William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele (28 June 158214 April 1662) was an English nobleman and politician. He was a leading critic of Charles I's rule during the 1620s and 1630s. He was known also for his involvement in several companies for setting up overseas colonies.
Early life
He was born at the family home of Broughton Castle near Banbury, in Oxfordshire, the only son of Richard Fiennes, 7th Baron Saye and Sele, and his wife Constance, daughter of Sir William Kingsmill. He was educated at New College, Oxford. He was a descendant and heir of the sister of William of Wykeham, the college's founder. Fiennes succeeded to his father's barony in 1613.
1620s
During the latter part of James I's reign, Saye was one of the most prominent opponents of the court. In 1621 he was active against Francis Bacon, and urged that he should be degraded from the peerage. In 1622 he opposed the benevolence levied by the king, saying that he knew no law besides parliament to persuade men to give away their own goods; he spent six months in the Fleet Prison, and then had a period of house arrest. When George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham returned from Spain and proposed to break the Spanish match, the duke and baron became temporary allies. Saye became Viscount Saye and Sele in 1624. He pressed home the attack on Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex. earning him the nickname "old subtlety".
Although Saye resisted the levy of ship money, he accompanied Charles on his march against the Scots in 1639; but, with only one other peer, he refused to take the oath binding him to fight for the king "to the utmost of my power and hazard of my life". Then Charles I sought to win his favour by making him a Privy Councillor and Master of the Court of Wards.
Civil War and Restoration
When the Civil War broke out, however, Saye was on the committee of safety. He was appointed as Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Cheshire, and raised a regiment that briefly occupied Oxford. However, "during his brief occupation of the city he neglected to fortify it against the king, fearing to anger the university" and the Royalists seized Oxford shortly afterwards.
Saye was a member of the committee of both kingdoms; was mainly responsible for passing the self-denying ordinance through the House of Lords; and in 1647 stood up for the army in its struggle with the parliament.
Saye became a privy counsellor again upon the restoration of Charles II. He died at Broughton Castle on 14 April 1662. She was born in May 1585 and was about fifteen at marriage. Their eldest son James (c. 1603–1674) succeeded him as 2nd viscount; other sons were the Parliamentarians Nathaniel Fiennes and John Fiennes.