A Protestant Pilgrim in Rome, Venice, and English Parliament: Sir John Wray

Summary

SIR John Wray, second baronet of Glentworth, represented Lincolnshire in parliament once during the reign of James I and various times during that of Charles I. For his activities in the Short Parliament of 1640, we have one speech and various summaries preserved in early manuscripts. His speeches from the Long Parliament of 1640–41 were printed multiple times in 1641 and show a primary concern with church reform. Some of those speeches by Wray were reprinted again decades later in context with the general proceedings. On 3 May 1641, Wray characterizes himself and certain fellow parliamentarians as “holy Pilgrims.” They are to be “Pilgrims” but “not Popish” he claims. They will rather be “Loyal Covenanters with God and the King”—bound, he says, “to preserve our Religion entire and pure, without the least compound of Superstition, or Idolatry.” Wray's characterization of himself and his parliamentary colleagues as “Covenanters” speaks to his desire for an English church more closely aligned with that of Scotland. Wray's claim for the Long Parliament as a political pilgrimage, on the other hand, can be newly interpreted beyond its immediate context (analyzed at the end of this study), given the recent discovery of a travel narrative from his youth. As a young traveler, Wray had witnessed Catholic ceremonies and traditions that he considered superstitious and idolatrous. Existing biographies have not recorded precisely when and where Wray traveled; they note only that on 14 June 1604 (at 18 years of age) Wray was granted a license for three years of travel in continental Europe. Recently, though, Wray's own travel account has come to light, notably titled The Pilgrim's Journal. By reading Wray's Pilgrim's Journal with an eye to his later political service, we see how his travel experience in Rome helped determine his impression of (and scorn for) all things “Popish,” whereas his experience in Venice probably influenced his advocacy for tipping England's mixed government of king-in-parliament toward an increased parliamentary authority.

As a foundation for connecting Wray's Grand Tour of 1604–6 with his later parliamentary career, especially his speeches in the Long Parliament of 1640–41, this essay analyzes the rhetorical circumstances of his extant travel account from 1606, emphasizing the manner in which that manuscript text recounts his eyewitness experiences of two events in 1606: papal Easter ceremonies in Rome and the papal Interdict in Venice.