John Selden was an
EnglishEngland 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...
juristA jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...
and a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish law. He was known as a polymath showing true intellectual depth and breadth;
John MiltonJohn Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
hailed Selden in 1644 as "the chief of learned men reputed in this land."
Early life
He was born at
SalvingtonSalvington is a neighbourhood of the Borough of Worthing in West Sussex, England. It lies south of the A27 road two miles north-west of the town centre....
, in the parish of
West TarringWest Tarring is a neighbourhood of the Borough of Worthing in West Sussex, England. It lies on the A2031 road northwest of the town centre. It is officially called West Tarring or, less commonly, Tarring Peverell, to differentiate it from Tarring Neville near Lewes, but is usually called just...
,
SussexSussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
(now part of the town of
WorthingWorthing is a large seaside town with borough status in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, forming part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation. It is situated at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester...
), and was baptised at
St Andrew'sSt Andrew's Church is the Anglican parish church of West Tarring, an ancient village which is now part of the town and borough of Worthing, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex...
, the
parish churchA parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
.The cottage in which he was born survived until 1959 when it was destroyed by a fire caused by an electrical fault. His father, another John Selden, had a small farm. It is said that his skill as a violin-player was what attracted his wife, Margaret, who was from a better family, being the only child of Thomas Baker of
RustingtonRustington is a seaside resort and civil parish near Littlehampton in West Sussex. Rustington is centrally situated on the West Sussex coast almost midway between the cathedral city of Chichester and Brighton. For local government purposes, it forms part of the Arun district of the administrative...
and descended from a knightly family of
KentKent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. Selden was educated at the free
grammar schoolA grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
at
ChichesterChichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
, The Prebendal School, and in 1600 he went on to
Hart HallHertford 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...
,
OxfordThe University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. In 1603 he was admitted to
Clifford's InnClifford's Inn was an Inn of Chancery which is located between Fetter Lane and Clifford's Inn Passage, leading off Fleet Street, EC4.Founded in 1344 and dissolved in 1903, most of the original structure was demolished in 1934...
, London; in 1604 he moved to the
Inner TempleThe Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
; and in 1612 he was called to the bar. His earliest patron was Sir
Robert Bruce CottonSir Robert Bruce Cotton, 1st Baronet was an English antiquarian and Member of Parliament, founder of the important Cotton library....
, the antiquary, who seems to have employed him to copy and summarise some of the parliamentary records then held at the
Tower of LondonHer Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
. For some reason, Selden very rarely practised in court, but his practice in
chambersA judge's chambers, often just called his or her chambers, is the office of a judge.Chambers may also refer to the type of courtroom where motions related to matter of procedure are heard.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :...
as a conveyancer and consulting counsel was large and apparently lucrative.
Legal scholar into politics
In 1618 his
History of Tithes appeared. Although it was only published after submission to the
censorthumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
and licensing, this dissertation on the historical basis of the
titheA tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural products...
system caused anxiety among the bishops and provoked the intervention of the king. The author was summoned before the
privy councilThe Privy Council of England, also known as His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, was a body of advisers to the sovereign of the Kingdom of England...
and compelled to retract his opinions. His work was suppressed and he was forbidden to reply to anyone who might come forward to answer it.
This all seems to have caused Selden's entry into politics. Although he was not in
ParliamentThe Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
, he was the instigator and perhaps the draughtsman of the protestation on the rights and privileges of the House affirmed by the
House of CommonsThe House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
on 18 December 1621. He and several others were imprisoned, at first in the Tower and later under the charge of Sir Robert Ducie, sheriff of London. During his brief detention, he occupied himself in preparing an edition of
EadmerEadmer, or Edmer , was an English historian, theologian, and ecclesiastic. He is known for being a contemporary biographer of his contemporary archbishop and companion, Saint Anselm, in his Vita Anselmi, and for his Historia novorum in Anglia, which presents the public face of Anselm...
's
History from a manuscript lent to him by his host or jailor, which he published two years afterwards.
