View source for Henry Vane the Younger

{{Short description|English politician and colonial administrator (1613–1662)}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = [[Sir]]
| name = Henry Vane
| image = 1637-Henry-Vane-the-Younger-by-Gerard-Soest.jpg
| caption = 1637 portrait of Vane by [[Gerard Soest]]
| imagesize = 220<!--current image size, adjust if a larger/different image is used-->
| order = 5th
| office = Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
| term_start = 25 May 1636
| term_end = 17 May 1637
| lieutenant =
| predecessor = [[John Haynes (governor)|John Haynes]]
| successor = [[John Winthrop]]
|office1 = Joint Treasurer of the Navy  
|term_start1 = 1639
|term_end1 = 1642
|predecessor1 = [[Sir William Russell, 1st Baronet, of Chippenham|Sir William Russell]]
|successor1 = [[Sir John Penington]]
|office2 = Joint Treasurer of the Navy  
|term_start2 = 1645
|term_end2 = 1650
|predecessor2 = [[Sir William Russell, 1st Baronet, of Chippenham|Sir William Russell]]
|successor2 = [[Richard Hutchinson (MP)|Richard Hutchinson]]
| caption3             = 
| constituency_MP3     = [[Kingston upon Hull (UK Parliament constituency)]]
| parliament3          = English
| alongside3           = Sir John Lister (died 1640) followed by Peregine Pelham
| term_start3          = April 1640
| term_end3            = November 1650
| predecessor3         = {{unbulleted list| No Parliaments convened 1629-1640}}
| successor3           = {{unbulleted list| Not represented in the Barebones' Parliament}}
| office4              = Member of the [[English Council of State]]
|term_start4           = 17 Feb 1649  
|term_end4             = 20 Apr 1653
|office5               = Lord President of the [[English Council of State]]
|term_start5           = 17 May 1652 
|term_end5             = 14 June 1652
|predecessor5          = [[Henry Rolle]]
|successor5            = [[Philip Herbert, 5th Earl of Pembroke|The Earl of Pembroke]]
|office6               = Member of the [[English Council of State]]
|term_start6           = 19 May 1659  
|term_end6             = 25 Oct 1659
|office7               = Member of the [[English Committee of Safety]]
|term_start7           = 26 Oct 1659  
|term_end7             = 25 Dec 1659
| caption8             = 
| constituency_MP8     = [[Whitchurch (UK Parliament constituency)]]
| parliament8          = English
| alongside8           = [[Second seat was vacant]]
| term_start8          = January 1659
| term_end8            = May 1659
| predecessor8         = {{unbulleted list| Not represented in the Barebones' nor First and Second Protectorates Parliament}}
| successor8           = {{unbulleted list| Not represented in the restored Rump Parliament}}
| caption9             = 
| constituency_MP9     = [[Kingston upon Hull (UK Parliament constituency)]]
| parliament9          = English
| alongside9           = [[Second seat was vacant]]
| term_start9          = May 1659
| term_end9            = January 1660
| predecessor9         = {{unbulleted list| John Ramsden}}
| successor9           = {{unbulleted list| John Ramsden}}
| birth_date = baptised 26 March 1613
| birth_place = [[Debden, Uttlesford|Debden]], [[Essex]], England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1662|06|14|1613|03|26}}
| death_place = [[Tower Hill, London]]
| party =
| spouse =
| profession =
| signature = Henry Vane the Younger Signature.svg
|}}
[[File:Arms of Vane.svg|thumb|200px|Arms of Vane: ''Azure, three gauntlets (appaumée)''<ref>Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p.115, which omits ''appaumée'', useful in differentiating from Fane arms; concerning ''appaumée'' Cussans (1898) states: "In blazoning a Hand, besides stating what position it occupies, and whether it be the dexter or sinister, and erased or couped, it must be mentioned whether it be clenched or appaumé". (Cussans, John, ''Handbook of Heraldry'', 2nd Edition, London, 1868, p. 47 {{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/handbookofherald00cuss_0/handbookofherald00cuss_0_djvu.txt |title=The handbook of heraldry : With instructions for tracing pedigrees and deciphering ancient MSS., also, rules for the appointment of liveries, etc. Etc. |year=1869 |access-date=3 July 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410220750/https://archive.org/stream/handbookofherald00cuss_0/handbookofherald00cuss_0_djvu.txt |archive-date=10 April 2016  }}, p.92)</ref> These are a [[difference (heraldry)|difference]] of the arms of the ''Fane'' family, [[Earl of Westmorland|Earls of Westmorland]] from 1624, which show: ''three dexter clenched gauntlets back affrontée'', with identical tinctures]]

'''Sir Henry Vane''' (1613 {{ndash}} 14 June 1662), often referred to as '''Harry Vane''' and '''Henry Vane the Younger''' to distinguish him from [[Henry Vane the Elder|his father]], was an English politician and colonial administrator. He was briefly present in [[North America]], serving one term as the [[governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony]], and supported the creation of [[Roger Williams]]' [[Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations|Rhode Island Colony]] and [[Harvard College]]. A proponent of [[religious tolerance]], as governor, he defended [[Anne Hutchinson]]<ref name="Moore, p. 318">Moore, p. 318</ref> and her right to teach religious topics in her home which put him in direct conflict with the Puritan leaders in the Massachusetts Colony.<ref>Ireland, pp. 79–80</ref><ref>Moore, pp. 287-288</ref> He returned to England after losing re-election and eventually, Hutchinson was banned from the colony.<ref>Moore, pp. 319–320</ref>

He was a leading [[Roundhead|Parliamentarian]] during the [[English Civil War]] and worked closely with [[Oliver Cromwell]]. He played no part in the execution of [[Charles I of England|King Charles I]]. He left Parliament in disgust at Pride's Purge in December 1648 and did not return until weeks after the King's execution. He refused to take an oath which expressed approval of the King's execution. Vane served on the [[Council of State (England)|Council of State]] that functioned as the government executive during the [[Interregnum (England)|Interregnum]], but split with Cromwell over issues of governance and removed himself from power when Cromwell dissolved [[Parliament of England|Parliament]] in 1653. He returned to power during the short-lived [[Commonwealth of England|Commonwealth]] period from 1659–1660. His fight for government reform, a constitution, and civil and religious liberties<ref>Willcock, p. 347</ref><ref>King, pp.&nbsp;189–190</ref><ref>Forster, p. 202</ref> made him a man "too dangerous to let live" in [[Charles II of England|King Charles II's]] view. As such, he was arrested under orders from Charles II following [[English Restoration|his restoration to the throne]]. After a long debate, Vane was exempted from the [[Indemnity and Oblivion Act]], and was thus denied the amnesty granted to most people for their roles in the Civil War and Interregnum.

Although he was formally granted clemency by Charles II, he was indicted for [[high treason in the United Kingdom|high treason]] by a [[Middlesex]] [[grand jury]] after charges were presented by the king's [[Attorney General for England and Wales|attorney general]], Sir [[Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 1st Baronet|Geoffrey Palmer]], in 1662.<ref>Willcock, p. 324</ref> In a court proceeding in which he was denied counsel and the opportunity to properly prepare a defence, he was convicted by a Royalist jury. Charles withdrew his earlier clemency, and Vane was beheaded on [[Tower Hill, London|Tower Hill]] on 14 June 1662.

Vane was recognised by his political peers as a competent administrator and a wily and persuasive negotiator and politician. His politics were driven by a desire for religious tolerance in an era when governments were used to establish official churches and suppress dissenting views. Although his views were in a small minority, he was able to successfully build coalitions to advance his agenda. His actions contributed to both the rise and downfall of the English Commonwealth. His books and pamphlets written on political and religious subjects are still analysed today. His writing ''A Healing Question'' advocated for a constitutional convention pre-dating the American Constitutional Convention by over a century.<ref>Hosmer, pp. 442–443</ref> Vane is remembered in [[Massachusetts]] and [[Rhode Island]] as an early champion of freedom.

The New England Historical and Genealogical Society wrote of him in 1848:
<blockquote>Those who have been accustomed to view Roger Williams in his true character, – a great and wonderful man, a pioneer in establishing religious and consequently political liberty, – must accord the same virtues to Sir Henry Vane. It is true, the latter did not lay down his life here in our land, nor was he compelled to fly to the wilderness to enjoy his opinions; but he did die for them, when and where the greatest good would accrue to the world. If Roger Williams deserves all the praise and admiration from posterity which he now has, and which are sure to increase in all future time, Sir Henry Vane certainly deserves no less.<ref>New England Historical and Genealogical Society, pp. 121–122</ref></blockquote>

==Early life==
[[File:Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt Sir Henry Vane the Elder.jpg|thumb|right|Sir [[Henry Vane the Elder]], portrait by [[Michiel Janszoon van Mierevelt]]]]
Henry Vane was baptised on 26 May 1613 at [[Debden, Uttlesford|Debden]], [[Essex]].<ref name=DNB>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Vane, Henry (1613-1662)|display=Vane, Henry (1613-1662)|last=Firth|first=Charles Harding}}</ref> He was the eldest child of Sir [[Henry Vane the Elder]], who came from the landed gentry, and Frances Darcy, who came from minor nobility.<ref>Ireland, pp. 33–35</ref>  The elder Vane used the family's money to purchase positions at court, rising by 1629 to be [[Comptroller of the Household]].<ref name=DNBfather>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Vane, Henry (1589-1655)|display=Vane, Henry (1589-1655)|last=Firth|first=Charles Harding}}</ref> Vane was educated at [[Westminster School]], where his classmates included [[Arthur Heselrige]] and [[Thomas Scot]], two other men who would figure prominently in English politics.<ref>Ireland, pg. 36</ref> Vane's friend and biographer, George Sikes, wrote that Vane was "[ignorant] of God" and of a temperament that made him "acceptable to those they call good fellows", but that he had a religious awakening at 14 or 15, after which he "and his former jolly company came to a parting blow."<ref>Ireland, pg. 37</ref> Vane then enrolled at [[Magdalen Hall, Oxford]], where he studied in spite of his refusal to take the necessary matriculation oaths. He then travelled to Europe, where he was reported to be studying at [[Leiden]] and possibly in France and at [[Geneva]].<ref name=DNB/>

