Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury
Anthony Ashley -Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury ( born July 22, 1621 Wimborne Saint Giles ( Dorset County ); † January 21, 1683 in Amsterdam ) was a English politician and nobleman. He is particularly well known, therefore, because he patronized John Locke, who was his personal secretary.
Life
Ashley -Cooper lost his parents early. The age of nine he was an orphan had, but inherited from his father, Sir John Cooper, 1st Baronet, whose baronetcy and considerable wealth. Much of the land was sold, however, by the Court of Wards and Liveries under value to pay gambling debts of the father.
Ashley -Cooper moved in the English Civil War and the following political disputes multiple pages. First, he belonged to the party of Charles I, in 1644 he hit himself on the side of Parliament and Oliver Cromwell, then click the Charles II 's return from exile to England he supported. On April 20, 1661, he was elevated to Baron Ashley, 1667, he became a member of the so-called Cabal Ministry, an influential group of five members of the Privy Council. On April 23, 1672 he received the title of Baron Cooper of Pawlett and Earl of Shaftesbury. From 1661 to 1672 he was Chancellor of the Exchequer, which was followed for one year Lord Chancellor, then leader of the parliamentary opposition, the " country party". From 1677 to 1678, and in 1681 he was imprisoned. The alleged Catholic Popish conspiracy brought Shaftesbury 1678 great political popularity. In 1679 he set the Habeas Corpus Act by. His repeated attempts at this time, the future James II by law be excluded from the succession, but were unsuccessful. In 1682 he tried to trigger a rebellion against the king, and fled to Holland when he thus had no success. 1683 Ashley -Cooper died in exile. The title fell to his eldest son Anthony.
His grandson, to whose education he took care early with his secretary, friend and personal physician, John Locke, was the politician and philosopher Anthony Ashley -Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury.