by John Aubrey
BASTWICK, JOHN (1593–1654), physician and controversialist, was fined and imprisoned for publishing Puritan treatises, but was released in 1640 by order of the Long Parliament.
BATCHCROFT, THOMAS (d. 1670), a noted wit, was Master of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, from 1625 to 1649 and again from the Restoration until his death.
BATH, JOHN GRENVILLE, EARL OF (1628–1701), was knighted at Bristol in 1643 and held the Scilly Isles for Charles II from 1649 to 1651. Created earl in 1661, he joined William III at the Revolution.
BATHURST, GEORGE (b. 1610), scholar and Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford, where he became the friend of John Aubrey. His Oratio Funebris on Thomas Allen was published in 1632.
BATHURST, RALPH (1620–1704), Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford, was Physician to the Navy during the Commonwealth, but abandoned medicine on the Restoration. Three years later he became Chaplain to the King, and then President of Trinity College and Dean of Wells. An original member of the Royal Society, he was a great friend of Aubrey and provided him with many biographical stories.
BAYNTON, SIR EDWARD (1593–1657), an M.P. for twenty years, was a Commissioner on the trial of Charles I, but did not act.
BEAUMONT, FRANCIS (d. 1598), father of the dramatist, was educated at Peterhouse, Cambridge, and the Middle Temple, and became Judge of Common Pleas in 1593.
BEDE (673–735), historian and scholar, passed most of his life at a monastery at Jarrow. His Historia Ecclesiastica was completed in 731, by which time he had written nearly forty works, mainly religious, although his treatise De Natura Rerum contains such physical science as was then known.
BERNERS, JULIANA (b. 1388), the daughter of Sir James Berners, who spent her youth at Court and shared in the woodland sports then fashionable, but later became Prioress of Sopwell Nunnery in Herefordshire, wrote The Boke of St. Albans, a work on field-sports and heraldry.
BILLINGSLEY, SIR HENRY (d. 1606), a haberdasher, was the first translator of Euclid into English. He became Lord Mayor of London and Aubrey called him one of the learnedst Citizens that London has bred.
BILLINGSLEY, SIR THOMAS (fl. 1650), was, according to Aubrey, the best Horseman in England, and out of England no man exceeded him. He ended his dayes at the Countesse of Thanet’s: Dyed praying on his knees.
BIRKHEAD, HENRY (1617–96), Aubrey’s senior at Trinity College, became Fellow of All Souls in 1638 and later Registrar of the Diocese of Norwich. He published poems in Latin and left an allegorical play in manuscript. The Professorship of Poetry at Oxford was founded in 1708 from money left by him.
BLACKBURNE, RICHARD (b. 1652), physician, became Censor of the College of Physicians in 1688, and wrote a Latin life of Hobbes from material supplied to him by Aubrey.
BLOUNT, CHARLES (1654–93), deist author of freethinking books, which have caused him to be considered a link between Lord Herbert of Cherbury and John Toland, also published political papers of a Whig tendency and a Vindication of Liberties of the Press.
BLUNDEVILL, THOMAS (fl. 1560), the owner of a large estate, wrote books on horsemanship, government, education, logic and astronomy.
BODLEY, SIR THOMAS (1545–1613), diplomatist and scholar, became Lecturer in Natural Philosophy at Oxford. In 1598 he began the formation of the Bodleian Library, Oxford, which was opened in 1603 and endowed by him in 1611.
BOLTON, SAMUEL (1606–54), divine, became Master of Christ’s College, Cambridge, in 1645 and Vice-chancellor in 1651. He published religious works.
BOSWELL, SIR WILLIAM (d. 1649), was secretary to Sir Dudley Carleton, when Ambassador at the Hague, and succeeded him in the post.
BRAMSTON, SIR JOHN (1577–1654), Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, was a friend of Aubrey. In 1640 he presided temporarily in the House of Lords, but was impeached by the Commons for subscribing the opinion on Ship-money.
BREREWOOD, EDWARD (1565–1613), antiquary and mathematician, was first Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College, London. A member of the old Society of Antiquaries, his mathematical, religious and antiquarian manuscripts were published posthumously.
BRERTON, WILLIAM BRERTON, 3RD LORD (1631–80), was a member of the Council of the Royal Society, which was named by the second Royal Charter.
BRETON, NICHOLAS (1545–1626), produced satirical, religious, romantic and pastoral writings in verse and prose.
BRISTOL, JOHN DIGBY, 1ST EARL OF (1580–1653), diplomat and statesman, was employed in negotiations on the Spanish marriage for over twelve years. A staunch Royalist, his expulsion from the Court was demanded by Parliament in the propositions for peace at Oxford in 1643. He went into exile after the capitulation of Exeter in 1646, and died at Paris.
