Peter Carew

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Peter Carew

Sir Peter Carew (1514–27 November 1575) was a Devonshire

Devon

Devon is a large Counties of England in South West England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, but that is an entirely unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county but often indicating a shire....
adventurer, who served during the reign of Queen Elizabeth of England and became a controversial figure in the Tudor re-conquest of Ireland

Tudor re-conquest of Ireland

The Tudor re-conquest of Ireland took place under the England Tudor dynasty during the 16th century. Following a failed rebellion against the crown by the FitzGerald in the 1530s, Henry VIII of England was declared King of Ireland by statute of the Irish parliament, with the aim of restoring such central authority as had been lost throughout...
. Yes.

w was the third son of Sir William Carew, a Devonshire gentleman, and was born at Ottery Mohun (now Mohun's Ottery) in the parish of Luppitt

Luppitt

Luppitt is a rural parish in East Devon situated about 6 km due north of Honiton.External links* He was educated at Exeter grammar school, where he was a frequent truant, and at St Paul's School.

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Sir Peter Carew (1514–27 November 1575) was a Devonshire

Devon

Tudor re-conquest of Ireland

Early life and career

Carew was the third son of Sir William Carew, a Devonshire gentleman, and was born at Ottery Mohun (now Mohun's Ottery) in the parish of Luppitt

Luppitt

Luppitt is a rural parish in East Devon situated about 6 km due north of Honiton.External links* He was educated at Exeter grammar school, where he was a frequent truant, and at St Paul's School. By his own account (set down in his biography) he once climbed a turret on Exeter city wall and threatened to jump if his master came after him. His father then had him led back to his house on a leash, like a dog, and for punishment coupled him to one of his hounds for a time.

Carew was placed in the service of a French friend of his father's, but suffered demotion to muleteer and was only saved in February 1526, when a family relation, on his way to the siege of Pavia

Pavia

Pavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po River....
in the service of King Francis I of France

Francis I of France

Francis I , was crowned King of France in 1515 in the cathedral at Reims and reigned until 1547.Francis I is considered to be France's first Renaissance monarch....
, heard Carew's companions call the young man by name. On the way to the siege, the relation died and Carew took up with a marquis, who was killed at the actual battle; Carew then went over to the enemy and served the Prince of Orange

Prince of Orange

Prince of Orange is a title of nobility, originally associated with the Principality of Orange, now in southern France.It is carried by members of the House of Orange-Nassau, as heirs to the crown of the Netherlands, and is also seen carried by the pretenders by members of the Hohenzollern....
, after whose death he was sent by Orange's sister to King Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lordship of Ireland and claimant to the Early Modern France. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII of England....
with letters in despatch; the king noted his proficiency in riding and French and took him into service.

In 1540, he travelled abroad with his cousin and visited Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the empire capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire . Strategically located between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara at the point where Europe meets Asia, Byzantine Constantinople had been the capital of a Christendom empire, successor to ancient ancient Greece...
, Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy, the capital city of the Italian regions Veneto, a population of 271,251 . Together with Padua, Italy, the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area ....
, Milan

Milan

Milan is the second largest city of Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. It is the capital in the Province of Milan, as well as the Regions of Italy capital of Lombardy....
and Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the Capital of Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million...
, where the cousin died; in Turk land they had disguised themselves as merchants in alum

Alum

Alum, refers to a specific chemical compound and a class of chemical compounds. The specific compound is the hydrated aluminum potassium sulfate with the chemical formula KAl2.12H2O....
. He then served in the war against France on land and at sea; in 1544, he led a company of foot apparelled in black at his own expense, with his brother George Carew — who was to command the Mary Rose

Mary Rose

The Mary Rose was an English Tudor carrack warship and one of the first to be able to fire a full broadside of cannons.The Mary Rose was well equipped with 78 cannon and was the pride of the English fleet....
when it sank — serving as commander of horse. For his service in the campaign he was knighted, and then served as member of parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators....
in 1545 and 1553 — on the second occasion for Devonshire, of which he was also sheriff in 1547.

