Thomas Dempster
Encyclopedia
Thomas Dempster was a Scottish
scholar and historian
. Born into the aristocracy in Aberdeenshire
, which comprises regions of both the Scottish highlands
and the Scottish lowlands
, he was sent abroad as a youth for his education. The Dempsters were Catholic in an increasingly Protestant country and had a reputation for being quarrelsome. Thomas' brother James, outlawed for an attack on his father, spent some years as a pirate in the northern islands, escaped by volunteering for military service in the Low Countries
and was drawn and quartered there for insubordination. Thomas' father lost the family fortune in clan feuding and was beheaded for forgery.
For these and political and religious reasons in these often violent Elizabethan times Thomas was unable to come home except for visits. Of uncommon and impressive height and intellectual ability he became an itinerant professor in France and Italy, driven from place to place by a series of colourful personal incidents in which he fought duels or opposed officers of the law. He eventually found refuge and patronage under Grand Duke Cosimo II of Etruria
, who commissioned a work on the Etruscans. Three years later Thomas handed the duke a magnum opus, the manuscript of De Etruria Regali Libri Septem, "Seven Books about Royal Etruria", in the Latin language, the first detailed study of every aspect of Etruscan civilization
, considered a brilliant work. In 1723 Thomas Coke finally undertook to publish an enhanced edition of it. The original manuscript remains in Coke's library at Holkham.
), to the sister of the Baron of Balquhain, according to him in his autobiography, and Thomas Dempster Laird of Muiresk, Auchterless
and Killesmont, sheriff (until 1586) of Banff
and Buchan
. A Laird
had the rank of Baron
. As the Baron of Balquhain was a member of Clan Leslie
, a lowland clan (as was Clan Dempster), Thomas' mother is identified with Jean Leslie. A land charter from the king of Scotland in 1592 defines or redefines the lands to be owned by Thomas and his wife Jeanne Leslie (Jean elsewhere in the charters) and inherited by his heirs Robert (2nd son), Thomas (3rd son), and George, who are called "legitimate offspring", and also John, Archibald and Charles Dempster. Girls could not inherit, so they are not listed. The oldest son, James, is missing from the record.
By birth Jeanne was connected to Clan Forbes
. The marriage seems to have taken place a few years before Clan Leslie
joined with Clan Gordon
in their feud against Clan Forbes
. The Leslie's were supporters of Mary, Queen of Scots, Catholic pretender to the throne of England, who was imprisoned (and eventually executed) by Queen Elizabeth I and her son, the future James I of England
, taken away to be raised protestant. These events may or may not have something to do with the later accusations that Thomas was an intelligencer for James I.
A permanent tutor was hired for Thomas: Andrew Ogston. Thomas reported that under Andrew he learned the alphabet in a single hour at age three. He may have been older; in any case, Andrew recognized talent in his pupil. He sent him to Grammar School briefly in Aberdeen
, and in 1588, the year the Spanish Armada
was defeated, at the age of ten (or 14) Thomas left home to enter Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, an Anglican institution.
The elder Dempster continued to make decisions that were the ruin of the family. Clan feuding was an expensive activity from which every clan suffered. The elder Thomas had already lost much of his estate to pay for feuds with Clan Currer and Clan Grant
. He decided now to sell the estate at Muiresk to the Earl of Erroll
to prevent his eldest son from ever inheriting it. The earl took advantage of some fine print in the law, now obscure, to evade payment.
According to the structure of the university at the time, Thomas would have entered the Scots College
there; the fact that the subscription was of Scottish officers indicates that that is the most likely possibility. If true, it shows that Brus' motivations were not entirely altruistic. The Scots Colleges abroad were being used as training and staging areas for Scottish priests intended to enter Scotland in the wake of the invading army and play the most significant role in its reconversion. The failure of the invasion left them in place (without much work to do other than intelligence and conspiracy).
Thomas became deathly ill with "the plague" and on recovering was sent by someone in charge of his destiny to the University of Louvain
in the Southern Netherlands
(now Belgium), to study under Justus Lipsius
. Thomas himself gives that as a reason, but otherwise does not have a clear explanation for the change, stating only that Belgium was a "safe refuge". Instead he was diverted from this plan by William Crichton, Jesuit, then Superior of the Scots College, Douai, which is a good indication that forces unknown to young Thomas were at work in his life. He did not matriculate at Louvain.
The University of Douai
was founded by Philip II of Spain
as part of his military build-up against England and was at first identical to the English College
there. This college was a refuge and rallying point for English Catholics fleeing the re-establishment of Protestantism after the death of Mary I
and the accession of Elizabeth I
. Mary had won for herself the popular title "Bloody Mary" for her methods in attempting to reimpose Catholicism on England. Philip II, who had been married to Mary 1554-1558, used the seminarians from Douai openly as agents. They were often in England illegally to establish contacts and maintain a bridgehead, so to speak, for reconversion.
The mastermind in the strategy to reconquer Great Britain for Catholicism and Spain was that of Philip II. He was supported in this effort by a long series of short-term popes (some very short-term), such as Innocent IX (1591), Gregory XIV (1590–1591), etc., who basically followed his strategy. Clement VIII (1592–1605), Cardinal Aldobrandini since 1585, changed the policy and stood against Philip, after his military defeat by the English.
In the latter part of the 16th century, deeming that the reconversion structure needed strengthening, the popes established a number of Scots Colleges, typically through the Jesuits. One of these was the Scots College at Douai, founded by its first Superior, Father William Crighton (P. Gulielmus Creighton), who held the office 1581-1597, according to the records of the college.
