John Bellenden or Ballantyne ( 1533–1587?) of

Moray Moray () gd, Moireibh or ') is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Between 1975 ...

(why Moray, a lowland family) was a Scottish writer of the 16th century.

Life

Title page of John Bellenden Croniklis (1540)

He was born towards the close of the 15th century, and educated at St. Andrews and Paris. At the request of

James V James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV and Margaret Tudor, and duri ...

he translated

Hector Boece 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 in Aberdeen, a predecessor of the University of Abe ...

's ''Historia Gentis Scotorum''. This translation, ''Croniklis of Scotland'' is a very free one, with a good deal of matter not in the original, so that it may be almost considered as a new work. It was published in 1536 in Edinburgh by Thomas Davidson. In 1533, Bellenden also translated the first five books of Livy's ''History of Rome''. These remain the earliest existing specimena of Scottish literary prose, and remarkable specimena they are, for the execution of which he enjoyed the Royal favour, and was made

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

. Both the ''Croniklis'' and the ''Livy'' are prefaced by poems, the Proheme of the Chronicles, 'Quehen Silver Diane', being more often anthologised. Another work, the ''Banner of Piety'', was prefaced by the poem 'Quhen goldin Phebus.' Bellenden latterly became involved in controversy which led to his being exiled to Rome, where he died, according to one account, about 1550. Another authority, however, states that he was still living in 1587.

Family connections

John was the son of Patrick Bellenden of Auchnoule or Auchnolyshill (died 1514) and Mariota Douglas. Mariota was the nurse of James V. John's sister

Katherine Bellenden Katherine Bellenden (1497 – c. 1568) was a courtier working in the wardrobe of James V of Scotland. Her niece of the same name was similarly employed. A family at court Katherine was the daughter of Patrick Bellenden a servant of Margaret Tu ...

was a courtier, connected with the royal wardrobe and worked with Janet Douglas, who was the wife of

David Lyndsay Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount (c. 1490 – c. 1555; ''alias'' Lindsay) was a Scottish herald who gained the highest heraldic office of Lyon King of Arms. He remains a well regarded poet whose works reflect the spirit of the Renaissance, spec ...

of the Mount, the diplomat, poet, and playwright. Katherine Bellenden was married to Adam Hopper, then

Francis Bothwell Francis Bothwell of Edinburgh, Lord of Session, was a Scottish merchant, landowner, judge and politician. As a university graduate, he was called ''Master Francis Bothwell'', or "Dominus" in Latin documents; however, this has been misunderstood ...

, and thirdly to the royal favorite

Oliver Sinclair Sir Oliver Sinclair of Pitcairnis (died 1576?) was a favourite courtier of James V of Scotland. A contemporary story tells that James V gave him the battle standard and command at the Battle of Solway Moss. Another story tells how at the end of h ...

. John's older brother

Thomas Bellenden of Auchnoule Thomas Bellenden or Bannatyne of Auchnoule (c. 1485 – c. 1547), courtier of James V of Scotland, Judge from 1535, Director of Chancery from 1538, Lord Justice Clerk from 1539, member of the royal council, ambassador to England, and Protestant sy ...

was a prominent lawyer and courtier.

Post-mortem citations

Alan Balatine is a supposed historian mentioned by

Edward Hall Edward Hall ( – ) was an English lawyer and historian, best known for his ''The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancastre and Yorke''—commonly known as ''Hall's Chronicle''—first published in 1548. He was also sever ...

in the list of the English writers from whose works he compiled his ''

Chronicle A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...

.'' The ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' makes it clear that this person is very likely a misnomer for Bellenden, rather than a separate individual.

References

; Attribution *

Editions

* John Bellenden's translation of Boece'
''History of Scotland'', vol.1, Tait, Edinburgh (1821)
an
volume 2, (1821)

Sources

* * * see also