John Shirwood

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John Shirwood (also Sherwood ) († January 14, 1493 in Rome ) was Bishop of Durham . He wrote a treatise on the number battle game . Today he is best known for the manuscripts and incunabula he collected . He is considered the first ambassador of England to the Holy See .

Life

The son of a town clerk of York of the same name received the degrees of a Magister artium and a Baccalaureus in theology from the University of Cambridge . At this university Shirwood held the office of Senior Proctor in 1450/1451 . In the autumn of 1456 he received permission from Oxford to obtain a doctorate in theology there. For a time Shirwood intended to enter the Carthusian Order. Presumably in Oxford he met the young high nobility George Neville , Elekt von Exeter , who protected him in the following years . So Shirwood also received a benefice in Exeter. In a letter to Bishop Neville, Shirwood was mentioned as Chancellor of Exeter Cathedral .

He wrote a verse epitaph in memory of John Sowthel, Nevilles Seneschal , who is otherwise not verifiable under this name. The epitaph was probably written in early 1462 on the occasion of the funeral or the year of John Sowthel and is believed to have been placed on parchment near his tomb in Exeter Cathedral. In this poem Shirwood lets Sowthel lying on his death bed speak of the nullity of worldly dignities and riches ( contemptus mundi ). Some verses propagandistically allude to political events which shortly before favored the House of York in the Wars of the Roses , others praise Bishop George Neville. A transcript of the epitaph is in a third quarter of the 15th century, probably in the vicinity of an English Carthusian resulting manuscript , now in the Princeton University Library under the signature stored Taylor Ms. 22, was obtained. John Leland reported that he had read a poem attributed to Shirwood at Fountains Abbey and that he was told that he had also written a work in praise of England. However, these works are lost.

Shirwood had a habit of writing down in his books, usually on the last sheet of paper, where and when he had bought the book in question. In the summer of 1461 Shirwood was in London and bought a manuscript from the 13th century with Petrus Cantor's commentary on the Psalter . He bought a humanistic composite manuscript from Italy in December 1464. He was George Neville's secretary during this time, probably because of his good knowledge of Latin. In doing so, he probably came into contact with Greek emigrants and began to learn Greek. When George Neville became Archbishop of York , Shirwood followed him to the new diocese in 1465 and became Archdeacon of Richmond . In York Shirwood acquired in October this year a Iustinushandschrift from the 12th century. His income continued to grow in the following years through the accumulation of several benefices. Master of the Hospitals of St. Edmund the King at Gateshead and St. Nicholas in York from 1467.

After the Nevilles changed sides in 1470 and briefly King Henry VI. from the House of Lancaster had helped back to the throne, became Shirwood of the victorious returned Edward IV. the end of June 1471 a general pardon . In the same year Shirwood also received the particularly rich Golden Benefice from Masham. Now he was wealthy enough to have books copied for himself, a Terence and Ciceros de Finibus thus ended up in his library. Shirwood made his next book purchase at the beginning of 1474 in Rome, Cicero's speeches printed by Konrad Sweynheym and Arnold Pannartz . In this or the following year he visited his patron George Neville in his exile in Calais . To cheer him up, Shirwood taught him the number battle game. He himself had learned it in his youth from his dialectics and mathematics teacher, but simplified and tightened the rules when he wrote them down from memory.

In 1475 Shirwood was inducted into the brotherhood of the English Hospital of St. Thomas in Rome and was elected treasurer of that hospital the following spring . This gave him an excuse to stay at the Curia longer than the ambassadors at the time allowed. Several other prints by ancient authors found their way into Shirwood's library through purchase during these years. From Pope Sixtus IV he received the title of protonotary at the Holy See in the autumn of 1476 . King Edward IV accredited his chaplain John Shirwood as his procurator in Rome in December 1477 . As such he took the interests of his master in ecclesiastical matters and also pursued the business of other Englishmen at the curia. At the latest since his participation in a special embassy in 1479, Shirwood was also considered an orator (Latin = speaker), in the curial parlance of those years thus as an ambassador of his king. Since Shirwood exercised this position of permanent envoy in the years up to his death, as it were, he is now considered the first ambassador of the English diplomatic service.

Since 1480 at the latest, Shirwood rented the most expensive house that Thomas Hospital had to rent, he lived in it until 1486. ​​He also made contact with humanist circles, and in 1480 he dedicated his book on the battle of numbers to his new patron, Cardinal Marco Barbo . He (incorrectly) attributed the invention of the game to an ancient philosopher . The work was printed by Stephan Plannck in 1482 and quickly attracted attention all over Europe. What was known about this game in the early modern period went back to this script.

