Colonel Nathaniel Fiennes 1608–1669

Known sarcastically to some of his contemporaries as ‘Bristol Fiennes’ – though never to his face – following his surrender of the Parliamentarian garrison at Bristol, Nathaniel Fiennes has long had his military and political contribution to the period 1640–1660 underestimated. This book seeks to reassess his importance and restore him to his place among the significant figures of the Civil War and Interregnum.

The second son of William Fiennes, Lord Saye and Sele, Nathaniel grew up amid the political and colonial interests of one of the most influential families of the period. His father’s involvement in establishing colonies in North America brought the young Fiennes into contact with future influential figures including Robert Grenville (2nd Lord Brook), John Pym, Sir Henry Vane and John Hampdon.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Fiennes was appointed a captain of horse and, through his elder brother John, would have encountered Captain Oliver Cromwell at Edgehill. Like Cromwell, he rose rapidly through the ranks, becoming a colonel in early 1643 as a result of his military service. His court martial at the end of that year might have ended his career, but his acquittal of all charges in 1645 opened a new chapter in his public life.

Unable to resume his military career because, as a sitting MP, he was subject to the Self-Denying Ordinance, Fiennes instead pursued a political career. He served as an Independent politician, became a member of the Council of State and eventually rose to become Speaker of the Upper House during Oliver Cromwell’s Protectorate.

Apart from Cromwell himself, few individuals pursued a career that encompassed so many of the defining events and political transformations of the period. By examining Fiennes’s military service, political career and changing fortunes, this study offers a reassessment of a significant but often underestimated figure in the turbulent history of mid-seventeenth-century England.