Hector Boece (; also spelled Boyce or Boise; 1465–1536), known in Latin as Hector Boecius or Boethius, was a Scottish philosopher and historian, and the first Principal of

King's College King's College or The King's College refers to two higher education institutions in the United Kingdom: *King's College, Cambridge, a constituent of the University of Cambridge *King's College London, a constituent of the University of London It ca ...

in Aberdeen, a predecessor of the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

Biography

He was born in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

where he attended school and was educated at the nearby

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

. Later he left to study at the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

where he met

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...

, with whom he became close friends while they were both students at the austere

Collège de Montaigu The Collège de Montaigu was one of the constituent colleges of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Paris. History The college, originally called Collège des Aicelins, was founded in 1314 by Gilles I Aycelin de Montaigu, Archbishop of Narbo ...

, to whose reforming Master,

Jan Standonck Jan Standonck (or ''Jean Standonk''; 16 August 1453 – 5 February 1504) was a Flemish priest, Scholastic, and reformer. He was part of the great movement for reform in the 15th-century French church. His approach was to reform the recruitment ...

, Boece later became Secretary. By 1497 he had become a professor of philosophy at Collège de Montaigu. In 1500, he was induced to leave Paris for

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

by a generously financed offer to become the first principal of the newly established

, created at the behest of

James IV James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauchi ...

by William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen under the authority of a Papal bull issued by

Pope Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI ( it, Alessandro VI, va, Alexandre VI, es, Alejandro VI; born Rodrigo de Borja; ca-valencia, Roderic Llançol i de Borja ; es, Rodrigo Lanzol y de Borja, lang ; 1431 – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Churc ...

. From then onwards, he worked closely with Elphinstone, to set up the new university and by 1505, regular lectures were taking place at King's College. The university structure was modelled on those of Paris and of

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Fyvie. He died in Aberdeen two years later at the age of 71.

Works

Boece wrote and published two books, one of biography and one of history. In 1522 he published the ''Vitae Episcoporum Murthlacensium et Aberdonensium'' ''(Lives of the Bishops of Murthlack and Aberdeen'') and in 1527 the ''Historia Gentis Scotorum'' (''History of the Scottish People'') to the accession of

James III of Scotland James III (10 July 1451/May 1452 – 11 June 1488) was King of Scots from 1460 until his death at the Battle of Sauchieburn in 1488. He inherited the throne as a child following the death of his father, King James II, at the siege of Roxburgh Ca ...

. The former was the basis of a poem in Scots by

Alexander Gardyne Alexander Garden or Gardyne (c. 1585 - c. 1642) was a Scottish poet from Aberdeenshire. Life and works He is believed to have graduated from Marischal College before 1609 when a work of his was published calling him '' Mr.'', implying he had t ...

Reception of the ''Historia''

The ''Historia'' is the work for which Boece is remembered, as the second scholarly history of the Scots to be written; its only real predecessor was the compendium of John Mair. It was written in a flowing and pleasing style, became popular, and led to ecclesiastical preferment and royal favour. By modern standards, it is overly patriotic, and has many inaccuracies. The historical account of Macbeth of Scotland, in particular, flattered the antecedents of Boece's patron King

James IV of Scotland James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauchi ...

, and greatly maligned the real Macbeth. The work was well received at the time, both in Europe and in Scotland, after its translation from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

into French and then in 1536 from Latin into Scots by

John Bellenden John Bellenden or Ballantyne ( 1533–1587?) of Moray (why Moray, a lowland family) was a Scottish writer of the 16th century. Life He was born towards the close of the 15th century, and educated at St. Andrews and Paris. At the request of ...

. There are some interesting glimpses in the ''Historia'' of contemporary Scotland, such as the statement that the Eurasian beaver, which was soon to become extinct in Scotland, was still common around Loch Ness.

Continuations of the ''Historia'' and its influence

Boece's ''Historia'' as published terminated its coverage of history at the year 1438. In the early 1530s the scholar Giovanni Ferrerio, engaged by Robert Reid of

Kinloss Abbey Kinloss Abbey is a Cistercian abbey at Kinloss in the county of Moray, Scotland. The abbey was founded in 1150 by King David I and was first colonised by monks from Melrose Abbey. It received its Papal Bull from Pope Alexander III in 1174, and ...

, wrote a continuation of Boece's history, extending it another 50 years, to the end of the reign of James III.

John Lesley John Lesley (or Leslie) (29 September 1527 – 31 May 1596) was a Scottish Roman Catholic bishop and historian. His father was Gavin Lesley, rector of Kingussie, Badenoch. Early career He was educated at the University of Aberdeen, where he ...

in his ''De Origine, Moribus, et Rebus Gestis Scotorum'', and

Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie (also Lindesay or Lyndsay; c. 1532–1580) was a Scottish chronicler, author of ''The Historie and Chronicles of Scotland, 1436–1565'', the first history of Scotland to be composed in Scots rather than Lati ...

, provided further continuations. The metrical translation into Scots by William Stewart, not published until the nineteenth century, also provided some expansion. The chronicler

Polydore Vergil Polydore Vergil or Virgil (Italian: ''Polidoro Virgili''; commonly Latinised as ''Polydorus Vergilius''; – 18 April 1555), widely known as Polydore Vergil of Urbino, was an Italian humanist scholar, historian, priest and diplomat, who spent ...

made some use of Boece for his 1534 ''Historia Anglica''. David Chalmers of Ormond in his ''Histoire abbregée'' (1572) wrote about the French, English and Scottish monarchies, relying on Boece for the Scottish account. The ''Historia'' was translated into English for Raphael Holinshed's ''Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland''. The account in Holinshed's ''Chronicle'' was then used by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

as the basis of his play ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

''. George Buchanan made heavy use of Boece in his ''Rerum Scoticarum Historia'' (1582).

Boece's sources

Boece's claimed sources fell into three classes. The works of

John Fordun John of Fordun (before 1360 – c. 1384) was a Scottish chronicler. It is generally stated that he was born at Fordoun, Mearns. It is certain that he was a secular priest, and that he composed his history in the latter part of the 14th cen ...

('' Chronica Gentis Scotorum'') and

Walter Bower Walter Bower (or Bowmaker; 24 December 1449) was a Scottish canon regular and abbot of Inchcolm Abbey in the Firth of Forth, who is noted as a chronicler of his era. He was born about 1385 at Haddington, East Lothian, in the Kingdom of Scotlan ...

(''

Scotichronicon The ''Scotichronicon'' is a 15th-century chronicle by the Scottish historian Walter Bower. It is a continuation of historian-priest John of Fordun's earlier work '' Chronica Gentis Scotorum'' beginning with the founding of Ireland and thereby ...

'') defined the tradition which he attempted to make seamless, filling the gaps in the chronicle, and applying the approach common to

humanists Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanis ...

of his period. The works of

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his t ...

had been rediscovered, in the 14th century, and contained material relevant to British history; and Boece was concerned to integrate it into the tradition. Finally, there was a group of sources that remain debated: material from Elphinstone, and the authors Veremundus, Cornelius Hibernicus, and John Campbell. No written record of these works survives. Sharp criticism of the sourcing of Boece's history was voiced in the sixteenth century by

Humphrey Lhuyd Humphrey Llwyd (also spelled Lhuyd) (1527–1568) was a Welsh cartographer, author, antiquary and Member of Parliament. He was a leading member of the Renaissance period in Wales along with other such men as Thomas Salisbury and William ...

and John Twyne. In the eighteenth century, the historical content of the earlier parts of it was effectively dismantled by Thomas Innes. Boece shared in the credulity of his age; the approach of Mair, who was writing in parallel at the same time, but with a different focus and with a more critical and less sweeping method, did not represent the current fashion. The charge of actually inventing his authorities, formerly brought against Boece, has been the subject of recent scholarship. One example of Boece being cleared of the charge of fabricating his work concerns the Battle of Luncarty,

Luncarty Luncarty (; pronounced ''Lung''-cur-tay) ) is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, approximately north of Perth. It lies between the A9 to the west, and the River Tay to the east. Etymology The name ''Luncarty'', recorded in 1250 as ''Lum ...

Clan Hay Clan Hay (Scottish Gaelic: ''Garadh or MacGaradh'') is a Scottish clan of the Grampian region of Scotland that has played an important part in the history and politics of the country. Members of the clan are to be found in most parts of Scotland ...

. He was suspected by the Scottish historian John Hill Burton of inventing that battle but, Walter Bower writing in his ''Scotichronicon'' around 1440, some 87 years before Boece first published his ''Scotorum Historia'', refers to the battle briefly. The "John Campbell" is tentatively identified as Boece's contemporary John Campbell of Lundie (died 1562). "Veremundus", it is argued, may be a Richard Vairement of the 13th century.

Notes

External links

's translation of Boece'
''History of Scotland'', vol.1 (1821)

''Scotorum Historia'' (1575 version) in Latin and English

Murthlacensium et Aberdonensium Episcoporum Vitae
;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Boece, Hector 1465 births 1536 deaths People educated at the High School of Dundee Principals of the University of Aberdeen Scots-language writers Scottish educators Scottish philosophers 16th-century male writers 16th-century Scottish historians Alumni of the University of St Andrews University of Paris alumni Historians of Scotland People associated with the University of Aberdeen Writers from Dundee Scottish Roman Catholics 16th-century Latin-language writers Kingdom of Scotland expatriates in France