Vane's father had been upset by his open adoption of [[Puritan]] views, fearing this would hamper his opportunities for advancement at court. In 1631 he sent the young Vane to [[Vienna]] as an assistant to Robert Anstruther, the English ambassador. This was apparently a quite privileged role, for Vane's writings of the time include messages written in [[French language|French]] and in [[cipher]].<ref>Ireland, p. 40</ref>

During this trip the elder Vane was sent to negotiate with Swedish king [[Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden|Gustavus]] for an alliance; King Charles' unwillingness to act in the matter meant the effort was in vain.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pg. 35</ref>  He was introduced to the king after returning to England, and encouraged by his father to seek a position in the [[privy chamber]].<ref>Ireland, pp. 45–46</ref>  His father engaged in numerous attempts to get him to give up his [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|nonconformist]] views, without success. In order to worship as he chose, Vane then decided to go the [[New World]], joining the [[Great Migration (Puritan)|Puritan migration]].<ref>Ireland, pg. 54</ref>

==New England==
Vane left for the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]], arriving in [[Boston]] in October 1635 on a ship also carrying [[John Winthrop the Younger]] and [[Hugh Peter]].<ref>Ireland, pg. 57</ref>  The elder [[John Winthrop]] described Vane as "a young gentleman of excellent parts", and by the following month he had already been admitted as a [[freeman (Colonial)|freeman]] in the colony. He began playing a role in its judicial administration, deciding whether legal disputes had sufficient merit to be heard by a full court.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pp.65–66</ref>  Vane was instrumental in brokering the resolution to a dispute between the elder Winthrop and [[Thomas Dudley]] concerning matters of judicial conduct.<ref>Ireland, pg. 69</ref> In May 1636 Vane was elected governor of the colony,<ref>Moore, pg. 316</ref> succeeding [[John Haynes (governor)|John Haynes]].<ref>Ireland, pp. 69–70</ref> The situation he faced was complex, with issues on religious, political and military fronts and as a young man of twenty-three years, he was ill-prepared.

[[Image:Anne Hutchinson on Trial.jpg|thumb|left|upright|A 1901 [[artist’s impression]] of the trial of [[Anne Hutchinson]].]]
The colony was split over the actions and beliefs of [[Anne Hutchinson]]. She had come with her husband and children to the colony in 1634. During Vane's time as governor,<ref>Moore, pg. 318</ref> she began holding Bible sessions at home, gaining a wide audience and sharing her opinions that the colonial leaders labelled as [[Antinomianism]], the view that existing laws and practices were not necessary for salvation.<ref>Anderson, pp. 477, 482</ref> Most of the older colonial leadership, including Dudley and Winthrop, espoused a more [[Legalism (theology)|legalistic]] view. Vane was a supporter of Hutchinson and attended her Bible studies,<ref name="Moore, p. 318"/> as was at first the influential pastor [[John Cotton (Puritan)|John Cotton]]. Vane, however, immediately alienated some of the colonists by insisting on flying the [[Flag of England|English flag]] over [[Fort Independence (Massachusetts)|Boston's fort]].<ref name="Moore, p. 318"/> The flag had recently been the subject of controversy, since its depiction of the [[St George's Cross|Cross of St George]] was seen by many colonists as a symbol of [[papacy]], and [[John Endecott]] had notoriously cut the cross out of the [[Salem, Massachusetts|Salem]] militia's flag.<ref>Moore, pg. 317</ref>  Vane's popularity declined further when he learnt in December 1636 that there were issues in England requiring his presence, and he attempted to resign. Although the court of assistants accepted his resignation, he withdrew it upon the request of the congregation of the Boston church.<ref>Ireland, pp. 81–82</ref>

During Vane's tenure a dispute with the [[Pequot]] tribe of present-day southeastern [[Connecticut]] [[Pequot War|boiled over into war]]. In 1636 the boat of a Massachusetts trader named [[John Oldham (colonist)|John Oldham]] was found near [[Block Island]], overrun by [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indians]]. Further examination by the discoverers (after the Indians fled in canoes) uncovered Oldham's body on board.<ref>Cave, pg. 104</ref> The attackers were at the time believed to be from tribes affiliated with the [[Narragansett (tribe)|Narragansetts]], but Narragansett leaders claimed that those responsible had fled to the protection of the Pequots.<ref name=M267>Moore, p. 267</ref><ref>Cave, pp. 105–107</ref> The Pequots were aggressively expansionist in their dealings with the surrounding native tribes (including the Narragansett), but had until then generally kept the peace with the nearby colonists. Massachusetts authorities were already angry that the Pequots had failed to turn over men implicated in the killing of another trader on the [[Connecticut River]]; the slaying of Oldham led to calls for action.<ref>Cave, pp. 100, 107–109</ref>

Despite the fact that [[Roger Williams]] had warned him that the Narragansetts were more likely responsible for Oldham's slaying, Governor Vane in August 1636 placed John Endecott at the head of a 90-man force to extract justice from the Pequots.<ref name=C109>Cave, pg. 109</ref>  Endecott's heavy-handed expedition did little more than destroy Pequot settlements, and sparked a military backlash. The Pequots struck back at [[Connecticut Colony|settlements recently established]] on the Connecticut River by colonists from Massachusetts, and at the [[Saybrook Colony]] of the younger John Winthrop.<ref>Cave, pp. 135–136</ref>  In April 1637, Vane called a session of the general court that authorised the colonial militia to assist the other New England colonies in continuing the war.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pg. 98</ref>

Vane lost his position to the elder John Winthrop in the 1637 election.<ref name=I82/><ref>Doherty, pg. 93</ref> The contentious election was marked by a sharp disagreement over the treatment of [[John Wheelwright]], another Hutchinson supporter.<ref>Bremer, pp. 276–277</ref>  Winthrop won in part because the location of the vote was moved to [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], reducing the power of Vane's Boston support.<ref name=I82>Ireland, pg. 82</ref>  In the aftermath of the election Anne Hutchinson was put on trial and eventually banished from the colony. Many of her followers seriously considered leaving after the election. At the urging of Roger Williams, some of these people, including Hutchinson, founded the settlement of [[Portsmouth, Rhode Island|Portsmouth]] on [[Aquidneck Island]] in the [[Narragansett Bay]] (later named Rhode Island and joined to Providence to form the [[Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations]]). Vane decided to return to England.  Biographer Henry Ireland argued in 1905, "Had he remained in New England, his enlightened mind and humane spirit would have held the Puritans back from the executions of witches and persecutions of other heretics which have added a dark chapter the early history of the States."<ref>Ireland, pg. 91</ref> Before his departure, he published ''A Brief Answer to a Certain Declaration'', a response to Winthrop's defence of the Act of Exclusion; this act was passed after the election to restrict the immigration of people with views not conforming to the colony's religious orthodoxy.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pg. 104</ref>

Despite their political differences, Vane and Winthrop developed an epistolary relationship in the following years.<ref>Ireland, pg. 96</ref> Vane's legacy from his time in the New World includes the colonial legislation appropriating £400 for the establishment of an institute of higher learning now known as [[Harvard University]],<ref>Hosmer (1888), pg. 52</ref> and his support of Roger Williams in the acquisition of Aquidneck Island from the local Indians that resulted in the formal beginnings of Rhode Island. The surviving accounts do not say that Vane provide the funds for the acquisition; Williams credits Vane as being "an instrument in the hand of God for procuring this island".<ref>Hosmer (1888), pg. 67</ref>

According to historian Michael Winship, Vane's experiences in Massachusetts significantly radicalized his religious views, in which he came to believe that clergy of all types, including Puritan ministers, "were [[The Beast (Revelation)|the second beast]] of [[Book of Revelation|Revelations]] 13:11", "pretending to visible Saintship".<ref name=Win245>Winship, pg. 245</ref> This conviction drove his political activities in England, where he sought to minimise the power and influence of all types of clergy.<ref name=Win245/>  Biographer Violet Rowe writes that "Vane's guiding principles in religious policy seem to have been two: a rooted distrust of clerical power, whether of bishops or [[presbyter]]s, and a belief that the State should abstain from interference in church matters altogether."<ref>Rowe, pg. 200</ref>

Vane's stance can be seen in the way the first Rhode Island patent was drafted in 1643, when he sat on the Parliamentary committee charged with colonial affairs.<ref>King, pp. 110–113</ref>  Unique among all of the early English colonial charters, it contains provisions guaranteeing freedom of religion.<ref>King, pg. 115</ref> (Vane assisted Roger Williams again in 1652, when the latter sought a confirmation of the Rhode Island charter and the revocation of a conflicting charter that had been issued to [[William Coddington]].)<ref>King, pp. 117–124</ref>

==Return to England==
On his return to England, he procured, with the assistance of the [[Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland|Earl of Northumberland]] and his father, a position as [[Treasurer of the Navy|Treasurer of the Royal Navy]] in 1639.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pg. 130</ref> In this position he had the personally distasteful yet highly profitable task of collecting the hated [[ship money]] (a tax to support the Navy imposed by Charles I without Parliamentary approval).<ref>Adamson and Folland, pp. 130–131</ref>  In June 1640 he was awarded a knighthood by King Charles.<ref name=DNB/><ref>Adamson, pp. 138–139</ref> He married Frances Wray, daughter of [[Christopher Wray (MP)|Sir Christopher Wray]], on 1 July 1640, after which his father settled upon him most of the family's holdings.<ref name=DNB/> These included Fairlawn in [[Kent]], and [[Raby Castle]], where Vane would make his home.<ref>Adamson and Folland, p. 140</ref> According to his biographers, the relationship with Frances was anchored by shared spiritual goals and intimacy, and was happy and fulfilling.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pp. 140–141</ref>
[[Image:Wenceslas Hollar - Trial of Strafford (State 2) cropped.jpg|thumb|right|Engraving by [[Wenceslas Hollar]] depicting the trial of the [[Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford|Earl of Strafford]]]]
The connection with the admiralty secured for him election to the [[Short Parliament|Short]] and [[Long Parliament|Long]] Parliaments representing [[Kingston upon Hull (UK Parliament constituency)|Hull]].<ref name=DNB/> Vane had already formed or renewed associations with prominent opponents of Charles' policies, including [[John Pym]] and [[John Hampden]]. In the Short Parliament he was noted to be "capable of managing great affairs", with a "penetrating judgment" and an "easy and graceful manner of speaking."<ref>Hosmer (1888), pg. 100</ref> With others like [[Nathaniel Fiennes (Roundhead)|Nathaniel Fiennes]], he represented a younger generation of Puritans in the leadership of the Long Parliament that effectively managed affairs: as identified by [[Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon|Clarendon]] in his history, these included Hampden, Pym, and [[Oliver St John]] in the [[House of Commons of England|Commons]], and [[Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford|Earl of Bedford]] and [[William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele|Viscount Saye and Sele]] in the [[House of Lords|Lords]].<ref>Clarendon, pg. 1:362</ref>

