Harley, Robert

During the Glorious Revolution of 1688, Harley, together with his father, assembled an equestrian detachment to support William III and occupied the city of Worcester for him.

Elected to the House of Commons in 1689, Harley, according to family tradition, joined the Whigs , but soon began to switch sides, especially rebelling against William III’s foreign policy, and already in 1698 replaced Montague in the leadership of the House of Commons. Having carefully studied its forms and rites, in 1701 he was elected speaker .

In 1704, Harley joined the Ministry of Godolfin , replacing Nottingham in the management of foreign affairs. At this time, he was considered the mildest of the Tories , but as Godolfin and Marlborough leaned towards the Whigs, Harley moved away from most of his comrades in the ministry and tried, by way of court intrigues, to enlist the Queen Anne 's disposition.

The decisive triumph of the Whigs in 1708 was preceded by Harley's exit from the office, where he was returned (as Chancellor of the Exchequer) the Tories victory in 1710, won in part due to his machinations. The following year, he was appointed Lord Treasurer (first minister) and moved to the upper house with the title of Earl of Oxford .

The Utrecht peace treaty with France provoked opposition from the Whigs in the upper house, but Harley managed to break it by appointing twelve new peers .

The friendship between Harley and Bolingbroke , which was the power of the ministry, gradually turned to hatred: Harley lost the Queen's confidence and a few days before her death handed the baton of the Lord Treasurer to Bolingbroke.

Upon accession to the throne of the Hanoverian dynasty, Harley retired to his estate, but a few months later the House of Commons was charged with state crimes against him. He was imprisoned in the Tower , where he stayed for about two years; after that he was returned peer dignity, but he no longer took an outstanding part in public affairs.

The constant friends and allies of Harley were liberal-minded writers such as Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope ; together they made up the famous Martin Scriblerus club . Both 1st Earl of Oxford and his son were tireless collectors of manuscripts and books. The manuscripts they collected ( en: Harleian Collection ) became national property and the core of the British Library .

• “ Favorite (film) ” (2018) - Nicholas Holt .

• Harley, Robert // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.