Thomas Starkey (c. 1498–1538) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

political theorist,

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...

, and royal servant.

Life

Starkey was born in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, probably at

Wrenbury Wrenbury-cum-Frith is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies on the River Weaver, around 8.5 miles south-west of Crewe. The civil parish of Wrenbury cum Frit ...

, to Thomas Starkey and Maud Mainwaring. His father likely held office in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and was wealthy enough to pay for his son's education. His mother, Maud, was a daughter of Sir John Mainwaring, one of the wealthiest men in the palatinate. He attended the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

and gained an MA at

Magdalen College Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the st ...

in 1521. He went to

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

with

Thomas Lupset Thomas Lupset (c.1495–1530) was an English churchman and humanist scholar. Life He studied in London's St Paul's Cathedral School, and at a young age entered the household of John Colet. He learned classics from William Lilye, and then went to ...

in 1523. Here he studied the works of

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

and admired the government of

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

. By 1529 he had entered the service of

Reginald Pole Reginald Pole (12 March 1500 – 17 November 1558) was an English cardinal of the Catholic Church and the last Catholic archbishop of Canterbury, holding the office from 1556 to 1558, during the Counter-Reformation. Early life Pole was born a ...

as secretary. Together with Pole, Starkey went to

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...

in 1532 where he studied civil law, before returning to Padua. Starkey returned to England in late 1534 and caught the eye of

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charge ...

, chief minister to Henry VIII, in early 1535. Cromwell used Starkey to handle intelligence from Italy and as a royal propagandist. His deep ties to

proved somewhat detrimental to his career, especially after a manuscript of Pole's ''De unitate'', a savage attack on

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

, arrived in England in 1536. These same ties to Pole and his family made him a subject of investigation in the 1538

Exeter Conspiracy The Exeter Conspiracy in 1538 was a supposed attempt to overthrow Henry VIII, who had taken control of the Church of England away from the Pope, and replace him with Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter, who was a first cousin of the King. Co ...

. He died on 25 August 1538, perhaps of plague.

Works

Between 1529 and 1532 Starkey wrote his ''A Dialogue between Pole and Lupset'', later known as ''Starkey's England''. Cast as a dialogue between

and

, the ''Dialogue'' is one of the most significant works of political thought written in English in the first half of the sixteenth century. In 1536 he published ''An Exhortation to the People instructing them to Unity and Obedience'', a defence of

Royal Supremacy The Acts of Supremacy are two acts passed by the Parliament of England in the 16th century that established the English monarchs as the head of the Church of England; two similar laws were passed by the Parliament of Ireland establishing the Eng ...

and commissioned by

References

*Kathleen M. Burton (editor) (1948), ''A Dialogue Between Reginald Pole and Thomas Lupset'' *Arthur Kinney, ''Tudor England: An Encyclopedia'' (Garland Science, 2000) *Thomas F. Mayer, ''Faction and Ideology: Thomas Starkey's Dialogue'' Historical Journal, Vol. 28, No. 1 (Mar., 1985), pp. 1–25 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Starkey, Thomas 1490s births 1538 deaths English Renaissance humanists Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford English religious writers 16th-century English theologians 16th-century English writers 16th-century male writers