Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke

Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke

Henry St. John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke was a British Tory politician and philosopher. He was a leader of the Tories, and supported the Church of England politically despite his antireligious views and opposition to theology. Bolingbroke supported the Jacobite rebellion of 1715, which sought to overthrow the new king George I. Escaping to France, he became foreign minister for the Jacobite pretender James Francis Edward Stuart. He was attainted for treason but reversed course and was allowed to return to England in 1723. According to Ruth Mack, "Bolingbroke is best known for his party politics, including the ideological history he disseminated in The Craftsman (1726–1735) by adopting the fo