Vane was instrumental in the 1641 impeachment and execution of the [[Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford|Earl of Strafford]], a member of the [[Privy Council]]. Vane discovered some confidential notes his father had made of a council meeting, and passed them to John Pym. The wording in those notes could be interpreted to mean that Strafford had proposed that Charles use the Irish Army to subjugate England.<ref>Hosmer (1888), pp. 126–127</ref> The evidence against Strafford was weak, and the impeachment failed.<ref>Purkiss, pg. 115</ref> Pym consequently orchestrated the passage of a [[bill of attainder]] against Strafford, who was then executed in May 1641.<ref>Purkiss, pg. 116</ref>  The illicit means by which Pym acquired the notes caused a rift between the Vanes that healed only when the elder Vane eventually came to oppose the king.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pg. 148</ref>

In the ''[[Root and Branch]]'' petition debate in the Commons, from December 1640 and into 1641, Vane supported, as did Nathaniel Fiennes, the call for radical reforms in the Church of England, a position that put Vane in opposition to his father.<ref>Ireland, pg. 159</ref> Amid a sea of complaints about church governance, he and Fiennes in February 1641 were added to a committee that had been established the previous November to draft a report on the state of the kingdom.<ref>Shaw, pp. 18–26,42</ref>  Their efforts led Vane to introduce the [[Root and Branch Bill]] in May 1641.<ref name="Shaw, p. 99">Shaw, pg. 99</ref>  The debate on the bill was acrimonious, and resulted in a clear indication of parliamentary support for church reform. In its wake mobs invaded churches, removing "scandalous images" and other signs of "popery".<ref>Adamson and Folland, pg. 159</ref>  Vane made an impassioned speech that brought him to the front of his faction, claiming [[episcopacy]] (the governing structure of the Church of England) was a corrupt doctrine "hastening us back again to Rome."<ref>Adamson and Folland, pg. 157</ref> The bill died without a vote in August, when more critical matters arose to occupy Parliament.<ref name="Shaw, p. 99"/><ref>Ireland, pp. 160,163</ref>  When Charles went to [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]] to rally Scottish forces to the royalist cause, the Commons began drafting what became known as the [[Grand Remonstrance]]. Many historians have claimed Vane had a role in drafting some of its language; this matter is disputed, but either way Vane did not participate in the debate.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pg. 164</ref>  Narrowly passed by the Commons in November 1641, the document catalogued many grievances against the king and church, and served to further polarize political affairs.<ref>Ireland, pg. 165</ref> The king refused to enact any of the requested reforms. Upon his return from Scotland, the king also deprived both Vanes, father and son, of their administrative posts, in revenge for their roles in the execution of Strafford.<ref>Ireland, pg. 166</ref>

==Civil War==
{{main article|English Civil War}}

===Early years===
{{main article|First English Civil War}}
In the first six months of 1642, relations between the king and Parliament broke down completely, and factions supporting both sides took up arms. Parliament returned Vane to his post as Treasurer of the Navy, where he used connections to bring significant naval support to the Parliamentary side after Charles attempted to arrest five [[Member of Parliament|MPs]] on charges of high treason in December 1641.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pp. 169–176</ref><ref>Ireland, p. 173</ref> In June 1642, Charles rejected the [[Nineteen Propositions]], the last substantive set of demands made by Parliament prior to the outbreak of the [[First English Civil War]]. After hostilities began that June with the [[Siege of Hull (1642)|siege of Hull]], Vane was given a seat on the [[English Committee of Safety|Committee of Safety]], which oversaw Parliamentary military activities.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pp. 173, 177</ref>

[[Image:Assertion of Liberty of Conscience by the Independents of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, 1644.jpg|thumb|left|19th century depiction of the [[Westminster Assembly of Divines]]]]
After the failure of the Root and Branch Bill, Parliament in 1643 called together the [[Westminster Assembly of Divines]], a body of lay politicians, lords, and clergy whose purpose was to reform church governance.<ref>Moore, pg. 323</ref> Vane sat on this body, which met periodically until 1648, as one of the lay representatives of the [[Independent (religion)|Independent]] faction.<ref>Shaw, pp. 145–365</ref><ref>Hosmer (1888), pg. 172</ref> Not long after its first meeting in July, Vane was sent at the head of a Parliamentary commission seeking military assistance from the Scots.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pg. 193</ref> The Scots, who had been opposed to Charles in the [[Bishop's Wars]] (1639–40) over religious issues,<ref>Adamson and Folland, pp. 134–140</ref> were willing to assist the English Parliament if the latter were willing to allow the extension of the [[Presbyterian polity|Presbyterian]] system of [[church polity]] to England.<ref>Hosmer (1888), pg. 177</ref> Vane was opposed to both Presbyterianism and Episcopalianism, but found a way to finesse an agreement.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pg. 196</ref> He proposed that the agreement, which covered a combination of religious and political topics, be called the ''[[Solemn League and Covenant]]'', and he introduced slippery language into the agreement concerning "the example of the best Reformed churches". This language permitted the Scots to believe that their ideas would be adopted, while the English could interpret it to mean that English (i.e. Independent) practices could be adopted. The league and covenant were eventually approved by authorities in Scotland, England, and Ireland, and paved the way for Scottish entry into the war.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pp. 197–199</ref>

Following Vane's success in negotiating the Scottish agreement, the death of John Pym at the end of 1643 propelled Vane into the leadership of Parliament, along with Oliver St John, [[Henry Marten (regicide)|Henry Marten]], and Arthur Heselrige.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pp. 202–209</ref> He promoted, and became a chief member of, the [[Committee of Both Kingdoms]], established in February 1644 as a point were English and Scottish authorities could coordinate war activities.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pg. 214</ref> Vane was then sent to [[York]] in June 1644, then [[Siege of York|besieged]] by three Parliament armies, to urge Sir [[Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron|Thomas Fairfax]] and the [[Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester|Earl of Manchester]] to divert some of those forces to face [[Prince Rupert of the Rhine]], who had recently taken [[Liverpool]] and was pillaging properties of Parliamentary supporters in [[Lancashire]].<ref>Ireland, pp. 226–227</ref><ref>Adamson and Folland, pg. 216</ref> While there he also proposed to the generals the establishment of a government which would depose Charles I and crown the Prince to make him King. This idea was roundly rejected by the old guard generals who believed Charles could still be accommodated, but found support with the rising star of [[Oliver Cromwell]].<ref>Ireland, pg. 226</ref><ref>Adamson and Folland, pg. 217</ref>

On 13 September 1644 Vane acted with St John and Cromwell in the Commons to set up a "Grand Committee for the Accommodation", designed to find a compromise on religious issues dividing the [[Westminster Assembly]]. He sought in its debate to identify loopholes for religious tolerance on behalf of the Independents.<ref>Cliffe, pp. 109–110</ref>  This exposed Vane's opposition to Presbyterianism, and created a rift between the pro-war Independents, led by Vane and Cromwell, and the pro-peace Scots and other supporters of Presbyterianism.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pp. 222–223</ref>  The latter included the [[Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex|Earl of Essex]], whose failures in the west of England reduced popular support for his cause, even as the military success of Cromwell at [[Battle of Marston Moor|Marston Moor]] raised his profile.<ref>Ireland, pp. 236–237</ref><ref>Adamson and Folland, pg. 220</ref>

[[Robert Baillie]], on the realisation that the Parliamentary Independents, despite previous claims of support by Vane, were not on the side of the Scots, wrote "Sir Henry Vane and The Solicitor [St John]... without any regard for us, who have saved their nation and brought their two persons to the height of power now they enjoy and use to our prejudice".<ref>Adamson and Folland, pg. 223</ref>

===Parliamentary victory===
Overtures for peace talks were begun in November 1644 between king and Parliament. Vane was one of many negotiators sent to [[Uxbridge]] in a [[Treaty of Uxbridge|failed attempt]] to negotiate peace.<ref>Ireland, pp. 245–246</ref>  Vane and the Independents were seen by some as a principal reason for the failure of these talks, because the Scots and Charles were prepared to agree on issues of church polity and doctrine and the Independents were not.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pg. 230</ref> The talks, which lasted from late January through most of February 1645, were overshadowed by the execution after impeachment by attainder of Archbishop Laud.<ref>Ireland, pp. 246–248</ref>
Parliament began discussing a reorganisation of its military as early as November 1644, in part to remove some poorly-performing commanders, and to eliminate the regional character of the existing forces.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pg. 229</ref>  In debate that principally divided the Commons from the Lords, Vane and Cromwell supported passage of the [[Self-denying Ordinance]], forbidding military officers from serving in Parliament, and the establishment of the [[New Model Army]], which would be capable of fighting anywhere in the country.<ref>Ireland, pp. 254–256</ref> The provisions of the Self-denying Ordinance also extended to individuals (like Vane) who held civil service posts, but included exceptions for those (like Vane) who had been turned out office by Charles and restored by Parliament.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pp. 232–233</ref>

