Sir Henry Wotton (; 30 March 1568 – December 1639) was an English author, diplomat
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. T ...
in 1614 and 1625. When on a mission to
Augsburg
Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ...
, in 1604, he famously said, "An ambassador is an honest gentleman sent to lie abroad for the good of his country".
Life
The son of
Thomas Wotton (1521–1587) and his second wife, Elionora Finch, Henry was the youngest brother of
Edward Wotton, 1st Baron Wotton
Edward Wotton, 1st Baron Wotton (1548–1626) was an English diplomat and administrator. From 1612 to 1613, he served as a Lord of the Treasury. Wotton was Treasurer of the Household from 1616 to 1618, and also served as Lord Lieutenant of Kent ...
, and grandnephew of the diplomat
Nicholas Wotton
Nicholas Wotton (c. 1497 – 26 January 1567) was an English diplomat, cleric and courtier.
Life
He was a son of Sir Robert Wotton of Boughton Malherbe, Kent, and a descendant of Sir Nicholas Wotton, Lord Mayor of London in 1415 and 1430, wh ...
and
Margaret Wotton, Marchioness of Dorset
Margaret Wotton, Marchioness of Dorset (1485 – 6 October 1535) was the second wife of Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, and the mother of his children, including Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, with whom she engaged in many quarrels dur ...
. Henry was born at
Bocton Hall in the parish of Bocton or
Boughton Malherbe, Kent. He was educated at
Winchester College
Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...
and at
New College, Oxford, where he matriculated on 5 June 1584,
['Alumni Oxonienses, 1500–1714: Woodall-Wyvill', Alumni Oxonienses 1500–1714 (1891), pp. 1674–1697. Retrieved 8 May 2012]
/ref> alongside John Hoskins. Two years later he moved to Queen's College, graduating in 1588.[
At Oxford he was the friend of ]Alberico Gentili
Alberico Gentili (14 January 155219 June 1608) was an Italian-English jurist, a tutor of Queen Elizabeth I, and a standing advocate to the Spanish Embassy in London, who served as the Regius professor of civil law at the University of Oxfor ...
, then professor of Civil Law, and of John Donne. During his residence at Queen's, he wrote a play, ''Tancredo'', which has not survived, but his chief interests appear to have been scientific. In qualifying for his M.A. degree he read three lectures ''De oculo'', and to the end of his life, he continued to interest himself in physical experiments.
His father, Thomas Wotton, died in 1587, leaving Henry only a hundred marks a year. About 1589 Wotton went abroad, with a view probably to preparation for a diplomatic career, and his travels appear to have lasted for about six years. At Altdorf he met Edward, Lord Zouch, to whom he later addressed a series of letters (1590–1593) which contain much political and other news, and provide a record of the journey. He travelled by way of Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
and Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
to Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, and in 1593 spent some time at Geneva
, neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier
, website = https://www.geneve.ch/
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...
in the house of Isaac Casaubon
Isaac Casaubon (; ; 18 February 1559 – 1 July 1614) was a classical scholar and philologist, first in France and then later in England.
His son Méric Casaubon was also a classical scholar.
Life Early life
He was born in Geneva to two Fr ...
, to whom he contracted a considerable debt.
He returned to England in 1594, and in the next year was admitted to the Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...
. While abroad he had from time to time provided Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG, PC (; 10 November 1565 – 25 February 1601) was an English nobleman and a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following ...
, with information, and he now definitely entered his service as one of his agents or secretaries. It was his duty to supply intelligence of affairs in Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
, Poland, Italy and Germany. He served as Essex's secretary in Ireland from 15 April 1599 until 4 September 1599.Titled Elizabethans: A Directory of Elizabethan Court, State, and Church
edited by Arthur F. Kinney, Jane A. Lawson.
Wotton was not, like his unfortunate fellow-secretary, Henry Cuffe
Sir Henry Cuffe (1563 – 13 March 1601) was an English writer and politician, executed during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England, for treason.
Biography
Family connections
Born in 1563 at Hinton St George, Somerset, he was the y ...
, who was hanged at Tyburn
Tyburn was a manor (estate) in the county of Middlesex, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone.
The parish, probably therefore also the manor, was bounded by Roman roads to the west (modern Edgware Road) and south (modern O ...
in 1601, directly involved in Essex's downfall, but he thought it prudent to leave England, and within sixteen hours of his patron's apprehension he was safe in France, whence he travelled to Venice and Rome.
In 1602, he was living at Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
, and a plot to murder James VI of Scotland having come to the ears of the grand duke of Tuscany, Wotton was entrusted with letters to warn the king of the danger, and with Italian antidotes against poison. As "Ottavio Baldi" he travelled to Scotland by way of Norway. He was well received by James, and remained for three months at the Scottish court, retaining his Italian incognito. He then returned to Florence, but on receiving the news of James's accession hurried to England. James knighted him, and offered him the embassy at Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
or Paris; but Wotton, knowing that both these offices involved ruinous expense, desired rather to represent James at Venice.
He left London in 1604 accompanied by Sir Albertus Morton
Sir Albertus Morton (c. 1584 – November, 1625) was an English diplomat and Secretary of State. His widow's death, apparently from grief, is commemorated in a celebrated epigraph by his relative Sir Henry Wotton.
Life
Born about 1584, he wa ...
, his half-nephew, as secretary, and William Bedell
The Rt. Rev. William Bedell, D.D. ( ga, Uilliam Beidil; 15717 February 1642), was an Anglican churchman who served as Lord Bishop of Kilmore, as well as Provost of Trinity College Dublin.
Early life
He was born at Black Notley in Essex, and ...
