Encyclopedia of British Writers: 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries (Facts on File Library of World Literature)

817 Pages·2005·3.52 MB·English

by  Alan Hager

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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF
BRITISH WRITERS
16 17 C
TH AND TH ENTURIES
(cid:2)(cid:3)
Dr. Alan Hager
GENERALEDITOR
Department ofEnglish
SUNY Cortland
Dr. Gregory M. Colón Semenza
ADVISER
Department ofEnglish
University ofConnecticut
Dr. John Huntington
ADVISER
Department ofEnglish
University ofIllinois at Chicago
Encyclopedia ofBritish Writers,16th and 17th Centuries
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Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Encyclopedia ofBritish writers,16th to 18th centuries/[written and developed by Book Builders LLC].
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 0-8160-5495-9 (v.1) – ISBN 0-8160-5132-1 (set)
1.English literature – Early modern,1500–1700—Bio-bibliography—Dictionaries.2.Authors,Eng-
lish—Early modern,1500–1700—Biography—Dictionaries.3.English literature—18th century—Bio-
bibliography—Dictionaries.4.Authors,English—18th century—Biography —Dictionaries.I.Title:
Encyclopedia ofBritish writers,sixteenth to eighteenth centuries.II.Hager,Alan,1940– III.Krueger,
Christine L.IV.Stade,George.V.Karbeiner,Karen.VI.Book Builders LLC.
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C
ONTENTS
(cid:2)(cid:3)
Preface v
Introduction vii
Authors’Timeline xiii
Entries A to Z 1
Selected Bibliography 439
Index 455
P
REFACE
(cid:2)(cid:3)
The entries in Encyclopedia ofBritish Writers,16th bibliographies. Some artists, such as William
and 17th Centuries are designed to familiarize Shakespeare or Ben Jonson,are well known.Some,
general readers and students with a wide array of such as Mary Astell,have only recently been rec-
writers whom the editors find worthy for their ognized.Still others,such as Thomas Wilson,re-
contributions to and impact on world culture. main obscure except to experts but are thought
We have augmented the list with entries about important by the editors. Hierarchies, namely,
figures from the Continent and Americas who in- which authors are thought to be the most valued
fluenced British writers.We have included syn- or influential,are always in flux,and thus,perhaps,
opses of periods or movements, such as the some day printers,for example,may be seen as
Reformation and Neoplatonism,which affected central to the age.
or defined many writers ofthe time;descriptions Much ofthe writing discussed herein is readily
of institutions,such as the Church of England; available.However,many works are out of print
and discussions of events, such as the Saint and available only in library collections and on the
Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, which so influ- Internet.These works still deserve to endure—if
enced such writers as Sir Philip Sidney and for no other reason than because oftheir histori-
Christopher Marlowe. cal importance—and thus one of the volume’s
Furthermore, we have included entries for functions is preservation.Another is the active
artists,musicians,scientists,and other nonfiction promotion ofthese authors,certain brilliant men
authors,sometimes ones who wrote exclusively in and women,whose words continue to entertain
Latin (though translations are readily available). and enlighten.
Our choices are based on the two central principles Encyclopedia ofBritish Writers,16th and 17th
that literature is simply the best writing and that an Centuries,of course,cannot replace reading and
era ofculture must be taken as a whole. enjoying the works of the writers and artists
Articles on authors range in length from a few whose entries follow,but it will help general read-
hundred to several thousand words,and they typ- ers and student researchers become more in-
ically include a short biography,a description of formed and appreciative of the works discussed
major works,and accompanying contemporary herein.We hope that this encyclopedia creates a
v
vi Encyclopedia of British Writers
critical and historical context for one of the small.As in the ancient image,we are all dwarfs
world’s greatest ages of the arts and sciences. on the shoulders ofgiants looking backward.
Within the entries,cross-references,indicated in
small capital letters,will lead readers to key in- Alan Hager
fluences on the authors and artists;lists ofworks General Editor
by and about the authors will point out routes to
further reading and appreciation.The selection of Gregory M.Colón Semenza
figures will make our own age look both large and Adviser
I
NTRODUCTION
(cid:2)(cid:3)
Between 1520 and 1650,the population ofLondon cent architecture and literature.Still,historians
soared from about 60,000 to almost 400,000 peo- argue that the Renaissance revived the glorious ed-
ple,making it the largest city in Europe.Thousands ucational and artistic achievements of ancient
ofmen and women—including the son ofa Strat- Greece and Rome,which had been less important
ford-upon-Avon leatherworker,William SHAKE- in the Middle Ages than religious issues and proj-
SPEARE—left their homes in the countryside and ects.Thus,the concept of“rebirth”remains useful
poured into the city located on the Thames River. today for describing the pivotal events that trans-
Although they made the long journey for different formed England in the 16th and 17th centuries.