Apparently Crighton had been asked by "the pope": perhaps Pope Sixtus V
(1585–1590) to provide Scottish students for seminary study at Rome. The Scots College at Rome did not receive its foundation bull
from Clement VIII until 1600, but the request specifically for Scotsmen evidences an early interest in that direction. How Crighton got Dempster's name remains as unknown as why he was deported from Paris, but Thomas was one of four selected and did not enroll at Louvain, but journeyed straight to Rome. He mentions that Cardinal Aldobrandini was raising an army there and calls him also Clement VIII, perhaps in anticipation of later events. Dempster says that he was in a seminarium Romanum with "the choicest nobility of Italy", which he would not have been if the Scots College had existed then.
with James Cheyne, a member of his network of Scottish patrons. Securing funding from "the king of Spain", who must have been Philip II, and "Archduke Albert
", Cheyne sent him to the Scottish College, Douai
, from which, after a few years, he graduated.
The name of Thomas Demster appears as Item Number 64 in the Register of Alumni for the college, applying to the year 1593, with a very brief entry next to his name, "etiam seminarii alumnus." Apparently the college accepted both seminarians and seculars, and this notification identified Thomas as a seminarian. If the 1579 birthdate is true, Thomas would have been 14. Of his stay there he had little to say, only that he took first prize in poetry and second in philosophy.
He showed such ability that, when still in his teens, he became lecturer on the Humanities
at the University of Douai
. After a short stay, he returned to Paris, to take his degree of doctor of Canon law
.
, at age 17. He soon left Paris for Toulouse
, which in turn he was forced to leave by the hostility of the city authorities, aroused by his violent assertion of university rights. He was than elected professor of eloquence
at the academy of Nîmes
. A murderous attack upon him by one of the defeated candidates and his supporters was followed by a libel case, which, though he ultimately won, forced him to leave the town.
A short stay in Spain, as tutor to the son of Marshal de Saint Luc, was terminated by another quarrel; and Dempster returned to Scotland in 1608 with the intention of claiming his father's estates. Finding his relatives unsympathetic, and falling into heated controversy with the Presbyterian clergy, he returned to Paris in 1609, where he remained for seven years, becoming professor in several colleges.
In the end, his temporary connection with the Collège de Beauvais
was ended by a fight, in which he defeated officers of the king's guard, forcing him once again to change his place of residence. The story is told in Latin by Giovanni Vittorio Rossi, a contemporary. He begins with a characterization of Dempster that has been much repeated: "But, I don't know by what pact, those most mild-mannered sisters (the Muses) ... have embraced Thomas Dempster, a Scot, a man made for war and contention ... he allowed almost no day to go by empty of strife ... but that he should fight another by sword, or, if he had no sword, with fists ...." In the story, Dempster whips a student on the bare back for dueling, but the student, unable to bear the insult, brings in three relatives who happen to belong to the custodes corporis Regis, the king's own bodyguard. In response Dempster arms the other students, surrounds the guardsmen and puts them in chains in the bell tower. In the resulting inquiry, "such a storm arose" that Thomas departed for England. The story says distinctly that England was a "safe refuge", meaning between the lines that Catholic prosecutors could not extradite him or threaten him with agents.
The story goes on to say that in England he met a woman (Susanna Valeria) "so abundant, so favored by Venus that nothing else would do but that he have her to wife." At this point the story skips over a small matter, intentionally or not, that might well explain Thomas' future apparent inability to settle in one place, even as a renowned and successful scholar. The dedication of his edition of Rosinus'
Antiquitatum romanarum corpus absolutissimum to King James I
, a Protestant (the king of the King James Bible), even though he, Dempster, was a Catholic, had won him an invitation to the English court; and in 1615 he went to London. There James I appointed him historiographer royal.
immediately drew what may have been the correct conclusion and threw him into prison as a spy. However, the good pope changed his mind shortly, perhaps still hoping to reconvert the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and decided accept the matter graciously, placing Thomas in Italy. He used his influence with Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
, to get Thomas appointed to the professorship of the Pandects
at Pisa
. The Grand Duke commissioned him also to write a definitive work on the Etruscans.
In 1619 his daughter died shortly after birth, the only child he was to have. In 1620 after the execution of his father he began to call himself the Baron of Muiresk, which in Scotland was considered an illegitimate claim. His brother James, though disinherited from the estate, still had a claim to the title, which was considered to end with his death, as he had no heir. In any case Thomas was not the second son but the third. The second (Robert) had no heirs, either, which did not strengthen the case of the Dempsters. They were forced to accept the end of their clan; that is, there were no further charters to Dempsters from the king, nor was anyone entitled to be called Baron Dempster or use the coat of arms. Modern Dempsters, of course, may do as they please in accordance with the laws of the countries in which they reside.
At Pisa Thomas worked very hard on his commission, sometimes 14 hours per day. The strain was too much for his wife, perhaps depressed also by her loss. She ran off with an Englishman, but later returned. The issue of adultery came up again. Violent accusations followed, indignantly repudiated; a diplomatic correspondence ensued, and a demand was made, and supported by the grand duke, for an apology, which the professor refused to make, preferring to lose his chair. He set out once more for Scotland, but was intercepted by the Florentine cardinal Luigi Capponi
, who persuaded him to remain at Bologna
as professor of Humanity. This was the most distinguished post in the most famous of continental universities, and Dempster was at the height of his fame. Though his Roman Antiquities and Scotia ilustrior had been placed on the Index
pending correction, Pope Urban VIII
made him a knight and gave him a pension.
It was in Bologna that Thomas made friends with Matteo Pellegrini, who was to complete his autobiography posthumously and described "Dempsterus" as a man "outstanding in body and mind: his height was above the average height of the common man: his hair was nearly black and the colour of his skin not far from that: his head was huge and the carriage of his body completely regal; his strength and ferocity were as outstanding as that of a soldier ...."
. Becoming ill with a fever he returned to Bologna
, where he died on September 6 at age 46 (or 50). He is buried there.
, criticism
, law
, biography
, and history. He was a master of the Latin language and wrote in Latin, as was still the academic custom of the times. His works are:
(1697–1759), Earl of Leicester
, a scion of the wealthy and powerful Coke family of Britain. The Cokes received their greatest impetus from Edward Coke
(1552–1634).
During his life he collected estates so obsessively that when James I chided him for it he begged leave to buy a last one, which was bigger than all the others. It was the 4th son of Edward and his first wife, Bridget, who first acquired land at Holkham
by marrying Merial Wheatley. Following his father's practice he made further purchases until in 1659 he owned all of Holkham Parish.
Eventually most of Edward's property and Holkham descended to a great-grandson Robert, whose only son, Edward, married Cary Newton, daughter of Sir John Newton. She collected books. Apart from having several children their lives were unmarked and short, both dying in 1707, he at 30 and she at 27. Their 10-year-old eldest son, Thomas, heir to the entire estate, was sent to Sir John to be raised.
At 15, grandfather permitting, Thomas began a grand tour of France, Germany, Holland, Flanders, Malta, Sicily and Italy, travelling in a coach and six, with adjunct carriages, a number of menservants and a companion, the young Lord Burlington
. On the road he evidenced a maturity, judgement and taste beyond his years. His generosity caused him to become known as "Cavaliero Coke" in Italy. But more than that, his biographer says: "... they (the two lads) soon became on terms of great intimacy with all the most eminent scholars and artists of the day."
Following his mother's interest, Thomas learned Greek and Latin (on the road) and put his contacts on the lookout for rare classics manuscripts, especially Liviana
. He purchased so many that he hired Antonio Maria Biscioni to take charge of the collection temporarily. From manuscripts he branched to statuary and paintings, always buying the best, always with impeccable taste. Already in his mind he was planning a great project: the construction of a magnificent palace at Holkham stocked with a library and the objets d'art in his now extensive collection, no expense spared.
In Etruria Thomas befriended the Grand Duke Cosimo III. Through him he discovered the existence of Dempster's manuscript, which he purchased from its then owner, Antonio Maria Salvini. This he published apparently at his own considerable expense; however, the publication was not exactly the original. Filippo Buonarroti of Florence emended the text and added a critical apparatus. The duke had his own engravers enhance Dempster's illustrations with new ones drawn from artefacts in various collections. In all the work came to contain about 100 copperplate engravings. It came out in two volumes, folio, at Florence
, 1723–1724, under the comprehensive title:
A Latin dedication to Cosimo III dated 1725, London, was added in 1726 by Coke. A folio supplement was published by Passeri, 1767. The publication of the book sparked the first public wave of interest in the Etruscans throughout academic Italy; it was, in other words, the opening gun in the field of Etruscology.
At the end of his tour in 1718 Thomas married suddenly Lady Margaret Tufton, Baroness Clifford, and turned his attention to the design of Holkham Hall
, one of the better known monuments of Britain, reclaiming another 400 acres (1.6 km²) from the North Sea
for its park and gardens. He did finally achieve the ideal of a suitable home to house his collections. It cannot be said that he lived happily ever after. All of his children but one died in infancy, and that one became a profligate, preceding him to the grave. He died at age 62 in a duel with an alcoholic neighbour, Colonel Townshend.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
scholar and historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
. Born into the aristocracy in Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives. Together, the modern council area and the city formed historic...
, which comprises regions of both the Scottish highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
and the Scottish lowlands
Scottish Lowlands
The Scottish Lowlands is a name given to the Southern half of Scotland.The area is called a' Ghalldachd in Scottish Gaelic, and the Lawlands ....
, he was sent abroad as a youth for his education. The Dempsters were Catholic in an increasingly Protestant country and had a reputation for being quarrelsome. Thomas' brother James, outlawed for an attack on his father, spent some years as a pirate in the northern islands, escaped by volunteering for military service in the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
and was drawn and quartered there for insubordination. Thomas' father lost the family fortune in clan feuding and was beheaded for forgery.
For these and political and religious reasons in these often violent Elizabethan times Thomas was unable to come home except for visits. Of uncommon and impressive height and intellectual ability he became an itinerant professor in France and Italy, driven from place to place by a series of colourful personal incidents in which he fought duels or opposed officers of the law. He eventually found refuge and patronage under Grand Duke Cosimo II of Etruria
Etruria
Etruria—usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia—was a region of Central Italy, an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium, Emilia-Romagna, and Umbria. A particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D. H...
, who commissioned a work on the Etruscans. Three years later Thomas handed the duke a magnum opus, the manuscript of De Etruria Regali Libri Septem, "Seven Books about Royal Etruria", in the Latin language, the first detailed study of every aspect of Etruscan civilization
Etruscan civilization
Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...
, considered a brilliant work. In 1723 Thomas Coke finally undertook to publish an enhanced edition of it. The original manuscript remains in Coke's library at Holkham.
Clan Dempster
Thomas Dempster was born at Cliftbog, Aberdeenshire (near TurriffTurriff
Turriff is a town and civil parish in Aberdeenshire in Scotland. It is approximately above sea level, and has a population of 5,708.Turriff is known locally as Turra in the Doric dialect of Scots...