Carew was reprimanded for the vigour of his response to the rising occasioned by the issue of the reformed Book of Common Prayer

Book of Common Prayer

The Book of Common Prayer is the common title of a number of prayer books of the Church of England and used throughout the Anglican Communion. The first book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI of England, was a product of the English Reformation following the break with Roman Catholic Church....
. In 1555, he dutifully proclaimed Queen Mary of England in the west but conspired against her marriage proposal with King Phillip II of Spain and escaped to the continent before arrest. The English ambassador to Venice tried to have him killed by hired bravoes, so he went north and was arrested in Antwerp with a companion and sent blindfold by fishing boat to England, where he was held in the Tower of London

Tower of London

Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London , is a historic monument in central London, England, on the north bank of the River Thames....
until December 1556, his release being secured upon payment of an old debt due by his grandfather to the crown.

Under Elizabeth I, Carew was sent to settle a dispute between Lord Grey

William Grey, 13th Baron Grey de Wilton

William Grey, 13th Baron Grey de Wilton was an English Baron and military commander during the sixteenth century.He was the thirteenth Baron Grey de Wilton....
and the Earl of Norfolk, which had arisen while they were commanding an army against the French in Scotland. When Norfolk was eventually convicted of treason in 1572, he found that Carew was his gaoler, having been appointed constable of the Tower.

Ireland

In 1568, Carew undertook his greatest adventure, when he laid claim to lands in the south of Ireland. He had sent ancient documents for examination by John Hooker

John Hooker (English constitutionalist)

John Hooker or John Vowell was an English writer, antiquary and civic administrator. He wrote an eye-witness account of the siege of Exeter that took place during the Prayer Book Rebellion in 1549....
, who became convinced - after he had travelled to Ireland for confirmation - that the documents established Carew's hereditary entitlement to extensive properties in that country. It was shown that King Henry II of England

Henry II of England

Henry II, called Curtmantle ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France....
(the first Lord of Ireland, a title assumed in 1172 at the beginning of the Cambro-Norman conquest) had granted lands to one Robert Fitzstephen, whose daughter had married a Carew ancestor.

However correct the tracing of the legal title may have been, the lands in question (mostly in the south of the province of Leinster) had suffered a succession of minor counter-conquests over the course of hundreds of years. Carew's claim existed by letter of the law contained in antique parchment under crown seal, but was without regard to the remoteness of his connection to the lands and the people who lived there and owed more to the necessity of empire building in the face of Spanish expansion in the New World.

Nevertheless, Carew obtained leave of the queen to prosecute his claims and sailed for Ireland from Ilfracombe in August 1568. His first proceedings were against Christopher Cheevers for possession of the lordship of Maston in Meath; Carew claimed he couldn't get a fair trial at common law before a jury and went instead before the lord deputy, Sir Henry Sidney

Henry Sidney

Sir Henry Sidney , lord deputy of Ireland, was the eldest son of Sir William Sidney of Penshurst, a prominent politician and courtier during the reigns of Henry VIII of England and Edward VI of England, from both of whom he received extensive grants of land, including the manor of Penshurst in Kent, which became the principal residence of th...
, sitting in council, whereupon Cheevers agreed to a compromise of the claim. Then he secured a decree of Sidney and council for the barony of Idrone in Carlow, which was then in the possession of the ancient Kavanagh clan, and was appointed captain of Leighlin castle (in succession to Sir Thomas Stukley

Thomas Stukley

Thomas Stukley was an England mercenary who served in combat in France, Ireland, and at the Battle of Lepanto, before his death at the Battle of Alc?cer Quibir....
) in the centre of the barony.

