Captain Pennington’s perplexity: the loan of English ships to France, 1625

Abstract

Abstract The contentious loan of English ships to France in 1625 has usually been treated as a political scandal contributing to the impeachment of the duke of Buckingham. Here it is examined as a maritime episode, particularly challenging for Captain John Pennington of the royal ship Vanguard. English mariners were opposed to serving under the French, and vehemently against allowing their vessels to combat the Huguenots at La Rochelle. Inconsistencies in policies and directions contributed to the captain’s perplexity, but he was not party to the conspiracy that some historians have detected to thwart the loan and its application.