Richard Brett
Encyclopedia
Richard Brett was an English
clergyman and academic. During the translation of the King James Version of the Bible
, Brett served in the "First Oxford Company", responsible for the later books of the Old Testament
, Brett attended Hart Hall, Oxford
where he entered as a commoner in 1582. He was appointed Rector of Quainton
, Buckinghamshire
, in 1595. That same year, he was granted a Fellowship in Lincoln College
under Richard Kilby
, where he pursued his study of Latin
, Greek
, Aramaic
, Arabic
, Hebrew
, and Ge'ez
(Ethiopic) tongues. In 1597 he was admitted bachelor of divinity
, and he proceeded in divinity in 1605.
He died in Quainton
on 5 April 1637, aged 70, and is buried in the chancel of Quainton Church, which he served for 43 years. Over his grave a monument with his effigies and a Latin and English epitaph was erected by his widow. By his wife Alice, daughter of Richard Brown, sometime mayor of Oxford, he left four daughters, of whom Margaret married Calybute Downing
in 1627.
Attribution
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
clergyman and academic. During the translation of the King James Version of the Bible
King James Version of the Bible
The Authorized Version, commonly known as the King James Version, King James Bible or KJV, is an English translation of the Christian Bible by the Church of England begun in 1604 and completed in 1611...
, Brett served in the "First Oxford Company", responsible for the later books of the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
Life
Born into the gentry in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Brett attended Hart Hall, Oxford
Hertford College, Oxford
Hertford College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is located in Catte Street, directly opposite the main entrance of the original Bodleian Library. As of 2006, the college had a financial endowment of £52m. There are 612 students , plus various visiting...
where he entered as a commoner in 1582. He was appointed Rector of Quainton
Quainton
Quainton is a village and civil parish in Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England, north west of Aylesbury. The population is 1290, of which 1000 are adults. The village has two churches , a school and two public houses...
, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, in 1595. That same year, he was granted a Fellowship in Lincoln College
Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is situated on Turl Street in central Oxford, backing onto Brasenose College and adjacent to Exeter College...
under Richard Kilby
Richard Kilby
-Life:He was born in Ratcliffe-on-the-Wreake, Leicestershire. He matriculated at Lincoln College, Oxford on 20 December 1577, and was elected fellow on 18 January 1578. He was admitted B.A. on 9 December 1578, M.A. in 1582, B.D. and D.D. in 1596. On 10 December 1590 he was elected rector of Lincoln...
, where he pursued his study of Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, Aramaic
Aramaic language
Aramaic is a group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic language phylum. The name of the language is based on the name of Aram, an ancient region in central Syria. Within this family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic family, and more specifically, is a part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily,...
, Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, Hebrew
Biblical Hebrew language
Biblical Hebrew , also called Classical Hebrew , is the archaic form of the Hebrew language, a Canaanite Semitic language spoken in the area known as Canaan between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Biblical Hebrew is attested from about the 10th century BCE, and persisted through...
, and Ge'ez
Ge'ez language
Ge'ez is an ancient South Semitic language that developed in the northern region of Ethiopia and southern Eritrea in the Horn of Africa...
(Ethiopic) tongues. In 1597 he was admitted bachelor of divinity
Bachelor of Divinity
In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies....
, and he proceeded in divinity in 1605.
He died in Quainton
Quainton
Quainton is a village and civil parish in Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England, north west of Aylesbury. The population is 1290, of which 1000 are adults. The village has two churches , a school and two public houses...
on 5 April 1637, aged 70, and is buried in the chancel of Quainton Church, which he served for 43 years. Over his grave a monument with his effigies and a Latin and English epitaph was erected by his widow. By his wife Alice, daughter of Richard Brown, sometime mayor of Oxford, he left four daughters, of whom Margaret married Calybute Downing
Calybute Downing
Calybute Downing was an English clergyman, a member of the Westminster Assembly. Also a civil lawyer, he is now remembered for political views, which moved from an absolutist position in the 1630s to a justification of resistance to authority by 1640, within a contractarian setting.-Life:He was...
in 1627.
Works
His scholarly publications were in Latin:- Two translations from Greek into Latin: Vitæ sanctorum Evangelistarum Johannis et Lucæ à Simeone Metaphraste concinnatæ, Oxford, 1597, and Agatharchidis et Memnonis historicorum quæ supersunt omnia,Oxford, 1597.
- Iconum sacrarum Decas in quâ è subjectis typis compluscula sanæ doctrinæ capita eruuntur, 1603.
Further reading
- Stanley M. Burstein, "Richard Brett," in volume 1 of Dictionary of British Classicists, ed. Robert Todd et al. (Bristol: Thoemmes, 2004), pp. 104–05.
Attribution