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3RD EARL OF THOMAS RADCLYFFE [or RATC...

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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 165 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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3RD See also:

EARL OF See also:THOMAS RADCLYFFE [or RATCLYFFE] See also:SUSSEX (c. 1525-1583)  , See also:lord-See also:lieutenant of See also:Ireland, eldest son of See also:Henry, 2nd See also:earl of See also:Sussex (see SussEx, EARLS OF), by his first wife, See also:Elizabeth, daughter of See also:Thomas See also:Howard, end See also:duke of See also:Norfolk, was See also:born about 1525, and after his See also:father's See also:succession to the earldom in 1542 was styled See also:Viscount See also:Fitzwalter . After serving in the See also:army abroad, he was employed in 1551 in negotiating a See also:marriage between See also:Edward VI. and a daughter of Henry II.. See also:king of See also:France . His prominence in the See also:kingdom was shown by his inclusion among the signatories to the letters patent of the 16th of See also:June 1J53 settling the See also:crown on See also:Lady Jane See also:Grey; but he nevertheless won favour with See also:Queen See also:Mary, who employed him in arranging her marriage with See also:Philip of See also:Spain, and who raised him to the See also:peerage as See also:Baron Fitzwalter in See also:August 1553 . Returning to See also:England from a See also:mission to the See also:emperor See also:Charles V. in See also:April 1556, Fitzwalter was appointed lord See also:deputy of Ireland . The prevailing anarchy in Ireland, a See also:country which, nominally subject to the See also:English Crown, was torn by feuds among its practically See also:independent native chieftains, rendered the task of the lord deputy one of no See also:ordinary difficulty; a difficulty that was increased by the See also:ignorance of English statesmen concerning Ireland and Irish conditions, and by their incapacity to devise or to carry into See also:execution any consistent and thorough-going policy for bringing the See also:half-conquered See also:island under an orderly See also:system of See also:administration . The See also:measures enjoined upon Fitzwalter by the See also:government in See also:London comprised the reversal of the partial attempts that had been made during the abort reign of Edward VI. to promote Protestantism in Ireland, and the " See also:plantation " by English settlers of that See also:part of the country then known as Offaly and Leix . But before Fitzwalter could give his See also:attention to such matters he found it necessary to make an expedition into See also:Ulster, which was being kept in a See also:constant See also:state of disturbance by the Highland Scots from Kintyre and the Islands who were making settlements alongthe See also:Antrim See also:coast in the See also:district known as the Glynnes (glens), and by the efforts of See also:Shane O'See also:Neill to convert into effective See also:sovereignty the chieftainship of his See also:clan which he had recently wrested from his father, See also:Conn, 1st earl of See also:Tyrone . Having defeated O'Neill and his See also:allies the MacDonnells, the lord deputy, who by the See also:death of his father in See also:February 1557 became earl of Sussex, returned to See also:Dublin, where he summoned a See also:parliament in June of that See also:year . Statutes were passed declaring the See also:legitimacy of Queen Mary, reviving the See also:laws for the suppression of See also:heresy, forbidding the See also:immigration of Scots, and vesting in the Crown the territory comprised in what are now the King's See also:County and Queen's County, which were then so named after Philip and Mary respectively . Having carried this legislation, Sussex endeavoured to give forcible effect to it, first by taking the See also:field against Donough O'Conor, whom he failed to See also:capture, and afterwards against Shane O'Neill, whose lands in Tyrone he ravaged, restoring to their nominal rights the earl of Tyrone and his reputed son See also:Matthew O'Neill, baron of See also:Dungannon (see O'NEILL) . In June of the following year Sussex turned his attention to the See also:west, where the See also:head of the O'Briens had ousted his See also:nephew Conor O'Brien, earl of See also:Thomond, from his possessions, and refused to pay See also:allegiance to the Crown; he forced See also:Limerick to open its See also:gates to him, restored Thomond, and proclaimed The O'Brien a traitor . In the autumn of 1558 the continued inroads of the Scottish islanders in the Antrim glens called for drastic treatment by the lord deputy .

Sussex laid See also:

