Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury

Common card · No. 268173

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury (22 July 1621 – 21 January 1683), was an English statesman. He held senior political office under both the Commonwealth of England and Charles II, serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1661 to 1672 and Lord Chancellor from 1672 to 1673. During the Exclusion Crisis (1679–1681), Ashley-Cooper headed the movement to bar the Catholic heir, James II, from the royal succession, which is often seen as the origin of the Whig party. He was the first patron of John Locke, who, when they met was a quiet Oxford don and practising physician; as part of Ashley-Cooper's household and retinue for 15 years, Locke became a major political philosopher. During the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, Ashley-Cooper initially supported the Royalists, before joining the Parliamentarians in 1644. He served on the English Council of State under the English Commonwealth, although he opposed Oliver Cromwell's attempt to rule without Parliament during the Rule of the Major...

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