The case agains Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, is the focus of several prints by Wenceslaus Hollar. The present examples depicts Strafford’s trial in the House of Lords, which came about after his long-term opponent John Pym brought the case for impeachment to the House on November 11, 1640. Although Strafford went in person to confront his accusers, he was immediately withdrawn and taken into custody; he was held in the Tower of London for the subsequent months. Eventually the impeachment charge failed and so Parliament passed a bill of attainder allowing Strafford to be charged and executed on May 12, 1641.

Hollar’s print shows the packed House of Lords during Stafford’s trial, with a 25-point alphabetical key identifying various figures and features shown, such as the king’s “Seate of State”, “P. the Earls, Q. the Viscounts, R. the Barons, S. the Knights”, and naturally “V. the Earle of Strafford”, standing in a raised box and facing away towards the top of the House. Interestingly, the clerks seems to be making their notes on the floor.

The present example is the third state, which is based on the second state, included in the ‘Theatrum Europaeum’ of J.P. Abelin published in Frankfurt in 1643. Abelin added a German title above the print, in which the defendant is named Earl “Stafford” rather than Strafford. This example, adds ‘Parlamentum Londinense’ above the German title and is from the second volume of J.P. Lotichius’ ‘Rerum Germanicarum’, published in Frankfurt in 1650.