Gerard Langbaine the elder
Encyclopedia
Gerard Langbaine, the elder (1609–1658) was an English academic and clergyman, known as a scholar, royalist, and Provost of Queen's College, Oxford during the siege of the city.
, Cumberland
. He entered Queen's College, Oxford, as 'bateller' 17 April 1625, and was elected 'in munus servientis ad mensam' 17 June 1626. He did not matriculate in the university till 21 November 1628, when he was nineteen years old. He was chosen 'taberdar' of his college 10 June 1630; graduated B.A. 24 July 1630, M.A. 1633, D.D. 1646, and was elected fellow of his college in 1633.
He was vicar of Crosthwaite
in the diocese of Carlisle
, 15 January 1643, but resided in Oxford. In 1644 he was elected Keeper of the Archives
of the university, and on 11 March 1646 was chosen Provost of Queen's College. The city of Oxford was invested at the time by the parliamentary forces, so that the ordinary form of confirmation to the provostship by the archbishop of York
was set aside, and Langbaine's election was confirmed with special permission of the king by the bishop of Oxford
, and Dr. Steward, John Fell
, and Dr. Duche (6 April 1646).
In 1642 he acted as a member of the delegacy, nicknamed by the undergraduates 'the council of war,' which provided for the safety of the city and for Sir John Byron's royalist troops while stationed there. In May 1647 he was a member of the committee to determine the attitude of the university to the threatened parliamentary visitation; he advocated resistance. In November 1647 he carried some of the university's archives to London, and sought permission for counsel to appear on the university's behalf before the London committee of visitors. His efforts produced little result, and on 6 June 1648, shortly after the parliamentary visitors had arrived in Oxford, Langbaine was summoned to appear before them; but the chief visitor, Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke
, treated him leniently, and he retained his provostship. In January 1649 permission was effectively granted to Langbaine to exercise privileges as provost of Queen's. Next month he joined a sub-delegacy which sought once again to induce the visitors to withdraw their pretensions to direct the internal affairs of the colleges, but the visitors ignored the plea, and appointed a tabarder in 1650 and a fellow in 1651 in Langbaine's college. In April 1652 the committee in London formally restored to him full control of his college. Langbaine died at Oxford 10 February 1658, and was buried in the chapel of Queen's College.
's Greek Treatise on the Sublime. In 1638 Langbaine published a translation of the history of the Council of Trent
by Guillaume Ranchin, and dedicated it to Christopher Potter
.
Langbaine associated with leading scholars of his time. Ben Jonson
gave him a copy of Vossius's Greek Historians, which he annotated and ultimately presented to Ralph Bathurst
. He corresponded with John Selden
. When James Ussher
died in 1656 he left his collections for his Chronologia Sacra to Langbaine, to see them into print. Langbaine left the work to be completed by his friend Thomas Barlow
, who succeeded him as provost.
Langbaine left twenty-one volumes of collections of notes in manuscript to the Bodleian Library. Some additional volumes were presented by Wood. A detailed description appears in Edward Bernard
's Catalogus. According to Anthony Wood
, Langbaine worked on catalogues of manuscripts and books in various libraries. In the case of the Bodleian, surviving notes show that Langbaine led a group of two dozen Oxford men who at least planned to divide the library's contents by topic and survey its contents; the interest now in this effort is that the list overlaps strongly with the 'Oxford Club' around John Wilkins
at Wadham College, one of the main components which would come to form the Royal Society
,
John Fell printed from Langbaine's notes Platonicorum aliquot qui etiam num supersunt, Authorum Graecorum, imprimis, mox et Latinorum syllabus Alphabeticus, and appended it to his Alcinoi in Platonieam Philosophiam Introductio. This later became a standard Oxford textbook on Aristotelian philosophy. In 1721 John Hudson edited a new edition.