), to the sister of the Baron of Balquhain, according to him in his autobiography, and Thomas Dempster Laird of Muiresk, Auchterless
Auchterless
Auchterless is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The nearest large settlement is Turriff. It is traditionally known as "Kirkton of Auchterless".-History:...
and Killesmont, sheriff (until 1586) of Banff
Banff, Aberdeenshire
Banff is a town in the Banff and Buchan area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Banff is situated on Banff Bay and faces the town of Macduff across the estuary of the River Deveron...
and Buchan
Buchan
Buchan is one of the six committee areas and administrative areas of Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland. These areas were created by the council in 1996, when the Aberdeenshire unitary council area was created under the Local Government etc Act 1994...
. A Laird
Laird
A Laird is a member of the gentry and is a heritable title in Scotland. In the non-peerage table of precedence, a Laird ranks below a Baron and above an Esquire.-Etymology:...
had the rank of Baron
Baron
Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...
. As the Baron of Balquhain was a member of Clan Leslie
Clan Leslie
Clan Leslie is a Lowland Scottish clan.-Origins:The family name comes from the Leslie lands of Aberdeenshire and was to become famous in Germany, Poland, France and Russia...
, a lowland clan (as was Clan Dempster), Thomas' mother is identified with Jean Leslie. A land charter from the king of Scotland in 1592 defines or redefines the lands to be owned by Thomas and his wife Jeanne Leslie (Jean elsewhere in the charters) and inherited by his heirs Robert (2nd son), Thomas (3rd son), and George, who are called "legitimate offspring", and also John, Archibald and Charles Dempster. Girls could not inherit, so they are not listed. The oldest son, James, is missing from the record.
By birth Jeanne was connected to Clan Forbes
Clan Forbes
Clan Forbes is a Lowland Scottish clan from Aberdeenshire, Scotland.-Origins:Concerning the origin of this Scottish clan, John of Forbes, the first upon record, seems to have been a man of importance in the time of William the Lion, and was the father of Fergus, from whom the clan are descended....
. The marriage seems to have taken place a few years before Clan Leslie
Clan Leslie
Clan Leslie is a Lowland Scottish clan.-Origins:The family name comes from the Leslie lands of Aberdeenshire and was to become famous in Germany, Poland, France and Russia...
joined with Clan Gordon
Clan Gordon
Clan Gordon, also known as the House of Gordon, is a Scottish clan. The chief of the clan was the powerful Earl of Huntly, now also Marquess of Huntly.-Origins:...
in their feud against Clan Forbes
Clan Forbes
Clan Forbes is a Lowland Scottish clan from Aberdeenshire, Scotland.-Origins:Concerning the origin of this Scottish clan, John of Forbes, the first upon record, seems to have been a man of importance in the time of William the Lion, and was the father of Fergus, from whom the clan are descended....
. The Leslie's were supporters of Mary, Queen of Scots, Catholic pretender to the throne of England, who was imprisoned (and eventually executed) by Queen Elizabeth I and her son, the future James I of England
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
, taken away to be raised protestant. These events may or may not have something to do with the later accusations that Thomas was an intelligencer for James I.
A permanent tutor was hired for Thomas: Andrew Ogston. Thomas reported that under Andrew he learned the alphabet in a single hour at age three. He may have been older; in any case, Andrew recognized talent in his pupil. He sent him to Grammar School briefly in Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
, and in 1588, the year the Spanish Armada
Spanish Armada
This article refers to the Battle of Gravelines, for the modern navy of Spain, see Spanish NavyThe Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English...
was defeated, at the age of ten (or 14) Thomas left home to enter Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, an Anglican institution.
The fall of the clan
Meanwhile Thomas senior had taken a mistress, Isabella, from Clan Gordon, which must have been a bitter blow to his wife. Apparently Isabella charmed not only Thomas but James, who married her. Thomas reaction was swift: he disinherited his oldest son. James and a band of Gordons waylaid Thomas and party on the road between estates. Thomas was shot several times in the legs and suffered a sword blow to the head, as a result of which James became an outlaw, surviving by banditry in Shetland and Orkney. The younger Thomas' uncle, John Dempster, an Edinburgh lawyer, insisted he be educated abroad to remove him from the environment.The elder Dempster continued to make decisions that were the ruin of the family. Clan feuding was an expensive activity from which every clan suffered. The elder Thomas had already lost much of his estate to pay for feuds with Clan Currer and Clan Grant
Clan Grant
-Origins:The Grants are one of the clans of Siol Alpin, and descend from the 9th century Kenneth MacAlpin, King of Scots; and also of Norse origin, from settlers who are the descents of Haakon inn Riki Sigurdarsson , Jarl of Hladr, Protector of Norway ,-Origins:The Grants are one of the clans of...
. He decided now to sell the estate at Muiresk to the Earl of Erroll
Earl of Erroll
The Earl of Erroll is an ancient title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1453 for Sir William Hay.The subsidiary titles held by the Earl of Erroll are Lord Hay and Lord Slains , both in the Peerage of Scotland. The Earls of Erroll also hold the hereditary office of Lord High Constable...
to prevent his eldest son from ever inheriting it. The earl took advantage of some fine print in the law, now obscure, to evade payment.
Scots College of Paris
Thomas and tutor started out for Paris. He was ten in the most precocious dating scheme, possibly as old as 14 in others. They had no sooner reached the continent when they were robbed of all their possessions and probably beaten as well, as Ogston died not long after. Their assailants remain unknown except that they were French soldiers. However, a good Samaritan stepped forward: Walter Brus, an officer in the French army, who was of Scottish descent, and judging from the name, perhaps not of the humblest birth. Walter sent him on to Paris, where other officers of Scottish descent in the French army took up a subscription to place him at the University of Paris.According to the structure of the university at the time, Thomas would have entered the Scots College
Scots College (Paris)
The Scots College was a college of the University of Paris, France, founded by an Act of the Parlement of Paris on 8 July 1333. The act was a ratification of an event that had already taken place, the founding of the Collegium Scoticum, one of a number of national colleges into which the...
there; the fact that the subscription was of Scottish officers indicates that that is the most likely possibility. If true, it shows that Brus' motivations were not entirely altruistic. The Scots Colleges abroad were being used as training and staging areas for Scottish priests intended to enter Scotland in the wake of the invading army and play the most significant role in its reconversion. The failure of the invasion left them in place (without much work to do other than intelligence and conspiracy).
Diversions to Belgium and Rome
At the University of ParisUniversity of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
Thomas became deathly ill with "the plague" and on recovering was sent by someone in charge of his destiny to the University of Louvain
Catholic University of Leuven
The Catholic University of Leuven, or of Louvain, was the largest, oldest and most prominent university in Belgium. The university was founded in 1425 as the University of Leuven by John IV, Duke of Brabant and approved by a Papal bull by Pope Martin V.During France's occupation of Belgium in the...
in the Southern Netherlands
Southern Netherlands
Southern Netherlands were a part of the Low Countries controlled by Spain , Austria and annexed by France...
(now Belgium), to study under Justus Lipsius
Justus Lipsius
Justus Lipsius was a Southern-Netherlandish philologist and humanist. Lipsius wrote a series of works designed to revive ancient Stoicism in a form that would be compatible with Christianity. The most famous of these is De Constantia...
. Thomas himself gives that as a reason, but otherwise does not have a clear explanation for the change, stating only that Belgium was a "safe refuge". Instead he was diverted from this plan by William Crichton, Jesuit, then Superior of the Scots College, Douai, which is a good indication that forces unknown to young Thomas were at work in his life. He did not matriculate at Louvain.
The University of Douai
University of Douai
The University of Douai is a former university in Douai, France. With a Middle Ages heritage of scholar activities in Douai, the university was established in 1559 and lectures started in 1562. It closed from 1795 to 1808...
was founded by Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
as part of his military build-up against England and was at first identical to the English College
English College, Douai
The English College, Douai was a Catholic seminary associated with the University of Douai . It was established in about 1561, and was suppressed in 1793...
there. This college was a refuge and rallying point for English Catholics fleeing the re-establishment of Protestantism after the death of Mary I
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
and the accession of Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
. Mary had won for herself the popular title "Bloody Mary" for her methods in attempting to reimpose Catholicism on England. Philip II, who had been married to Mary 1554-1558, used the seminarians from Douai openly as agents. They were often in England illegally to establish contacts and maintain a bridgehead, so to speak, for reconversion.
The mastermind in the strategy to reconquer Great Britain for Catholicism and Spain was that of Philip II. He was supported in this effort by a long series of short-term popes (some very short-term), such as Innocent IX (1591), Gregory XIV (1590–1591), etc., who basically followed his strategy. Clement VIII (1592–1605), Cardinal Aldobrandini since 1585, changed the policy and stood against Philip, after his military defeat by the English.
In the latter part of the 16th century, deeming that the reconversion structure needed strengthening, the popes established a number of Scots Colleges, typically through the Jesuits. One of these was the Scots College at Douai, founded by its first Superior, Father William Crighton (P. Gulielmus Creighton), who held the office 1581-1597, according to the records of the college.
Apparently Crighton had been asked by "the pope": perhaps Pope Sixtus V
Pope Sixtus V
Pope Sixtus V , born Felice Peretti di Montalto, was Pope from 1585 to 1590.-Early life:The chronicler Andrija Zmajević states that Felice's family originated from modern-day Montenegro...
(1585–1590) to provide Scottish students for seminary study at Rome. The Scots College at Rome did not receive its foundation bull
Papal bull
A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....
from Clement VIII until 1600, but the request specifically for Scotsmen evidences an early interest in that direction. How Crighton got Dempster's name remains as unknown as why he was deported from Paris, but Thomas was one of four selected and did not enroll at Louvain, but journeyed straight to Rome. He mentions that Cardinal Aldobrandini was raising an army there and calls him also Clement VIII, perhaps in anticipation of later events. Dempster says that he was in a seminarium Romanum with "the choicest nobility of Italy", which he would not have been if the Scots College had existed then.
Scots College of Douai
The Roman plan came to nothing when, as Dempster says, "the lethal disease recurred." Acting on medical advice the church authorities returned him to Belgium for a change of climate. After an arduous and dangerous journey north of the Alps he connected at TournaiTournai
Tournai is a Walloon city and municipality of Belgium located 85 kilometres southwest of Brussels, on the river Scheldt, in the province of Hainaut....
with James Cheyne, a member of his network of Scottish patrons. Securing funding from "the king of Spain", who must have been Philip II, and "Archduke Albert
Albert VII, Archduke of Austria
Archduke Albert VII of Austria was, jointly with his wife, the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia, sovereign of the Habsburg Netherlands between 1598 and 1621, ruling the Habsburg territories in the southern Low Countries and the north of modern France...
", Cheyne sent him to the Scottish College, Douai
Scottish College, Douai
The Scottish College or Scot's College at Douai was a seminary founded in Douai, France, for the training of Scottish Roman Catholic exiles for the priesthood...
, from which, after a few years, he graduated.