Following the decisive Parliamentary victory at [[Battle of Naseby|Naseby]] in June 1645, [[First English Civil War|the first phase of the civil war]] was effectively over, but it dragged on for another year,<ref>Adamson and Folland, pg. 235</ref> before Charles surrendered to Scottish army commanders.<ref>Ireland, pg. 271</ref>

In January 1646, amid ongoing peace negotiations, Charles attempted to separate the Independents from other factions by proposing in letters to Vane an alliance with his faction against the Presbyterians.<ref name="Adamson and Folland, p. 240">Adamson and Folland, pg. 240</ref> Vane was not amused by this, and responded by pointing out that he preferred the rights of "tender consciences" to be granted by Parliament rather than by the duplicitous king (papers exposing the king's negotiating positions as facades had been captured at Naseby, and had largely silenced the Royalist elements in Parliament).<ref name="Adamson and Folland, p. 240"/><ref>Ireland, pg. 266</ref>

Beginning in the summer of 1645, Raby Castle was ravaged by Scots royalists. In September 1645, the Vanes succeeded in getting Parliamentary approval to fortify Raby.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pg. 238</ref> During the war, Vane's father reported that Raby Castle had been "visited four times", suffering damages of £16,000.<ref>Ireland, pp. 243–244</ref>  Vane withheld the return of treasury fees beginning in 1645 for two and half years until the same £16,000 suffered at Raby accumulated.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pg. 233</ref>

===Interwar politics===
[[File:Oliver Cromwell by Samuel Cooper.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Vane supported [[Oliver Cromwell]] during the Civil War, but fell out with him later.]]
By the end of the war the Presbyterian group in the Commons, led by [[Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles|Denzil Holles]], [[William Strode]], and [[Sir Philip Stapleton]], was slightly stronger than the Independents.<ref>Smith, pg. 153</ref> They proceeded to introduce legislation hostile to the views on religious tolerance held by Vane and Independents in the army. Vane apparently came to realise that the Presbyterian actions posed a threat equal to that of the Episcopalians, and that military action, having sidelined the latter, might also work against the former. The Independents attempted to negotiate terms favourable to them with Charles, but these were unsuccessful.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pg. 243</ref>

In 1647 Vane and Oliver Cromwell, the leader of the army's Independents, came to work closely together. The Presbyterian majority sought to disband the army to reduce the threat of those Independents, but issues over pay (which was in arrears), widows' pensions, and other grievances, prompted the Presbyterians to enter into negotiations with the army. Cromwell was eventually able to appease the army, but a Parliamentary purge of Independent officers followed, and the army was ordered to disband. Some Parliamentary leaders also began negotiating with the Scots for the return of their army, this time to oppose the English army.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pg. 252</ref>

The Parliament army mutinied, and under Cromwell's orders (possibly prompted by a warning from Vane) a detachment of troops seized Charles, who had been placed under a comfortable house arrest at Holmby. This forced the Presbyterian leadership to meet the army's demands for pay. They also established a commission to treat with the army, on which they placed Vane, presumably because of his influence with the military.<ref>Ireland, pp. 284–285</ref><ref>Adamson and Folland, pp. 253–254</ref>

The negotiations between the army and Parliament were acrimonious. Mobs in Presbyterian-dominated London threatened Vane and other Independents. More than 50 Independent MPs, Vane among them, fled the city on 2 August for the protection of the army. The army then marched on London, with Vane and others at its head, and the Independents were again seated in Parliament.<ref>Hosmer (1888), pp. 269–270</ref> The Parliament then debated the army's ''[[Heads of Proposals]]'' for fixing the term and powers of Parliament and church governance. Key among its terms of interest to Vane was one that effectively stripped the church, either Episcopal or Presbyterian, of any coercive powers.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pg. 261</ref>  The ''Heads of Proposals'' was also sent to Charles, who indicated agreement to some of its terms and opposition to others, and proposed further negotiations.<ref name="Adamson and Folland, p. 263">Adamson and Folland, pg. 263</ref>

The king's proposal split the Independents between those, such as Vane and Cromwell, who were willing to negotiate with the king, and those who were not. Reverend Hugh Peter spoke out in favour of the "non-addresses" (i.e. no longer negotiating with the king). In November 1647, while the debate continued, Charles escaped his confinement at [[Hampton Court]] and made his way to the [[Isle of Wight]]. There he was recaptured and imprisoned in [[Carisbrook Castle]].<ref>Ireland, pg. 287</ref>  Offered proposals by the Scots and the Independents, he chose alliance with the Scots. Sectional violence between royalists, Presbyterians, and Independents, spread throughout the country, although the army maintained a tenuous peace in London.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pg. 265</ref>

===War renewed===
{{main article|Second English Civil War}}
Violence flared throughout the country as the various factions armed and organised. A mutiny in the Royal Navy in May thrust Vane into attempts to prevent it from spreading, and to regain the support of the mutineers, who had declared for Charles. By mid-July, the army had regained control of most of England, and Cromwell defeated the Scottish army in August at the [[Battle of Preston (1648)|Battle of Preston]]. In the tumult, Vane appeared at times to be in opposition to some of the Independent factions, even having a falling out (quickly healed) with Cromwell, and many factions came to distrust him. Despite this he was one of the Parliamentary representatives for [[Treaty of Newport|negotiations with Charles]] at [[Newport, Isle of Wight|Newport]] in September 1648. He was widely blamed for the failure of those negotiations over his insistence on "an unbounded liberty of conscience".<ref>Adamson and Folland, pg. 274</ref>

{{Quote box
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|quote= VANE, young in years, but in sage counsel old,<br> Than whom a better senator ne’er held <br>&nbsp;&nbsp; The helm of Rome, when gowns, not arms, repelled <br>&nbsp;&nbsp; The fierce Epirot and the African bold,<br> Whether to settle peace, or to unfold<br>&nbsp;&nbsp; The drift of hollow states hard to be spelled; <br>&nbsp;&nbsp; Then to advise how war may best, upheld,  <br>&nbsp;&nbsp; Move by her two main nerves, iron and gold,   <br>&nbsp;&nbsp; In all her equipage; besides, to know; <br> Both spiritual power and civil, what each means,   <br>&nbsp;&nbsp; What severs each, thou hast learned, which few have done. <br>&nbsp;&nbsp; The bounds of either sword to thee we owe:  <br> Therefore on thy firm hand Religion leans  <br>&nbsp;&nbsp; In peace, and reckons thee her eldest son.

|source=John Milton<ref>John Milton. (1608–1674).  Complete Poems.  The Harvard Classics. 1909–14</ref>
}}

[[Image:PridesPurge.jpg|thumb|left|Colonel Pride refusing admission to the Presbyterian members of the Long Parliament ([[Pride's Purge]])]]
In the debates of late 1648 concerning the king's fate, Vane argued that the Parliament should constitute a government without the king "to make themselves the happiest nation and people in the world."<ref>Adamson and Folland, p. 276</ref>  His forceful speech on 2 December suggesting that the king would need to be eliminated as a political force was opposed by others, including Nathaniel Fiennes, who claimed that the concessions the king had made to date were sufficient that an agreement might be reached. Others suggested that rather than dividing the house by opposition to the king, it be divided by separating those who had gained in the war from those who had not, and that financial contributions be made from one group to the other.<ref name=AF277>Adamson and Folland, pg. 277</ref> After an impassioned conciliatory speech by [[William Prynne]], Parliament finally voted on 5 December that the king's concessions were sufficient.

On 6 December, the military stepped in to take control of matters. Troops led by [[Thomas Pride]] surrounded the [[Houses of Parliament]], and systematically arrested arriving MPs who had been supportive of negotiation with the king. Vane did not appear that day; either he was aware of what was going to happen, or he may have stayed away because his side had lost the vote.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pg. 281</ref> This action, known as "[[Pride's Purge]]", resulted in the exclusion of more than 140 MPs.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pp. 282–283</ref>

The Parliament that sat became known as the [[Rump Parliament]], and its first main order of business was the trial and execution of King Charles. During this process Vane refused to attend Parliament, although he was present as a spectator when the trial began on 20 January 1649.<ref name=AF284>Adamson and Folland, pg. 284</ref> He later claimed to oppose putting the king on trial because of "tenderness of blood",<ref name=AF284/> and continued to fulfil the duties of his government posts, signing admiralty papers on the day Charles was executed.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pg. 291</ref>

==The Commonwealth and Oliver Cromwell==
After the execution of Charles, the House of Commons voted to abolish both the crown and the House of Lords.<ref>Ireland, p. 298</ref>  To replace the executive functions of the crown, it established a [[Council of State (England)|Council of State]] to which Vane was appointed. He refused to be seated until he could do so without taking any oath, in particular the first one, which required an expression of approval for the regicide.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pp. 292–293</ref>  Vane served on many of the council's committees. On 1 August 1650 he was named president of the first [[Board of Trade|Commission of Trade]] established by an Act of Parliament.<ref>[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/acts-ordinances-interregnum/pp403-406 August 1650: An Act for the Advancing and Regulating of the Trade of this Commonwealth.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808040122/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/acts-ordinances-interregnum/pp403-406 |date=8 August 2016 }}</ref> The commission's instructions were to consider, both domestic and foreign trade, the trading companies, manufactures, free ports, customs, excise, statistics, coinage and exchange, and fisheries, but also the [[Plantation (settlement or colony)|plantations]] and the best means of promoting their welfare and rendering them useful to England. This act's  statesmanlike and comprehensive instructions, along with an October act [[An Act for prohibiting Trade with the Barbadoes, Virginia, Bermuda and Antego|prohibiting trade with pro-royalist colonies]] and the first [[Navigation Act]] of the following year, formed the first definitive expression of England's commercial policy.<ref>[[Charles M. Andrews]], [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/33313/33313.txt British Committees, Commissions and Councils of Trade and Plantations 1622-1675] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019040151/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/33313/33313.txt |date=19 October 2016 }}, Chapter II, Control of Trade and Plantations During the Interregnum, p.24 (1908)</ref>