BRISTOL, GEORGE DIGBY, 2ND EARL OF (1612–77), attacked Catholicism in correspondence with Sir Kenelm Digby. A Royalist during the Civil War, he retired to France in 1648, where he became a Catholic and ultimately Secretary of State to Charles II.
BROOKE, SIR FULKE GREVILLE, 1ST BARON (1554–1628), poet and statesman, came to Court with Sir Philip Sidney and became a favourite of Queen Elizabeth. Pallbearer at Sidney’s funeral, whose life he wrote. He became Secretary for the Principality of Wales in 1583, Treasurer of the Warrs and of the Navy in 1598, and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1614 to 1621, when he was created baron. He befriended Bacon, Camden, Coke, Daniel and Davenant, and was stabbed by a servant.
BROOKE, ROBERT GREVILLE, 2ND BARON (1608–43), Parliamentarian general. M.P. for Warwick in 1628, he became Speaker of the House of Lords in 1642 and defeated Northampton at Kineton the same year. He served under Essex in the Midlands and took Stratford on Avon in 1643, but was killed in the attack on Lichfield.
BROUNCKER, WILLIAM BROUNCKER, 2ND VISCOUNT (1620–84), physician, mathematician and courtier, was the first President of the Royal Society (1662–77) and President of Gresham College from 1644 to 1667.
BROWNE, SIR RICHARD (d. 1669), Parliamentary general and leader of the Presbyterian Party. Expelled from the House of Commons by the influence of the Army, he intrigued for the recall of Charles II. Knighted and Lord Mayor of London in 1660.
BROWNE, SIR THOMAS (1605–82), physician and author of Religio Medici, Pseudodoxia Epidemica or Enquiries into Vulgar Errors, Hydriotaphia or Urn Burial, and a mystical treatise entitled The Garden of Cyrus, was a friend of Aubrey, whom he provided with biographical material.
BROWNE, WILLIAM (1591–1643), superintended the Middle Temple masque on the story of Ulysses and Circe in 1615, later joining the retinue of the Earl of Pembroke at Wilton. His poetry, which closely resembled Spenser’s, greatly influenced Milton, Keats and Mrs. Browning.
BROWNE, WILLIAM (1619–69), the son of the Rector of Churchill in Dorset, was Usher at Blandford School and Aubrey’s tutor at Trinity College. He later became Vicar of Farnham in Surrey.
BROWNRIG, RALPH (1592–1659), a strict Calvinist, became Bishop of Exeter in 1641, but lived in retirement during the Commonwealth.
BUCHANAN, GEORGE (1506–82), historian and scholar, became a bitter enemy of Mary, Queen of Scots, in consequence of the murder of Darnley, and vouched that the Casket Letters were in her handwriting.
BUCKINGHAM, MARY VILLIERS, COUNTESS OF (1568–1630), the second wife of Sir George Villiers and mother of the first Duke of Buckingham, was created Countess of Buckingham in 1618, twelve years after her husband’s death.
BUCKINGHAM, GEORGE VILLIERS, 1ST DUKE OF (1592–1628), James I’s favourite, was, according to Lucy Hutchinson, “raised from a Knight’s fourth son to that pitch of glory, and enjoying great possessions, acquired by the favour of the King upon no merit but his beauty and prostitution.” Four years after meeting James I, he was addressing him as “His Sowship,” and was the second richest nobleman in England. His great influence with James I and Charles I proved disastrous politically and militarily, and Parliament several times tried to impeach him. He was assassinated by John Felton at Portsmouth.
BUCKINGHAM, GEORGE VILLIERS, 2ND DUKE OF (1628–87), succeeding to the dukedom in i
nfancy, was brought up with Charles I’s children. Besides playing a leading part in the political life of his time, he wrote verses, satires and plays, dabbled in chemistry, and spent vast sums in building and laying out gardens.
BURGHLEY, WILLIAM CECIL, 1ST BARON (1520–98), statesman, began his career as secretary to Lord Protector Somerset in Edward VI’s reign and became at length chief minister to Queen Elizabeth.
BURNET, GILBERT (1643–1715), Bishop of Salisbury, published an account of the death-bed repentance of Rochester and a History of the Reformation in England, but his fame rests on The History of My own Times, which appeared posthumously.
BURROUGHES, SIR JOHN (d. 1643), Garter King of Arms and Keeper of the Tower Records, attended Charles I during the Civil War.
BURTON, HENRY (1578–1648), Independent divine, was Clerk of the Closet to Charles I, whom he offended by accusing Laud of Popery. Sentenced by the Star Chamber to perpetual imprisonment for seditious preaching in 1636, he was freed four years later by the Parliament and made a triumphal entry into London.
