George Gage (1582–1638) was an English Roman Catholic political agent and an art connoisseur.
Biography Gage, born about 1582, was a son of Edward Gage of Firle, Sussex, and his wife Margaret Shelley.Revill, Philipps, and F. W. Steer. "George Gage I and George Gage II." Bul. Inst. Hist. Research, xxxi, 141-58. He was a great friend of Sir Toby Matthew.Jean Pierre Vander Motten (UGent) and Katrien Daemen-De Gelder "Sir Toby Matthew and his 'Fides Achates' George Gage - 1607-1620. ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes, and Reviews, vol. 23, no. 1, 2010, pp. 20–30, doi:10.1080/08957690903496168; ANQ From 1612 to 1616, they toured Europe, supported by Matthew, acquiring artwork, including work by Reubens. Gage possibly received priest's orders with Matthew from the hands of Cardinal Bellarmine at Rome on 20 May 1614. cites: Oliver, Jesuit Collections, p. 140.
James I despatched him to Rome towards the close of 1621, in quality of agent to the papal court, to solicit a dispensation for the marriage of Prince Charles with the Spanish infanta Maria Anna (see the Spanish Match). The Jesuits strove to retard the dispensation, and if possible to prevent the completion of the match. The negotiations lasted for nearly six years, and ultimately came to nothing. notes A detailed account of Gage's part in them is given in The Narrative of the Spanish Marriage Treaty (Camd. Soc. 1869); Tierney's edition of Dodd's Church History, v. 119–64; and in S. R. Gardiner's History of England, 1603–42. While in Rome, he met with the painter Anthony van Dyck, and they were engaged together in some diplomatic work for King James, which may have involved seeking support for the Palatinate during the conflict with the Emperor. Lord Digby wrote in 1622: "that the Council of War had proposed some difficulties and impediments of the aid and assistance of arms, but concludes that he did think and affirm that in all Christendom the King of England had not so many faithful friends and counsellors as in the Court of Spain, nor greater affection than of that people, wherein he much commended by Mr. [George] Gage for his carriage to the King of Spain to all their likings, and that Mr. Gage had advised the Catholics there to depend upon the King of England's and the Prince's word ..."'4th March 1624', in Proceedings in Parliament 1624: The House of Commons, ed. Philip Baker ( 2015-18), British History Online BHO
During this time at Rome, in 1622, Van Dyck painted the portrait George Gage with Two Men.Rangoni, Fiorenza. "Anthony van Dyck and George Gage in Rome" 2018, The Burlington Magazine. AcademiaJoseph Gillow, editor, A Literary and Biographical History or Bibliographical Dictionary of the English Catholics from the Breach with Rome, in 1534, to the Present Time, vol. 2 (London: Burns & Oates, n.d.) p. 356Wainewright, John B. "Gage Family: Notes on Some Early Members" Notes & Queries, 10th Series, Vol. VIII, pp. 241-2. September 28, 1907. p. 242
George Gage died in 1638, when his Will was proved 12 September.Will of George Gage of Saint Giles in the Fields, Middlesex, 1683 PROB 11.177/682
He has frequently been conflated with a cousin, George Gage, a Catholic priest who died in prison about 1650. cites: Oliver, Jesuit Collections, p. 140.
Notes
References Attribution