Ralph Winwood

Sir Ralph Winwood (c. 1563 – 27 October 1617) was an English diplomat and statesman to the Jacobean court. Early life Ralph Winwood was born the son of Richard Winwood at Aynhoe in Northamptonshire. A 'hot puritan', according to a Jesuit reporter, he was educated at St John's College, Oxford (1577), Magdalen College, Oxford (1582). To conclude his education, he travelled to Italy, where he enrolled at the University of Padua (1594). Career Pursuing a career as a diplomat, Winwood became secretary to Sir Henry Neville (c. 1562-1615), the English ambassador in France, in 1599 and he succeeded Neville in this position two years later, retaining it until 1603. He was Clerk of Privy Council (extraordinary) from 1603 to 1608, and (ordinary) from 1608 to 1609. In 1603 Winwood was sent to The Hague as agent to the States-General of the United Provinces, and was appointed a member of the Dutch council of state on the basis of the Treaty of Nonsuch. Winwood's hearty dislike of Spain coloured all his actions in Holland; he was anxious to see a continuance of the war between Spain and the United Netherlands, and expressed both his own views and those of the English government at the time when he wrote, "how convenient this war would be for the good of His Majesty's realms, if it might be maintained without his charge." He was knighted on 28 June 1607. In June 1608, Winwood signed the league between England and the United Provinces. Shortly afterwards, he became the first accredited English ambassador to the Dutch Republic. He was in Holland when the trouble over the succession to the duchies of Jülich and Cleves threatened to cause a European war. In this matter, he negotiated with the Protestant Princes of Germany on behalf of King James I of England. As ambassador, Winwood publicly intervened in the Vorstius affair, and secretly sided with the Contra-Remonstrants in the religious conflicts that engulfed the United Provinces during and after his embassy. While in Holland he obtained greyhounds for Anne of Denmark from Jacob van den Eynde, Governor of Woerden. He was appointed Master of Requests from 1609 to 1614.