reasons,all hoped to benefit from the wealth and The most important of these events for our
prosperity that had helped to transform England in purposes are the Protestant REFORMATIONand the
such a short period oftime into one ofthe world’s emergence ofHUMANISM.For centuries the English
most powerful nations.Historians would later call people had worshipped God according to the
these people the children of the English RENAIS- rules of the Roman Catholic Church.Although
SANCE.And before the end ofthe 17th century,they Martin LUTHER’s famous stand against the church
and their children would witness not only the in 1517 occurred in Germany,it appealed to many
greatest literary and artistic revolution in England’s Europeans everywhere either because they were
long history but also the birth and development of disgusted by the corruption ofchurch officials or
modern politics,law,and science. because they sought a more inward and individu-
Because of this cultural revolution, many alistic religious experience.Luther had rebelled
present-day students of 16th- and 17th-century against the oppressive rigidity of the church,
England prefer the term Early Modernto Renais- which had served to impose upon individuals nu-
sance, although readers are likely to encounter merous formal guidelines for the accomplishment
both terms. While Renaissance (“rebirth” in ofsalvation.Highly educated Catholic priests had
French) considers the period’s significance in rela- conducted masses in Latin before their mostly il-
tion to Europe’s medieval past,that is,the Middle literate and uneducated audiences.In contrast,
Ages,Early Modern conveys the significance ofthe Luther favored a religious experience emphasizing
period for future eras.It is important to remember each individual’s unique relationship with God
that medieval England produced its own magnifi- and believed that services should be conducted in
vii
viii Encyclopedia of British Writers
vernacular (i.e., native) languages, not just in authority of Rome by resurrecting the Catholic
Latin, so that individuals could experience the mass.“Bloody Mary”has become famous mainly
Bible firsthand.For Luther each individual’s faith because ofthe hundreds ofProtestants who were
was the only prerequisite for salvation. burned at the stake during her reign,each a MAR-
It is possible that England would have remained TYR whose death would, ironically, do more to
a Catholic nation had it not been for the personal strengthen than weaken Protestantism.
problems ofKing Henry VIII.Disturbed by the fact Mary’s death in 1558 left the throne open to
that the first ofhis six wives,Catherine ofAragon, Henry’s only remaining child, ELIZABETH I, his
had failed to give birth to a male heir,Henry,an un- daughter by Anne Boleyn.Elizabeth’s issuance ofa
faithful husband,fell in love with one ofCather- revised Book ofCommon Prayerannounced her in-
ine’s ladies-in-waiting, Anne BOLEYN, whom he tention to continue the religious reformation that
impregnated while still married to Catherine.When her father and younger brother had initiated.In a
Pope Clement VII refused to grant Henry a divorce period ofroughly 20 years,then,English men and
from Catherine,the king took matters into his own women witnessed the transformation ofEngland
hands,manipulating Parliament into declaring his from a Catholic to a Protestant to a Catholic to a
marriage null and void and thereby challenging the Protestant nation all over again. Furthermore,
authority ofthe Catholic Church.In 1534 Parlia- there were no guarantees that Elizabeth—a young,
ment passed the Act ofSupremacy,which declared female monarch with little political experience—
Henry to be the “Supreme head on earth”ofthe new would be able to suppress the powerful Catholic
CHURCHOFENGLAND. factions in England.
Ironically,then,the English Reformation can be As history revealed,Elizabeth did more than sti-
said to have been a political,as opposed to a reli- fle religious rebellion.By the end ofher reign,En-
gious,event.The Church ofEngland,in fact,dif- gland had become one of the most powerful
fered little from the Catholic Church during its nations in the world;London became an interna-
first 12 years of existence. Everything would tional center ofcommerce,artistic creativity,and
change,however,upon the death ofHenry VIII in scientific experimentation.Elizabeth allowed these
1547.Henry’s only male heir,Edward VI,his 10- developments to occur by practicing a religious
year-old son with third wife Jane Seymour,was and political philosophy known as “moderation
surrounded by powerful Protestant counselors. and compromise.”Having learned from her sister
The most influential of them,the archbishop of Mary’s unpopularity the costs ofexcessive gover-
Canterbury,Thomas CRANMER,wrote and issued nance,Elizabeth did not concern herselftoo much
in 1649 the BOOKOFCOMMONPRAYER,a collection with what her citizens did and felt in their private
of42 points ofreligion that effectively transformed lives.Backed by two powerful secretaries ofstate,
England into a Protestant nation. Sir William Cecil and Sir Francis Walsingham,the
Imagine living through the changes in England shrewd young queen succeeded in appealing to
during the middle part ofthe 16th century.After and earning the love ofa majority ofher citizens.
