Clarendon Ministry - Definition and Overview

The Clarendon Ministry was forged out of the royalist camp of Charles II, who was returned to the throne (the English Restoration) in 1660. Two years previously, Lord Clarendon had been appointed Lord Chancellor, and now he was accompanied by several powerful statesmen, including the heir presumptive of the English throne, the Duke of York. After the Second Anglo-Dutch War, however, Charles lost confidence in his ministers, and in 1667, five statesmen took cooperative power in the Cabal Ministry.

Lord Clarendon was impeached by the House of Commons and forced to flee; the Duke of Albemarle sold his position to George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham; and Carteret simply left his position, eventually being forced out of the House two years later.

Committee for Foreign Affairs

The Privy Council Committee for Foreign Affairs served as the Ministry; other significant statesmen not in the committee are enumerated in the next section.

Ministers not in Committee