Carew's claim became complicated when it appeared to encroach upon the possession and authority of the Butler family, an Anglo-Norman dynasty with wide influence in Ireland, whose principal was Sir Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormonde, a bosom companion from the queen's childhood. Butler's younger brother, Edmund, held the castle of Clogrenan a few miles north of Leighlin - it had been seized from the Kavanaghs by his father - and in protest at this encroachment, which he expected would extend to his own lands (similar proceedings were in fact to be brought against him), he launched an attack on Carew. Without hesitation, Carew retaliated by storming Clogrenan, which he seized with little difficulty. But the seizure caused great disquiet locally and eventually led to the Butler Wars, which contributed to a wider insurrection, the first of the Desmond Rebellions

Desmond Rebellions

The Desmond Rebellions occurred in between 1569-1573 and 1579-1583 in Munster in southern Ireland.. They were rebellions of the Earl of Desmond dynasty—the Fitzgerald family or Geraldines and their allies against the efforts of the Elizabethan Era English government to extend their control over the province of Munster....
.

Carew fought an effective campaign against the Butlers, but their influence overwhelmed his efforts. Not content to pursue the acquisition of Irish lands by right of inheritance, he extended his ambitions with a scheme for plantation. In April 1569, the privy council at London approved in principle a proposal by him, along with Sir Warham St Leger, Sir Humphrey Gilbert

Humphrey Gilbert

Sir Humphrey Gilbert was an English adventurer, explorer, member of parliament, and soldier from Devon, who served the crown during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England....
and Sir Richard Grenville

Richard Grenville

Sir Richard Grenville was an Elizabethan sailor, List of explorers, and soldier. He was the grandfather of Sir Richard Grenville, 1st Baronet, of English Civil War notoriety....
, for a corporate settlement by confiscation of lands at Baltimore on the coast of the province of Munster (see Plantations of Ireland
Plantations of Ireland

Plantations in 16th and 17th century Ireland were established throughout the country by the confiscation of lands occupied by Gaelic clans and Hiberno-Norman dynasties, but principally in the provinces of Munster and Ulster....
). This was to be achieved on foot of legal proceedings to be taken for the purpose of exposing defective titles, expelling rebels and introducing English colonists. Carew's solicitor, Hooker, had by then become a prominent New English member (for Athenry) of Sidney's parliament at Dublin.

The Desmond rebels engaged in bloody conflict along the coast of Munster, besieging the city of Cork, amongst others, with the demand that all efforts at colonisation cease. Both sides laid waste to the hinterland, and it was soon recognised that Carew had reached too far. The Earl of Ormond had just managed to bring his followers in from their rebellion against the crown, and after the earl's return to court the queen decided to recall Carew to England. He was loaded with some of the blame for the disturbances and had to seek further leave before pursuing his claims. Leave was granted after some years, and he returned to Ireland in 1574 having refused the queen's request to retake his seat in parliament. He found Lords Courcy and Barry Oge and the O'Mahons (and others) willing to acknowledge his claims and agree tenancies with him. Once this part of his plans had been settled he ordered a house to be prepared for him at Cork but died of illness on the way, on 27 November 1575, at Ross in Waterford.

Legacy

Carew had no issue. He was buried in Waterford church, on the south side of the chancel. A portrait of him is kept at Hampton court, and his monument stands in Exeter cathedral. His biography was written by John Hooker

John Hooker (English constitutionalist)

John Hooker or John Vowell was an English writer, antiquary and civic administrator. He wrote an eye-witness account of the siege of Exeter that took place during the Prayer Book Rebellion in 1549....
. His will is dated 4 July 1574. He is to be distinguished from another Peter Carew, a cousin who was killed at the Battle of Glenmalure

Battle of Glenmalure

The Battle of Glenmalure took place in Republic of Ireland in 1580 during the Desmond Rebellions. An Irish Catholic church force made up of the Gaels clans from the Wicklow Mountains led by Fiach MacHugh O'Byrne and James Eustace, Viscount Baltinglas of the Pale, defeated an England army under Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey de Wilton, at the O...
.

Biography

Carew's biography, written by John Vowell

John Vowell

John Vowell, pen name Hooker was a sixteenth century English solicitor, writer and advocate of republican government.He served as solicitor for Sir Peter Carew, whose biography he wrote....
(1526-1601,) was published in 1857 The Life and Times of Sir Peter Carew, John Hooker (Vowell's penname,) John Maclean, Bell & Daldy, 1857.