Parliamentarian
In 1623 he was returned to the House of Commons for the
boroughA borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
of Lancaster, and sat with
John CokeSir John Coke was an English politician.Coke, the son of Richard and Mary Coke of Trusley, Derbyshire, was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge...
,
William NoyWilliam Noy was a noted British jurist.He was born on the family estate of Pendrea in St Buryan, Cornwall. He left Exeter College, Oxford without taking a degree, and entered Lincoln's Inn in 1594. From 1603 until his death he was elected, with one exception, to each parliament, sitting...
and
John PymJohn Pym was an English parliamentarian, leader of the Long Parliament and a prominent critic of James I and then Charles I.- Early life and education :...
on Sergeant Glanville's election committee. He was also nominated reader of
Lyon's InnLyon's Inn was one of the Inns of Chancery attached to Inner Temple. Founded some time during or before the reign of Henry V, the Inn educated lawyers including Edward Coke and John Selden, although it was never one of the larger Inns...
, an office he declined to undertake. For this the benchers of the Inner Temple fined him £20 and disqualified him from being one of their number. Nevertheless, after a few years, he became a master of the bench. In the first parliament of
Charles ICharles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
(1625), it appears from the "returns of members" printed in 1878 that, contrary to the assertion of all his biographers, he had no seat. In Charles's second parliament (1626) he was elected for
Great BedwynGreat Bedwyn was a parliamentary borough in Wiltshire, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1295 until 1832, when the borough was abolished by the Great Reform Act.-1295–1640:-1640–1832:Notes...
in
WiltshireWiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, and took a prominent part in the impeachment of
George Villiers, 1st Duke of BuckinghamGeorge Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham KG was the favourite, claimed by some to be the lover, of King James I of England. Despite a very patchy political and military record, he remained at the height of royal favour for the first two years of the reign of Charles I, until he was assassinated...
. In the following year, in
Darnell's CaseThe Five Knights' case, also called Darnel's or Darnell's case, was an important case in English law, fought by five knights in 1627 against forced loans placed on them by King Charles I in a common law court...
(the Five Knights' Case), he was counsel for Sir Edmund Hampden in the Court of King's Bench.
In 1628 he was returned to the third parliament of Charles for
LudgershallLudgershall was a parliamentary borough in Wiltshire, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1295 until 1832, when the borough was abolished by the Great Reform Act.- 1295–1640 :- 1640–1832 :- Sources :...
,
WiltshireWiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, and was involved in drawing up and carrying the
Petition of RightIn English law, a petition of right was a remedy available to subjects to recover property from the Crown.Before the Crown Proceedings Act 1947, the British Crown could not be sued in contract...
. In the session of 1629 he was one of the members responsible for the tumultuous passage in the House of Commons of the resolution against the illegal levy of
tonnageTonnage is a measure of the size or cargo carrying capacity of a ship. The term derives from the taxation paid on tuns or casks of wine, and was later used in reference to the weight of a ship's cargo; however, in modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically refers to a calculation of the volume...
and poundage, and, along with Sir
John EliotSir John Eliot was an English statesman who was serially imprisoned in the Tower of London, where he eventually died, by King Charles I for advocating the rights and privileges of Parliament.-Family and early life:...
, Denzil Holles, Long, Valentine,
William StrodeWilliam Strode was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons of England variously between 1624 and 1645. He was one of the five members impeached by King Charles and fought on the Parliamentarian side in the English Civil War.-Life:...
, and the rest, he was sent back to the Tower. There he remained for eight months, deprived for a part of the time of the use of books and writing materials. He was then removed, under less rigorous conditions, to the
MarshalseaThe Marshalsea was a prison on the south bank of the River Thames in Southwark, now part of London. From the 14th century until it closed in 1842, it housed men under court martial for crimes at sea, including those accused of "unnatural crimes", political figures and intellectuals accused of...
