Barten Holyday or Holiday (1593 – 2 October 1661) was an English clergyman, author and poet.F. D. A. Burns, ‘Holyday , Barten (1593–1661)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004

Career

He was educated at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

and earned a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

degree. He entered the clergy in 1615; he was appointed

Archdeacon of Oxford The Archdeacon of Oxford is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Diocese of Oxford, Church of England, England. The office responsibility includes the care of clergy and church buildings within the area of the ''Archdeaconry of Oxford.'' Histo ...

by King Charles I in 1626. '' Technogamia'' was his only play. In 1618, the year it was produced, Holyday served as Sir Francis Stewart's chaplain on Stewart's embassy to Spain. Holyday translated the '' Odes'' of

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...

and works of Juvenal and Persius, and wrote ''A Survey of the World, in Verse'' (

1661 Events January–March * January 6 – The Fifth Monarchists, led by Thomas Venner, unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London; George Monck's regiment defeats them. * January 29 – The Rokeby baronets, a British ...

), plus sermons and miscellaneous works. He was summed up by one commentator as "a good scholar, a shrewd critic, and a fair wit." His translations show strong fidelity to their originals, and have often been considered the best of his works. Samuel Johnson said in ''Idler'' 69 that his translations were those of "only a scholar and a critick" not a poet. He was subject of a derisory poem called "Whoop Holiday", published in 1625 by Peter Heylin

Personal life

Holyday died at Iffley in Oxfordshire on 2 October 1661, "of the new epidemicall disease that rageth now abroad" and was buried at Christchurch Cathedral, Oxford.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holyday, Barten 1593 births 1661 deaths 17th-century English clergy Archdeacons of Oxford English male dramatists and playwrights