CROWN SERVANTS

Series Three: The Lauderdale Papers, c.1647-1682, from the British Library, London

"He was a very cunning fellow". Samuel Pepys.

This third series of Crown Servants comprises the Papers of John Maitland, second Earl and first Duke of Lauderdale (1616-1682). He was a leading Covenanter, a Scottish Commissioner during the 1640s and 1650s, and Secretary of State to Charles II.  The papers are an excellent source for:

• Religion and Politics in Britain, c1647-1682, especially Presbyteriansim;
• The Scottish dimension of the Civil War;
• The flight of the King;
• The Scottish invasion of England, 1648;
• Imprisonment in the Tower under Cromwell;
• The Royal Court in exile;
• Political intrigues during the Restoration;
• Actions of the Cabal Ministry, 1667-1673;
• Patronage of the arts post 1660.