John Selden

John Selden (* 16th December 1584 in Salvington , Sussex , † the 30th November 1654 in Whitefriars ) was an English polymath . He wrote legal and philosophical works, researched Jewish legal history and dealt with ancient and oriental artefacts. From his contemporaries, u. a. by John Milton , he was considered one of the most outstanding and versatile scholars.

Life

John Selden was the son of a farmer, went to school in Chichester and studied from 1600 in Oxford (Hart Hall). In 1603 he moved to London to study law . In 1604 he was admitted to the Inner Temple and in 1612 as a lawyer ( called to the bar ). He worked mainly as a notary and in advisory lawyers and rarely appeared in court. He was promoted early in London by the politician and book collector Robert Bruce Cotton , founder of the Cotton Library, for whom he copied documents from the Tower .

1618 his story was published the tithe ( History of the tithe ), which earned him political difficulties - he was before the Privy Council cited and he was forbidden to participate in debate on his work. This led to Selden's political commitment. At first he stayed in the background and was active in an advisory capacity, for example in the formulation of a petition from the House of Commons on December 18, 1621, as a result of which he was briefly imprisoned in the Tower. From 1623 it belonged to the House of Commons and in 1626 the second Parliament of Charles I at. His legal career also continued, although it stalled from time to time because he refused to become a lecturer at Lyon's Inn. He played an important role in the ousting of the Duke of Buckingham . In the Third Parliament of Charles I, he was involved in the formulation of the Petition of Rights . When he and other parliamentarians opposed illegal tax levies by the king in 1629, he was taken to the Tower for eight months and then to Marshalsea Prison. He then retired to Bedfordshire as governor (steward) of the Earl of Kent . In 1640 he represented Oxford University as a member of a university constituency in Parliament ( Long Parliament ). There he was again in opposition to the king, for example by campaigning for the preservation of the Protestant religion and against the expulsion of the bishops from the House of Lords. He received the supervision (Keeper of the Records and Rolls) of the archives of the Tower and was in the Parliamentary Commission for the Admiralty.

Since the death of the Earl of Kent in 1639, he lived in the same house as his widow Elizabeth Talbot (1582-1651) and may have married them secretly. He is buried in Temple Church in London.

The Selden Society is named in his honor .

Works

John Selden published legal historical and historical works and had (since his De diis Syriis of 1617) a reputation as an orientalist. He was considered a leading scholar in Hebrew and Arabic studies in England. He was also known for Titles of Honor (1614) on historical issues of etiquette. He played an important role in the discussions of natural law and international law in the 17th century. In his studies of natural law, he relied in particular on the Bible and Talmud. In contrast to Hugo Grotius ( Mare Liberum , 1609), who advocated the opening of the seas against Spanish and Portuguese claims, he - influenced by the incipient English naval rule - represented positions that moved away from it. His book Mare clausum was written in 1618, but did not appear until 1635.

Editions and translations

17th century editions

England's Epinomis, 1610
Jani Anglorum; Facies Altera, 1610
The Duello, or Single Combat, 1610
Titles of Honor, 1614
Analecton Anglo Ukicon, 1615
De diis Syriis, 1617 (on the mythology of the Orient)
History of Tithes, 1618
Eadmers Historia Novorum in Anglia, 1623 (ed.); [new edition of. M. Rule, 1884]
De successionibus in bona defuncti secundum leges Ebraeorum, 1631
De successione in pontificatum Ebraeorum, 1631
Mare clausum, 1635
De jure naturali et gentium juxta disciplinam Ebraeorum, 1640 (on natural law)
Privileges of the Baronage of England when they sit in Parliament and Discourse concerning the Rights and Privileges of the Subject, 1642
Dissertatio de anno civili et calendario reipublicae Judaicae, 1644
Uxor Ebraica, 1646
De synedriis et praefecturis juridicis veterum Ebraeorum, 1650, 1653 and 1655 (three volumes)

Modern editions and translations

David Ogg (Ed.): Ioannis Seldeni Ad Fletam Dissertatio. Reprinted from the Edition of 1647 with Parallel Translation, Introduction and Notes. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1925

literature

Reid Barbour: John Selden. Measures of the Holy Commonwealth in seventeenth century England. Toronto 2003, ISBN 0-8020-8776-0 .
Timothy Brook: How China came to Europe. Mr. Selden's unheard-of card . Wagenbach, Berlin 2015, ISBN 978-3-8031-3656-5 .
Paul Christianson: Young John Selden and the Ancient Constitution, ca. 1610-18. In: Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society . Volume 128, No. 4, 1984, pp. 271-315.
Jason P. Rosenblatt: Renaissance England's chief rabbi. John Selden. Oxford 2006, ISBN 978-0-19-928613-3 .
Gerald J. Toomer John Selden - a life in scholarship. Oxford University Press, 2009.
Martha A. Ziskind: John Selden. Criticism and Affirmation of the Common Law Tradition. In: American Journal of Legal History . Volume 19, No. 1, 1975, pp. 22-39 doi : 10.2307 / 844580 .

Web links

Literature by and about John Selden in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

↑ John Milton: ... the chief of learned men reputed in this land . In: Areopagitica: A Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicens'd Printing. To the Parliament of England , 1644.

personal data
SURNAME	Selden, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	English lawyer, religious scholar and scholar
DATE OF BIRTH	December 16, 1584
PLACE OF BIRTH	Salvington , Sussex, England
DATE OF DEATH	November 30, 1654
Place of death	Whitefriars

[1] John Milton: ... the chief of learned men reputed in this land . In: Areopagitica: A Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicens'd Printing. To the Parliament of England , 1644.