Hampden, John (hămp`dən, hăm`–), 1594–1643, English parliamentary leader; cousin of Oliver Cromwell. He entered Parliament in 1621, became closely associated with Sir John Eliot Eliot, Sir John, 1592–1632, English parliamentary leader. He was a staunch defender of parliamentary liberties. Eliot instituted (1626) the impeachment proceedings against Charles I's favorite, the 1st duke of Buckingham , and joined Sir Edward Coke and others
..... Click the link for more information. , and was imprisoned (1627) for refusing to pay the forced loan demanded by Charles I Charles I, 1600–1649, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1625–49), second son of James I and Anne of Denmark.

Early Life

He became heir to the throne on the death of his older brother Henry in 1612 and was made prince of Wales in
..... Click the link for more information. . With Viscount Saye and Sele Saye and Sele, William Fiennes, 1st Viscount (fīnz, sā`ənsēl)
..... Click the link for more information. , John Pym Pym, John (pĭm), 1583?–1643, English statesman.
..... Click the link for more information. , and other parliamentary leaders, he involved himself in various colonization schemes. In 1637, Hampden challenged the king's right to raise revenue by the device of ship money, a tax originally levied on ports for defense purposes but extended by Charles to inland counties. He was convicted (1638) by a very narrow margin for his refusal to pay the tax, and the case inflamed popular resentment against the king. Conspicuous as a leader of both the Short and Long Parliaments, Hampden was one of the five members whose attempted arrest by Charles (1642) helped to precipitate the English civil war English civil war, 1642–48, the conflict between King Charles I of England and a large body of his subjects, generally called the "parliamentarians," that culminated in the defeat and execution of the king and the establishment of a republican commonwealth .
..... Click the link for more information. . He raised a regiment for the parliamentarians and was mortally wounded at Chalgrove Field, fighting Prince Rupert.

Hampden, John

(born 1594, London, Eng.—died June 24, 1643, Thame, Oxfordshire, Eng.) English Parliamentary leader. In 1635 he refused to pay 20 shillings in ship money, a levy by Charles I for outfitting his navy, on the ground that only Parliament was empowered to levy taxes. Though the court ruled in favour of Charles, resistance to the tax became widespread. In the Long Parliament (1640), Hampden attacked royal policies and was one of the five members who evaded arrest by the king in 1642. The ship-money episode was one of the controversies that led to the English Civil Wars, in which Hampden was mortally wounded.