In his role on committees overseeing the military he directed the provisioning of supplies for [[Cromwellian conquest of Ireland|Cromwell's conquest of Ireland]].<ref>Adamson and Folland, p. 296</ref>  As a leading member of the committee overseeing the navy (where he was joined by schoolmate Thomas Scot), he directed affairs in the naval [[First Anglo-Dutch War]] (1652–1654).<ref name=AF312/><ref>Brenner, p. 582</ref> Milton addressed an admiring sonnet to him in summer 1652. After the navy's disastrous performance against the Dutch in 1652, Vane headed the committee that reformed the navy, drafting new [[Articles of War]] and formally codifying naval law. Vane's reforms were instrumental in the navy's successes later in the war.<ref name=AF312>Adamson and Folland, p. 312</ref>  He was also involved in foreign diplomacy, going on a mission to France (whose purpose is unknown) in 1652 to meet with [[Jean François Paul de Gondi, cardinal de Retz|Cardinal de Retz]],<ref>Adamson and Folland, p. 310</ref> and travelling again to Scotland to organise the government there after Cromwell's victories in the [[Third English Civil War]].<ref>Ireland, pp. 321–322</ref>

[[Image:CromwellDissolvingLongParliament.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Cromwell dissolving [[Parliament of England|Parliament]] on 20 April 1653]]

Vane was also active in domestic affairs. He sat on a committee that disposed of Charles I's art collection, and made many enemies in his role on the [[Committee for Compounding with Delinquents|committees for Compounding and Sequestration]].<ref>Adamson and Folland, p. 293</ref>  These committees, on which Vane had also sat in the 1640s, were responsible for the distribution of assets seized from royalists and other government opponents, and for negotiating with those who had failed to pay taxes and other government charges. Some of the enemies he made while engaged in this work would one day sit in judgment against him.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pp. 240–242</ref>

The process by which the Parliament carried out the duties of the executive was cumbersome, and this became an issue with Cromwell and the army, who sought the ability to act more decisively.<ref name=AF314>Adamson and Folland, p. 314</ref>  This attitude drove a wedge between Cromwell and Vane.<ref>Adamson and Folland, p. 313</ref>  Under pressure from Cromwell for new elections, the Parliament began to consider proposals for electoral reform. In January 1653 a committee headed by Vane made one such proposal.<ref>Aylmer, p. 15</ref>  It called for [[suffrage]] to be allowed on the basis of property ownership, and it sought specifically to eliminate some so-called "[[rotten boroughs]]", which had small numbers of voters and were controlled by wealthy patrons.<ref>Ireland, p. 341</ref>  The proposal also called for some of the current members, whose republican credentials were deemed suitable, to retain their seats, so that the fledgling commonwealth might, as Harry Marten put it, be shepherded by "the mother that brought it forth".<ref>Ireland, p. 340</ref>  This latter clause was proposed specifically at the urging of the army by Vane, who realised that those who were charged with its implementation would be able to retain power.<ref name=AF314/>  However, Cromwell, seeking a general election, was opposed to this scheme, and the two sides were unable to reconcile.<ref name=AF315>Adamson and Folland, p. 315</ref>

Although Parliamentary leaders, Vane among them, had promised Cromwell on 19 April 1653 to delay action on the election bill, Vane was likely one of the ringleaders who sought to have the bill enacted the next day before Cromwell could react.<ref name=AF315/>  Cromwell was however alerted by a supporter, and interrupted the proceedings that would otherwise have passed the bill. Bringing troops into the chamber, he put an end to the debate, saying "You are no Parliament. I say you are no Parliament. I will put an end to your sitting."<ref name=I350>Ireland, p. 350</ref>  Vane protested, "This is not honest; yea, it is against morality and common honesty", to which Cromwell shouted in response, "O Sir Henry Vane, Sir Henry Vane; the Lord deliver me from Sir Henry Vane!"<ref name=I350/>  This ended the commonwealth, and Cromwell began to rule as [[Lord Protector]]. Vane, "daily missed and courted for his assistance", was invited to sit on Cromwell's council, but refused.<ref>Adamson and Folland, p. 319</ref>

Effectively in retirement, Vane wrote the ''Retired Man's Meditations'', published in 1655,  this work, a jargon-laden religious treatise in which Vane wanders between literal and symbolic interpretation of Biblical scriptures, was treated by contemporaries and later analysts, including [[David Hume]], as "absolutely unintelligible" and "cloudily formed".<ref>Adamson and Folland, pp. 325–326</ref>  The same year, after Cromwell called for a fast day to consider methods by which his government might be improved, Vane wrote ''A Healing Question''.<ref>Ireland, pp. 373–374</ref>  In this more carefully structured political work, he proposed a new form of government based on a constitution decided by men attending a constitutional convention.<ref>Ireland, pp. 377-379</ref> He was encouraged to publish it by [[Charles Fleetwood]],<ref>Worden, p. 312</ref> who had shown it to Cromwell.<ref>Ireland, p. 374</ref>  In a postscript to the work Vane wrote the words "the [[Good Old Cause|good old cause]]", a coinage that became a rallying cry in the next few years for Vane's group of republicans.<ref>Woolrych, p. 715</ref>

[[Image:Carisbrooke Castle gate 1.jpg|thumb|left|The gate to [[Carisbrook Castle]], where Vane was imprisoned in 1656]]
''A Healing Question'' was seen by [[John Thurloe]], Cromwell's Secretary of State, as a thinly veiled attack on Cromwell, and its publication prompted a number of opposition political groups to step up their activities.<ref>Adamson and Folland, p. 341</ref>  Rumours circulated that protests raised by fringe religious groups like the [[Anabaptists]] and Quakers were due to Vane's involvement, prompting Cromwell's council to issue an order on 29 July 1656, summoning Vane to appear.<ref name=AF344>Adamson and Folland, p. 344</ref>  Vane was ordered to post a bond of £5,000 "to do nothing to the prejudice of the present government and the peace of the Commonwealth", but refused. He was arrested shortly afterward and imprisoned in [[Carisbrooke Castle]].<ref>Auchter, p. 138</ref><ref>Adamson and Folland, pp. 344–345</ref> While there he addressed a letter to Cromwell in which he repudiated the extra-parliamentary authority Cromwell had assumed. Vane was released, still unrepentant, on 31 December 1656.<ref>Adamson and Folland, p. 347</ref>

During Vane's retirement he established a religious teaching group, which resulted in a group of admirers known as "Vanists".<ref>Bremer and Webster, p. 257</ref> He also cultivated pamphleteers and other surrogates to promote his political views. [[Henry Stubbe]], introduced to Vane by Westminster head [[Richard Busby]], became a supporter, and defended him in his ''Essay in Defence of the Good Old Cause'', and in ''Malice Rebuked'' (1659).<ref>Peacey, p. 82</ref><ref>Cooper and Hunter, p. 223</ref>

==Richard Cromwell and after==
Following Oliver Cromwell's death in September 1658, his son [[Richard Cromwell|Richard]] succeeded him as Lord Protector.<ref>Ireland, pp. 388,392</ref>  The younger Cromwell lacked the political and military skills of his father, and the political factionalism of the earlier Commonwealth began to resurface.<ref>Ireland, pp. 392–393</ref>  When elections were called for a new parliament in December 1658, Cromwell attempted to prevent the election of both royalists and republicans.<ref>Ireland, p. 393</ref><ref>Coward, p. 107</ref>  Vane, as a leader of the republican faction, was specifically targeted, but managed to win election representing [[Whitchurch (UK Parliament constituency)|Whitchurch]].<ref>Ireland, pp. 393–394</ref>  In [[Third Protectorate Parliament|the parliament's session]], the republicans questioned Cromwell's claim to power, argued in favour of limiting it, and spoke against the veto power of the [[Cromwell's Other House|Cromwellian House of Lords]], which was packed with supporters of the protector.<ref>Ireland, p. 395</ref>  The republicans were unsuccessful in enacting any substantive changes.<ref>Coward, p. 108</ref>

[[File:JohnLambert.png|thumb|left|General [[John Lambert (General)|John Lambert]]]]

Vane formed an alliance with a group of republican military officers known as the [[Wallingford House party]], who met secretly in violation of laws enacted to limit military participation in political matters.<ref>Ireland, p. 402</ref>  The Cromwellian factions in the parliament overreached in their attempts to control republican sentiment in the military, and Cromwell was forced to dissolve the parliament in April 1659.<ref>Coward, pp. 110–111</ref> Cromwell, with little support in the military, abdicated several days later.<ref>Ireland, p. 403</ref>  Following a purge of pro-Cromwell supporters from the military and a widespread pamphleteering campaign, Cromwell's council recalled the Rump Parliament in May.<ref>Coward, p. 112</ref>

In the reconstituted Rump Parliament, Vane was appointed to the new council of state. He also served as commissioner for the appointment of army officers, managed foreign affairs, and examined the state of the government's finances, which were found to be in dismal condition.<ref>Ireland, pp. 407–408, 415</ref>  Through his work General [[John Lambert (General)|John Lambert]] was sent to quell [[Booth's Rebellion]], a royalist uprising in August 1659.<ref>Ireland, p. 415</ref>  Lambert's support of non-mainstream religious views like Quakerism, however, ensured his political downfall.<ref>Farr, p. 184</ref>  After he and other officers were stripped of their command by Parliament in October, they rallied their troops and marched on Parliament, forcibly dissolving it.<ref>Farr, p. 197</ref>  A committee of safety was formed, composed of the army grandees, and including Vane and Sir [[Bulstrode Whitelocke]]. He agreed to serve in part because he feared the republican cause was destined to fail without army support.<ref>Ireland, p. 418</ref>  This committee served only until December, but Vane played a vital role in trying to stop Vice Admiral Lawson from blockading London with some twenty-two ships. He negotiated with Lawson and when he couldn't stop the planned blockade, he informed the Committee of Safety.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bcw-project.org/timelines/1659#dec|title = Timeline 1659}}</ref> When the advance of General [[George Monck]]'s army from Scotland led to the melting away of Lambert's military support, General Charles Fleetwood was forced to turn over the keys to Parliament House to the Speaker which led to the restoration of the full Long Parliament. For taking part in the committee of safety, Vane was expelled (over vocal objections from allies like Heselrige) from the Commons, and ordered into house arrest at Raby Castle.<ref>Ireland, p. 422</ref><ref>Adamson and Folland, p. 414</ref>  He went to Raby in February 1660, but stayed there only briefly and eventually returned to his house at Hampstead.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pp. 415,423</ref>

