Editing Kenelm Digby (section)

==Catholicism and Civil War==
Digby became a Catholic once more in 1635. He went into voluntary exile in Paris, where he spent most of his time until 1660. There he met both [[Marin Mersenne]] and [[Thomas Hobbes]].<ref>[[Desmond M. Clarke]], ''Descartes: A Biography'' (2006), p. 279.</ref>

Returning to support [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] in his struggle to establish [[episcopacy]] in Scotland (the [[Bishops' Wars]]), he found himself increasingly unpopular with the growing [[Puritan]] party. In the time between 1639 and 1640, he supported [[Charles I of England|Charles I]]'s expedition against the Presbyterian Scots.<ref name="britannica.com">Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Sir Kenelm Digby". Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Jul. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kenelm-Digby. Accessed 15 February 2023.</ref> He left England for France again in 1641. Following an incident in which he killed a French nobleman, Mont le Ros, in a duel,<ref>[[John Farquhar Fulton|John F. Fulton]], ''Sir Kenelm Digby, F.R.S. (1603–1665)'', Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 15, (Jul. 1960), pp. 199–210.</ref> he returned to England via [[Flanders]] in 1642, and was jailed by the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]]. He was eventually released at the intervention of [[Anne of Austria]], and went back again to France. He remained there during the remainder of the period of the [[English Civil War]]. [[Parliament of England|Parliament]] declared his property in England forfeit.

Queen [[Henrietta Maria]] had fled England in 1644, and he became her Chancellor. He was then engaged in unsuccessful attempts to solicit support for the English monarchy from [[Pope Innocent X]].<ref name="britannica.com"/> His son, also called Kenelm, was killed at the [[Battle of St Neots]], 1648. Following the establishment of [[the Protectorate]] under [[Oliver Cromwell]], who believed in freedom of conscience,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Haykin |first=Michael A.G. |title=Religious Freedom: The Puritans and Oliver Cromwell|url=https://credomag.com/2011/11/religious-freedom-the-puritans-and-oliver-cromwell/?amp |access-date=2025-02-26 |website=Credo Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> Digby was received by the government as a sort of unofficial representative of English Roman Catholics, and was sent in 1655 on a mission to the [[Papacy]] to try to reach an understanding.{{Citation needed|date=August 2016}} This again proved unsuccessful.

At the [[English Restoration|Restoration]], Digby found himself in favour with the new regime due to his ties with Henrietta Maria, the Queen Mother. However, he was often in trouble with [[Charles II of England|Charles II]], and was once even banished from Court. Nonetheless, he was generally highly regarded until his death, a month before his 62nd birthday, from "the stone", likely caused by [[kidney stones]].<ref>[[Richard Westfall]]. ''Science and Religion in Seventeenth-Century England'' (1973), p. 142.</ref> He was buried in his wife's tomb (which was damaged in the [[Great Fire of London|great fire of 1666]]), in [[Christ Church, Newgate Street]], London.