Geraldine loyalists by having the heads of the dead men fixed to the market cross in Kilmallock. Fitzmaurice remained elusive and, out of frustration, Perrot issued him with a challenge to single combat, which the rebel declined with the comment, "For if I should kill Sir John Perrot the Queen of England can send another president into this province; but if he do kill me there is none other to succeed me or to command as I do." However gallant the offer, it provoked mutterings from the more level-headed servants of the crown, and Perrot's reputation for rashness grew. Soon after, he was ambushed by the rebels, who outnumbered his force ten to one, but was saved when the attackers retired on mistaking a small cavalry company for the advance party of a larger crown force. After a second and successful siege of the Geraldine stronghold of Castlemaine, Perrot had the satisfaction of receiving Fitzmaurice's submission in 1572. Events January 23 - The assassination of regent James Stewart, Earl of Moray throws Scotland into civil war February 25 - Pope Pius V excommunicates Queen Elizabeth I of England with the bull Regnans in Excelsis May 20 - Abraham Ortelius issues the first modern atlas. ... Munster (Irish: An Mhumhain, IPA: ) is the southernmost province of Ireland, comprising the counties of Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford. ... The Desmond Rebellions occurred in the 1560s, 1570s and 1580s in Munster in southern Ireland. ... Waterford (Irish: Port Lairge) is, historically, the capital of County Waterford in Ireland, though today the city is administered separately from the county, the latter having its seat in Dungarvan. ... James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald, a member of the sixteenth century ruling Geraldine dynasty in the province of Munster in Ireland, rebelled against the crown authority of Queen Elizabeth I of England in response to the onset of the Tudor re-conquest of Ireland and was deemed an archtraitor. ... Kilmallock (Cill Mocheallóg in Irish) is a village in south County Limerick, Ireland, near the border with County Cork. ...

Perrot's presidency was marked by over 800 hangings - most of them by martial law - but it can be judged overall as fairly successful. The reinstatement after the rebellion of the chief nobleman of Munster, Gerald Fitzgerald, 15th Earl of Desmond, was criticised by Perrot and, having vainly sought his own recall, he departed Ireland without leave in July 1573. Upon presenting himself at court he was permitted to resign his office, in which he was succeeded by Sir William Drury. Martial law is the system of rules that takes effect (usually after a formal declaration) when a military authority takes control of the normal administration of justice. ... Gerald Fitzgerald, 15th Earl of Desmond (c. ... William Drury (October 2, 1527-October, 1579), English statesman and soldier, was a son of Sir Robert Drury of Hedgerley in Buckinghamshire, and grandson of another Sir Robert Drury (d. ...

Perrot returned to his Welsh home, where he became fully occupied with his duties as vice-admiral of the Welsh seas and as a member of the Council of the Marches. In 1578 he was accused by the deputy-admiral, Richard Vaughan, of tyranny, subversion of justice and of dealings with pirates; but he evidently retained the confidence of the crown, for he was made commissioner for piracy in Pembrokeshire in 1578, and in the following year was put in command of a naval squadron charged with the interception of Spanish ships on the Irish coast. A tyrant (from Greek τυραννος) is a usurper of rightful power, possessing absolute power and ruling by tyranny. ... A pirate digging…perhaps to bury treasure, perhaps a grave. ...

Lord Deputy of Ireland

In 1582, the recall of Lord Grey de Wilton, left vacant the office of lord Deputy of Ireland, to which Perrot was appointed in 1584; at about the same time, Sir Richard Bingham was appointed governor of Connaught. Perrot's chief instructions concerned the Plantation of Munster, by the terms of which the confiscated estates of the defeated Earl of Desmond - some 600,000 acres - were to be parcelled out at nominal rents, on condition that the undertakers of the plantation establish English farmers and labourers to build towns and work the land. Official standard of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (also known as the Viceroy or in the Middle Ages as the Lord Deputy) was the head of Englands (pre-1707) or Britains (post 1707) administration in Ireland. ... Connaught redirects here. ... Plantations in 16th and 17th century Ireland were the seizure of land owned by the native Irish and granting of it to colonists (planters) from Britain. ...

