Nicholas Bacon

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Sir Nicholas Bacon (Unidentified Artist, 1579)

Sir Nicholas Bacon (born December 28, 1510 in Chislehurst , England , † February 20, 1579 in Gorhambury , England) was an English lawyer, judge and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal and Lord Chancellor of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I . He was the father of Francis Bacon .

Life

He was born as the second son of Robert Bacon (* 1479) of Drinkstone, Suffolk in Chislehurst. His mother was Eleanor Isabella Cage (* 1480). He still had three brothers and five sisters. He graduated in 1527 at Corpus Christi College of Cambridge University with the Bachelor of Arts . After that he spent some time in Paris .

After returning to England from France, he studied at Gray's Inn and was promoted to the bar in 1533 . Four years later he began his public life as an attorney at the Guardianship Court. He quickly became an important person, received various lands after the dissolution of monasteries by Henry VIII, and in 1545 became a Member of Parliament for Dartmouth . In 1546 he became an attorney for the court, a job which earned him both honor and financial benefit. In 1550 he was judge and in 1552 treasurer of Gray's Inn.

Although he sympathized with the Protestants , he kept his office in the Guardianship Court during the reign of Mary I , but at the same time an order had been issued that he was not allowed to leave England. The most important period in Bacon's life began in 1558 with the enthronement of Queen Elizabeth I. Because of his long and close friendship with Sir William Cecil , later Lord Burghley, his brother, he was in December of the same year Lord Keeper of the Great Seal (Lord Privy Seal ). Soon after, he was appointed to the Privy Council and in November or December 1558 as a Knight Bachelor in the nobility . He helped secure the position of Archbishop of Canterbury for his friend Matthew Parker and presided in his official capacity during the opening of Parliament under Elizabeth.

In contrast to Cecil, he opposed the war policy towards France in view of the poverty of England, but later favored closer ties with foreign Protestants. In 1559 he was authorized to be Lord Chancellor . In 1564 he fell temporarily out of favor at court, as Elizabeth suspected him of being involved in the publication of John Hales ' pamphlet , A Declaration of the Succession of the Crowne Imperial of England , which claimed Lady Jane Gray's claim to the English throne . After acknowledging his innocence, he replied to a letter from Sir Anthony Browne reaffirming the rights of the House of Suffolk, of which Lady Catherina was a member.

In his distrust of Mary Queen of Scots to marry the Duke of Norfolk, he warned Elizabeth of the grave consequences for England. He also appears to have disapproved of the proposed marriage between Elisabeth and Francis, Duke of Anjou, and his distrust of the Roman Catholic Church and the French was reinforced by St. Bartholomew's Night. As an Englishman of the Church, he was incessantly interested in ecclesiastical matters and made various suggestions for improving adherence to Church doctrine and discipline.

He died on February 20, 1579 and was buried in St Paul's Cathedral in London.

Family and offspring

Portrait attributed to Anne Cooke Bacon , George Gower

He was married twice. From his marriage to his first wife Jane Bacon, born Fernley (approx. 1518–1552), Nicholas Bacon had three sons and three daughters, so Nicholas (1540–1624), Nathaniel (1550–1622) and Edward (1550–1618) , Jane Bacon and two others. She was the daughter of a Suffolk merchant . His marriage to his second wife Anne , daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke (1504–1576), had two sons, Anthony , diplomat, and the famous Francis .

literature

  • Arthur Collins: Baronets created by King James I. - I. Bacon of Redgrave, Suffolk (Sir Nicholas, Knight) . In: The English baronetage. Containing a genealogical and historical account of all the English baronets, now existing - their descents, marriages, and issues; memorable actions, both in war, and peace ... band 1 . Tho. Wotton, London 1741, p. 1–14 , here 2–4 (English, babel.hathitrust.org ).

Web links

Commons : Nicholas Bacon  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rosemary O'Day: The Routledge Companion to the Tudor Age . Routledge, London 2012, ISBN 978-1-136-96253-0 , pp. 1557 ( books.google.de ).
  2. ↑ Genealogy of the parents
  3. ↑ Bacon, Nicholas . In: John Venn , John Archibald Venn (eds.): Alumni Cantabrigienses . A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900. Part 1: From the earliest times to 1751 , volume 1 : Abbas-Cutts . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1922, pp. 65 ( venn.lib.cam.ac.uk Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  4. ↑ Heather Campbell: Sir Nicholas Bacon. In: Encyclopedia Britannica ( britannica.com ).
  5. ↑ Sir Nicholas BACON, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. tudorplace.com.ar.
  6. ^ William Arthur Shaw: The Knights of England. Volume 2, Sherratt and Hughes, London 1906, p. 70.
  7. ↑ Sir Nicholas Bacon - A Biographical Sketch. In: The lives of eminent & remarkable characters, born or long resident in the counties of Essex, Suffolk, & Norfolk . Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, London 1820, pp. 46–47 (English, text archive - Internet Archive - different year of birth 1510).
personal data
SURNAME Bacon, Nicholas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English attorney, judge and keeper of the Lord Seal of England
DATE OF BIRTH December 28, 1510
PLACE OF BIRTH Chislehurst , England
DATE OF DEATH February 20, 1579
Place of death Gorhambury , England