BELLENDEN, WILLIAM [SSNE 1969]

Surname

BELLENDEN, BALLANDEW, BALLANDEN, BALLENTIN, BALLENTINE, BANNATIN, BALLANTYNE, VALENTINE

First name

WILLIAM, WILHELM

Title/rank

COLONEL

Nationality

SCOT

Social status

OFFICER

Text source

Colonel William Bellenden was in British and Swedish service during the Thirty Years' War. He served as lieutenant-colonel in James, Marquis Hamilton's [SSNE 1348] Army (though the English source calls him Valentine). Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna suggested Sir William as one of the colonels to take charge of the Marquis Hamilton's [SSNE 1348] regiment in March 1632. The Marquis's army of Scots and English were stationed around Halberstadt and Duke William of Saxe-Weimar summoned them to join up with him. By the orders of Gustav Adolf the regiment had army had supported themselves with their own money and had been reduced to two regiments. The English one was commanded by the Sir William (noted as a Scot by the English author of The Swedish Intelligencer) while the Scottish one was commanded by Sir Alexander Hamilton (Dear Sandy) [SSNE 380]. These forces joined up with other units to move south and engage the Duke of Bavaria. On 3 September 1632 he took part with his "English regiment" in the second brigade under the command of William IV of Saxe-Weimar in the battle at the Alte Veste near Nuremberg against the Imperialist troops under Wallenstein. The rest of the regiment fought in Ludowick Leslie’s [SSNE 396] regiment in the battle of Lutzen on 16 November 1632. Upon his return home, Bellenden became a senior officer under Prince Rupert in the British Civil Wars in 1644, though he retired to the continent after Marston Moor (2nd July 1644). He later served as an envoy to Sweden in 1650 from Charles II, though the Swedes mistakenly call him Ballandew. He was banished from Scotland, probably by the Covenanters for being a Montrosian Royalist. In Sweden he served as a courtier to Queen Kristina between 1650-1654. His petition allowing his return can be found in the Register of Privy Council of Scotland. He was still in Swedish service in 1656.

 

Sources:

Acts of the Privy Council of England, vol.46, 1630-1631, edited by P. A. Penfold (London: HMSO, 1964), p.376, 8 June 1631; R. Monro, His Expedition with a worthy Scots Regiment called Mac-Keyes (2 vols., London, 1637), II, The List of the Scottish Officers in Chiefe; The Swedish Intelligencer: The Third Part (London, 1633), p.30; Rikskansleren Axel Oxenstiernas skrifter och brefvexling, first series, VII, pp.97, 109; Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, 3rd series, III, 1669-1672, p.226, April, 1674; Swedish Riksarkiv, P. Sondén, Militärachefer i svenska arméen och deras skrivelser; Swedish Krigsarkiv, Muster Roll, 1632/30; Swedish Riksarkiv, Svenske Sandebuds till Utlandske Hof och Deras Sandebud till Sverige (1841); P. Young, Marston Moor 1644: The Campaign and the Battle (Kinneton, 1970), p.43.

 

Information about his status as a courtier in Sweden was provided by Dr Fabian Persson. Thanks also to Dr Bernd Warlich for information on his actions in 1632 drawn from Peter ENGERISSER, Von Kronach nach Nördlingen. Der Dreißigjährige Krieg in Franken, Schwaben und der Oberpfalz 1631-1635 (Weißenstadt 2007 - second edition), pp. 638, 640, 642.

English Civil War; ROYALIST; British Civil Wars

Service record

STUART KINGDOMS, SWEDEN, HAMILTON'S ARMY, WILLIAM BELLENDEN'S INFANTRY

Arrived 1631-06-08, as LIEUTENANT COLONEL

Departed 1632-12-31, as COLONEL

Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY

STUART KINGDOMS, ROYALIST ARMY, MARSTON MOOR

Arrived 1644-01-01, as COLONEL

Departed 1644-07-02, as COLONEL

Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY

STUART KINGDOMS, SWEDEN, ROYAL COURT

Arrived 1650-01-01

Departed 1654-12-31

Capacity ENVOY, COURTIER, purpose DIPLOMACY, ROYAL SERVICE