At the end of January 1484, John Shirwood was at the instigation of the new King Richard III. elected Bishop of Durham. This king also sent Shirwood as ambassador to Rome. In accompanying letters to the Pope and the cardinals, Richard III sat down. not only to make Shirwood Bishop of Durham, but also proposed (in vain) that he be made Cardinal. Shirwood received the papal commission on the chair of Durham on March 29th, the temporalities were given to him on April 24th, and on May 26th he was ordained in Rome. He took part in papal ceremonies in his capacity as ambassador for the King of England. It is possible that Shirwood already made contact with Henry Tudor's envoys to the Pope in Rome . In the summer of 1485, Shirwood finally received secular and spiritual power from a Bishop of Durham. His close association with Richard III. seems to have done no harm to Shirwood after the battle of Bosworth , Henry VII appointed him, among others, his procurator in Rome in February 1486.

In the great embassy of 1487, with which Henry VII thanked Pope Innocent VIII for his support, John Shirwood also took part. Soon he started buying books again. In December 1487 he obtained an indulgence for his church . When exactly he traveled to his diocese is unknown. In 1490 he wrote to John Paston from his residence in Auckland , trying to exchange coal for wheat, wine and wax. At some point during these years the Greek émigré Georg Hermonymos , whom Shirwood had probably met through George Neville, and with whom he probably had perfected his knowledge of Greek, dedicated a copy of his translation of Aristotle De virtutibus to the Bishop of Durham .

Shirwood was soon sent back to Rome, and in the spring of 1492 he was in Italy with his entourage. On June 14th he moved into Rome, where Giovanni Gigli , Procurator of Henry VII at the Curia, with Pope Alexander VI. introduced. On December 14th, Shirwood gave a speech to the Pope in a consistory . On January 10, 1493, Shirwood fell ill, died on January 14, and was buried in the church of Thomas Hospital in Rome. His grave monument is now in the right aisle of the Church of San Tommaso di Canterbury in Rome.

The Latin books from Shirwood's library acquired his successor in Durham Richard Fox , who gave them to the Corpus Christi College in Oxford, which he founded . These books are still there today. Side notes reveal that Shirwood really read through only a few of his books, such as Cicero and Plutarch . Still, he was probably more familiar with the humanist mind than his fellow bishops. With the exception of one, a manuscript of Theodor Gaza's Greek grammar, his Greek books are now lost.