years and even centuries of Roman Catholic in- Rather than denying her womanhood,Elizabeth
struction in religious matters,English men and embraced it,celebrating her unmarried,suppos-
women awakened one day to find that the official edly virgin status in order to emphasize her “mar-
religion had changed.What confusion and doubt riage” to her nation, and in the process she
such a change must have provoked! The problem transformed herselfinto an almost mythological
worsened after the premature death ofEdward in being.The 1588 victory of the English military
1553 and the crowning ofhis halfsister Mary,the over the invading Catholic, Spanish Armada
daughter of Catherine of Aragon. A staunch seemed proofofElizabeth’s divine favor,also sym-
Catholic,Mary immediately worked to restore the bolizing the triumph of Protestantism over
Introduction ix
Catholicism in England.Unfortunately Elizabeth’s arranged the invasion of London by James’s
triumph would not end the bloodshed. Protestant daughter,Mary,and her Dutch hus-
England in the 17th century witnessed much band,William ofOrange.Terrified,James II fled
religious turmoil as various factions sought to in- into France without a fight. The successful
fluence the direction ofProtestantism.While the takeover of England by William and Mary—
causes of the English Civil War (1642–49) were known as the “Glorious Revolution”because no
predominantly political—having to do with the blood was shed—ended the Roman Catholic
struggle for power between the king and Parlia- threat once and for all.While defenders ofJames’s
ment—religious convictions largely determined right to the throne (known as Jacobites) would
which side English men and women supported.De- arise occasionally over the next few decades,the
fenders ofthe king (Royalists) tended to advocate a story ofreformation effectively ended in 1688.
more conservative form ofworship,which their en- The influence ofhumanism in England cannot
emies in Parliament viewed as “Popish,” or too really be understood apart from these religious de-
closely resembling Roman Catholicism.These “Par- velopments.Humanism can be described as the
liamentarians”preferred a congregational form of cultural and philosophical life based on the classi-
government—as opposed to the hierarchical one of cal world.Its origins are usually traced back to the
Roman Catholicism—that allowed individuals to Italian poet Francis PETRARCH,who first charac-
worship according to their own consciences.The terized the Middle Ages as the “Dark Ages”and
wars that raged for nearly a decade ended with the called for greater attention to the achievements of
capture,sentencing,and beheading ofKing Charles ancient Greece and Rome.This renewed interest in
I at Whitehall in January of1649. largely secular (nonreligious) learning that both
For 10 years,England would not be ruled by a influenced and was influenced by the Reformation.
king.The period between the execution ofCharles The teachings ofLuther and other Protestant re-
I and the RESTORATIONofthe monarchy in 1660 is formers such as John CALVINhighlighted the valid-
called the Interregnum,which means the period ity of non-Catholic forms of knowledge and
“between reigns.”During the Interregnum,the vic- celebrated the individual worshipper.As the term
torious opponents ofPopery imposed their own would suggest,humanism placed less emphasis on
religious policies on the nation,in the process out- the absolute sovereignty ofGod and greater em-
lawing many worldly pastimes and pleasures,such phasis on the dignity ofhuman beings.Humanism
as sports,games,and theatergoing.Predictably the is not an antireligious or even a nonreligious phi-
English people resisted the strictness of the new losophy,however.Many progressives saw them-
government and longed for their old freedoms.In selves as Christian humanists because they
1660,they welcomed with open arms into London believed that a greater knowledge ofthe world led
Charles II,the son of the executed king and the to a greater knowledge ofGod.
newly appointed monarch of England.Charles’s The obvious means to such an end was educa-
Restoration government quickly issued the Book tion. The Italian educator Vittorino da Feltre
ofCommon Prayer,reestablishing the supremacy (1378–1446) revolutionized European education
ofthe Anglican Church and seemingly restoring for future clergy members by shifting the medieval
stability to a country long at war with itself. emphasis on the practical benefits ofreading and
The final chapter in the story ofEngland’s reli- writing to the essential value ofthe liberal arts for
gious reformation began in 1685 when James II, individuals.In a sense,we are all students ofVit-
the openly Roman Catholic brother ofCharles II, torino because of our continued reliance on his
came to the throne.His obvious intention to re- definition ofan appropriate education.Following
store Catholicism in England was immediately the example ofthe ancients,he built a curriculum
blocked by his enemies at court, who secretly focused on the study ofhistory,moral philosophy,