, until
Archbishop LaudWilliam Laud was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645. One of the High Church Caroline divines, he opposed radical forms of Puritanism...
arranged for him to be freed. Some years before he had been appointed
stewardA steward is an official who is appointed by the legal ruling monarch to represent him or her in a country, and may have a mandate to govern it in his or her name; in the latter case, it roughly corresponds with the position of governor or deputy...
to the
Earl of KentThe peerage title Earl of Kent has been created eight times in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.See also Kingdom of Kent, Duke of Kent.-Earls of Kent, first creation :*Godwin, Earl of Wessex...
, to whose seat, Wrest in
BedfordshireBedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
, he now retired.
He was not elected to the
Short ParliamentThe Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640 during the reign of King Charles I of England, so called because it lasted only three weeks....
of 1640; but to the
Long ParliamentThe Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...
, summoned in the autumn, he was returned without opposition for
Oxford UniversityOxford University was a university constituency electing two members to the British House of Commons, from 1603 to 1950.-Boundaries, Electorate and Electoral System:...
. He opposed the resolution against episcopacy which led to the exclusion of the bishops from the
House of LordsThe House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, and printed an answer to the arguments used by Sir
Harbottle GrimstonSir Harbottle Grimston, 2nd Baronet was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1640 and 1669 and was Speaker in 1660...
on that occasion. He joined in the protestation of the Commons for the maintenance of the Protestant religion according to the doctrines of the
Church of EnglandThe Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
, the authority of the crown, and the liberty of the subject. He was equally opposed to the court on the question of the commissions of lieutenancy of array and to the parliament on the question of the militia ordinance. In the end he supported Parliament against King Charles, because (he said) he was certain the latter was acting illegally, while he wasn't certain about the former.
In 1643 he participated in the discussions of the
Westminster AssemblyThe Westminster Assembly of Divines was appointed by the Long Parliament to restructure the Church of England. It also included representatives of religious leaders from Scotland...
, where his Erastian views were opposed by
George GillespieGeorge Gillespie was a Scottish theologian.-Life:He was born at Kirkcaldy, where his father, John Gillespie, was parish minister, and studied at St. Andrews University as a "presbytery bursar". On graduating he became domestic chaplain to John Gordon, 1st Viscount Kenmure , and afterwards to John...
. Selden's allies included
Thomas ColemanThomas Coleman was an English clergyman, known for his scholarship in the Hebrew language, which earned him the nickname ‘Rabbi Coleman’, and for his Erastian view of church polity. In the Westminster Assembly he was the clerical leader of the Erastian party, alongside the lawyer John Selden...
,
John LightfootJohn Lightfoot was an English churchman, rabbinical scholar, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge and Master of St Catharine's College, Cambridge.-Life:...
, and
Bulstrode WhitelockeSir Bulstrode Whitelocke was an English lawyer, writer, parliamentarian and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England.- Biography :...
.
He was appointed shortly afterwards keeper of the rolls and records in the Tower. In 1645 he was named one of the parliamentary commissioners of the
admiraltyThe Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
, and was elected master of
Trinity Hall, CambridgeTrinity Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It is the fifth-oldest college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by William Bateman, Bishop of Norwich.- Foundation :...
—an office he declined to accept. In 1646 he subscribed the
Solemn League and CovenantThe Solemn League and Covenant was an agreement between the Scottish Covenanters and the leaders of the English Parliamentarians. It was agreed to in 1643, during the First English Civil War....
, and in 1647 was voted £5000 by the parliament as compensation for his pains under the monarchy.
Last years
After the death of the
Earl of KentHenry Grey, 8th Earl of Kent was Earl of Kent from 1623 to his death.He was born the only son of Charles Grey, 7th Earl of Kent and his wife Susan Cotton and educated at Trinity College, Cambridge....
in 1639 Selden lived permanently under the same roof with the earl's widow, the former
Elizabeth TalbotElizabeth Grey, Countess of Kent was the wife of Henry Grey, 8th Earl of Kent.She was a daughter of Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury and Mary Cavendish....
. It is believed that he married her, although their marriage does not seem to have ever been publicly acknowledged. He died at Friary House in Whitefriars, and was buried in the
Temple ChurchThe Temple Church is a late-12th-century church in London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built for and by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters. In modern times, two Inns of Court both use the church. It is famous for its effigy tombs and for being a round church...
, London. His tomb is today clearly visible through glass plates in the floor of this church. Furthermore, he is commemorated by a monumental inscription on the south side of the Temple Church. More than two centuries after his death, in 1880, a brass tablet was erected to his memory by the benchers of the
Inner TempleThe Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
in the parish church of West Tarring.
Works
It was as a prolific scholar and writer that Selden won his reputation. The early books were on English history.
English history and antiquities
In 1610 three of his works came out:
England's Epinomis and
Jani Anglorum; Facies Altera, which dealt with the progress of English law down to
Henry IIHenry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
; and
The Duello, or Single Combat, in which he traced the history of
trial by battleTrial by combat was a method of Germanic law to settle accusations in the absence of witnesses or a confession, in which two parties in dispute fought in single combat; the winner of the fight was proclaimed to be right. In essence, it is a judicially sanctioned duel...
in England from the Norman Conquest. In 1613 he supplied a series of notes, including quotations and references, to the first eighteen
cantoThe canto is a principal form of division in a long poem, especially the epic. The word comes from Italian, meaning "song" or singing. Famous examples of epic poetry which employ the canto division are Lord Byron's Don Juan, Valmiki's Ramayana , Dante's The Divine Comedy , and Ezra Pound's The...
s of
Michael DraytonMichael Drayton was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era.-Early life:He was born at Hartshill, near Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England. Almost nothing is known about his early life, beyond the fact that in 1580 he was in the service of Thomas Goodere of Collingham,...
's
Poly-OlbionThe Poly-Olbion is a topographical poem describing England and Wales. Written by Michael Drayton and published in 1612, it was reprinted with a second part in 1622. Drayton had been working on the project since at least 1598.-Content:...
. In 1614 he published
Titles of Honor, which, in spite of defects and omissions, remained a comprehensive and work for centuries. It earned for Selden the praise "monarch of letters" from his friend
Ben JonsonBenjamin 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...
.
In 1615, the
Analecton Anglobritannicon, an account of the civil administration of
EnglandEngland 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...
before the Norman Conquest, written in 1607, was published; its title and argument imitated the
Franco-Gallia of
François HotmanFrançois Hotman was a French Protestant lawyer and writer, associated with the legal humanists and with the monarchomaques, who struggled against absolute monarchy. His first name is often written 'Francis' in English. His surname is Latinized by himself as Hotomanus, by others as Hotomannus and...
. In 1616 appeared notes on
John Fortescuethumb|right|John FortescueSir John Fortescue was an English lawyer, and the author of the De laudibus legum Angliae, an influential treatise on English law.-Early life:...
's
De laudibus legum Angliae and
Ralph de HenghamSir Ralph de Hengham was an English justice. His first employer was Giles of Erdington a justice of the Common Bench, whose service he entered as a clerk before 1255...
's
Summae magna et parva.
In 1618 his controversial
History of Tithes was published. A first sign of the coming storm was the 1619 book controverting Selden in an appendix,
Sacrilege Sacredly Handled by
James SempillSir James Sempill was the son of John Sempill of Beltrees, and Mary Livingston, one of the "Four Marys", companions of Mary, Queen of Scots.-Life:...
. Selden hit back, but was soon gagged. The churchmen
Richard TillesleyRichard Tillesley was an English churchman, known for his book defending tithes.-Life:Born at Coventry, he was the son of Thomas Tillesley of Eccleshall in Staffordshire, by his wife, the daughter of Richard Barker of Shropshire. Matriculating at Balliol College, Oxford, on 20 January 1598,...
(1582–1621) (
Animadversions upon M. Seldens History of Tithes, 1619) and
Richard MontaguRichard Montagu was an English cleric and prelate.-Early life:He was born during Christmastide 1577 at Dorney, Buckinghamshire, where his father Laurence Mountague was vicar, and was educated at Eton. He was elected from Eton to a scholarship at King's College, Cambridge, and admitted on 24...
(
Diatribae upon the first part of the late History of Tithes, 1621) attacked the work. There were further replies by
William Sclater-Life:He was second son of Anthony Sclater, who is said to have held the benefice of Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire for fifty years, and to have died in 1620, aged 100. William Sclater was born at Leighton in October 1575. A king's scholar at Eton College, he was admitted scholar of King's...
(
The Quaestion of Tythes Revised, 1623), and by
Stephen NettlesStephen Nettles was an English clergyman and controversialist.-Life:He was a native of Shropshire, was admitted pensioner of Queens' College, Cambridge, on 25 June 1595, graduated B.A. in 1599, and was elected fellow on 11 October 1599. He proceeded M.A. in 1602, and commenced B.D...
(
Answer to the Jewish Part of Mr. Selden's History of Tithes 1625). In it Selden tried to demonstrate that tithing depended on the civil law, rather than
canon lawCanon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
. He also made much of the complexities of the ancient Jewish customs on tithes.
In 1623 he produced an edition of
EadmerEadmer, or Edmer , was an English historian, theologian, and ecclesiastic. He is known for being a contemporary biographer of his contemporary archbishop and companion, Saint Anselm, in his Vita Anselmi, and for his Historia novorum in Anglia, which presents the public face of Anselm...
's
Historia Novarum. It was notable for including in appendices information from the
Domesday BookDomesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
, which at the time had not been published and could only be consulted in the original at Westminster, on the payment of a fee.
He published in 1642
Privileges of the Baronage of England when they sit in Parliament and Discourse concerning the Rights and Privileges of the Subject. In 1652 he wrote a preface and collated some of the manuscripts for Sir Roger Twysden's
Historiae Anglicae scriptores decem.
Literature and archaeology of the Near East
In 1617 his
De diis Syriis was issued, and immediately established him fame as an orientalist. It is remarkable for its early use of the comparative method, on Semitic mythology. Also in 1642 he published a part of the Arabic chronicle of
Patriarch Eutychius of AlexandriaEutychius or Sa'id ibn Batriq or Bitriq was the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria. He is known for being one of the first Christian Egyptian writers to use the Arabic language...
, under the title
Eutychii Aegyptii, Patriarchae Orthodoxorum Alexandrini, ... ecclesiae suae origines. This mattered for the discussion in it of the absence in Alexandria of the distinction between priests and bishops, a burning issue in the debate at the time in the
Church of EnglandThe Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
.
In 1628, at the suggestion of Sir Robert Cotton, Selden compiled, with the assistance of two other scholars,
Patrick YoungPatrick Young was a Scottish scholar and royal librarian to King James VI and I, and King Charles I. He was a noted Biblical and patristic scholar.-Life:...
and Richard James, a catalogue of the
Arundel marblesThe Arundelian Marbles are a collection of Greek marbles collected by Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel in the early seventeenth century, the first such comprehensive collection of its kind in England...
.
Studies on Judaism
He employed his leisure at Wrest in writing
De successionibus in bona defuncti secundum leges Ebraeorum and
De successione in pontificatum Ebraeorum, published in 1631.
During the progress of the constitutional conflict, he was absorbed in research, publishing
De jure naturali et gentium juxta disciplinam Ebraeorum in 1640. It was a contribution to the theorising of the period on
natural lawNatural law, or the law of nature , is any system of law which is purportedly determined by nature, and thus universal. Classically, natural law refers to the use of reason to analyze human nature and deduce binding rules of moral behavior. Natural law is contrasted with the positive law Natural...
. In the words of
John MiltonJohn Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
, this "volume of naturall & national laws proves, not only by great authorities brought together, but by exquisite reasons and theorems almost mathematically demonstrative, that all opinions, yea errors, known, read, and collated, are of main service & assistance toward the speedy attainment of what is truest." It develops into a theory of
international lawPublic international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
, taking as its basis the Seven Laws of Noah.
In 1644, he published
Dissertatio de anno civili et calendario reipublicae Judaicae, in 1646 his treatise on marriage and divorce among the
JewsThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
entitled
Uxor Ebraica, and in 1647 the earliest printed edition of the old English law-book
FletaFleta is a treatise, written in Latin, with the sub-title seu Commentarius juris Anglicani, on the common law of England. The anonymous author of the book is sometimes referred to as "Fleta", although this is not in fact a person's name...
