Sir John Hayward (c. 1564 – 27 June 1627) was an English historian, lawyer and politician.
Sir John Hayward (c. 1564 – 27 June 1627) was an English historian, lawyer and politician.
Hayward was born at or near Felixstowe, Suffolk, where he was educated, and afterwards went to Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he was awarded BA in 1581, MA in 1584 and LLD in 1591. [1]
In 1599 he published The First Part of the Life and Raigne of King Henrie IIII - a treatise dealing with the accession of Henry IV and the deposition of Richard II - dedicated to Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex. Queen Elizabeth and her advisers disliked the tone of the book and its dedication, and the queen ordered Francis Bacon to search for passages in it that might be drawn within a case of treason being compiled against the Earl of Essex. [2] [3] Specifically, Hayward was suspected of prophesying the failure of Essex's military campaign in Ireland through a description of the ill-starred efforts of Richard II in that country. [4] On 11 July 1599, following the seizure and burning of a corrected edition of the book, Hayward was interrogated before the Star Chamber. [5] The Queen, "argued that Hayward was pretending to be the author in order to shield 'some more mischievous' person, and that he should be racked so that he might disclose the truth". [6] Bacon reported of the evidence for treason, "surely I find none, but for felony very many", referring to the fact that many of the sentences were stolen from Tacitus. The influence on Hayward of the works of Tacitus, which had only lately been published in English, marked a new departure in British historiography, whereby the character and behaviour of historical actors assumed a causal importance in the affairs of state. [5] In 1600, Essex was convicted on charges of abusing his power, and in the following year of treason, whereupon he was put to death. At both trials, Hayward's book was produced in evidence. Hayward himself was remanded to the Tower in July 1600, where he remained until after the death of Elizabeth. [1] [5]
When James I came to the English throne in 1603, Hayward courted the new king's favour by publishing two pamphlets: An Answer to the first part of a certaine conference concerning succession – an argument in favour of the divine right of kings – and A Treatise of Union of England and Scotland. In 1610 Hayward was appointed one of the historiographers of the college which James founded at Chelsea. In 1613 he published his Lives of the Three Norman Kings of England, written at the request of James's son, Prince Henry. [2] He became Chancellor of Lichfield, Staffordshire in 1615. [1] He was a supplicant for incorporation at the University of Oxford in 1616 and became an advocate of Doctors' Commons on 5 August 1616. [7] From 1616 to 1627 he was Master in Chancery. He was admitted at Gray's Inn on 1 August 1619 and was knighted on 9 November 1619. [1]
Hayward died in 1627 and was buried in parish of St Bartholomew the Great, London. [1] Among his manuscripts was found The Life and Raigne of King Edward VI , first published in 1630, and Certain Yeres of Queen Elizabeth's Raigne, the beginning of which was printed in an edition of his Edward VI, published in 1636, but which was first published in a complete form in 1840 for the Camden Society under the editorship of John Bruce, who prefixed an introduction on the life and writings of the author. His treatise on the accession of Henry IV was reprinted in 1642. His 1603 pamphlet on the Scottish succession, was reprinted in 1683 as The Right of Succession by the friends of the Duke of York during the struggle over the Exclusion Bill. [2]
Hayward was conscientious and diligent in obtaining information, and although his reasoning on questions of morality is often childish, his descriptions are generally graphic and vigorous. Notwithstanding his imprisonment under Elizabeth, his portrait of the qualities of the queen's mind and person is flattering rather than detractive. He also wrote several works of a devotional character. [2] During his confinement in the Tower, he published The Sanctuarie of a Troubled Soule (1601), which went through a dozen editions and issues. Other similar works proved equally popular, and he was acclaimed as, "a learned and godly man, being better read in theological authors than in those belonging to his own profession." [5]
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG, PC was an English nobleman and a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following a poor campaign in Ireland during the Nine Years' War in 1599. In 1601, he led an abortive coup d'état against the government of Elizabeth I and was executed for treason.
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, was an English statesman noted for his direction of the government during the Union of the Crowns, as Tudor England gave way to Stuart rule (1603). Lord Salisbury served as the Secretary of State of England (1596–1612) and Lord High Treasurer (1608–1612), succeeding his father as Queen Elizabeth I's Lord Privy Seal and remaining in power during the first nine years of King James I's reign until his own death.
Joseph Hall was an English bishop, satirist and moralist. His contemporaries knew him as a devotional writer, and a high-profile controversialist of the early 1640s. In church politics, he tended in fact to a middle way.
Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk,, of Audley End House in the parish of Saffron Walden in Essex, and of Suffolk House near Westminster, a member of the House of Howard, was the second son of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, by his second wife Margaret Audley, the daughter and eventual sole heiress of Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden, of Audley End.
Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton was an important English aristocrat and courtier. He was suspected throughout his life of being Roman Catholic, and went through periods of royal disfavour, in which his reputation suffered greatly. He was distinguished for learning, artistic culture and his public charities. He built Northumberland House in London and superintended the construction of the fine house of Audley End. He founded and planned several hospitals. Francis Bacon included three of his sayings in his Apophthegms, and chose him as "the learnedest councillor in the kingdom to present to the king his Advancement of Learning." After his death, it was discovered that he had been involved in the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury.
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Frances Seymour, Duchess of Somerset was an English noblewoman who lived during the reigns of Elizabeth I, James I, Charles I and Charles II. Her father was Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, Elizabeth I's favourite who was executed for treason in 1601. She was the second wife of William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset, and the mother of his seven children.
Richard Crakanthorpe (1567–1624) was an English Anglican priest, remembered both as a logician and as a religious controversialist.
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Roger Fenton (1565–1615) was an English clergyman, one of the translators of the Authorised King James Version.
Anthony Bacon (1558–1601) was a member of the powerful English Bacon family and was a spy during the Elizabethan era. He was Francis Bacon's elder brother.
Sir Robert Wroth was an English politician.
Sir Thomas Smythe was an English merchant, politician and colonial administrator. He was the first governor of the East India Company and treasurer of the Virginia Company from 1609 to 1620 until enveloped by scandal.
Essex's Rebellion was an unsuccessful rebellion led by Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, in 1601 against Queen Elizabeth I of England and the court faction led by Sir Robert Cecil to gain further influence at court.
Sir David Foulis was a Scottish baronet and politician.
In the history of the British monarchy, King James VI of Scotland communicated in secret with the administrators of Queen Elizabeth I of England between May 1601 and her death in March 1603. In this period it was settled that James would succeed Elizabeth, his distant relative, but this result was kept a secret in a small diplomatic community. James's accession to the thrones of England and Ireland is known as the Union of the Crowns. From 1586 onwards James also received money from Elizabeth, an annual subsidy, which forged closer links.
Sir John Scott was an English soldier and politician, and Member of Parliament (MP).
