John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough

Lore & Background

John Churchill was the second but eldest surviving son of Sir Winston Churchill of Glanvilles Wootton, Dorset, and Elizabeth Drake. His father served with the Royalist army in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and was heavily fined, forcing the family to live at Ash House. Churchill was also a descendant of Edward I through his daughter, Joan of Acre. After the 1660 Restoration, his father became MP for Weymouth and later a knight, with John attending St Paul's School. The family fortune was made in 1665 when his sister Arabella became maid of honour to Anne Hyde and began an affair with James, Duke of York, leading to John's appointment as page to James and later an ensign in the Foot Guards. Churchill married Sarah Jennings in the winter of 1677–78, and they had five children who survived to adulthood.

Reader's Guide

Churchill's role in defeating the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685 helped secure James on the throne, but he was a key player in the military conspiracy that led to James being deposed during the Glorious Revolution. Rewarded by William III with the title Earl of Marlborough, persistent charges of Jacobitism led to his fall from office and temporary imprisonment in the Tower of London. Not until the accession of Queen Anne in 1702 did he secure his fame and fortune. Marriage to Sarah Jennings and her relationship with Anne ensured Marlborough's rise, first to the captain-generalcy of British forces, then to a dukedom. As de facto leader of Allied forces in the Low Countries, his victories at Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, and Malplaquet ensured his place in history. His wife's stormy relationship with the Queen led to his own fall; incurring Anne's disfavour, he was forced from office and went into self-imposed exile. He returned to favour with the accession of George I in 1714, but a stroke in 1716 ended his career. Marlborough's leadership of the main Allied army against Louis XIV from 1701 to 1711 helped consolidate Britain's emergence as a front-rank power, while his ability to maintain unity in the fractious coalition demonstrated his diplomatic skills. He is often remembered by military historians as much for his organisational and logistic skills as his tactical abilities.

Did You Know?

• Churchill is known for never having lost a battle.
• He was a key player in the military conspiracy that led to James II being deposed during the Glorious Revolution.
• His wife Sarah Jennings had a stormy relationship with Queen Anne, which was central to his own fall from office.
• A stroke in 1716 ended his career.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"I have not time to say more but to beg you will give my duty to the Queen, and let her know Her army has had a Glorious Victory." — John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough "Marlborough's message to Sarah Churchill scribbled on the back of a tavern reckoning while on horseback during the Battle of Blenheim (13 August 1704), quoted in Correlli Barnett, Marlborough (Wordsworth, 1999), p. 121." — John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough "If he had been suffered to end the war which he so gloriously carried on, we should not have had the wars we have had since." — John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough