Thomas Lydiat
Encyclopedia
Thomas Lydiat was a clergyman and mathematician in England
. In his time he was noted as a chronologer and was an opponent in controversy of Scaliger
. He is now considered, albeit in a very different type of theory, to have provided in 1605 a clear suggestion of an oval orbit in astronomy, anticipating Johannes Kepler
, with whom he also had a controversial exchange relating to chronology.
His contemporaries ranked him with Joseph Mede
and Francis Bacon
. His ultimate poverty, certainly exaggerated, furnished Samuel Johnson
with an allusion in his poem on the Vanity of Human Wishes.
, of which living his father was patron. In 1584, at eleven years of age, he gained a scholarship at Winchester College
, and passing thence to New College, Oxford
, was elected probationer fellow in 1591, and full fellow two years later. He graduated B.A. 3 May 1595, and M.A. 5 February 1599.
Defective memory and speech led him to give up both the study of divinity and his fellowship in 1603, in order to devote himself to mathematics and chronology. In 1609 he dedicated his Emendatio Temporum to Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales
, who appointed him his chronographer and cosmographer, and took him into his household as reader, granting him an annual pension and the use of his library. During the course of this year he became acquainted with James Ussher
.
He spent about two years in Dublin, became fellow of Trinity College, Dublin
7 March 1610, and graduated M.A. there in the summer of the same year. Ussher found him rooms in the college and an appointment as reader, with a salary. The mastership of The Royal School, Armagh
, seems also to have been promised him. Before August 1611 he had returned to London, but he still wrote to Ussher pressing his claim to the mastership.
The death of the Prince of Wales in 1612 cut off his hopes of preferment, and in the same year, after some hesitation, he accepted the family living of Alkerton, which he had refused during his father's lifetime. The following years he devoted to the study of chronology, and carried on a controversy with Scaliger; Lydiat's chronological discoveries are described in Robert Plot
's Oxfordshire. He constructed a new Rectory, in Alkerton, in 1625. It is considered to be one of the finest small Rectories in the country.
In 1629 or 1630 he became surety for the debts of his brother, and being unable to pay was committed to prison, first in the Bocardo Prison
at Oxford, and subsequently in the King's Bench, where he pursued his studies, spending what money he could upon books. The efforts of Sir William Boswell, Dr. Robert Pink
(Warden of New College), Ussher (who is said to have paid £300 for him), and William Laud
, ultimately lead to his release. At this point he vainly petitioned the king for permission to travel in Turkey, Armenia, and Abyssinia, in order to collect materials for civil and ecclesiastical history.
Later, Lydiat's staunch royalism and uncompromising expression of his opinions brought him under the notice of the parliamentarians. His rectory was pillaged more than once, and he was carried off to prison, once to Warwick
, and again to Banbury
. He died at Alkerton, 3 April 1646, and was buried the next day in the chancel of his church. In 1669 a stone was laid over his grave by the society of New College, who also erected a monument, with an inscription to his memory on a black marble table, at the north end of the east cloister of the college.
Soon after Lydiat's death John Worthington
and others made efforts to collect Lydiat's manuscripts with a view to having them printed. According to the Preface to Lydiat's Canones Chronologici, his manuscripts were carried off by a countryman to his cottage, where John Lamphire accidentally discovered them some years after Lydiat's death; others were presented to him by Robert Plot. These then passed, apparently, with the rest of Lamphire's property, into the hands of William Coward
M,D., who presented to the Bodleian Library
fifteen manuscripts.
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...
. In his time he was noted as a chronologer and was an opponent in controversy of Scaliger
Scaliger
The noble family of the Scaliger were Lords of Verona. When Ezzelino III was elected podestà of the commune in 1226, he was able to convert the office into a permanent lordship...
. He is now considered, albeit in a very different type of theory, to have provided in 1605 a clear suggestion of an oval orbit in astronomy, anticipating Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler was a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer. A key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution, he is best known for his eponymous laws of planetary motion, codified by later astronomers, based on his works Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican...
, with whom he also had a controversial exchange relating to chronology.
His contemporaries ranked him with Joseph Mede
Joseph Mede
Joseph Mede was an English scholar with a wide range of interests. He was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he became a Fellow from 1613. He is now remembered as a biblical scholar. He was also a naturalist and Egyptologist...
and Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
. His ultimate poverty, certainly exaggerated, furnished Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
with an allusion in his poem on the Vanity of Human Wishes.
Life
The son of Christopher Lydiat, he was born in 1572 at Alkerton, OxfordshireAlkerton, Oxfordshire
Alkerton is a village about west of Banbury in Oxfordshire, on the county boundary with Warwickshire.-Manor:The Domesday Book records that in 1086 Alkerton had two main manors. Miles Crispin held the larger manor as part of the Honour of Wallingford...
, of which living his father was patron. In 1584, at eleven years of age, he gained a scholarship at Winchester College
Winchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...
, and passing thence to New College, Oxford
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...
, was elected probationer fellow in 1591, and full fellow two years later. He graduated B.A. 3 May 1595, and M.A. 5 February 1599.
Defective memory and speech led him to give up both the study of divinity and his fellowship in 1603, in order to devote himself to mathematics and chronology. In 1609 he dedicated his Emendatio Temporum to Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales
Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales
Henry Frederick Stuart, Prince of Wales was the elder son of King James I & VI and Anne of Denmark. His name derives from his grandfathers: Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley and Frederick II of Denmark. Prince Henry was widely seen as a bright and promising heir to his father's throne...
, who appointed him his chronographer and cosmographer, and took him into his household as reader, granting him an annual pension and the use of his library. During the course of this year he became acquainted with James Ussher
James Ussher
James Ussher was Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625–56...
.
He spent about two years in Dublin, became fellow of Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
7 March 1610, and graduated M.A. there in the summer of the same year. Ussher found him rooms in the college and an appointment as reader, with a salary. The mastership of The Royal School, Armagh
The Royal School, Armagh
The Royal School, Armagh is a co-educational voluntary grammar school in the city of Armagh, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. It was one of a number of free schools created by King James I of England in 1608 to provide an education to the sons of local merchants and farmers during the plantation...
, seems also to have been promised him. Before August 1611 he had returned to London, but he still wrote to Ussher pressing his claim to the mastership.
The death of the Prince of Wales in 1612 cut off his hopes of preferment, and in the same year, after some hesitation, he accepted the family living of Alkerton, which he had refused during his father's lifetime. The following years he devoted to the study of chronology, and carried on a controversy with Scaliger; Lydiat's chronological discoveries are described in Robert Plot
Robert Plot
Robert Plot was an English naturalist, first Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford, and the first keeper of the Ashmolean Museum....
's Oxfordshire. He constructed a new Rectory, in Alkerton, in 1625. It is considered to be one of the finest small Rectories in the country.
In 1629 or 1630 he became surety for the debts of his brother, and being unable to pay was committed to prison, first in the Bocardo Prison
Bocardo Prison
The Bocardo Prison in Oxford, England existed until 1771. Its origins were medieval, and the most celebrated prisoners were the Protestant martyrs Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley in 1555.-History:...
at Oxford, and subsequently in the King's Bench, where he pursued his studies, spending what money he could upon books. The efforts of Sir William Boswell, Dr. Robert Pink
Robert Pink
Robert Pink D.D. was an English clergyman and academic, a supporter of William Laud as Warden of New College, Oxford and later a royalist imprisoned by Parliament.-Life:...
(Warden of New College), Ussher (who is said to have paid £300 for him), and William Laud
William Laud
William Laud was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645. One of the High Church Caroline divines, he opposed radical forms of Puritanism...
, ultimately lead to his release. At this point he vainly petitioned the king for permission to travel in Turkey, Armenia, and Abyssinia, in order to collect materials for civil and ecclesiastical history.
Later, Lydiat's staunch royalism and uncompromising expression of his opinions brought him under the notice of the parliamentarians. His rectory was pillaged more than once, and he was carried off to prison, once to Warwick
Warwick
Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England. The town lies upon the River Avon, south of Coventry and just west of Leamington Spa and Whitnash with which it is conjoined. As of the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 23,350...
, and again to Banbury
Banbury
Banbury is a market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in the Cherwell District of Oxfordshire. It is northwest of London, southeast of Birmingham, south of Coventry and north northwest of the county town of Oxford...
. He died at Alkerton, 3 April 1646, and was buried the next day in the chancel of his church. In 1669 a stone was laid over his grave by the society of New College, who also erected a monument, with an inscription to his memory on a black marble table, at the north end of the east cloister of the college.
Works
Lydiat's published works were:- Tractatus de variis Annorum formis, Lond. 1605.
- Praelectio Astronomica de Natura Coeli et conditionibus Elementorum. Disquisitio Physiologica de origine fontium' (these two printed with the first).
- Defensio Tractatus de variis Annorum formis contra J. Scaligeri observationes, Lond. 1607, dedicated to Sir Anthony CopeSir Anthony Cope, 1st Baronet-Life:He was a grandson of Anthony Cope the author. He was member of Parliament for Banbury in seven parliaments , and then represented Oxfordshire from 1606 until 1614...
of Hanwell. - Examen Canonum Chronologiae Isagogieorum (printed with the 'Defensio').
- Emendatio Temporum ab initio Mundi . . . contra Scaligerum et alios, Lond. 1609.
- Recensio et Explicatio argumentorum — insertia brevibus confutationibus opinionum I. Scaligeranae, Baronianae. . . atque Johannis Keppleri,' 1613.
- Solis et Lunae Periodus seu Annus Magnus, Lond. 1620.
- De Anni Solaris Mensura Epistola astronomica ad Hen. Savilium, Lond. 1620.
- Numerus Aureus mellioribus Lapillis insignatus, &c., Lond. 1621.
- Canones Chronologici, Oxford, 1675. Published from a manuscript in the library of John LamphireJohn LamphireJohn Lamphire M.D. was an English academic, who became a physician after being ejected from his college fellowship. He was later Camden Professor of Ancient History, and principal of Hart Hall, Oxford.-Life:...
. - Letters to Dr. Jam. Ussher, Primate of Ireland. Printed at the end of Ussher's Life,' 1686, published by Richard Parr.
- Marmoreum Chronicon Arundelianum cum Annotationibus, of which manuscripts are in the Bodleian and Trinity College, Dublin; printed in Humphrey PrideauxHumphrey PrideauxHumphrey Prideaux , Doctor of Divinity and scholar, belonged to an ancient Cornish family, was born at Padstow, and educated at Westminster School and at Oxford....
's Marmora Oxoniensis.
Soon after Lydiat's death John Worthington
John Worthington
John Worthington was an English academic. He was closely associated with the Cambridge Platonists. He did not in fact publish in the field of philosophy, and is now known mainly as a well-connected diarist.-Life:...
and others made efforts to collect Lydiat's manuscripts with a view to having them printed. According to the Preface to Lydiat's Canones Chronologici, his manuscripts were carried off by a countryman to his cottage, where John Lamphire accidentally discovered them some years after Lydiat's death; others were presented to him by Robert Plot. These then passed, apparently, with the rest of Lamphire's property, into the hands of William Coward
William Coward
William Coward was an English physician, controversial writer, and poet. He is now remembered for his sceptical writings on the soul, which Parliament condemned as blasphemous and ordered to be burned in his presence.-Life:...
M,D., who presented to the Bodleian Library
Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library , the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library...
fifteen manuscripts.