The Trail of Strafford: Harbinger of the coming Civil War

In an event that presaged the coming Civil War, the rebellious parliament weaponized its ability to undermine the king by bringing charges of Treason against his most powerful supporters. In the 1641 Trial of Thomas Wentworth, (Lord Strafford), the king appointed senior Professor of Law Richard Lane, to lead Wentworth’s defense.

Since lawyers were not allowed to speak for their client, the untrained Wentworth had to defend himself against some of the most highly trained legal minds of the time. Assisting the Earl in the only way he could, Richard Lane stood near his client during the day and spent his evenings teaching him the points of law needed to to argue in his defense the following day.

Finally gaining limited permission to address the court directly on points of law, Richard Lane argued that Parliament did not actually have the authority to bring the charges. His brave argument concluded to significant applause, and it seemed likely the Earl would soon be acquitted. Changing tactics, the earl’s parliamentary enemies abandoned their ruse and quickly passed a Bill of Attainder against him. This method of attack (specifically prohibited in the American constitution) simply declared Wentworth guilty as an act of legislation. He was executed shortly thereafter.

In 1844, a massive historical painting was created depicting the dramatic scene of this 1641 trial in Westminster Hall. That painting (titled “The Trial of Strafford”) now hangs in Westminster’s House of Lords in a non-public salon.

In 2018, I did a study of this painting and presented my results to the Office of the Curator of the Parliamentary Art Collection. My work established that the dramatic scene was far more historically accurate than might otherwise have been assumed.  Although painted from a much different perspective, it was almost certainly based upon a detailed woodcut of the trial made at the time by Wenceslaus Hollar. I also identified more than a dozen additional specific individuals whose faces had been painted into that scene from surviving portraiture.  In fact, the painter depicted the only person I was unable to find an image of with his back to the viewer.  This means that it was quite likely that the painter (Thomas Woolnoth), was also unable to find any image of him in 1844.

Of course, the most shocking result of my research substantiated the likelihood that not only was the enshadowed figure in the foreground of the painting very likely Sir Richard Lane (made from his portrait before it disappeared), but also that the dramatic story of Lane’s defense of Lord Strafford was an important subtext of the painting itself.

This work is one of my proudest accomplishments, and being hosted by such gracious and thoroughly knowledgeable people made this one of the most enjoyable days of my life.

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