John Spottiswoode
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John Spottiswoode
by Wenceslaus Hollar
etching, circa 1655; published 1668
11 1/4 in. x 7 in. (285 mm x 177 mm) paper size
Reference Collection
NPG D9946
Sitterback to top
- John Spottiswoode (1565-1639), Archbishop of St Andrew's, Lord Chancellor of Scotland and historian. Sitter in 8 portraits.
Artistback to top
- Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677), Etcher. Artist or producer associated with 540 portraits, Sitter associated with 10 portraits.
Events of 1655back to top
Current affairs
Secretary of State, John Thurloe, implements a highly efficient intelligence service and thwarts plans for a series of royalist uprisings which produced only Penruddock's revolt.Following ineffectual royalist riots, Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell, appoints nineteen Major-generals to manage regional government and prevent future challenges to the protectorate.
Art and science
Publication of the controversial work De corpore, by philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, prompts mathematician, John Wallis to scornfully refute the work in Elenchus geometriae Hobbianae, starting a bitter, long-running polemical dispute between the two men.International
General Robert Venables and Admiral William Penn lead an expedition to the Caribbean to threaten Spanish trade routes and weaken Catholic influence in the New World. An integral part of Cromwell's foreign policy to curb Spanish power, the campaign, Cromwell's 'western design', fails leading to war in Europe.Comments back to top
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