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Testamenta Eboracensia. A Selection of Wills from the Registry at York. Volume 3. Durham 1865 (Publications of the Surtees Society, Volume 45), pp. 206-208 No. 61 ( digitized in the Google book search), cf. PM Tillott (Ed.): A History of the County of York. The City of York. London 1961, pp. 69-75 ( British History Online ).
  2. ↑ JA Twemlow (Ed.): Calendar of Papal Registers Relating to Great Britain and Ireland. Volume 11. AD 1455-1464. London 1921, pp. 366-367 ( British History Online ), here written Chiellod .
  3. ↑ Joyce M. Horn: Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300-1541. Volume 9. Exeter diocese. London 1964, pp. 53-60 ( British History Online ).
  4. ^ Henry Anstey (ed.): Epistolae Academiae Oxon. Part II (1457-1509). Oxford 1898 (Oxford Historical Society, Volume 36), pp. 362-363 No. 242 ( digitized in the Google Book Search USA ), for dating cf. Joyce M. Horn: Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300-1541. Volume 9. Exeter diocese. London 1964, pp. 8-10 ( British History Online ).
  5. ↑ Don Skemer: Words Not Written in Stone: John Shirwood's Verse Epitaph for a Canon of Exeter Cathedral, c. 1462. In: Colum Hourihane (Ed.): Manuscripta Illuminata. Princeton 2014, pp. 108–143, with edition and translation of the text on pp. 136–143; see. also David Rundle: Up for auction: new light on John Shirwood and English humanism . On: bonaelitterae.wordpress.com November 27, 2011 ( accessed August 13, 2013); Sotheby's London, auction on December 6, 2011, Western and Oriental Manuscripts, lot 45 = Sotheby's: Western Manuscripts and Miniatures. Auction in London Tuesday 6 December 2011. (L11241), pp. 36–38.
  6. ^ John Leland: Commentarii de scriptoribus Britannicis , ed. Anthony Hall. Volume 2. Oxford 1709, p. 262 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ), Thomas Hearne (Ed.): Joannes Lelandi antiquarii de rebus Britannicis collectanea. Volume IV. 2nd edition. London 1774, p. 41 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ), Don Skemer: Words Not Written in Stone: John Shirwood's Verse Epitaph for a Canon of Exeter Cathedral, c. 1462. In: Colum Hourihane (Ed.): Manuscripta Illuminata. Princeton 2014, pp. 108–143, here p. 126, Roberto Weiss: Humanism in England during the Fifteenth Century. 4th edition. Oxford 2010, p. 229.
  7. ^ PS Allen: Bishop Shirwood of Durham and his Library. In: English Historical Review XXV (1910) XCIX, pp. 445-456, here pp. 445 and 447. Roberto Weiss: Humanism in England during the Fifteenth Century. 4th edition. Oxford 2010, p. 230. He may also have acquired a humanistic Cicero manuscript that year, British Library MS Burney 145 .
  8. ↑ James Tait: Letters of John Tiptoft, earl of Worcester, and Archbishop Neville to the University of Oxford. In: English Historical Review XXXV (1920) CXL, pp. 570-574 doi: 10.1093 / ehr / XXXV.CXL.570 .
  9. ^ Roberto Weiss: Humanism in England during the Fifteenth Century. 4th edition. Oxford 2010, pp. 228f.
  10. ↑ B. Jones: Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300-1541. Volume 6. Northern province (York, Carlisle and Durham). London 1963, pp. 25-27 ( British History Online ).
  11. ^ PS Allen: Bishop Shirwood of Durham and his Library. In: English Historical Review XXV (1910) XCIX, pp. 445–456, here p. 447.
  12. ^ Gateshead: William Page (ed.): A History of the County of Durham. Volume 2. London 1907, pp. 124-125 ( British History Online ). York: William Page (Ed.): A History of the County of York. Volume 3. Woodbridge 1974, pp. 336-352 ( British History Online ).
  13. ^ Calendar of the Patent Rolls preserved in the Public Record Office. Edward IV. Henry VI. AD 1467-1477. London 1900, p. 267 ( digitized in the Google Book Search USA ).
  14. ↑ B. Jones: Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300-1541. Volume 6. Northern province (York, Carlisle and Durham). London 1963, pp. 66-68 ( British History Online ).
  15. ^ PS Allen: Bishop Shirwood of Durham and his Library. In: English Historical Review XXV (1910) XCIX, pp. 445–456, here pp. 447–448. Roberto Weiss: Humanism in England during the Fifteenth Century. 4th edition. Oxford 2010, p. 227.
  16. ↑ Arno Borst: The medieval number battle game. Heidelberg 1986 (Supplements to the meeting reports of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences, Philosophical-Historical Class 5) ISBN 3-533-03751-7 , pp. 27-28, cf. also p. 243. Ann E. Moyer: The Philosophers' Game. Rithmomachia in Medieval and Renaissance Europe. Ann Arbor 2001 ISBN 0-472-11228-7 , pp. 65–67 ( some of which can be viewed in the Google book search).
