Francis Coxe (also called Fraunces Cox; ) was an English

astrologer Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Dif ...

and

quack Quack, The Quack or Quacks may refer to: People * Quack Davis, American baseball player * Hendrick Peter Godfried Quack (1834–1917), Dutch economist and historian * Joachim Friedrich Quack (born 1966), German Egyptologist * Johannes Quack (b ...

physician.Heron-Allen 1887, p. 418.Heron-Allen; Kassell 2004. He was tried for

sorcery Sorcery may refer to: * Magic (supernatural), the application of beliefs, rituals or actions employed to subdue or manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces ** Witchcraft, the practice of magical skills and abilities * Magic in fiction, ...

in 1561 and severely punished, and his ''Unfained Retractation'' was published in a contemporary

broadside Broadside or broadsides may refer to: Naval * Broadside (naval), terminology for the side of a ship, the battery of cannon on one side of a warship, or their near simultaneous fire on naval warfare Printing and literature * Broadside (comic ...

. He then published a pamphlet against

necromancy Necromancy () is the practice of magic or black magic involving communication with the dead by summoning their spirits as apparitions or visions, or by resurrection for the purpose of divination; imparting the means to foretell future events; ...

, and, in 1575, ''A Treatise of the Making and Use of Diverse Oils, Unguents, Emplasters and Distilled Waters''.

Life

Francis Coxe, a quack physician, who attained some celebrity in the sixteenth century, is best known by a curious volume of receipts entitled ''De oleis, unguentis, emplastris, etc. conficiendis'' (), London, 1575,

8vo Octavo, a Latin word meaning "in eighth" or "for the eighth time", (abbreviated 8vo, 8º, or In-8) is a technical term describing the format of a book, which refers to the size of leaves produced from folding a full sheet of paper on which multip ...

, which is missing. His practices having attracted considerable attention, he was summoned before the

privy council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

on a charge of

, and, having been severely punished, made a public confession of his "employment of certayne sinistral and divelysh artes" at the

Pillory The pillory is a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse. The pillory is related to the stocks ...

Cheapside Cheapside is a street in the City of London, the historic and modern financial centre of London, which forms part of the A40 London to Fishguard road. It links St. Martin's Le Grand with Poultry. Near its eastern end at Bank junction, where ...

on 25 June 1561. On 7 July following John Awdeley issued a broadside entitled ''The unfained Retractation of Fraunces Cox'', a copy of which later entered the library of the Society of Antiquaries.Lemon 1866, p. 19. Coxe subsequently published what

Edward Heron-Allen Edward Heron-Allen FRS (born ''Edward Heron Allen'') (17 December 1861 – 28 March 1943) was an English polymath, writer, scientist and Persian scholar who translated the works of Omar Khayyam. Life Heron-Allen was born in London, the younge ...

calls "a grovelling and terror-stricken pamphlet",Heron-Allen 1887, p. 419. entitled ''A Short Treatise declaring the Detestable Wickednesse of Magicall Sciences, as Necromancie, Coniurations of Spirits, Curiouse Astrologie, and such lyke'' (London, Alde, n.d.,

black letter Blackletter (sometimes black letter), also known as Gothic script, Gothic minuscule, or Textura, was a script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 until the 17th century. It continued to be commonly used for the Danish, Norweg ...

12mo Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book of codex format from an ordered stack of ''signatures'', sheets of paper folded together into sections that are bound, along one edge, with a thick needle and strong thread. Cheaper, b ...

), written, as he says in the preface thereto, "for that I have myself been an offender in these most detestable sciences, against whome I have compilyd this worke". Coxe may also have written ''Prognostication'', n.d., an almanac, which survives in a single copy on the back of a ballad in the British Library. The dates of his birth and death are not known.

References

Sources

* * Lemon, Robert (1866).
Catalogue of a Collection of Printed Broadsides in the Possession of the Society of Antiquaries of London
'. Westminster: J. B. Nichols and Sons. p. 19. Attribution: *

External links

"Coxe, Francis, fl. 1560"
''

Online Books Page The Online Books Page is an index of e-text books available on the Internet. It is edited by John Mark Ockerbloom and is hosted by the library of the University of Pennsylvania. The Online Books Page lists over 2 million books and has several feat ...

''. Retrieved 25 May 2023. {{Authority control 16th-century English writers 16th-century astrologers

Life

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Further reading

External links