CALDWELL family
Historical background 1590 - 1700
The Caldwell family has long, interesting history. The story is repeated in many sources.
The first time we read the story was in the Historical Sketch of the Caldwell Family by William Arthur Porter. It tells of three brothers: John, Alexander and Oliver. Each had commanded a vessel under the Barbarossa. Barbarossa controlled the Mediterranean in the latter 15th century -early 16th. When Barbarossa was defeated by the Governor of Aran, the three brothers returned to their home in Toulon, France and settle near Mount Arid. They established their own mercenary naval force. They were hired to protect ships at sea by various people and countries.
This same Historical Sketch contains a suggestion that the three brothers were from the Waldenses stock of the Piedmont Valley of Italy. That is Italian Protestants who were driven into France by the Roman Catholic persecutions in Italy.
In 1525 Charles V of Germany, (also King of Spain) was at war with Francis I of Franc. The brothers supported Charles. Francis I called them "Protestants" and "Robbers of Arid". At the same time Frances I was not having good relations with Scotland. France persecuted the Protestants while James VI of Scotland welcomed them. It was a good time for the brothers to leave France and Scotland agreed to permit them to buy a tract of land and call Scotland home. In return the brothers promised to furnish upon request of the king, "a son with a troupe of twenty horsemen... to aid in the wars of the king."
The Compton Encyclopedia gives the following historical summary. "The French king, Francis I, had two great rivals. In the 16th century the kingdom of France was almost surrounded by the vast domains of Charles V, king of Spain and Holy Roman emperor. Across the narrow channel were the islands of Henry VIII of England. Francis wanted more land and invaded Italy. He and his troops got as far as Milan. Charles of Spain then formed an alliance with Henry of England, and their combined armies defeated the French forces at Pavia in 1525. Francis was taken prisoner. He remained a captive until 1526, when a treaty signed in Madrid forced him to renounce all claims to any lands in Italy. He also had to give up the French province of Burgundy.
England, Rome, and the Italian states then became alarmed at the power of Charles V and deserted him for Francis. Charles, however, emerged victorious in the war in Italy in 1529. Francis fought him again until 1538, with little gain, but lost to him and Henry VIII in 1544 in the last of the series of conflicts. These wars left France exhausted. (The 30 Years War)
One unintended result of the long struggle over Italy was that it so distracted the attention of Charles V that Protestantism was given a chance to take root in Germany. In France it also found a fleeting foothold, only to be stamped out by Francis and his successors. The massacre in 1545 of the Waldenses, or Vaudois, an early Protestant sect that had survived from the Middle Ages in the French Alps, also blackened the memory of Francis I."
The land the brothers purchased was located in a southern part of Scotland on Solway Firth, in Arglye County. It was bought by special permission of the king from a Bishop Douglas. The land contained a well of very cold pure water known as the "Cold Well". Solway Firth is not in Arglye county. The lines may have changed since then.
The family flourished in Scotland. Some years later, England was in a Civil War. Oliver Cromwell was sent to Ireland to keep the Catholics from supporting a Royalist invasion. Family history holds that Oliver Cromwell's grandmother was Ann of Caldwell. When he went to Ireland, five Caldwell brothers went with him. They were Joseph, John Alexander, Daniel, David and Andrew. When Cromwell became Protector of England the Caldwells stayed on in Ireland. They had been given land there for their roll in subduing the Irish.. Their fortunes became more precarious once Cromwell died in September 1659 and the monarchy was reestablished in 1660 with Charles II.
The great migration of Presbyterians and Caldwells began at that time.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
If you know the answer please CONTACT US.
1. Find Mount Arid on a detailed French map.
2. Connect Solway Firth and Arglye County. Or clarify.
3. Where in Ireland did the Caldwells settle?
Maier_Associates: © Copyright 1999
Doc: gscal080
Last Saved on: 8/25/1999