John Pym


Pym, John

 

Born circa 1584 in Brymore, Somersetshire; died Dec. 8, 1643, in London. English politician. One of the principal leaders of the Parliamentary opposition on the eve and during the first period of the English Civil War.

First elected to Parliament in 1614, Pym was one of the authors of the Petition of Right. He was the most brilliant representative of the allied bloc of the gentry and the bourgeoisie, and his role and influence increased significantly with the convocation of the Long Parliament in November 1640. Pym acted as the chief accuser at the trial of the Earl of Strafford, held in March and April 1641. Charles I’s attempt in January 1642 to arrest Pym, J. Hampden, and other leaders of the opposition met with failure. With the king’s departure for the north, Parliament appointed Pym chairman of a special parliamentary committee, formed in September 1641, which was a de facto provisional government. On Sept. 25, 1643, Pym concluded the Solemn League and Covenant, a treaty of alliance with the Scottish Presbyterians.

REFERENCE

Wingfield-Stratford, E. D. S. King Charles and King Pym. London, 1949.