  17. ^ B. Behrens: Origins of the Office of English Resident Ambassador in Rome. In: English Historical Review XLIX (1934) CXCVI, pp. 640-656, here p. 645. Brian Newns: The Hospice of St Thomas and the English Crown 1474-1538. In: The English Hospice in Rome. Leominster 2005 ISBN 0-85244-624-1 (first published as: The Venerabile Sexcentenary Issue 1962), pp. 145–192, here p. 152 ( partly available in the Google book search).
  18. ^ Catherine Fletcher: Diplomacy in Renaissance Rome. The Rise of the Resident Ambassador. Cambridge 2015 ISBN 978-1-107-10779-3 , p. 86.
  19. ^ PS Allen: Bishop Shirwood of Durham and his Library. In: English Historical Review XXV (1910) XCIX, pp. 445–456, here pp. 449–450.
  20. ↑ JA Twemlow (Ed.): Calendar of Papal Registers Relating to Great Britain and Ireland. Volume 13. AD 1471-1484. London 1955, pp. 208-209 ( British History Online ).
  21. ^ Calendar of the Patent Rolls preserved in the Public Record Office. Edward IV, Edward V, Richard III. AD 1476-1485. London 1901, p. 60 ( digitized in the Google Book Search USA ).
  22. ↑ James Raine (Ed.): Historiae dunelmensis scriptores tres. London and Edinburgh 1839 (Publications of the Surtees Society, Volume 9), pp. 366–367 No. 282 ( digitized in the Google book search) = Durham Cathedral Muniments Registrum Parvum III, f.185v-186r .
  23. ↑ Thomas Rymer: Foedera, conventiones, literæ, et cujuscunque generis acta publica, inter reges Angliæ, et alios quosuis imperatores, reges, pontifices (...). Volume 12. 2nd edition. London 1726, pp. 108-109 ( British History Online ). Allen B. Hinds (Ed.): Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts in the Archives and Collections of Milan 1385-1618. London 1912, p. 237, note on no.356 ( British History Online ). B. Behrens: Origins of the Office of English Resident Ambassador in Rome. In: English Historical Review XLIX (1934) CXCVI, pp. 640-656. Foreign & Commonwealth Office homepage. Archived from the original on April 20, 2012 ; Retrieved July 18, 2011 .
  24. ^ Brian Newns: The Hospice of St Thomas and the English Crown 1474-1538. In: The English Hospice in Rome. Leominster 2005 ISBN 0-85244-624-1 (first published as: The Venerabile Sexcentenary Issue 1962), pp. 145–192, here p. 152 ( partly available in the Google book search).
  25. ↑ Arno Borst: The medieval number battle game. Heidelberg 1986 (Supplements to the meeting reports of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences, Philosophical-Historical Class 5) ISBN 3-533-03751-7 , pp. 27-28. Ann E. Moyer: The Philosophers' Game. Rithmomachia in Medieval and Renaissance Europe. Ann Arbor 2001 ISBN 0-472-11228-7 , pp. 65–67 ( some of which can be viewed in the Google book search).
  26. ↑ Thomas Rymer: Foedera, conventiones, literæ, et cujuscunque generis acta publica, inter reges Angliæ, et alios quosuis imperatores, reges, pontifices (...). Volume 12. 2nd edition. London 1726, pp. 214, pp. 216-217, pp. 220-221, pp. 223-226 ( British History Online ). Again with the next Pope: Rawdon Brown (Ed.): Calendar of State Papers Relating to English Affairs in the Archives of Venice. Volume 1. 1202-1509. London 1864, pp. 141-159, No. 488 ( British History Online ).
  27. ↑ James Raine (Ed.): Historiae dunelmensis scriptores tres. London and Edinburgh 1839 (Publications of the Surtees Society, Volume 9), pp. 368-369 No. 283 ( digitized in the Google book search). Durham Cathedral Muniments: Papalia 1.3.Pap.23 . JA Twemlow (Ed.): Calendar of Papal Registers Relating to Great Britain and Ireland. Volume 13. AD 1471-1484. London 1955, pp. 844-847 ( British History Online ).
  28. ^ Calendar of the Patent Rolls preserved in the Public Record Office. Edward IV, Edward V, Richard III. AD 1476-1485. London 1901, p. 436 ( digitized in the Google Book Search USA ).
  29. ↑ B. Jones: Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300-1541. Volume 6. Northern province (York, Carlisle and Durham). London 1963, pp. 107-109 ( British History Online ).
  30. ↑ Johannes Burckard : Diarium sive rerum urbanarum commentarii (1483–1506), ed. L. Thuasne. 3 volumes. Paris 1883–1885, Volume 1, p. 20, p. 90, p. 128, p. 141 ( digitized in Google Book Search USA ).
  31. ↑ CSL Davies: Bishop John Morton, the Holy See, and the Accession of Henry VII. In: English Historical Review CII (1987) CCCCII, pp. 2-30 doi: 10.1093 / ehr / CII.CCCCII.2 .
  32. ↑ Thomas Rymer: Foedera, conventiones, literæ, et cujuscunque generis acta publica, inter reges Angliæ, et alios quosuis imperatores, reges, pontifices (...). Volume 12. 2nd edition. London 1726, pp. 272-273 ( British History Online ). Calendar of the Patent Rolls preserved in the Public Record Office. Edward IV, Edward V, Richard III. AD 1476-1485. London 1901, p. 548 ( digitized in Google Book Search USA ). B. Jones: Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300-1541. Volume 6. Northern province (York, Carlisle and Durham). London 1963, pp. 107-109 ( British History Online ).
