Sir Francis Kynaston or Kinaston (1587–1642) was an English lawyer, courtier, poet and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

from 1621 to 1622. He is noted for his translation of

Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He wa ...

's ''

Troilus and Criseyde ''Troilus and Criseyde'' () is an epic poem by Geoffrey Chaucer which re-tells in Middle English the tragic story of the lovers Troilus and Criseyde set against a backdrop of war during the siege of Troy. It was written in '' rime royale'' an ...

'' into

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 ...

verse (as

rime royal Rhyme royal (or rime royal) is a rhyming stanza form that was introduced to English poetry by Geoffrey Chaucer. The form enjoyed significant success in the fifteenth century and into the sixteenth century. It has had a more subdued but continui ...

, ''Amorum Troili et Creseidae Libri Quinque'', 1639). He also made a Latin translation of

Henryson Robert Henryson (Middle Scots: Robert Henrysoun) was a poet who flourished in Scotland in the period c. 1460–1500. Counted among the Scots ''makars'', he lived in the royal burgh of Dunfermline and is a distinctive voice in the Northern Renai ...

's ''

The Testament of Cresseid ''The Testament of Cresseid'' is a narrative poem of 616 lines in Middle Scots, written by the 15th-century Scottish makar Robert Henryson. It is his best known poem. It imagines a tragic fate for Cressida in the medieval story of ''Troilus ...

''.

Life

Kynaston was born at Oteley Park, near Ellesmere,

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

, the eldest son of Sir Edward Kynaston and his wife Isabel Bagenall, daughter of Sir Nicholas Bagenall. His father was

High Sheriff of Shropshire This is a list of sheriffs and high sheriffs of Shropshire The sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the high sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibili ...

in 1599. On 11 December 1601 Kynaston matriculated at

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...

. He graduated B.A. from

St Mary Hall St Mary Hall was a medieval academic hall of the University of Oxford. It was associated with Oriel College from 1326 to 1545, but functioned independently from 1545 until it was incorporated into Oriel College in 1902. History In 1320, ...

on 14 June 1604 and M.A. at Oxford on 11 November 1611. He was called to the bar at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in 1611. He was knighted by James I at

Theobalds Theobalds House (also known as Theobalds Palace) in the parish of Cheshunt in the English county of Hertfordshire, was a significant stately home and (later) royal palace of the 16th and early 17th centuries. Set in extensive parkland, it was a r ...

on 21 December 1618. In 1621 Kynaston was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

. He became esquire of the body to Charles I on the King's accession in 1625.Some sources claim he was taxor of Cambridge University in 1623, and was proctor there in 1634, but Venn states that he was being confused with another Francis Kynaston. At court Kynaston was the centre of a literary coterie. In 1635 he founded an

academy of learning Academy of Learning ( pl, Akademia Umiejętności; AU) was a primary Polish scientific institution during the annexation of Poland established in 1871. It was founded in Kraków as a continuation of the ''Kraków Scientific Society'' (''Towarzystw ...

, called the Musæum Minervæ, for which he obtained a licence under the great seal, a grant of arms, and a common seal; Charles also contributed from the treasury. On 27 February 1636 Prince Charles, the Duke of York, and others visited the museum, and a

masque The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A masque ...

by Kynaston, entitled ''Corona Minervæ,'' was performed in their presence. In July of the same year Sir George Peckham bequeathed money to the institution. Shortly after this, Kynaston was preoccupied with a certain ‘hanging furnace,’ recommended by him to the lords of the admiralty for ships of war. Kynaston died in 1642, and was buried at Oteley. The museum appears to have perished with the death of its founder. Its site was marked by Kynaston's Alley, Bedfordbury. Kynaston married Margaret Lee, daughter of Sir Humphry Lee, 1st Baronet of Langley, in 1613. They had one son, Edward (c. 1613 – 1656), and four daughters - Frances (b. 1612), Rachel, Ann (d. 1642) and Barbara (d. 1619).

Works

Kynaston published a translation of Chaucer's ‘Troilus and Cressida,’ with a commentary, prefaced by fifteen short poems by Oxford writers, including

William Strode William Strode (1598 – 9 September 1645) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1624 and 1645. He was one of the Five Members whose impeachment and attempted unconstitutional arrest by King Charles I in ...

and

Dudley Digges Sir Dudley Digges (19 May 1583 – 18 March 1639) was an English diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1610 and 1629. Digges was also a "Virginia adventurer," an investor who ventured his capital in the Virginia ...

(Oxford, 1635). Kynaston also contributed to the ''Musæ Aulicæ'' by Arthur Johnston, a rendering in English verse of Johnston's Latin poems, London, 1635, and was author of an heroic romance in verse, ''Leoline and Sydanis'', containing some of the legendary history of Wales and Anglesey, published with ''Cynthiades: Sonnets to his Mistresse'' (technically not precisely of the

sonnet A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's invention, ...

form) addressed by Kynaston to his mistress under the name of Cynthia (London, 1642).

Notes

References

;Attribution

External links

Amorum Troili et Creseidae Libri QuinqueTestamentum Creseidae (1639)''Survey of London'' vol. 36
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kynaston, Francis 1587 births 1642 deaths 16th-century English poets Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford English MPs 1621–1622 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers English male poets People from Ellesmere, Shropshire Lawyers from the Kingdom of England

Life

Works

Notes

References

Further reading

External links