The name of Thomas Demster appears as Item Number 64 in the Register of Alumni for the college, applying to the year 1593, with a very brief entry next to his name, "etiam seminarii alumnus." Apparently the college accepted both seminarians and seculars, and this notification identified Thomas as a seminarian. If the 1579 birthdate is true, Thomas would have been 14. Of his stay there he had little to say, only that he took first prize in poetry and second in philosophy.
He showed such ability that, when still in his teens, he became lecturer on the Humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
at the University of Douai
University of Douai
The University of Douai is a former university in Douai, France. With a Middle Ages heritage of scholar activities in Douai, the university was established in 1559 and lectures started in 1562. It closed from 1795 to 1808...
. After a short stay, he returned to Paris, to take his degree of doctor of Canon law
Canon law (Catholic Church)
The canon law of the Catholic Church, is a fully developed legal system, with all the necessary elements: courts, lawyers, judges, a fully articulated legal code and principles of legal interpretation. It lacks the necessary binding force present in most modern day legal systems. The academic...
.
Itinerant professor
Dempster's first position as a doctor was a regent, or full professor, of the Collège de NavarreCollège de Navarre
The College of Navarre was one of the colleges of the historic University of Paris, rivaling the Sorbonne and renowned for its library. It was founded by Queen Joan I of Navarre in 1305, who provided for three departments, the arts with 20 students, philosophy with 30 and theology with 20...
, at age 17. He soon left Paris for Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, which in turn he was forced to leave by the hostility of the city authorities, aroused by his violent assertion of university rights. He was than elected professor of eloquence
Elocution
Elocution is the study of formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone.-History:In Western classical rhetoric, elocution was one of the five core disciplines of pronunciation, which was the art of delivering speeches. Orators were trained not only on proper diction, but on the proper...
at the academy of Nîmes
Nîmes
Nîmes is the capital of the Gard department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France. Nîmes has a rich history, dating back to the Roman Empire, and is a popular tourist destination.-History:...
. A murderous attack upon him by one of the defeated candidates and his supporters was followed by a libel case, which, though he ultimately won, forced him to leave the town.
A short stay in Spain, as tutor to the son of Marshal de Saint Luc, was terminated by another quarrel; and Dempster returned to Scotland in 1608 with the intention of claiming his father's estates. Finding his relatives unsympathetic, and falling into heated controversy with the Presbyterian clergy, he returned to Paris in 1609, where he remained for seven years, becoming professor in several colleges.
In the end, his temporary connection with the Collège de Beauvais
Collège de Beauvais
The College of Beauvais was in Paris in what is now the Rue Jean de Beauvais. At the end of the 17th century and at the beginning of the 18th century, it was one of the leading schools of France, educating pupils whose parents were prominent in the French establishment.The college was founded in...
was ended by a fight, in which he defeated officers of the king's guard, forcing him once again to change his place of residence. The story is told in Latin by Giovanni Vittorio Rossi, a contemporary. He begins with a characterization of Dempster that has been much repeated: "But, I don't know by what pact, those most mild-mannered sisters (the Muses) ... have embraced Thomas Dempster, a Scot, a man made for war and contention ... he allowed almost no day to go by empty of strife ... but that he should fight another by sword, or, if he had no sword, with fists ...." In the story, Dempster whips a student on the bare back for dueling, but the student, unable to bear the insult, brings in three relatives who happen to belong to the custodes corporis Regis, the king's own bodyguard. In response Dempster arms the other students, surrounds the guardsmen and puts them in chains in the bell tower. In the resulting inquiry, "such a storm arose" that Thomas departed for England. The story says distinctly that England was a "safe refuge", meaning between the lines that Catholic prosecutors could not extradite him or threaten him with agents.
The story goes on to say that in England he met a woman (Susanna Valeria) "so abundant, so favored by Venus that nothing else would do but that he have her to wife." At this point the story skips over a small matter, intentionally or not, that might well explain Thomas' future apparent inability to settle in one place, even as a renowned and successful scholar. The dedication of his edition of Rosinus'
Johannes Rosinus
Johannes Rosinus was the German author of a work on Roman antiquities called Antiquitatum romanarum corpus absolutissimum, which first appeared at Basel in 1585....
Antiquitatum romanarum corpus absolutissimum to King James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
, a Protestant (the king of the King James Bible), even though he, Dempster, was a Catholic, had won him an invitation to the English court; and in 1615 he went to London. There James I appointed him historiographer royal.
"Escape" to Italy
He was not there long. Even though England was totally safe for him, and he had already been preferred by a king who admired him, and had married an English girl, complaining that he was not accepted by the Protestants and could not find advancement because of them he set sail for Rome with his wife. Pope Paul VPope Paul V
-Theology:Paul met with Galileo Galilei in 1616 after Cardinal Bellarmine had, on his orders, warned Galileo not to hold or defend the heliocentric ideas of Copernicus. Whether there was also an order not to teach those ideas in any way has been a matter for controversy...
immediately drew what may have been the correct conclusion and threw him into prison as a spy. However, the good pope changed his mind shortly, perhaps still hoping to reconvert the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and decided accept the matter graciously, placing Thomas in Italy. He used his influence with Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Cosimo II de' Medici was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1609 until 1621. He was the elder son of the then incumbent Grand Duke and Christina of Lorraine. He married Maria Magdalena of Austria, and had eight children....
, to get Thomas appointed to the professorship of the Pandects
Pandects
The Digest, also known as the Pandects , is a name given to a compendium or digest of Roman law compiled by order of the emperor Justinian I in the 6th century .The Digest was one part of the Corpus Juris Civilis, the body of civil law issued under Justinian I...
at Pisa
Pisa
Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...