, the author of an Irish translation of the Bible, as chaplain. Wotton spent most of the next twenty years, with two breaks (1612–16 and 1619–21), at Venice. He helped the Doge
A doge ( , ; plural dogi or doges) was an elected lord and head of state in several Italian city-states, notably Venice and Genoa, during the medieval and renaissance periods. Such states are referred to as " crowned republics".
Etymology
The ...
in his resistance to ecclesiastical aggression, and was closely associated with Paolo Sarpi, whose history of the Council of Trent
The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation, it has been described a ...
was sent to King James as fast as it was written. Wotton had offended the scholar Caspar Schoppe, who had been a fellow student at Altdorf.
In 1611, Schoppe wrote a scurrilous book against James entitled ''Ecclesiasticus'', in which he fastened on Wotton a saying which he had incautiously written in friend, Christoff Fleckhammer's, album years before. It was the famous definition of an ambassador as an "honest man sent to lie abroad for the good of his country" (''Legatus est vir bonus peregre missus ad mentiendum rei publicae causa''). It should be noticed that the original 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 ...
form of the epigram did not admit to the double meaning. This was adduced as an example of the morals of James and his servants, and brought Wotton into temporary disgrace. Wotton was at the time on leave in England, and made two formal defences of himself, one a personal attack on his accuser addressed to Mark Welser
Mark Welser (1558–1614) was a German banker, politician, and astronomer, who engaged in learned correspondence with European intellectuals of his time. Of particular note is his exchange with Galileo Galilei, regarding sunspots.
Biography
We ...
of Strassburg, and the other privately to the king.
He obtained no diplomatic employment for some time, but seems to have finally won back the royal favour by his parliamentary support for James's claim to impose arbitrary taxes on merchandise. In 1614 he was elected Member of Parliament for Appleby in the Addled Parliament
The Parliament of 1614 was the second Parliament of England of the reign of James VI and I, which sat between 5 April and 7 June 1614. Lasting only two months and two days, it saw no bills pass and was not even regarded as a Parliament by its c ...
.[
He was sent to ]the Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
and, in 1616, he returned to Venice. In 1620 he was sent on a special embassy to Ferdinand II at Vienna, to do what he could on behalf of James's daughter Elizabeth of Bohemia. Wotton's devotion to this princess, expressed in his exquisite verses beginning "You meaner beauties of the night," was sincere and unchanging. At his departure, the emperor presented him with a valuable jewel, which Wotton received with due respect, but before leaving the city he gave it to his hostess, because, he said, he would accept no gifts from the enemy of the Bohemian queen.
After a third term of service in Venice he returned to London early in 1624 and in July he was installed as provost of Eton College
Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...
. This office did not resolve his financial problems, and he was on one occasion arrested for debt. In 1625 he was elected MP for Sandwich
A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...
.
In 1627, he received a pension of £200, and in 1630 this was raised to £500 on the understanding that he should write a history of England. He did not neglect the duties of his provostship, and was happy in being able to entertain his friends lavishly. His most constant associates were Izaak Walton and John Hales. A bend in the Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
below the Playing Fields, known as " Black Potts," is still pointed out as the spot where Wotton and Walton fished in company. He died at the beginning of December 1639 and was buried in the chapel of Eton College.
Works
Of 25 poems printed in ''Reliquiae Wottonianae'' 15 are Wotton's. Of those, two are well known, "O his Mistris, the Queen of Bohemia," and "The Character of a Happy Life". Another much-quoted work is his epitaph for Elizabeth Apsley, the widow of his nephew Sir Albertus Morton
Sir Albertus Morton (c. 1584 – November, 1625) was an English diplomat and Secretary of State. His widow's death, apparently from grief, is commemorated in a celebrated epigraph by his relative Sir Henry Wotton.
Life
Born about 1584, he wa ...
: "He first deceased, she for a little tried to live without him, liked it not, and died".
During his lifetime he published two works: ''The Elements of Architecture'' (1624), which is a free translation of ''de Architectura'' by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled ''De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attribute ...
, executed during his time in Venice; and a Latin prose address to the king on his return from Scotland (1633). Wotton shares authorship of the quote "Well building hath three conditions: firmness, commodity, and delight", with Vitruvius, from whose ''de Architectura'' Wotton translated the phrase; some have termed his ''Elements'' a paraphrase
A paraphrase () is a restatement of the meaning of a text or passage using other words. The term itself is derived via Latin ', . The act of paraphrasing is also called ''paraphrasis''.
History
Although paraphrases likely abounded in oral tra ...
rather than a true translation, and the quote is often attributed to Vitruvius.
In 1651 appeared the ''Reliquiae Wottonianiae'', with Izaak Walton's ''Life''.
References
Sources
*
*
Further reading
* Chaney, Edward: ''The Evolution of the Grand Tour: Anglo-Italian Cultural Relations since the Renaissance'' Routledge 2000
* Curzon, Gerald: "Wotton And His Worlds: Spying, science and Venetian Intrigues" 2004
* Smith, L.P.: ''Henry Wotton: Life and Letters'' 1907
* A.W. Ward: ''Sir Henry Wotton, a Biographical Sketch'' 1898
Wotton, Henry, ''Reliquiae Wottonianae, or, A collection of lives, letters, poems'', London (1672)
External links
*
*
(1641)
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wotton, Henry
1568 births
1639 deaths
Ambassadors of England to the Holy Roman Empire
Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford
16th-century English diplomats
16th-century English dramatists and playwrights
16th-century English poets
16th-century male writers
17th-century English diplomats
17th-century English dramatists and playwrights
17th-century English poets
17th-century male writers
People from Boughton Malherbe
Ambassadors of England to the Netherlands
Ambassadors of England to the Republic of Venice
Chief Secretaries for Ireland
English male dramatists and playwrights
English male poets
Knights Bachelor
English MPs 1614
English MPs 1625
Provosts of Eton College