In 1651 Langbaine published The Foundation of the University of Oxford, with a Catalogue of the principal Founders and special Benefactors of all the Colleges, and total number of Students, and a similar work relating to Cambridge. Both were based on Scot's Tables of Oxford and Cambridge (1622). Thomas Fuller
's statement that Langbaine planned a continuation of Brian Twyne
's Apologia Antiq. Acad. Oxon. is denied by Wood on the testimony of his friends Barlow and Lamplugh. In 1654 he energetically pressed on convocation the desirability of reviving the study of civil law
at Oxford. He had helped in the preparation of Arthur Duck
's posthumous work of Roman law.
and Richard Zouch
to draw up Reasons of the Present Judgment of the University concerning the Solemn League and Covenant (1647), and translated the work into Latin (1648). He was the author, according to Gough, of The Privileges of the University of Oxford in Point of Visitation, clearly evidenced by Letter to an Honourable Personage: together with the Universities' Answer to the Summons of the Visitors, 1647,
Langbaine took a prominent part in a quarrel between the town and university in 1648. The citizens petitioned for the abolition of their annual oath to the university and for their relief from other disabilities. The official Answer of the Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars ... to the Petition, Articles of Grievance, and reasons for the City of Oxon, presented to the Committee for regulating the University, 24 July 1649, Oxford, 1649, is assigned to Langbaine. It was reprinted in 1678 and also in James Harrington
's Defence of the Rights of the University, Oxford, 1690.
.
Life
He was the son of William Langbaine, born at Barton, Westmoreland, and was educated at the free school at BlencowBlencow
Blencow or Blencowe is a small village near Penrith, Cumbria. It is divided by the River Petteril into Great Blencow to the south and Little Blencow to the north...
, Cumberland
Cumberland
Cumberland is a historic county of North West England, on the border with Scotland, from the 12th century until 1974. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria....
. He entered Queen's College, Oxford, as 'bateller' 17 April 1625, and was elected 'in munus servientis ad mensam' 17 June 1626. He did not matriculate in the university till 21 November 1628, when he was nineteen years old. He was chosen 'taberdar' of his college 10 June 1630; graduated B.A. 24 July 1630, M.A. 1633, D.D. 1646, and was elected fellow of his college in 1633.
He was vicar of Crosthwaite
Crosthwaite
Crosthwaite is a small village located in the Parish of Crosthwaite and Lyth, Cumbria, UK.-Village Hall:The Argles Memorial Halll was built in 1931 on land donated from the local landowners...
in the diocese of Carlisle
Diocese of Carlisle
The Diocese of Carlisle was created in 1133 by Henry I out of part of the Diocese of Durham, although many people of Celtic descent in the area looked to Glasgow for spiritual leadership. The first bishop was Æthelwold, formerly the king's confessor and now prior of the Augustinian priory at...
, 15 January 1643, but resided in Oxford. In 1644 he was elected Keeper of the Archives
Keeper of the Archives
The position of Keeper of the Archives at the University of Oxford in England dates from 1634, when it was established by new statutes for the university brought in by William Laud...
of the university, and on 11 March 1646 was chosen Provost of Queen's College. The city of Oxford was invested at the time by the parliamentary forces, so that the ordinary form of confirmation to the provostship by the archbishop of York
Archbishop of York
The Archbishop of York is a high-ranking cleric in the Church of England, second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and metropolitan of the Province of York, which covers the northern portion of England as well as the Isle of Man...
was set aside, and Langbaine's election was confirmed with special permission of the king by the bishop of Oxford
Bishop of Oxford
The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford...
, and Dr. Steward, John Fell
John Fell (clergyman)
John Fell was an English churchman and influential academic. He served as Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, and later concomitantly as Bishop of Oxford.-Education:...
, and Dr. Duche (6 April 1646).
In 1642 he acted as a member of the delegacy, nicknamed by the undergraduates 'the council of war,' which provided for the safety of the city and for Sir John Byron's royalist troops while stationed there. In May 1647 he was a member of the committee to determine the attitude of the university to the threatened parliamentary visitation; he advocated resistance. In November 1647 he carried some of the university's archives to London, and sought permission for counsel to appear on the university's behalf before the London committee of visitors. His efforts produced little result, and on 6 June 1648, shortly after the parliamentary visitors had arrived in Oxford, Langbaine was summoned to appear before them; but the chief visitor, Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke
Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke
Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke and 1st Earl of Montgomery KG was an English courtier and politician active during the reigns of James I and Charles I...