Before his government had time to embark on the plantation enterprise, Perrot got wind of raids into Ulster by the Highland clans of Maclean and MacDonnell at the invitation of Sorley Boy MacDonnell, the Scoto-Irish constable of Dunluce Castle. In response the lord deputy marched into the northern province at the head of an army, but Sorley Boy escaped him and crossed over to Scotland, only to return later with reinforcements. Perrot was roundly abused by Elizabeth for launching such an unadvised campaign, but by 1586 Sorley Boy had been brought to a mutually beneficial submission by the somewhat abashed lord deputy. At about this time Perrot also sanctioned the rather crafty kidnapping of Hugh Roe O'Donnell (who was lured to a wine tasting on a merchant ship and then sealed in a cabin and brought to Dublin), a move which gave the crown authority some leverage in western Ulster. A further achievement in his Ulster strategy came with the submission of Hugh Maguire, Lord of Fermanagh. Somhairle Buidh Mac Domhnaill (Charles of the Yellow Hair, son of Donnell) anglicised Sorley Boy MacDonnell (in Scotland, MacDonald) (c. ... Red Hugh Roe ODonnell (1571-1603) was an Irish King who led ODonnells Rebellion from 1593-1596 and later helped lead the Nine Years War, a revolt against English occupation, from 1593-1603. ... Hugh Maguire (ob. ...

The establishment of the plantation of Munster was to prove a painfully slow affair, but in 1585 Perrot did enjoy success on the perfecting of the composition of Connaught, an unusually even-handed contract between the crown and the landholders of that province, by which the queen was to receive certain rents in return for settling land titles and tenant dues. Of similar significance in that same year was the opening of parliament at Dublin, the first since 1569; the spectacle was enhanced by the attendance of many Gaelic lords, and high hopes were held for the coming sessions. Even though the act for the attainder of Desmond (which rendered the rebel's estates at the disposal of the crown) was passed, Perrot's legislative programme soon ran into difficulty, particularly over the suspension of Poynings Law, and at the close of parliament in 1587 he was so utterly frustrated with the influence of factions within both chambers of the house (orchestrated to a large degree by Sir Thomas Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormonde) that he sought a recall to England, which was eventually granted. Connaught redirects here. ... This article is about the legislature abolished in 1801. ... The Gaels are an ethnic group in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, whose language is one that is Gaelic (Goidelic). ... An attainder, in British law, is the ending of a persons civil rights after he has been sentenced to death or to outlawry, as an additional penalty. ... Poynings Law refers to the time when Sir Edward Poyning was sent as viceroy to Ireland by Henry VII of England. ... Thomas Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormonde, also known as the 10th earl (1532-1614), a son of James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormonde, was lord high treasurer of Ireland and a very prominent personage during the latter part of the 16th century. ...

As lord deputy, Perrot had established peace and deserved well of Elizabeth; but his rash and violent temper, coupled with unsparing criticism, not to say abuse, of his associates, had made him numerous enemies. A hastily conceived plan for the conversion of the revenues of St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin to fund the erection of two colleges led to a sustained quarrel with Adam Loftus, archbishop of Dublin, which Perrot wilfully aggravated by his interference with the authority of Loftus as lord chancellor. Perrot also interfered in Bingham's government of Connaught, and in May 1587 be actually struck Sir Nicholas Bagenal, the elderly knight marshal, in the council chamber at Dublin (an incident blamed on the deputy's drunken temper). Several cathedrals are named after Saint Patrick. ... Adam Loftus (c. ... Dublin (Irish: Baile Átha Cliath), is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Ireland, located near the midpoint of Irelands east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin Region. ...

Elizabeth decided to supersede him in January 1588, and six months later his successor, the experienced Sir William Fitzwilliam, arrived in Dublin. After his return to England, Perrot's enemies continued to work his ruin, which was precipitated by a treacherous intrigue, of the kind that marred the final decade of the queen's reign. William Wentworth Fitzwilliam, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam in Ireland, 2nd Earl Fitzwilliam in Great Britain (30 May 1748 - 8 February 1833) was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. ...