{{Quote box
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|quote=That knave in grain<br>Sir Harry Vane<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;His case than most men's is sadder<br>There is little hope<br>He can [e]scape the rope<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;For the Rump turned him o'er the ladder.
|source=Anonymous pamphleteer<ref>Adamson and Folland, p. 419</ref>
}}
During the tumultuous year of the late 1650s proposals for how the government should be structured and how powers should be balanced were widely debated, in private, in public debates in Parliament, and through the publication of pamphlets. Vane used all of these methods to promote his ideas. In 1660 he published ''A Needful Corrective or Balance in Popular Government''. This open letter was essentially a response to [[James Harrington (author)|James Harrington]]'s ''[[The Commonwealth of Oceana]]'', a 1656 treatise describing Harrington's view of a [[utopian]] government, which included limitations on property ownership and a legislature with an elected upper chamber.<ref>Ireland, p. 412</ref>  Harrington's thesis was that power arose from property ownership, and concentrated land ownership led to [[oligarchy|oligarchic]] and monarchic forms of government.<ref>Ireland, p. 411</ref>  Vane disagreed with this, arguing instead that power came from godliness, and presented a somewhat [[apocalypse|apocalyptic]] argument in support of his idea.<ref>Parnham, pp. 43–46</ref>  Vane supporter Henry Stubbe stated openly in October 1659 that permanent Senators would be required. These proposals caused a terminal split in Vane's alliance with Heselrige, whose followers mostly deserted Vane.<ref>[[Austin Woolrych|Woolrych, Austin]], "Last Quests for a Settlement: 1657–1660", p. 197, in [[G. E. Aylmer|Aylmer]] (ed), ''The Interregnum'' (1972).</ref>

==The Restoration==
In March 1660 the Long Parliament finally dissolved itself, and elections were held for the [[Convention Parliament (1660)|Convention Parliament]], which sat in May. This body, dominated by royalists and Presbyterians, formally proclaimed [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] as king, and he was [[English Restoration|restored to the throne]] on 29 May 1660.<ref>Adamson and Folland, p. 422</ref>  In order to minimise acts of reprisal and vengeance for acts taken during the Interregnum, the parliament passed the [[Indemnity and Oblivion Act]], under whose terms most actions were forgiven. Specific exceptions were made for [[List of regicides of Charles I|those directly involved in the regicide]]. Although Vane did not support the regicide and would not take an oath of support for it afterwards, he was also, after long debate, named as an exception. The act was not passed until August 1660, and Vane was arrested on 1 July 1660 on the orders of the king and imprisoned in the [[Tower of London]].<ref>Adamson and Folland, pp. 422–425</ref>  The parliament, after passing the Indemnity Act, petitioned Charles to grant [[clemency]] to Vane and others, asking that his life might be spared. This petition was granted.<ref>Adamson and Folland, p. 426</ref>

Despite the clemency, Vane remained in the Tower, and the income from his estates was seized. He suffered the privations of the prison, and was unable to discharge debts that ran to £10,000. He was transferred to the [[Isles of Scilly]] in October 1661 in order to limit access to him by potential conspirators who might be scheming to free him.<ref>Ireland, p. 453</ref><ref name=AF437>Adamson and Folland, p. 437</ref>  He continued to write, principally on religious themes, seeking to come to terms with the political state of affairs and his condition.<ref>Ireland, p. 454</ref>  According to ''The People's Case Stated'', written by Vane in this time, power originated with God, but resided primarily with the people: "The power which is directive, and states and ascertains the morality of the rule of obedience, is in the hand of God; but the original, from whence all just power arises, which is magistratical and co-ercitive, is from the will or free gift of the people, who may either keep the power in themselves or give up their subjection and will in the hand of another."<ref name=EB1911_893/> King and people were bound by "the fundamental constitution or compact", which if the king violated, the people might return to their original right and freedom.<ref name=EB1911_893>Yorke, p. 893</ref>

Following Vane's move to Scilly, the [[Cavalier Parliament]] passed a resolution in November 1661 demanding his return to the Tower for trial.<ref name=AF437/>  Charles temporized, and in January 1662 the Parliament renewed the demand.<ref name=AF438>Adamson and Folland, p. 438</ref>  Vane was moved back to the Tower in April 1662, and on 2 June 1662 he was arraigned on charges of [[high treason]] against Charles II.<ref>Hosmer (1888), pp. 510</ref><ref>Adamson and Folland, p. 448</ref>  The trial began on 6 June before the Court of King's Bench, with four judges headed by Lord Chief Justice [[Robert Foster (judge)|Robert Foster]] presiding, and with the king's attorney general Sir [[Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 1st Baronet|Geoffrey Palmer]] prosecuting.<ref>Adamson and Folland, p. 456</ref>  As was typical of those accused of treason, Vane was denied legal representation.<ref name=I465/>  He defended himself against charges of making war against the king during the civil war by asserting the sovereign power of parliament. Accused of imagining the death of the king in 1659, he argued that it was not possible to commit treason against a king not in possession of the crown. When the prosecution argued that the king was always in ''de jure'' possession, Vane pointed out that this rendered invalid the charges that he conspired to keep Charles II from exercising his power. The judges stepped in to point out this was irrelevant.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pp. 456–461</ref>  The jury, which was packed with royalists, convicted him after thirty minutes of debate.<ref name=I465>Ireland, p. 465</ref><ref>Adamson and Folland, p. 461</ref>

Vane attempted to appeal his conviction, and tried to get the magistrates to sign a Bill of Exclusion in which Vane catalogued all the problems he saw with his trial. However, the magistrates refused. Informed of Vane's conduct before and during the trial,<ref name=AF466>Adamson and Folland, p. 466</ref> Charles II now felt that Vane was too dangerous a man to be left alive, and retracted his clemency.<ref>Shifflett, p. 98</ref><ref>Robertson, p. 348</ref>  (Unlike Vane, John Lambert at his trial had thrown himself to the mercy of the court, and was consequently exiled to [[Guernsey]] after his conviction.)<ref name=AF466/>  Although Vane had been sentenced to the commoner's death of being hanged and then drawn and quartered, Charles was persuaded to grant him the gentleman's death of beheading.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pp. 465,467</ref>  On 14 June 1662 Vane was taken to [[Tower Hill, London|Tower Hill]] and beheaded. Noted diarist [[Samuel Pepys]] was there and recorded the event:<ref>Pepys, p. 4:241</ref>

:{{blockquote|He made a long speech, many times interrupted by the Sheriff and others there; and they would have taken his paper out of his hand, but he would not let it go. But they caused all the books of those that writ after him to be given the Sheriff; and the trumpets were brought under the scaffold that he might not be heard. Then he prayed, and so fitted himself, and received the blow; but the scaffold was so crowded that we could not see it done....He had a blister, or issue, upon his neck, which he desired them not hurt: he changed not his colour or speech to the last, but died justifying himself and the cause he had stood for; and spoke very confidently of his being presently at the right hand of Christ; and in all things appeared the most resolved man that ever died in that manner, and showed more of heat than cowardize, but yet with all humility and gravity. One asked him why he did not pray for the King. He answered, "Nay," says he, "you shall see I can pray for the King: I pray God bless him!"}}

In his final days Vane had made his peace with God, and had also carefully prepared the speech he intended to make at the execution.<ref>Adamson and Folland, pp. 467–469</ref>  In order to preserve the speech, he gave copies to close friends who visited him in those days, which were later printed.<ref>Adamson and Folland, p. 478</ref>  Many viewed him as a martyr for continuing to espouse his cause, and some thought the king had lost more than he gained by having him executed. His body was returned to his family, who interred him in the church at [[Shipbourne]], near the family estate of Fairlawn in Kent.<ref>Adamson and Folland, p. 477</ref>

==Family==
Vane and his wife Frances had ten children. Of their five sons, only the last, [[Christopher Vane, 1st Baron Barnard|Christopher]], had children, and succeeded to his father's estates. He was created [[Baron Barnard]] by [[William III of England|William III]].<ref>Ireland, p. 497</ref>

==Works==
[[Image:Sir Henry Vane by Frederick William MacMonnies, Boston Public Library.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Statue in [[Boston Public Library]]]]
[[File:Sir Henry vane.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Marker under the statue]]
A number of Vane's speeches to Parliament and other bodies were printed during his lifetime or shortly after, including ''The Speech Intended to Have been Spoken on the Scaffold'', published in 1662.<ref name=AF481>Adamson and Folland, p. 481</ref>

Vane's other printed works include:<ref name=AF482>Adamson and Folland, p. 482</ref>
* ''A Brief Answer to a Certain Declaration'', 1637
* ''The Retired Man's Meditations'', 1655
* ''A Healing Question Propounded'', 1656
* ''Of Love of God and Union with God'', 1657?
* ''The Proceeds of the Protector ... Against Sir Henry Vane, Knight'', 1658
* ''A Needful Corrective or Balance in Popular Government'', 1659
* ''Two Treatises: "Epistle General to the Mystical Body of Christ" and "The Face of the Times"'', 1662
* ''The Cause of the People of England Stated'', 1689 (written 1660–1662; the title may have been intended to be "Case" instead of "Cause")
* ''A Pilgrimage into the Land of Promise'', 1664
* ''The Trial of Sir Henry Vane, Knight'', 1662

The last work contains, in addition to his last speech and details relating to the trial, ''The People's Case Stated'', ''The Valley of Jehoshaphat'', and ''Meditations concerning Man's Life''.<ref name=EB1911_894>Yorke, p. 894</ref>