BURTON, ROBERT (1577–1640), Student of Christ Church, Oxford, wrote the Anatomy of Melancholy, which he held was “an inbred malady of every one of us.”
BUSBY, RICHARD (1606–95), Headmaster of Westminster School from 1638 to 1695, was equally famous for his severity and the brilliance of his pupils.
BUTTON, SIR WILLIAM (d. 1655), Royalist, was plundered by the Parliamentary troops in 1643 and fined for “delinquency” three years later.
CAESAR, JULIUS (102–44 B.C.), the Dictator, was alike distinguished as general, orator, statesman and author.
CAESAR, SIR JULIUS (1558–1636), son of the Italian physician to Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, became famous in the law and as a politician, becoming successively Chancellor of the Exchequer and Master of the Rolls.
CALVIN, JEAN (1509–64), the great reformer, was founder and head of the Genevese theocracy, which sought to regulate manners as well as faith and rigorously censured and punished all who resisted its authority. He made Geneva “the metropolis of the reformed church,” and his doctrine was founded upon absolute predestination.
CARBERY, SIR JOHN VAUGHAN, 3RD EARL OF (1640–1713), one of Aubrey’s closest friends, entered the Middle Temple in 1658 and was knighted in 1661. From 1667 he called himself Lord Vaughan, although he did not succeed his father until 1686. He sat in Parliament for twenty-four years.
CARNARVON, CHARLES DORMER, 2ND EARL OF (1632–1709), Keeper of the King’s Hawks and a strict Tory, married a connection of Aubrey’s, Mary Bertie.
CARTERET, SIR GEORGE (1610–80), Governor of Jersey, reduced the island for Charles I in 1643 and made it a refuge for Royalists until its surrender to the Commonwealth forces in 1651. Created baronet in 1646, he held high office on the Restoration.
CASTIGLIONE, BALDASSARE (1478–1529), Italian humanist, whose prose dialogue The Courtier had a great influence on the literature of England through the works of Surrey, Wyatt, Sidney and Spenser.
CATHERINE OF ARAGON (1485–1536), the youngest child of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, was married at the age of sixteen to Arthur, Prince of Wales, and on his death, to his younger brother, Henry VIII, but this marriage was annulled in 1533 and her daughter Mary declared illegitimate.
CATHERINE DE MEDICIS (1519–89), the daughter of the Duke of Urbino and wife of Henri, Duc d’Orleans, became Queen of France in 1547 and acted as Regent for her sons, Francis II and Charles IX. She was largely responsible for the Massacre of St. Bartholomew.
CATHERINE PARR (1512–48), daughter of Sir Thomas Parr and sixth Queen of Henry VIII, whom she outlived, was four times married herself.
CATO (234–149 B.C.), the Censor, was a severe judge of morals and distinguished for his simplicity of life. He was the author of the Origines, or early history of Rome, and De Re Rustica.
CAVENDISH, THOMAS (1560–92), the circumnavigator, accompanied Sir Richard Grenville on the Virginia voyage of 1585, and from 1586 to 1588 he sailed round the world in his ship, the “Desire.” He died in the course of a second circumnavigation.
CHANTREL, MR. (fl. 1630–50), was chaplain to Sir George Ratcliffe, who was the Duke of York’s Governor in France.
CHAPMAN, GEORGE (1559–1634), dramatist and poet, is best known for his translation of Homer. A play he wrote with Ben Jonson caused offence at Court and led to their temporary imprisonment.
CHARLES I (1600–49), second son of James I, became heir-apparent on the death of Henry, Prince of Wales, succeeding as King of Great Britain and Ireland in 1625. Defeated in the Civil War, he was beheaded outside his palace in Whitehall.
CHARLES II (1630–85), second son of Charles I and Henrietta Maria, was restored to his throne in 1660.
CHARLETON, WALTER (1619–1707), physician to Charles I and II, F.R.S. and a friend of Aubrey, published medical, philosophical and antiquarian tracts, including Chorea Gigantum, to prove that Stonehenge was made by the Danes.
CHARNOCK, THOMAS (1526–81), learned alchemy from a Salisbury clergyman and, after serving at Calais in 1557, lived in retirement in Somerset, practising his art.
CHAUCER, GEOFFREY (1340–1400), poet, whose Canterbury Tales founded the English school of poetry. Enjoying the patronage of John of Gaunt, he held various positions at Court and was employed on diplomatic missions, before becoming Controller of Customs in the Port of London.
CHEYNELL, FRANCIS (1608–65), a Puritan divine, was plundered by the King’s troops in 1642. He was Chaplain to the Parliamentary Army and one of the Parliamentary Visitors to Oxford, where he was intruded President of St. John’s College and Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity.
