William Camden

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William Camden

William Camden (born May 2, 1551 in London , † November 9, 1623 in Chislehurst near London) was an English historian and antiquarian .

Camden wrote a topographical survey of the British Isles and the first account of the reign of Elizabeth I , as well as a book on the tombs at Westminster , the first book on English sculpture at all. In his extensive correspondence , he built a network of scholars across Europe. He corresponded with Fulke Greville , Philip Sidney , Edmund Spenser , John Stow , John Dee , Jacques-Auguste de Thou , Fabri de Peiresc and Ben Jonson . Canden founded the first chair in history at the University of Oxford , which still exists today as the Camden Chair in Ancient History .

life and work

After leaving school at Christ's Hospital and at St Paul's School , one of the most prestigious private schools in England, studied Camden at Pembroke College at the University of Oxford . There he met the poet Philip Sidney , who turned his interest to the history of antiquity . In 1571 he returned to London without an academic degree. In 1575 he got a job at the Westminster School , which left him a lot of free time for traveling and for his antiquarian collecting work. In 1577 he met the cartographer Abraham Ortelius , who encouraged him to organize his collection and use it for a representation of the British Isles .

Britannia

In the same year Camden began his extensive project of a topographical and historical representation of Britain. The first edition in Latin was published in 1586. It was dedicated to Lord Burghley ( William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley ), minister and advisor to Queen Elizabeth I and the most important patron of science and art at the time. The work was extremely successful and by 1607 there had been seven editions, each with a considerable increase. The first English translation by Philemon Holland (1552–1637) appeared in 1610.

In the book he successively describes all the counties of Britain in terms of geography, history and historical monuments, especially the Roman antiquities. It was his concern to show the extent to which traces and works of antiquity shaped the present at that time. In this way he succeeded in creating a first coherent representation of the Roman epoch in Britain .

He never regarded his book as a completed work, but continued his research, source study and collecting activity throughout his life. In order to understand the ancient written sources, he learned Celtic and Old English. Camden did not rely on traditional authorities and doctrines, but always directed his own gaze towards his research subjects.

The annals

From 1593 to 1597 he was headmaster of the Westminster School, where he taught, among other things, Ben Jonson , who dedicated his book Every Man in His Humor to him. In 1597 he became chairman of one of the three royal offices for heraldry and genealogy ( Clarenceux King of Arms for the area south of the River Trent ). At that time, the office was not only responsible for heraldry and genealogy of the nobility, but also the center of antiquarian scholarship. Camden was largely released for his scientific work here.

In 1597 Lord Burghley commissioned him to write a history of Elizabeth I's government. Camden was given access to all files and private records and correspondence. In 1607 he started work. The first part, covering the period up to 1597, appeared in 1615, the second was completed in 1617, but was not published until after Camden's death in 1625 in Leiden and in 1627 in London.

The annals do not offer a historical synopsis, but are in the traditional form chronologically, with one chapter per year of government. Contemporaries accused the work of being biased in favor of Elizabeth and James I. Nevertheless, it remains an excellent basis for the work of historians to the present day, if only because of its privileged access to historical source material.

Tomb

Camden was buried in the Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey in 1623 . The classicist tomb was probably built according to a design by Nicholas Stone . A portrait shows him with a copy of his Britannia in hand.

Fonts

  • Britannia . London 1586, last edition London 1607
  • Reges, Reginae, Nobiles et alii in ecclesia collegati . London 1600.
  • Annales Rerum Gestarum Angliae et Hiberniae Regnate Elizabetha . 1615

literature

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ www.westminster-abbey.org
personal data
SURNAME Camden, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English historian and antiquarian
DATE OF BIRTH May 2, 1551
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH November 9, 1623
Place of death Chislehurst