Some contemporary works were incorrectly attributed to him. Clarendon, in his ''History of the Rebellion'', assigns to Vane credit for one speech in support of the Self-Denying Ordinance; later historians find this attribution spurious. ''The Speech against Richard Cromwell'' is probably the composition of a later writer,<ref name=AF481/> while ''The Light Shining out of Darkness'' may have been written by [[Henry Stubbe]].<ref name=EB1911_894/>

==Reputation==
Vane was widely recognized by contemporary chroniclers as a gifted administrator and a forceful orator. Even the royalist Clarendon had good words for him, and wrote of him as follows:  "He had an unusual aspect, which ... made men think there was something in him of the extraordinary; and his whole life made good that imagination." Also, Clarendon credited Vane with having possessed "extraordinary parts, a pleasant wit, a great understanding, a temper not to be moved", and in debate "a quick conception and a very sharp and weighty expression".<ref name=EB1911_894/>  The 1662 biography ''The Life and Death of Sir Henry Vane the Younger'' by Vane's chaplain George Sikes included [[John Milton]]'s "Sonnet 17", written in 1652 in praise of Vane,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/sonnets/sonnet_17/index.shtml|title=Milton's "Sonnet 17"|access-date=5 May 2011|publisher=Dartmouth College|archive-date=20 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620112049/http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/sonnets/sonnet_17/index.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref> and presented to Vane that year.<ref>Lewalski, p. 287</ref>

He championed the cause of separation of church and state working with Governor Roger Williams of Rhode Island. He ensured the passage of Rhode Island's patent as a powerful MP in a Parliament committee overseeing the colonies. Rhode Island was the first American colony to guarantee freedom of religion based on separation of church and state in this first governing document.<ref>King, pg. 111-116</ref>

Although his personal religious beliefs as noted in a few of his writings from prison were sometimes baffling, by readers as varied as [[Richard Baxter]], Clarendon, [[Gilbert Burnet]] and [[David Hume]].<ref>Freeman and Mayer, p. 223</ref> Biographer David Parnham writes "He presented himself as a 'witness' of light, as a spiritualist, as one dispensing advanced wisdoms in the epistemological setting of an imminent and apocalyptic age of the Spirit".<ref>Parnham, p. 12</ref> Nevertheless, his religious beliefs weren't why he fought in Parliament nor why the King had him executed. He fought as an Independent in Parliament not aligned to any religious sect.

Vane's reputation was at its height in the nineteenth century, especially in the United States. English historian [[John Andrew Doyle]] wrote of Vane that he had acquired "a more dazzling reputation than has been granted to the lofty public spirit and statesmanlike foresight of Winthrop."<ref>Doyle, p. 169</ref>  [[William Wordsworth]] referenced Vane in his sonnet ''Great Men Have Been Among Us'' (1802).<ref>{{cite wikisource |title=Great Men Have Been Among Us |author=Wordsworth, William|author-link=William Wordsworth}}</ref> [[Charles Dickens]] included the exchange between Vane and Cromwell at the end of the [[Rump Parliament]] in his ''[[A Child's History of England]]'', part-published in the early 1850s.<ref>Dickens, p. 267</ref>  In ''English Traits'' (1856), [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]] placed Vane on a list of historical English greats.<ref>{{cite web|last=Emerson|first=Ralph Waldo|title=Essays and English Traits|url=http://www.bartleby.com/5/204.html|access-date=20 February 2011}}</ref>

In April 1889, the Atlantic magazine published an article which stated. "WITH the single exception of Cromwell, the greatest statesman of the heroic age of Puritanism was unquestionably the younger Henry Vane. He did as much as any one to compass the downfall of Strafford; he brought the military strength of Scotland to the aid of the hard-pressed Parliament; he administered the navy with which Blake won his astonishing victories; he dared even withstand Cromwell at the height of his power, when his measures savored too much of violence...Yet before the beginning of his brilliant career in England, this young man had written his name indelibly upon one of the earliest pages in the history of the American people. It is pleasant to remember that this admirable man was once the chief magistrate of an American commonwealth. Thorough republican and enthusiastic lover of liberty, he was spiritually akin to Jefferson and to Samuel Adams...In his mind were the rudiments of the idea of a written constitution, upon which a new government for England might be built, with powers neatly defined and limited. One fancies that in some respects he would have felt himself more at home if he could have been suddenly translated from the Rump Parliament of 1653 to the Federal Convention of 1787, in which immortal assembly there sat perhaps no man of loftier spirit than his...He died on Tower Hill, with all the fearlessness and sweetness that had always marked his life. His memory is a precious possession for all coming generations."<ref>{{cite web |last=The Atlantic Magazine |date=April 1889 |title=Young Sir Henry Vane |website=[[The Atlantic]] |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1889/04/young-sir-henry-vane/634910 |access-date=4 May 2023}}</ref>

In 1897 the [[Royal Society of the Arts]] marked Vane's demolished Hampstead house on Rosslyn Hill, Vane House, with a [[blue plaque]].<ref name='EngHet'>{{cite web| url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/harry-vane/|title=VANE, SIR HARRY (1612-1662)|publisher=English Heritage| access-date=22 March 2013}}</ref>

A statue to honour Vane by Frederick William MacMonnies was erected in the Boston Public Library. The plaque underneath states, "This statue was placed here at the request of James Freeman Clarke, D.D. an honoured citizen of Boston who nobly labored for the abolition of slavery in America.  Vane was "An Ardent Defender of Civil Liberty and Free Thought in Religion. He maintained that God and Parliament were superior to the King."

[[James Kendall Hosmer]], editing Winthrop's ''Journal'' in 1908, wrote of Vane:
<blockquote>... his heroic life and death, his services to Anglo-Saxon freedom, which make him a significant figure even to the present moment, may well be regarded as the most illustrious character who touches early New England history. While his personal contact with America was only for a brief space, his life became a strenuous upholding of American ideas: if government of, by, and for the people is the principle which English-speaking men feel especially bound to maintain, the life and death of Vane contributed powerfully to cause this idea to prevail.<ref>Hosmer (1908), p. 161</ref></blockquote>