waste Kintyre and some of the See also:southern Hebridean isles, and landing at See also:Carrickfergus he fired and plundered the settlements of the Scots on the Antrim coast before returning to Dublin for See also:Christmas . In the See also:metropolis the See also:news reached him of the queen's death . See also:Crossing to England, he took part in the ceremonial of Queen Elizabeth's See also:coronation in See also:January 1559; and in the following . See also:July he returned to Ireland with a fresh See also:commission, now as lord lieutenant, from the new queen, whose policy required him to come to terms if possible with the troublesome leaders of the O'Neills and the MacDonnells . Shane O'Neill refused to meet Sussex without See also:security for his safety, and having established his See also:power in Ulster he demanded terms of See also:peace which Elizabeth was unwilling to See also:grant . Sussex failed in his efforts to bring Shane to submission, either by open warfare or by a shameful See also:attempt to procure the Irish chieftain's assassination . He was preparing for a fresh attempt when he was superseded by the earl of See also:Kildare, who was commissioned by Elizabeth to open negotiations with O'Neill, the result of which was that the latter repaired to London and made formal submission to the queen . Shane's conduct on his return to Ireland was no less rebellious than before, and energetic measures against him became more imperative than ever . Having obtained Elizabeth's See also:sanction, Sussex conducted a See also:campaign in the summer of 1563 with See also:Armagh as his temporary headquarters; but except for some indecisive skirmishing and the seizure of many of O'Neill's See also:cattle, the operations led to no result and See also:left Shane O'Neill with his power little diminished . His continued failure to effect a purpose for the accomplishment of which he possessed inadequate resources led Sussex to pray for his recall from Ireland; and his wish was granted in May 1564 . His government of Ireland had not,,however, been wholly without See also:fruit . Sussex was the first representative of the English Crown who enforced authority to any considerable extent beyond the limits of the See also:Pale; the policy of planting English settlers in Offaly and Leix was carried out by him in 1562 with a certain measure of success; and although he See also:fell far See also:short of estabhehing English See also:rule throughout any large part of Ireland. he made its See also:influence See also:felt in remote parts of the island. such as Thomond and the Glynnes of Antrim, where the See also:independence of the native septs had hitherto been subjected not even to nominal interference .

His letters from Ireland display a just conception of the problems with which he was confronted, and of the methods by which their See also:

solution should be undertaken; and his failure was due, not to lack of statesmanship or of executive capacity on his own part, but to the insufficiency of ,he resources placed at his command and want of insight and persistence on the part of Elizabeth and her ministers . On his return to England, Sussex, who before leaving Ireland had to endure the indignity of an inquiry into his administration instigated by his enemies, threw himself into opposition to the earl of See also:Leicester, especially in regard to the suggested marriage between that nobleman and the queen . He does not appear to have on that See also:account incurred Elizabeth's displeasure, for in 1566 and the following year she employed him in negotiations for bringing about a different matrimonial See also:alliance which he warmly supported, namely, the proposal that she should bestow her See also:hand on the See also:archduke Charles . When this project fell to the ground Sussex returned from See also:Vienna to London in See also:March 1568, and in July he was appointed lord See also:president of the See also:north, a position which threw on him the responsibility of dealing with the See also:rebellion of the earls of See also:Northumberland and See also:Westmorland in the following year . The weakness of the force at his disposal rendered necessary at the outset a caution which engendered some suspicion of his See also:loyalty; and this suspicion was increased by the counsel of moderation which he urged upon the queen; but in 1570 he laid waste the border, invaded See also:Scotland, and raided the country See also:round See also:Dumfries, reducing the See also:rebel leaders to See also:complete submission . In July 1572 Sussex became lord See also:chamberlain, and he was hence-forth in frequent attendance on Queen Elizabeth, both in her progresses through the country and at See also:court, until his death on the 9th of June 1583 . The earl of Sussex was one of the See also:great nobles of the Elizabethan See also:period . Though his loyalty was questioned by his enemies, it was as unwavering as his patriotism . He shone as a courtier; he excelled in See also:diplomacy; he was a See also:man of cultivation and even of scholarship, a See also:patron of literature and of the See also:drama on the See also:eve of its blossoming into the See also:glory it became soon after his death . He was twice married: first to Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Wriothesley, earl of See also:Southampton; and secondly to Frances, daughter of See also:Sir See also:William See also:Sidney . His second wife was the foundress of Sidney Sussex See also:College at See also:Cambridge, which she endowed by her will, and whose name commemorates the father and the See also:husband of the countess . The earl left no See also:children, and at his death his titles passed to his See also:brother Henry (see SUSSEX, EARLS OF) .

See P . F . See also:

Tytler, England under the Reigns of Edward VI. and Mary (2 vols., London, 1839) ; See also:Richard Bagwell, Ireland under the Tudors (3 vols., London, 1885–189o) ; See also:Calendar of the See also:Carew See also:MSS . ; See also:John See also:Stow, Annales (London, 1631) ; Charles Henry See also:Cooper, Athenae cantabrigienses, vol. i . (Cambridge, 1858), containing a See also:biography of the earl of Sussex; John See also:Strype, Ecclesiastical Memorials (See also:Oxford, 1822); Sir See also:Cuthbert See also:Sharpe, Memorials of the Rebellion of 1569 (London, 1840) ; John See also:Nichols, Progresses and Public Processions of Queen Elizabeth (3 vols., London, 1823) ; Sir William See also:Dugdale, The Baronage of England (London, 1675) . (R . J .

End of Article: 3RD EARL OF THOMAS RADCLYFFE [or RATCLYFFE] SUSSEX (c. 1525-1583)
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