VANE, HENRY [SSNE 1260]

Surname
VANE
First name
HENRY
Title/rank
SIR
Nationality
ENGLISH
Region
Social status
NOBILITY
Education
Religion

Text source

Vane acted as an envoy to the United Provinces 1629-1630. He also acted as an envoy to Sweden in 1631. He unsuccessfully tried, as an official envoy, to see King Gustav Adolf of Sweden in seeking help for the Palatinate in 1631. He certainly left a poor impression on Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna who blamed Vane's negative report to King Charles I for bringing Swedish-British official relations to a standstill in 1633. Vane acted as Ambassador Extraordinary to Denmark-Norway between 1631 and 1632 though he was not granted an audience by the Danish king. Like many other British diplomats at the time he based himself in Hamburg for much of his Danish embassy. On 11 October 1631, he wrote to the Marquis of Hamilton that he was going to see the king of Sweden but had been held up due to "the pest and great destructions" caused by the war.

National Archives of Scotland, GD 406/1/185, Sir Henry Vane to Marquis Hamilton, 11 October 1631; Public Records Office, SP/75/12, ff. 204-232; Swedish Riksarkiv, 'Svenske Sandebuds till Utlandske Hof och Deras Sandebud till Sverige', unpublished manuscript, 1841, p.83; Rikskansleren Axel Oxenstiernas Skrifter och Brefvexling, first series, VIII, DNB; G. M. Bell, A Handlist of British Diplomatic Representatives 1509-1688 (London, 1990), pp.198-199.

Service record

STUART KINGDOMS, THE DUTCH REPUBLIC
Arrived 1629-03-06
Departed 1629-05-24
Capacity AMBASSADOR, purpose DIPLOMACY
STUART KINGDOMS, RHENEN [PALATINATE COURT]
Arrived 1629-04-01
Departed 1629-04-30
Capacity ENVOY, purpose DIPLOMACY
STUART KINGDOMS, THE DUTCH REPUBLIC
Arrived 1629-09-19
Departed 1630-04-29
Capacity AMBASSADOR, purpose DIPLOMACY
 
Arrived 1630-05-01
Departed 1631-01-18
Capacity AMBASSADOR, purpose DIPLOMACY
STUART KINGDOMS, DENMARK-NORWAY
Arrived 1631-05-01
Departed 1632-11-30
Capacity AMBASSADOR, purpose DIPLOMACY
STUART KINGDOMS, WURZBURG [SWEDEN]
Arrived 1631-12-01
Departed 1632-11-30
Capacity AMBASSADOR, purpose DIPLOMACY