William Barker ( fl. 1572) was an English translator.

Life

Barker was born before 1522 and educated in the University of Cambridge at the cost of

Queen Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key f ...

, the second wife of

Henry VIII of England 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 ...

. He appears to have commenced M.A. in 1540 and to have been a member either of Christ's College or of St. John's College. After some years spent travelling in Italy, he published ''Epitaphia et inscriptiones lugubres''. He then served as one of the members for Great Yarmouth in the parliaments which met in January 1557/8, January 1558/9, and April 1571 and was M.P. for Bramber in 1562/3. He was one of the

Duke of Norfolk Duke of Norfolk is a title in the peerage of England. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the title refers to the county of Norfolk. The current duke is Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk. The dukes ...

's secretaries, and was deeply implicated in that nobleman's plots. About 4 September 1571, as a result of the discovery of the

Ridolfi Plot The Ridolfi plot was a Roman Catholic plot in 1571 to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I of England and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots. The plot was hatched and planned by Roberto Ridolfi, an international banker who was able to travel betwee ...

, he was committed to the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

. At first he denied what was imputed to him, but he was soon induced by fear of

the rack The rack is a torture device consisting of a rectangular, usually wooden frame, slightly raised from the ground, with a roller at one or both ends. The victim's ankles are fastened to one roller and the wrists are chained to the other. As the in ...

to make confessions which seriously involved the duke, who, however, denied many of his statements and contemptuously styled him an Italianified Englishman. Barker spent two years in the Tower and then retreated into obscurity and he was last heard of in 1576.

Works

Barker was probably the author of the following works: *''Epitaphia et inscriptiones lugubres, cum in Italia animi causa peregrinatur, collecta'', Lond. 1554, 1566, 4to. *'' St. Basil the Great, his Exhortation to his kinsmen to the studie of the Scriptures'' translated, Lond. 1557, 8vo. *''The viii bookes of

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; grc, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Greek mercenary armies o ...

, containing the institution, schole, and education of

Cyrus Cyrus ( Persian: کوروش) is a male given name. It is the given name of a number of Persian kings. Most notably it refers to Cyrus the Great ( BC). Cyrus is also the name of Cyrus I of Anshan ( BC), King of Persia and the grandfather of Cyrus ...

, the noble king of Persye: also his civil and principal estate, his expedition into Babilon, Syria, and Egypt, and his exhortation before his death to his children. Translated out of Greek into English'', Lond. 1567, 8vo. Another edition containing only six books was printed by R. Wolfe, Lond. n.d. Dedicated to William, earl of Pembroke. *''The Fearfull Fancies of the Florentine Cooper. Written in Tuscane by John Baptist Gelli, one of the free studie of Florence. And for recreation translated into English'', Lond. 1568, 1599, 8vo. * ''The Nobility of Women''

References

External links

Querelle , William Bercher
Querelle.ca is a website devoted to the works of authors contributing to the pro-woman side of the ''querelle des femmes''. Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 16th-century births 16th-century English translators Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Prisoners in the Tower of London English MPs 1558 English MPs 1559 English MPs 1563–1567 English MPs 1571 {{1563-England-MP-stub