. The Grand Duke commissioned him also to write a definitive work on the Etruscans.
In 1619 his daughter died shortly after birth, the only child he was to have. In 1620 after the execution of his father he began to call himself the Baron of Muiresk, which in Scotland was considered an illegitimate claim. His brother James, though disinherited from the estate, still had a claim to the title, which was considered to end with his death, as he had no heir. In any case Thomas was not the second son but the third. The second (Robert) had no heirs, either, which did not strengthen the case of the Dempsters. They were forced to accept the end of their clan; that is, there were no further charters to Dempsters from the king, nor was anyone entitled to be called Baron Dempster or use the coat of arms. Modern Dempsters, of course, may do as they please in accordance with the laws of the countries in which they reside.
At Pisa Thomas worked very hard on his commission, sometimes 14 hours per day. The strain was too much for his wife, perhaps depressed also by her loss. She ran off with an Englishman, but later returned. The issue of adultery came up again. Violent accusations followed, indignantly repudiated; a diplomatic correspondence ensued, and a demand was made, and supported by the grand duke, for an apology, which the professor refused to make, preferring to lose his chair. He set out once more for Scotland, but was intercepted by the Florentine cardinal Luigi Capponi
Luigi Capponi
Luigi Capponi was an Italian Catholic Cardinal who became Archbishop of Ravenna.-Biography:Capponi was born in 1582, the son of Senator Francesco Capponi and Ludovica Macchiavelli. The Capponi family had extensive links to Italian political circles and to senior members of the Catholic Church...
, who persuaded him to remain at Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
as professor of Humanity. This was the most distinguished post in the most famous of continental universities, and Dempster was at the height of his fame. Though his Roman Antiquities and Scotia ilustrior had been placed on the Index
Index Librorum Prohibitorum
The Index Librorum Prohibitorum was a list of publications prohibited by the Catholic Church. A first version was promulgated by Pope Paul IV in 1559, and a revised and somewhat relaxed form was authorized at the Council of Trent...
pending correction, Pope Urban VIII
Pope Urban VIII
Pope Urban VIII , born Maffeo Barberini, was pope from 1623 to 1644. He was the last pope to expand the papal territory by force of arms, and was a prominent patron of the arts and reformer of Church missions...
made him a knight and gave him a pension.
It was in Bologna that Thomas made friends with Matteo Pellegrini, who was to complete his autobiography posthumously and described "Dempsterus" as a man "outstanding in body and mind: his height was above the average height of the common man: his hair was nearly black and the colour of his skin not far from that: his head was huge and the carriage of his body completely regal; his strength and ferocity were as outstanding as that of a soldier ...."
End
Thomas was not to enjoy his honours long. His wife ran off again, this time with a student. He pursued them as far as VicenzaVicenza
Vicenza , a city in north-eastern Italy, is the capital of the eponymous province in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, straddling the Bacchiglione...
. Becoming ill with a fever he returned to Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, where he died on September 6 at age 46 (or 50). He is buried there.
Publications
Dempster was equally at home in philologyPhilology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
, criticism
Criticism
Criticism is the judgement of the merits and faults of the work or actions of an individual or group by another . To criticize does not necessarily imply to find fault, but the word is often taken to mean the simple expression of an objection against prejudice, or a disapproval.Another meaning of...
, law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
, biography
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
, and history. He was a master of the Latin language and wrote in Latin, as was still the academic custom of the times. His works are:
- An edition of Rosinus'Johannes RosinusJohannes Rosinus was the German author of a work on Roman antiquities called Antiquitatum romanarum corpus absolutissimum, which first appeared at Basel in 1585....
Antiquitatum romanarum corpus absolutissimum "The Most Complete Body of Roman Antiquities" (Paris, 1613). Dedicated to James IJames I of EnglandJames VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
. This is the work that came to the attention of the king. - Panegyricus Jacobo M. (Magnae) Britanniae Regi, "PanegyricPanegyricA panegyric is a formal public speech, or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing, a generally highly studied and discriminating eulogy, not expected to be critical. It is derived from the Greek πανηγυρικός meaning "a speech fit for a general assembly"...
to James, King of Great Britain (London, 1616)" - Poetic contributions In Obitum Aldinae Catellae: lachrymae poeticae, "On the Death of the Puppy Aldina: Poetic tears" (Paris, 1622).
- An edition of Benedetto Accolti's De bello a Christianis contra barbaros, "Of the Christian War against the Barbarians" (1623).
- Historia ecclesiastica gentis Scotarum, "Ecclesiastical History of the Scottish Nation" (Bologna, 1627). Morér asserts that this "is one of the most discredited works ever written in the field of Scottish history." The 1911 Encyclopædia BritannicaEncyclopædia BritannicaThe Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
says: "In this he tries to prove that BernardBernard of ClairvauxBernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian order.After the death of his mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order. Three years later, he was sent to found a new abbey at an isolated clearing in a glen known as the Val...
(Sapiens), AlcuinAlcuinAlcuin of York or Ealhwine, nicknamed Albinus or Flaccus was an English scholar, ecclesiastic, poet and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student of Archbishop Ecgbert at York...