  33. ^ William Campbell (ed.): Materials for a History of the Reign of Henry VII. From Original Documents preserved in the Public Record Office. Volume 1. London 1873, p. 323 ( digitized in Google Book Search USA ).
  34. ↑ Johannes Burckard: Diarium sive rerum urbanarum commentarii (1483–1506), ed. L. Thuasne. 3 volumes. Paris 1883–1885, Volume 1, pp. 257–259 ( digitized in the Google Book Search USA ).
  35. ^ PS Allen: Bishop Shirwood of Durham and his Library. In: English Historical Review XXV (1910) XCIX, pp. 445–456, here pp. 451–452.
  36. ↑ James Raine (Ed.): Historiae dunelmensis scriptores tres. London and Edinburgh 1839 (Publications of the Surtees Society, Volume 9), pp. 372–373 No. 287 ( digitized in the Google book search) = Durham Cathedral Muniments: Cartulary III f. 202v-203r .
  37. ^ Norman Davis (ed.): Paston Letters and Papers of the Fifteenth Century. Part 2. Oxford 2005 (Early English Text Society Supplementary Series 21) ISBN 0-19-722422-9 , pp. 461-462 No. 821 ( some of which can be viewed in Google book search).
  38. ^ Oxford, Bodleian Library MS. Rawl. G. 93 ; Roberto Weiss: Humanism in England during the Fifteenth Century. 4th edition. Oxford 2010, pp. 228-229.
  39. ↑ Rawdon Brown (Ed.): Calendar of State Papers Relating to English Affairs in the Archives of Venice. Volume 1. 1202-1509. London 1864, pp. 203-226 No. 619 ( British History Online ). Allen B. Hinds (Ed.): Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts in the Archives and Collections of Milan 1385-1618. London 1912, pp. 283-291 No. 461 ( British History Online ).
  40. ↑ Johannes Burckard: Diarium sive rerum urbanarum commentarii (1483–1506), ed. L. Thuasne. 3 volumes. Paris 1883–1885, Volume 1, pp. 489–490 ( digitized in the Google Book Search USA ). Atis V. Antonovics:  Gigli, Giovanni. In: Mario Caravale (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 54:  Ghiselli-Gimma. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2000, pp. 674-676.
  41. ↑ Johannes Burckard: Diarium sive rerum urbanarum commentarii (1483–1506), ed. L. Thuasne. 3 volumes. Paris 1883–1885, Volume 2, p. 18 ( digitized in the Google Book Search USA ).
  42. ↑ Johannes Burckard: Diarium sive rerum urbanarum commentarii (1483–1506), ed. L. Thuasne. 3 volumes. Paris 1883–1885, Volume 2, p. 36 ( digitized in Google Book Search USA ). PS Allen: Bishop Shirwood of Durham and his Library. In: English Historical Review XXV (1910) XCIX, pp. 445-456, here p. 452. Anders u. a .: Rawdon Brown (Ed.): Calendar of State Papers Relating to English Affairs in the Archives of Venice. Volume 1. 1202-1509. London 1864, pp. 203-226, No. 634 ( British History Online ).
  43. ^ Entry in the photo library of the Bibliotheca Hertziana , the inscription is reproduced in William Hutchinson: The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham. Volume 1. Durham 1823, p. 453 ( digitized in the Google book search), the coat of arms emblazoned by Claude-François Ménestrier : Le véritable art du blason et la pratique des armoiries depuis leur institution. Lyon 1671, pp. 197–198 ( digitized in the Google book search), cf. on this, John Woodward: A Treatise on Ecclesiastical Heraldry. Edinburgh and London 1894, pp. 97-98 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ) and William Kirkpatrick Riland Bedford: The Blazon of Episcopacy being the arms borne by or attributed to the archbishops and bishops of England and Wales. 2nd Edition. Clarendon, Oxford 1897, p. 153 no.25 and plate LXXVII no.25 ( online ).
  44. ^ PS Allen: Bishop Shirwood of Durham and his Library. In: English Historical Review XXV (1910) XCIX, pp. 445–456, here pp. 452–454. JR Liddell: The Library of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, in the Sixteenth Century. In: Library s4-XVIII (1938) 4, pp. 385-416 doi: 10.1093 / library / s4-XVIII.4.385 . Roberto Weiss: Humanism in England during the Fifteenth Century. 4th edition. Oxford 2010, pp. 230-231. Rosemary Masek: The Humanistic Interests of the Early Tudor Episcopate. In: Church History 39 (1970) 1, pp. 5-17 doi: 10.2307 / 3163209 .
  45. ↑ The entry on John Shirwood here is slightly expanded compared to that in: Alfred Brotherston Emden: A biographical register of the University of Oxford to AD 1500. Volume 3. PZ. Oxford 1959. Both are available through WBIS Online .
personal data
SURNAME Shirwood, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sherwood, John; Shirwode, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bishop of Durham (1484-1493)
DATE OF BIRTH 15th century
DATE OF DEATH January 14, 1493
Place of death Rome