. In 1650 Selden began to print the trilogy he planned on the
SanhedrinThe Sanhedrin was an assembly of twenty-three judges appointed in every city in the Biblical Land of Israel.The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme court of ancient Israel made of 71 members...
, as the first part of
De synedriis et prefecturis juridicis veterum Ebraeorum through the press, the second and third parts being severally published in 1653 and 1655. The aim of this work was to counter the use the Presbyterians, in particular, made of arguments and precedents drawn from Jewish tradition; it was a very detailed study aimed at refuting such arguments, and pointing out the inherent flexibility of the actual tradition that was being cited.
International law
He seems to have inclined towards the court rather than the popular party, in the early 1630s, and even to have secured the personal favour of the king. To him in 1635 he dedicated his
Mare clausum, and under the royal patronage it was put forth as a kind of state paper.
It had been written sixteen or seventeen years before, but
James IJames 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...
had prohibited its publication for political reasons; hence it appeared a quarter of a century after
GrotiusHugo Grotius , also known as Huig de Groot, Hugo Grocio or Hugo de Groot, was a jurist in the Dutch Republic. With Francisco de Vitoria and Alberico Gentili he laid the foundations for international law, based on natural law...
's
The Free Sea (
Mare liberum), to which it was intended to be a rejoinder, and the pretensions advanced in which on behalf of the
DutchThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
fishermen to poach in the waters off the
EnglishEngland 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...
coasts, it was its purpose to explode. The fact that Selden was not retained in the great case of
ship moneyShip money refers to a tax that Charles I of England tried to levy without the consent of Parliament. This tax, which was only applied to coastal towns during a time of war, was intended to offset the cost of defending that part of the coast, and could be paid in actual ships or the equivalent value...
in 1637 by
John HampdenJohn Hampden was an English politician, the eldest son of William Hampden, of Hampden House, Great Hampden in Buckinghamshire, John Hampden (ca. 15951643) was an English politician, the eldest son of William Hampden, of Hampden House, Great Hampden in Buckinghamshire, John Hampden (ca. 15951643)...
, the cousin of his former client, may be accepted as additional evidence that his zeal in the popular cause was not so warm and unsuspected as it had once been.
His last publication was a vindication of himself from certain charges advanced against him and his
Mare clausum around 1653 by Theodore Graswinckel, a Dutch jurist.
Posthumous publications
Several of Selden's minor works were printed for the first time after his death, and a collective edition of his writings was published by David Wilkins in 3 volumes folio in 1725, and again in 1726.
Table Talk, for which he is perhaps best known, did not appear until 1689. It was edited by his
amanuensisAmanuensis is a Latin word adopted in various languages, including English, for certain persons performing a function by hand, either writing down the words of another or performing manual labour...
, Richard Milward, who affirms that "the sense and notion is wholly Selden's," and that "most of the words" are his also. Its genuineness has sometimes been questioned.
Views
Selden arrived at an Erastian position in church politics. He also believed in
free will"To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...
, which was inconsistent with
CalvinismCalvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
.
He was sceptical of the legend of
King ArthurKing Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
as it had grown up, but believed Arthur had existed. The Druids, he commented on
Poly-Olbion, were ancient and presumed esoteric thinkers. The popular image of a Druid descends via a masque of
Inigo JonesInigo Jones is the first significant British architect of the modern period, and the first to bring Italianate Renaissance architecture to England...
from a reconstruction by Selden, based (without good foundations) on ancient German statuary.
Influence
According to the
Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing, he "played a role of fundamental importance in the transition of English historical writing from a medieval antiquarianism to a more modern understanding of the scope and function of history than had ever before been expressed in Renaissance England". His reputation lasted well, with
Mark PattisonMark Pattison was an English author and a Church of England priest. He served as Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford.-Life:...
calling him "the most learned man, not only of his party, but of Englishmen".
