Robert Curzon, 14th Baron Zouche (16 March 1810 – 2 August 1873), styled The Honourable Robert Curzon between 1829 and 1870, was an English traveller, diplomat and author, active in the
Near East. He was responsible for acquiring several important and late
Biblical manuscripts
A biblical manuscript is any handwritten copy of a portion of the text of the Bible. Biblical manuscripts vary in size from tiny scrolls containing individual verses of the Jewish scriptures (see ''Tefillin'') to huge polyglot codices (multi-ling ...
from
Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...
monasteries
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
.
Early life
Curzon was the son of the
Hon. Robert Curzon, younger son of
Assheton Curzon, 1st Viscount Curzon
Assheton Curzon, 1st Viscount Curzon (2 February 1730 – 21 March 1820), styled Lord Curzon between 1794 and 1802, was a British Tory politician.
Background and education
Curzon was the second son of Sir Nathaniel Curzon, 4th Baronet of Kedle ...
, and his wife
Harriet Anne Bishopp, 13th Baroness Zouche (Bishopp also spelled Bisshopp). Baroness Zouche succeeded to the Barony from her father
Sir Cecil Bisshopp the 8th Baronet Bishopp, of
Parham Park
Parham Park is an Elizabethan house and estate in the civil parish of Parham, west of the village of Cootham, and between Storrington and Pulborough, West Sussex, South East England. The estate was originally owned by the Monastery of West ...
in the county of (today)
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...
(from 1815 the
12th Baron Zouche of Hayngworth) after her brother
Lieutenant-Colonel Cecil Bisshopp and Sir Cecil's heir was killed in the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...
against the Americans. The
Bishopp Baronetcy was inherited by a cousin. Curzon was educated at
Charterhouse
Charterhouse may refer to:
* Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order
Charterhouse may also refer to:
Places
* The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery
* Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey
Londo ...
and
Christ Church, Oxford.
Career
In 1831, he succeeded his father as
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 o ...
for
Clitheroe
Clitheroe () is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists visiting the area. In 2018, the Cl ...
, a seat he only held until the following year. In his ''Visits to Monasteries in the Levant'' (1849), he described and justified his takings. He visited
Mount Athos in 1837, and at the Monastery of St Paul, he recounts how the abbot said "We make no use of the old books, and should be glad if you would accept one,'"upon which he took two, including a fourteenth-century illuminated Bulgarian gospel, now in the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
.
In 1842-1843 Curzon was joint British Commissioner in
Erzurum
Erzurum (; ) is a city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010.
The city uses the double-headed eagle as ...
as part of the British-Turkish-Persian-Russian boundary commission sitting to delineate the Turkish and Persian frontier.
Lord Zouche succeeded his mother in
the barony in 1870. He died in August 1873, aged 63, and was succeeded in the title firstly by his son Robert Nathaniel Cecil George Curzon the 15th Baron (born 12 Jul 1851, died 31 Jul 1915) and then by his daughter Darea Curzon, 16th Baroness Zouche (born 13 Nov 1860, died 7 Apr 1917).
[Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 3, page 4291.]
In 1834, he brought some manuscripts from
Palestine (including the Greek
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...
codices
548
Year 548 (Roman numerals, DXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 548 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calend ...
,
552-
554
__NOTOC__
Year 554 ( DLIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 554 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...
) and in 1837 from the
Athos
Athos may refer to:
Fictional or mythical characters
* Athos (character), one of the title characters in the novel ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844) by Alexandre Dumas père
* Athos (mythology), one of the Gigantes in Greek mythology
* Athos Fadiga ...
peninsula, among them the important Bulgarian
Gospels of Tsar Ivan Alexander
The Gospels of Tsar Ivan Alexander, Tetraevangelia of Ivan Alexander, or Four Gospels of Ivan Alexander ( bg, Четвероевангелие на (цар) Иван Александър, transliterated as ''Chetveroevangelie na (tsar) Ivan Aleks ...
and the gospel codices
547
__NOTOC__
Year 547 ( DXLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 547 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar er ...
,
549
__NOTOC__
Year 549 (Roman numerals, DXLIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 549 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domi ...
-
551
__NOTOC__
Year 551 ( DLI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 551 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era beca ...
,
910
Year 910 ( CMX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
__NOTOC__ Events By place Europe
* June 12 – Battle of Augsburg: The Hungarians defeat the East Frankish army under ...
-
911
911 or 9/11 may refer to:
Dates
* AD 911
* 911 BC
* September 11
** 9/11, the September 11 attacks of 2001
** 11 de Septiembre, Chilean coup d'état in 1973 that outed the democratically elected Salvador Allende
* November 9
Numbers
* 91 ...
). After his death they were first loaned to the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
, then donated by his daughter. They have since been transferred to the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
.
Works
*
*
See also
*
Obituary in ''The Times''
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zouche, Robert Curzon, 14th Baron
1810 births
1873 deaths
19th-century English nobility
People educated at Charterhouse School
Barons Zouche
Curzon, Robert
Curzon, Robert
UK MPs who inherited peerages