Wendell Phillips, a prominent American abolitionist, friend of Frederick Douglas, and advocate for Native Americans, said,
"Sir Harry Vane, in my judgment the noblest human being who ever walked the streets of yonder city,--I do not forget Franklin or Sam Adams, Washington or Fayette, Garrison or John Brown, -but Vane dwells an arrow's flight above them all, and his touch consecrated the continent to measureless toleration of opinion and entire equality of rights. We are told we can find in Plato “all the intellectual life of Europe for two thousand years;” so you can find in Vane the pure gold of two hundred and fifty years of American civilization, with no particle of its dross. Plato would have welcomed him to the Academy, and Fenelon kneeled with him at the altar. He made Somers and John Marshall possible; like Carnot, he organized victory; and Milton pales before him in the stainlessness of his record. He stands among English statesmen preeminently the representative, in practice and in theory, of serene faith in the safety of trusting truth wholly to her own defence. For other men we walk backward, and throw over their memories the mantle of charity and excuse, saying reverently, “Remember the temptation and the age.” But Vane's ermine has no stain; no act of his needs explanation or apology; and in thought he stands abreast of our age,--like pure intellect, belongs to all time."<ref>Phillips, p. 1</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==
{{refbegin|2}}
* {{cite book|last=Adamson|first=J. H|author2=Folland, H. F|title=Sir Harry Vane: His Life and Times (1613–1662)|year=1973|publisher=Gambit|location=Boston|isbn=978-0-87645-064-2|oclc=503439406|url=https://archive.org/details/sirharryvanehisl00adam}}
* {{cite book|last=Adamson|first=J. H|title=The Noble Revolt|year=2007|publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson|isbn=978-0-297-84262-0|oclc=123271724|location=London}}
* {{cite book |last=Anderson |first=Robert C. |title=The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England 1634–1635 |volume=III G-H |year=2003 |publisher=[[New England Historic Genealogical Society]] |location=Boston |isbn=0-88082-158-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Auchter|first=Dorothy|title=Dictionary of Literary and Dramatic Censorship in Tudor and Stuart England|year=2001|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|location=Westport, CT|isbn=978-0-313-31114-7|oclc=45784299}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Aylmer |editor-first=G. E. |title=The Interregnum|year=1972|publisher=Macmillan|location=London|isbn=978-0-333-00309-1|oclc=185710245}}
* {{cite book|last=Brenner|first=Robert|title=Merchants and Revolution: Commercial Change, Political Conflict, and London's Overseas Traders, 1550–1653|publisher=Verso|year=2003|isbn=978-1-85984-333-8|location=London|oclc=155910930|url=<!--https://books.google.com/books?id=amFQ3gq-SjQC&q=craddock-->}}
* {{cite book|last=Bremer|first=Francis|title=John Winthrop: America's Forgotten Founder|year=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-19-514913-5|oclc=237802295|url=https://archive.org/details/johnwinthropamer00brem}}
* {{cite book|last=Bremer|first=Francis|author2=Webster, Tom |title=Puritans and Puritanism in Europe and America: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia|year=2006|publisher=ABC-CLIO|location=New York|isbn=978-1-57607-678-1|oclc=162315447}}
* {{cite book|last=Cave|first=Alfred|title=The Pequot War|publisher=University of Massachusetts Press|year=1996|location=Amherst, MA|isbn=978-1-55849-029-1|oclc=33405267}}
* {{cite book|last=Clarendon|first=Edward Hyde|title=The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England|publisher=Clarendon Press|year=1807|location=Oxford|oclc=1998647|url=https://archive.org/details/historyrebellio32clargoog}}
* {{cite book|last=Cliffe|first=John Trevor|title=Puritans in Conflict: The Puritan Gentry During and After the Civil Wars|year=1988|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=978-0-415-00879-2|oclc=17551599}}
* {{cite book|editor1-last=Cooper |editor1-first=Michael |editor2-last=Hunter |editor2-first=Michael Cyril William |title=Robert Hooke: Tercentennial Studies|year=2006|publisher=Ashgate Publishing|location=Aldershot, Hants, England|isbn=978-0-7546-5365-3|oclc=266080885}}
* {{cite book|last=Coward|first=Barry|title=The Cromwellian Protectorate|publisher=Manchester University Press|year=2002|isbn=978-0-7190-4316-1|location=Manchester, UK|oclc=248649327}}
* {{cite book|last=Dickens|first=Charles|title=A Child's History of England, Volume 2|publisher=Tanchevitz|year=1853|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WnTer2E9R-sC&pg=PA267|location=Leipzig|oclc=612195083}}
* {{cite book|last=Doherty|first=Kieran|title=Puritans, Pilgrims, and Merchants: Founders of the Northeastern Colonies|year=1998|publisher=The Oliver Press|location=Minneapolis, MN|isbn=978-1-881508-50-2|oclc=38379261|url=https://archive.org/details/puritanspilgrims00dohe}}
* {{cite book|last=Doyle|first=John Andrew|title=The English in America|url=https://archive.org/details/englishinameric04doylgoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/englishinameric04doylgoog/page/n191 169]|publisher=Longmans|year=1887|location=London|oclc=3537611}}
* {{cite book|last=Farr|first=David|title=John Lambert, Parliamentary Soldier and Cromwellian Major-General, 1619–1684|publisher=Boydell Press|year=2003|location=Woodbridge, NJ|isbn=978-1-84383-004-7|oclc=470052391}}
* {{cite book|last=Forster|first=John|title=Eminent British Statesmen, Vol 4, Sir Henry Vane the Younger|publisher=Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, 8: Longmans, Pateiinosteii-Row; and John Taylor|year=1838|location=London, England}}
* {{cite book|last=Freeman|first=Thomas S|author2=Mayer, Thomas Frederick |title=Martyrs and Martyrdom in England, c. 1400–1700|year=2007|publisher=Boydell Press|isbn=978-1-84383-290-4|location=Woodbridge, NJ|oclc=255623074}}
* {{cite book |last=Hosmer |first=James Kendall |title=The Life of Young Sir Henry Vane |author-link=James Kendall Hosmer |publisher=Houghton, Mifflin|year=1888|url=https://archive.org/details/lifeyoungsirhen03hosmgoog|isbn=978-0-524-07689-7|oclc=30429015}}
* {{cite book |last=Hosmer |first=James Kendall |author-link=James Kendall Hosmer |title=Winthrop's Journal, "History of New England" 1630–1649|url=https://archive.org/details/winthropsjourna06hosmgoog|year=1908|publisher=Scribner's|location=New York|oclc=7232057}}
* {{cite book|last=Ireland|first=William|title=The Life of Sir Henry Vane the Younger: With a History of the Events of his Time|publisher=E. Nash|year=1905|url=https://archive.org/details/lifesirhenryvan02irelgoog|oclc=226127|location=London|isbn=9780404035075}}
* {{cite book|last=King|first=Henry Melville|title=Sir Henry Vane, Jr: Governor of Massachusetts and Friend of Roger Williams|year=1909|publisher=Preston and Rounds|url=https://archive.org/details/sirhenryvanejrg01kinggoog|location=Providence, RI|oclc=3178695}}
* {{cite book|last=Lewalski|first=Barbara|author-link=Barbara Lewalski|title=The Life of John Milton|year=2000|publisher=Blackwell Publishers|location=Malden, MA|isbn=978-0-631-17665-7|oclc=186432094}}
* {{cite book|last=Moore|first=Jacob Bailey|title=Lives of the Governors of New Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay|location=Boston|year=1851|publisher=C. D. Strong|oclc=11362972|url=https://archive.org/details/livesgovernorsn00moorgoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/livesgovernorsn00moorgoog/page/n286 273]}}
* {{cite book|last=New England Historical and Genealogical Society|author-link=New England Historical and Genealogical Society|title=The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. II, No. II, Life of Sir Henry Vane|year=1848|publisher=Samuel G. Drake|location=Boston, MA|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lxQqAAAAYAAJ}}
* {{cite book|last=Orme|first=William|author-link=William Orme (minister)|title=The Life and Times of the Rev. Richard Baxter|year=1831|publisher=Crocker and Brewster|url=https://archive.org/details/lifeandtimesrev03ormegoog|location=Boston|oclc=1618296}}
* {{cite book|last=Parnham|first=David|title=Sir Henry Vane, Theologian: A Study in Seventeenth-century Religious and Political Discourse|year=1997|publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson University Press|location=Madison, WI|isbn=978-0-8386-3681-7|oclc=247656560}}
* {{cite book|last=Peacey|first=Jason|title=Politicians and Pamphleteers: Propaganda During the English Civil Wars and Interregnum|year=2004|publisher=Ashgate Publishing|location=Burlington, VT|isbn=978-0-7546-0684-0|oclc=223413053}}
* {{cite book|last=Pepys|first=Samuel|author-link=Samuel Pepys|title=The Diary of Samuel Pepys|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HlUKAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA241|publisher=Brainard|year=1893|location=Boston|oclc=7063232}}
* {{cite book|last=Phillips|first=Wendell|author-link=Wendell Phillips|title=A Scholar in the Republic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TpoKAAAAMAAJ|publisher=Lee and Shepherd|year=1881|location=New York}}
* {{cite book|last=Purkiss|first=Diane|title=The English Civil War: Papists, Gentlewomen, Soldiers, and Witchfinders in the Birth of Modern Britain|publisher=Basic Books|year=2006|isbn=978-0-465-06756-5|oclc=148913524|location=New York|url=https://archive.org/details/englishcivilwarp00purk}}
* {{cite book|last=Robertson|first=Geoffrey|author-link=Geoffrey Robertson|title=The Tyrannicide Brief|year=2006|publisher=Vintage Books|location=London|isbn=978-0-09-949942-8|oclc=156344609}}
* {{cite book|last=Rowe|first=Violet A|title=Sir Henry Vane the Younger|year=1970|publisher=University of London Press|location=London|oclc=150481868}}
* {{cite book|last=Shaw|first=William Arthur|title=A History of the English Church During the Civil Wars and Under the Commonwealth, 1640–1660, Volume 1|publisher=Longmans, Green|year=1900|location=London|oclc=1084986|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0YkoAQAAIAAJ}}
* {{cite book|last=Shifflett|first=Andrew Eric Shifflett|title=Stoicism, Politics, and Literature in the Age of Milton: War and Peace Reconciled|year=1998|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-59203-1|oclc=185340799}}
* {{cite book|last=Smith|first=David Lawrence|title=A History of the Modern British Isles, 1603–1707: The Double Crown|year=1998|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-631-19401-9|oclc=247198800}}
* {{cite book|last=Willcock|first=John|title=Life of Sir Henry Vane the Younger: Statesman and Mystic (1613–1662)|publisher=Saint Catherine Press|year=1913|location=London|oclc=900173|url=https://archive.org/details/lifeofsirhenryva00willuoft/page/n1}}
* {{cite book|last=Winship|first=Michael|title=Making Heretics: Militant Protestantism and Free Grace in Massachusetts, 1636–1641|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2002|location=Princeton, NJ|isbn=978-0-691-08943-0|oclc=470517711|url=https://archive.org/details/makinghereticsmi00wins}}
* {{cite book|last=Woolrych|first=Austin|author-link=Austin Woolrych|title=Britain in Revolution: 1625–1660|year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-927268-6|oclc=249446894}}
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Vane, Sir Henry (1613-1662)|first=Philip Chesney|last=Yorke|volume=27|pages=892–894}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
The literature on the English Civil War, Commonwealth and Protectorate is immense, and Vane has been a regular subject for biographers in the 19th and 20th centuries.
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Clarendon|first=Edward Hyde|title=History of the Rebellion|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.72239|publisher=University Press|year=1843|oclc=19113636|location=Oxford}} Contemporary history of the Civil War and Interregnum by a royalist.
* {{cite book|last=Gardiner|first=Samuel|author-link=Samuel Rawson Gardiner|title=History of England|publisher=Longmans, Green|location=London|oclc=496808867|year=1899}} Ten volume history covering 17th century England up to the Civil War.
* {{cite book|last=Gardiner|first=Samuel|title=History of the Great Great Civil War|publisher=Longmans, Green|location=London|year=1886|isbn=9780900075209|url=https://archive.org/details/historygreatciv01gardgoog|oclc=2129491}} Three volume history of the English Civil War.
* {{cite book|last=Gardiner|first=Samuel|title=History of the Commonwealth and Protectorate|publisher=Longmans, Green|year=1894|url=https://archive.org/details/historycommonwe13gardgoog|oclc=219480401}} Three volume history of the Commonwealth and Protectorate.
* {{cite book|last=Hall|first=David|title=The Antinomian Controversy, 1636–1638: a Documentary History|publisher=Duke University Press|year=1990|isbn=978-0-8223-1083-9|oclc=21376617}}
* {{cite book|last=Judson|first=Margaret A|year=1969|title=The Political Thought of Sir Henry Vane the Younger|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|location=Philadelphia|oclc=251996043}}
* {{cite book|last=Sikes|first=George|title=The Life and Death of Sir Henry Vane, Kt.|year=1662|location=London|oclc=166612014}}  Biography and other materials published in the wake of Vane's execution.
* {{cite book|last=Upham|first=Charles Wentworth|title=Life of Sir Henry Vane, Fourth Governor of Massachusetts in The Library of American Biography conducted by Jared Sparks|publisher=Harper & Brothers, 82 Cliff St, New York|year=1842}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Americana Poster|Vane, Henry|Henry Vane the Younger}}
* [http://www.constitution.org/lev/healing.htm ''A Healing Question'']
* [http://bcw-project.org/timelines/1659#dec "Dec 1659 British Civil War Timeline"]
* {{cite book |last1=Hutchinson |first1=John |title=Men of Kent and Kentishmen |date=1892 |publisher=Cross & Jackman |location=Canterbury |pages=137–138 |edition=Subscription  |chapter=[[s:Men of Kent and Kentishmen/Sir Henry Vane (junior)|Sir Henry Vane]]}}

{{Governors of Massachusetts}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vane, Henry, The Younger}}
[[Category:Vane family|Henry]]
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