1 - Reform as process: the viceroyalties of Lord Leonard Grey and Sir Anthony St Leger, 1536–1547

Summary

‘Poor Leonard Grey’, as he began to sign himself soon after his appointment as lord deputy in February 1536, has been as harshly treated by historians as he was in his own times. Recalled in disgrace after barely four years in office and executed in 1541 on groundless charges of treason, his sad fate has conventionally been seen merely as the result of his own intemperate and somewhat obtuse conduct as viceroy. A bungling militarist who placed too much confidence in agreements exacted under duress, a relentless self–seeker inattentive to advice and intolerant of criticism, he has been adjudged to have contributed greatly to his ruin by failing to appreciate the extraordinary opportunities for the reform of Ireland that had been made available to him after the fall of the Geraldines.

Grey's slender reputation has been easily overshadowed by those of two of the most formidable figures of the period, his superior, Secretary Thomas Cromwell, and his successor as viceroy, Sir Anthony St Leger. Modern assessments of these two have left little for Grey to claim as his due. Such credit as had been given for the limited reforms introduced during his time in Ireland has been accorded to Cromwell, while his failure to establish his authority over the native lords has been contrasted with the great diplomatic successes for which St Leger has received so much praise. Such judgements would seem, however, to be both unfair and misleading.