, Saint BonifaceSaint BonifaceSaint Boniface , the Apostle of the Germans, born Winfrid, Wynfrith, or Wynfryth in the kingdom of Wessex, probably at Crediton , was a missionary who propagated Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century. He is the patron saint of Germany and the first archbishop of Mainz...
and Johannes Scotus EriugenaJohannes Scotus EriugenaJohannes Scotus Eriugena was an Irish theologian, Neoplatonist philosopher, and poet. He is known for having translated and made commentaries upon the work of Pseudo-Dionysius.-Name:...
were all Scots, and even Boadicea becomes a Scottish author." The last chapter was intended as his autobiography, which Matteo Pellegrini, a friend at Bologna, completed posthumously. Much of what it says about him; for example, that his mother had 29 children and that he himself was one of triplets, is counted as prevarication. The low quality of this work after so much brilliance remains unexplained. - Some of his LatinLatinLatin 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...
verse is printed in the first volume (pp. 306–354) of Delitiae poetarum Scotorum (Amsterdam, 1637).
The rescue of De Etruria Regali
Dempster's greatest work was pulled from the brink of oblivion by the swift action of Thomas CokeThomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (fifth creation)
Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester, KB was a wealthy English land-owner and patron of the arts. He is particularly noted for commissioning the design and construction of Holkham Hall in north Norfolk. Between 1722 and 1728, he was Member of Parliament for Norfolk.He was the son of Edward Coke ...
(1697–1759), Earl of Leicester
Earl of Leicester
The title Earl of Leicester was created in the 12th century in the Peerage of England , and is currently a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1837.-Early creations:...
, a scion of the wealthy and powerful Coke family of Britain. The Cokes received their greatest impetus from Edward Coke
Edward Coke
Sir Edward Coke SL PC was an English barrister, judge and politician considered to be the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. Born into a middle class family, Coke was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge before leaving to study at the Inner Temple, where he was called to the...
(1552–1634).
During his life he collected estates so obsessively that when James I chided him for it he begged leave to buy a last one, which was bigger than all the others. It was the 4th son of Edward and his first wife, Bridget, who first acquired land at Holkham
Holkham
Holkham is a village and civil parish in the north-west of the county of Norfolk, England. Besides the small village, the parish includes the major stately home and estate of Holkham Hall, and an attractive beach at Holkham Gap...
by marrying Merial Wheatley. Following his father's practice he made further purchases until in 1659 he owned all of Holkham Parish.
Eventually most of Edward's property and Holkham descended to a great-grandson Robert, whose only son, Edward, married Cary Newton, daughter of Sir John Newton. She collected books. Apart from having several children their lives were unmarked and short, both dying in 1707, he at 30 and she at 27. Their 10-year-old eldest son, Thomas, heir to the entire estate, was sent to Sir John to be raised.
At 15, grandfather permitting, Thomas began a grand tour of France, Germany, Holland, Flanders, Malta, Sicily and Italy, travelling in a coach and six, with adjunct carriages, a number of menservants and a companion, the young Lord Burlington
Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington
Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington and 4th Earl of Cork PC , born in Yorkshire, England, was the son of Charles Boyle, 2nd Earl of Burlington and 3rd Earl of Cork...
. On the road he evidenced a maturity, judgement and taste beyond his years. His generosity caused him to become known as "Cavaliero Coke" in Italy. But more than that, his biographer says: "... they (the two lads) soon became on terms of great intimacy with all the most eminent scholars and artists of the day."
Following his mother's interest, Thomas learned Greek and Latin (on the road) and put his contacts on the lookout for rare classics manuscripts, especially Liviana
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
. He purchased so many that he hired Antonio Maria Biscioni to take charge of the collection temporarily. From manuscripts he branched to statuary and paintings, always buying the best, always with impeccable taste. Already in his mind he was planning a great project: the construction of a magnificent palace at Holkham stocked with a library and the objets d'art in his now extensive collection, no expense spared.
In Etruria Thomas befriended the Grand Duke Cosimo III. Through him he discovered the existence of Dempster's manuscript, which he purchased from its then owner, Antonio Maria Salvini. This he published apparently at his own considerable expense; however, the publication was not exactly the original. Filippo Buonarroti of Florence emended the text and added a critical apparatus. The duke had his own engravers enhance Dempster's illustrations with new ones drawn from artefacts in various collections. In all the work came to contain about 100 copperplate engravings. It came out in two volumes, folio, at Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, 1723–1724, under the comprehensive title:
- "Thomae Dempsteri a Muresk Scoti Pandectarum in Pisano Lyceo Professoris Ordinarii de Etruria Regali libri septem, opus posthumum, in duas partes divisum, nunc primum editi curante Tho. Coke"
A Latin dedication to Cosimo III dated 1725, London, was added in 1726 by Coke. A folio supplement was published by Passeri, 1767. The publication of the book sparked the first public wave of interest in the Etruscans throughout academic Italy; it was, in other words, the opening gun in the field of Etruscology.
At the end of his tour in 1718 Thomas married suddenly Lady Margaret Tufton, Baroness Clifford, and turned his attention to the design of Holkham Hall
Holkham Hall
Holkham Hall is an eighteenth-century country house located adjacent to the village of Holkham, on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk...
, one of the better known monuments of Britain, reclaiming another 400 acres (1.6 km²) from the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
for its park and gardens. He did finally achieve the ideal of a suitable home to house his collections. It cannot be said that he lived happily ever after. All of his children but one died in infancy, and that one became a profligate, preceding him to the grave. He died at age 62 in a duel with an alcoholic neighbour, Colonel Townshend.
External links
- COLONEL WILLIAM SEMPILL OF LOCHWINNOCH (1546-1630): A STRATEGIST FOR SPAIN article by Concepción SAENZ-CAMBRA in Tiempos Modernos 13 (2006/1).
- The Scottish Nation: Dempster. Article on the clan at electricscotland.com, giving the etymology and thumbnail history.