Lot 1641 , Pieter Stevens Van Gunst and Leers after Adriaen Van der Werf, engraving, 'Johannes Baro de Churchill, Dux et Comes du Marlborough ...', visible sheet 62 x 40cm

Pieter Stevens Van Gunst and Leers after Adriaen Van der Werf, engraving, 'Johannes Baro de Churchill, Dux et Comes du Marlborough ...', visible sheet 62 x 40cm
£100-150
General John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, 1st Prince of Mindelheim, 1st Count of Nellenburg, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, KG, PC (1650 – 1722) was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs. From a gentry family, he served first as a page at the court of the House of Stuart under James, Duke of York, through the 1670s and early 1680s, earning military and political advancement through his courage and diplomatic skill.

Churchill's role in defeating the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685 helped secure James on the throne, but he was a key player in the military conspiracy that led to James being deposed during the Glorious Revolution. Rewarded by William III with the title Earl of Marlborough, persistent charges of Jacobitism led to his fall from office and temporary imprisonment in the Tower of London. William recognised his abilities by appointing him as his deputy in Southern Netherlands before the War of the Spanish Succession in 1701, but not until the accession of Queen Anne in 1702 did he secure his fame and fortune.

Sold for £100