John Churchill Duke of Marlborough - battle of Blenheim

by Rita Stanton

John Churchill was born into poverty, but became one of the greatest military commanders in history. He served James II, William III and Queen Anne. His wife, Sarah, was a close friend and confidante of Anne for many years previous to and during her reign.

Analysis

The Duke of Marlborough was wise to change his allegiance from James II to William of Orange even before James vacated the throne. He was not very well-liked by William, however, and turned his allegiance back to James during his exile, losing royal favor for some years. However, the Duke reached the full potential of his military genius winning many major battles in the Spanish Succession during the reign of Queen Anne, most notably the Battle of Blenheim.

• Blenheim Palace was built and given to John Churchill for winning the battle of Blenheim.

• John Churchill was the ancestor of Winston Churchill

• Winston Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace

• Web Links

  History of John Churchill

  The Columbia Encyclopedia

  Print sources

  Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh. Blenheim Revisited: The Spencer-Churchills and their Palace. New York: Beaufort Books, 1985.

  Cook, Chris and John Stevenson. British Historical Facts 1760-1830. London: MacMillan, 1980.

  Tincey, John  Turner,Graham Blenheim 1704 : The Duke of Marlborough's masterpiece (Campaign) , Osprey Publishing (July 25, 2004)

  Authorship: The information presented here was taken from the mentioned web sites. This page was compiled by Rita Stanton for HIST 350: Modern British History.