, treated him leniently, and he retained his provostship. In January 1649 permission was effectively granted to Langbaine to exercise privileges as provost of Queen's. Next month he joined a sub-delegacy which sought once again to induce the visitors to withdraw their pretensions to direct the internal affairs of the colleges, but the visitors ignored the plea, and appointed a tabarder in 1650 and a fellow in 1651 in Langbaine's college. In April 1652 the committee in London formally restored to him full control of his college. Langbaine died at Oxford 10 February 1658, and was buried in the chapel of Queen's College.
Scholar
In 1635 he contributed to the volume of Latin verses commemorating the death of Sir Rowland Cotton of Bellaport, Shropshire. In 1636 he edited, with a Latin translation and Latin notes, LonginusLonginus
- People :* Gaius Cassius Longinus , usually known as Cassius, one of the assassins of Julius Caesar* Saint Longinus, name ascribed to the Roman soldier who pierced the side of Jesus Christ on the cross...
's Greek Treatise on the Sublime. In 1638 Langbaine published a translation of the history of the Council of Trent
Council of Trent
The Council of Trent was the 16th-century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It is considered to be one of the Church's most important councils. It convened in Trent between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods...
by Guillaume Ranchin, and dedicated it to Christopher Potter
Christopher Potter
Christopher Potter was an English academic and clergyman, Provost of The Queen's College, Oxford, controversialist and prominent supporter of William Laud.-Life:...
.
Langbaine associated with leading scholars of his time. Ben Jonson
Ben Jonson
Benjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
gave him a copy of Vossius's Greek Historians, which he annotated and ultimately presented to Ralph Bathurst
Ralph Bathurst
Ralph Bathurst was an English theologian and physician.-Early life:He was born in Hothorpe, Northamptonshire in 1620 and educated at King Henry VIII School, Coventry.He graduated with a B.A...
. He corresponded with John Selden
John Selden
John Selden was an English jurist and a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish law...
. When James Ussher
James Ussher
James Ussher was Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625–56...
died in 1656 he left his collections for his Chronologia Sacra to Langbaine, to see them into print. Langbaine left the work to be completed by his friend Thomas Barlow
Thomas Barlow (bishop)
Thomas Barlow was an English academic and clergyman, who became Provost of The Queen's College, Oxford and Bishop of Lincoln. He was considered, in his own times and by Edmund Venables writing in the Dictionary of National Biography, to have been a trimmer, a reputation mixed in with his academic...
, who succeeded him as provost.
Langbaine left twenty-one volumes of collections of notes in manuscript to the Bodleian Library. Some additional volumes were presented by Wood. A detailed description appears in Edward Bernard
Edward Bernard
Edward Bernard was an English scholar and Savilian professor of astronomy at the University of Oxford, from 1673 to 1691.-Life:He was born at Paulerspury, Northamptonshire. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School and St John's College, Oxford, where he was a scholar in 1655; he became a Fellow...
's Catalogus. According to Anthony Wood
Anthony Wood
Anthony Wood or Anthony à Wood was an English antiquary.-Early life:Anthony Wood was the fourth son of Thomas Wood , BCL of Oxford, where Anthony was born...
, Langbaine worked on catalogues of manuscripts and books in various libraries. In the case of the Bodleian, surviving notes show that Langbaine led a group of two dozen Oxford men who at least planned to divide the library's contents by topic and survey its contents; the interest now in this effort is that the list overlaps strongly with the 'Oxford Club' around John Wilkins
John Wilkins
John Wilkins FRS was an English clergyman, natural philosopher and author, as well as a founder of the Invisible College and one of the founders of the Royal Society, and Bishop of Chester from 1668 until his death....
at Wadham College, one of the main components which would come to form the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
,
John Fell printed from Langbaine's notes Platonicorum aliquot qui etiam num supersunt, Authorum Graecorum, imprimis, mox et Latinorum syllabus Alphabeticus, and appended it to his Alcinoi in Platonieam Philosophiam Introductio. This later became a standard Oxford textbook on Aristotelian philosophy. In 1721 John Hudson edited a new edition.