Ruin

Perrot was appointed to the privy council upon his return to England, where he maintained his interest in Irish affairs through correspondences with several members of the council at Dublin. During the period after the defeat of the Spanish Armada it was not difficult to raise suspicions over a man's loyalty, with vague suggestions about his religion and his closeness to Spanish authority; when it came to Perrot, the suggestions were anything but vague, since a former priest and condemned prisoner, Dennis O'Roghan, presented Fitzwilliam with correspondence purportedly addressed by Perrot during his time as lord deputy (with his signature attached) to King Philip II of Spain and the Duke of Parma, in which certain treasonable promises and bargains were put forward concerning the future of England, Wales and Ireland. Fitzwilliam set up an investigation, but the prisoner's record for forgery was quickly exposed, and it seemed that the allegations would run into the sand. Rather than let the matter lie, it was decided (probably at Perrot's urging) to pursue an inquiry into the manner in which the allegations had been raised in the first place, a process that would tend to embarrass Fitzwilliam. Accordingly, a commission was established, including several of Perrot's favourites on the Irish council, who set about their interrogation of the prisoner. Combatants England, The Netherlands Spain Commanders Charles Howard Francis Drake Duke of Medina Sidonia Strength 34 warships 163 merchant vessels 22 galleons 108 merchant vessels Casualties 500 dead or wounded 600 dead 3 merchant ships sunk 1 merchant ship captured The Spanish Armada or Great/Grand Armada(Old Spanish: Grande... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... The Duchy of Parma was a small Italian state between 1545 and 1802, and again from 1814 to 1860. ...

It was at this point that the affair took a wretched twist: the prisoner made allegations of torture against the commission members, and before long Fitzwilliam was directed to resume his own investigation with strict instructions from the queen to forward the findings to the Privy Council in London, where a decision would be taken on how to proceed. For Perrot it was the moment of crisis, and further allegations were soon made, most notably by his former secretary, of his frequent use in private conversation of violent language against the queen; allegations were also made about his prior knowledge of the rebellion in 1589 of Sir Brian O'Rourke (later extradited from Scotland and hanged at London), which had occurred under the government of Bingham in Connaught. A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, especially in a monarchy. ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ... A crisis is a turning point or decisive moment in events. ... Sir Brian na Murra ORourke (1540?–1591) was hereditary lord of West Breifne (modern County Leitrim) in Ireland. ...

Perrot was confined to the Tower, and his trial before a special commission on charges of high treason came on in 1592. The forged letters and the evidence concerning the O'Rourke rebellion played their part in the prosecution case, but it was the evidence of his remarks about Elizabeth that really determined the outcome of the jury's deliberation. He was said to have called the queen a "base bastard piskitchin", and to have made many disparaging remarks on her legitimacy. Perrot protested his loyalty and, in reaction to a hectoring prosecution counsel, eloquently cried out, "You win men's lives away with words". But his defence fell into confused blustering, and a verdict of guilty was returned. His sentencing was put off for some months, in the expectation of a royal pardon, but Perrot died while in custody in the Tower in September 1592. Under English, and later British law, high treason is the crime of disloyalty to the Sovereign. ... The Tower of London, seen from the river, with a view of the water gate called Traitors Gate. ...

Whether or not there was a guiding hand in these events, their consequence was that several experienced native-born members of the Irish council, who had been allied in some degree with Perrot, were replaced with English members, who fully equated the protestant cause with the state and were inclined to take a harder line in dealing with Gaelic Ireland. Fitzwilliam was thus free to pursue a policy opposed in crucial aspects to Perrot's, and the northern lords (including Hugh O'Neill) found themselves subjected to increasing government encroachment on their territories, which resulted in the outbreak of the Nine Years War (Ireland) (1595-1603). Hugh ONeill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone (c. ... The Nine Years War in Ireland took place from 1594 to 1603 and is also known as Tyrones Rebellion. ...

Family

Perrot was twice married, to Anne Chayney of Kent who bore his son and heir Thomas, and to Jane Pruet of Devonshire who bore him three children. After his death the attainder on his property was lifted so that his son could inherit. Perrot also fathered several bastard children, including Sir James Perrot (1571-1637), whose manuscript A life of Sir John Perrot was published in 1728.

Sources

• Richard Bagwell, Ireland under the Tudors 3 vols. (London, 1885–1890).
• John O'Donovan (ed.) Annals of Ireland by the Four Masters (1851).
• Calendar of State Papers: Carew MSS. 6 vols (London, 1867-1873).
• Calendar of State Papers: Ireland (London)
• Colm Lennon Sixteenth Century Ireland — The Incomplete Conquest (Dublin, 1995) ISBN 0312124627.
• Nicholas P. Canny Making Ireland British, 1580–1650 (Oxford University Press, 2001) ISBN 0198200919.
• Steven G. Ellis Tudor Ireland (London, 1985) ISBN 0582493412.
• Hiram Morgan Tyrone's War (1995).
• Cyril Falls Elizabeth's Irish Wars (1950; reprint London, 1996) ISBN 0094772207.
• Gerard Anthony Hayes McCoy Irish Battles (Belfast, 1989) ISBN 0862812127.
• Dictionary of National Biography 22 vols. (London, 1921–1922).
• This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, a publication in the public domain.