CHRISTINA OF SWEDEN (1626–89), only daughter of Gustavus Adolphus, succeeded to the throne at the age of six. Crowned at the age of twenty-four, she abdicated four years later and passed most of her life, surrounded by scandal, at Rome and Paris.
CICERO, MARCUS TULLIUS (106–43 B.C.), the Orator, took the lead of the republican party in opposition to Mark Antony, and on the formation of the triumvirate, was proscribed and put to death. His works consist of writings on the art of rhetoric, moral and political philosophy, and on theology, besides a large number of orations and letters.
CLARENDON, EDWARD HYDE, 1ST EARL OF (1609–74), as a strong Anglican, sided with the Royalists in the Civil War and followed the Prince of Wales into exile. He was Lord Chancellor and chief minister to Charles II from 1658, and his daughter married the future James II. Overthrown by Court intrigue and the hostility of Parliament, whose authority he had tried to restrict, he was dismissed from his offices in 1667 and subsequently impeached. He fled to France, where he wrote his History of the Rebellion and his Life.
CLARENDON, EDWARD HYDE, 2ND EARL OF (1638–1709), private secretary and chamberlain to Catherine of Braganza, Charles II’s Queen, rose to great eminence during James II’s reign and adhered to him at the Revolution. He opposed the settlement of the crown on William and Mary, who was his niece, and was twice imprisoned in the Tower.
CLARGES, SIR THOMAS (d. 1695), politician and brother-in-law of George Monk, acted as his intermediary with the Commonwealth leaders and conveyed to Charles II the invitation of Parliament to return.
CLAVIUS, CHRISTOPHER (1537–1612), German Jesuit and geometer.
CLEVELAND, BARBARA VILLIERS, DUCHESS OF (1641–1709), mistress of Charles II from 1660 to 1674, when she was supplanted in the King’s graces by the Duchess of Portsmouth, bitterly resented the superior beauty of Charles’ son by Lucy Walters to her own. Her miscellaneous amours became notorious, but Charles acknowledged five of her children as his, creating the three sons Dukes. Her other lovers included John Churchill, later Duke of Marlborough, the playwright Wycherly, Jacob Hall the rope dancer, and various actors. Bishop Burnet described her as “a woman of great beauty, but enormously vicious and ravenous.”
CLEVELAND, JOHN (1613–58), Cavalier poet, opposed Cromwell’s election as M.P. for Cambridge borough in 1640. Ejected from his fellowship at St. John�
�s College as a Royalist in 1645, he became Judge Advocate at Newark. Imprisoned at Yarmouth in 1655, he was released on Cromwell’s orders.
COBHAM, HENRY BROOKE, 8TH BARON (1564–1619), friend and political ally of his brother-in-law Sir Robert Cecil, was arrested for complicity in the “Main” plot to place Arabella Stuart on the throne. He declared that he had been instigated to communicate with the ambassador of the Spanish Archduke by Sir Walter Raleigh, who was accordingly also arrested. Cobham’s brother was executed, but though he was also condemned to death, he was confined in the Tower till 1619.
COLDWELL, JOHN (d. 1596) was made Bishop of Salisbury so that the courtiers might plunder the episcopal estates. He died deeply in debt.
COLEY, HENRY (1633–95), mathematician, astrologer and friend of Aubrey, was the amanuensis and adopted son of William Lilly, whose work Merlini Anglici Ephemeris he continued from 1681 till his death.
COLUMELLA (fl. A.D. 50), a native of Spain, wrote a work upon agriculture in twelve books De Re Rustica, which is still extant.
COLWALL, DANIEL (d. 1690), Citizen of London and original Fellow of the Royal Society, whose Treasurer he was from 1665 to 1679, during which time he inaugurated the Society’s museum.
CONFUCIUS (551–478 B.C.), a noble Chinaman, was a teacher of moral and political science, claiming no divine revelation, but his maxims and sayings have played an important part in forming the character of the Chinese people.
COOPER, SAMUEL (1609–72), miniaturist, painted portraits of the celebrities of the Commonwealth and Restoration periods. The portrait that he painted of John Aubrey in 1657 has disappeared.
CORNEILLE, PIERRE (1606–84), French dramatist of the classical period, whose severe and dignified style and strict classical tradition were much admired by contemporary English playwrights and critics.
CORNWALLIS, SIR WILLIAM (d. 1631), essayist and friend of Ben Jonson, spent his life in studious retirement. His essays are in imitation of Montaigne, but lack the sprightliness of the French author.
COSIN, JOHN (1594–1672), divine, compiled, by request of Charles I, A Collection of Private Devotions and was at once accused of Romanist tendencies. Appointed Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge, in 1635, he sent its plate to Charles on the outbreak of the Civil War. He was Chaplain to the Anglican Royalists at Paris from 1642 until the Restoration, when he was rewarded with the bishopric of Durham.