In 1651 Langbaine published The Foundation of the University of Oxford, with a Catalogue of the principal Founders and special Benefactors of all the Colleges, and total number of Students, and a similar work relating to Cambridge. Both were based on Scot's Tables of Oxford and Cambridge (1622). Thomas Fuller
Thomas Fuller
Thomas Fuller was an English churchman and historian. He is now remembered for his writings, particularly his Worthies of England, published after his death...
's statement that Langbaine planned a continuation of Brian Twyne
Brian Twyne
Brian Twyne was an antiquarian and an academic at the University of Oxford. After being educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and becoming a Fellow of the college in 1606, he published his one main work, a history of the university, in 1608...
's Apologia Antiq. Acad. Oxon. is denied by Wood on the testimony of his friends Barlow and Lamplugh. In 1654 he energetically pressed on convocation the desirability of reviving the study of civil law
Civil law (legal system)
Civil law is a legal system inspired by Roman law and whose primary feature is that laws are codified into collections, as compared to common law systems that gives great precedential weight to common law on the principle that it is unfair to treat similar facts differently on different...
at Oxford. He had helped in the preparation of Arthur Duck
Arthur Duck
Arthur Duck, LL.D., was an English lawyer and Member of Parliament.-Life:Born at Heavitree in Devon in 1580, the younger son of Richard Duck of Heavitree, by his wife, Joanna, and younger brother of Nicholas Duck, he was educated at Exeter College and Hart Hall, Oxford , and elected a fellow of...
's posthumous work of Roman law.
Political writings
He is credited with the authorship of Episcopal Inheritance ... or a Reply to the Examination of the Answers to nine reasons of the House of Commons against the Votes of Bishops in Parliament, Oxford, 1641, and of A Review of the Covenant, wherein the originall grounds, means, matters, and ends of it are examined ... and disproved [Bristol], 1644. The latter is a searching examination of the Covenanters' arguments. With a view to strengthening the position of his friends, he also reprinted in 1641 a work of Sir John Cheke. He also helped Robert SandersonRobert Sanderson
Robert Sanderson was an English theologian and casuist.He was born in Sheffield in Yorkshire and grew up at Gilthwaite Hall, near Rotherham. He was educated at Lincoln College, Oxford. Entering the Church, he rose to be Bishop of Lincoln.His work on logic, Logicae Artis Compendium , was long a...
and Richard Zouch
Richard Zouch
Richard Zouch also Richard Zouche was an English jurist.-Life:He was born at Ansty, Wiltshire, son of Francis Zouche. His mother is said to have been Philippa, sixth daughter of George Ludlow of Hill Deverel, Wiltshire. He was educated at Winchester and afterwards at New College, Oxford, where he...
to draw up Reasons of the Present Judgment of the University concerning the Solemn League and Covenant (1647), and translated the work into Latin (1648). He was the author, according to Gough, of The Privileges of the University of Oxford in Point of Visitation, clearly evidenced by Letter to an Honourable Personage: together with the Universities' Answer to the Summons of the Visitors, 1647,
Langbaine took a prominent part in a quarrel between the town and university in 1648. The citizens petitioned for the abolition of their annual oath to the university and for their relief from other disabilities. The official Answer of the Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars ... to the Petition, Articles of Grievance, and reasons for the City of Oxon, presented to the Committee for regulating the University, 24 July 1649, Oxford, 1649, is assigned to Langbaine. It was reprinted in 1678 and also in James Harrington
James Harrington
James Harrington was an English political theorist of classical republicanism, best known for his controversial work, The Commonwealth of Oceana .-Early life:...
's Defence of the Rights of the University, Oxford, 1690.
Family
Langbaine married Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Charles Sunnybank,, canon of Windsor, and widow of Christopher Potter,, his predecessor in the provostship of Queen's College. By her, he had at least three children including the younger Gerard LangbaineGerard Langbaine
Gerard Langbaine was an English dramatic biographer and critic, best known for his An Account of the English Dramatic Poets , the earliest work to give biographical and critical information on the playwrights of English Renaissance theatre...
.