By about 1640, Selden's views (with those of Grotius) had a large impact on the
Great TewGreat Tew is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold Hills in Oxfordshire, England, about northeast of Chipping Norton and southwest of Banbury.-Archaeology:...
circle around
Lucius Cary, 2nd Viscount FalklandLucius Cary, 2nd Viscount Falkland was an English author and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1642...
:
William ChillingworthWilliam Chillingworth was a controversial English churchman.-Early life:He was born in Oxford, where his father served as mayor; William Laud was his godfather. In June 1618 he became a scholar of Trinity College, Oxford, of which he was made a fellow in June 1628...
,
Dudley DiggesSir Dudley Digges , of Chilham Castle, Kent , was a Member of Parliament, elected to the Parliament of 1614 and that of 1621, and also a "Virginia adventurer," an investor who ventured his capital in the Virginia Company of London...
,
Henry HammondHenry Hammond was an English churchman.-Early life:He was born at Chertsey in Surrey on 18 August 1605, the youngest son of John Hammond, physician. He was educated at Eton College, and from age 13 at Magdalen College, Oxford, becoming demy or scholar in 1619. On 11 December 1622 he graduated B.A....
. It was in this milieu that Selden met and befriended
Thomas HobbesThomas Hobbes of Malmesbury , in some older texts Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury, was an English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy...
. They had much in common, in political thought, but the precise connections have not been clarified.
Richard CumberlandRichard Cumberland was an English philosopher, and bishop of Peterborough from 1691. In 1672, he published his major work, De legibus naturae , propounding utilitarianism and opposing the egoistic ethics of Thomas Hobbes.Cumberland was a member of the latitudinarian movement, along with his friend...
followed Selden over both Grotius and Hobbes on natural law. Selden contested the scholastic position, after
CiceroMarcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
, that "right reason" could by its dictates alone generate
obligationAn obligation is a requirement to take some course of action, whether legal or moral. There are also obligations in other normative contexts, such as obligations of etiquette, social obligations, and possibly...
, by claiming that a formal obligation required a superior in authority. In his
De legibus Cumberland rejects Selden's solution by means of the Noahide laws, in
De jure naturali, in favour of Selden's less developed alternate solution. The latter is more orthodox for a Thomist, an
intellectus agens as a natural faculty in the rational soul, by the mediation of which divine intellect can intervene directly with individuals.
Matthew HaleSir Matthew Hale SL was an influential English barrister, judge and jurist most noted for his treatise Historia Placitorum Coronæ, or The History of the Pleas of the Crown. Born to a barrister and his wife, who had both died by the time he was 5, Hale was raised by his father's relative, a strict...
tried to merge the theory of Grotius on property with Selden's view on obligation. Cumberland and Hale both belonged to a larger group, followers in a broad sense of Selden, with backgrounds mostly of Cambridge and the law, comprising also Orlando Bridgeman,
Hezekiah Burton-Life:He was educated in Sutton-on-Lound and at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he became a Fellow.He was an associate of a number of intellectual figures of the day, in particular Richard Cumberland whose De legibus naturae he edited and to which he contributed an Address to the Reader. He is...
,
John HollingsJohn Hollings or Hollins, M.D. was an English physician.Hollings was born about 1683, the son of John Hollings, M.D., of Shrewsbury, and formerly fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge. After attending Shrewsbury School, he entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1700, shortly afterwards migrating...
,
Richard KidderRichard Kidder was an English Anglican churchman, Bishop of Bath and Wells from 1691 to his death. He was a noted theologian.He was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he was a sizar, from 1649, graduating 1652. He became a Fellow there in 1655, and vicar of Stranground,...
,
Edward StillingfleetEdward Stillingfleet was a British theologian and scholar. Considered an outstanding preacher as well as a strong polemical writer defending Anglicanism, Stillingfleet was known as "the beauty of holiness" for his good looks in the pulpit, and was called by John Hough "the ablest man of his...
,
John TillotsonJohn Tillotson was an Archbishop of Canterbury .-Curate and rector:Tillotson was the son of a Puritan clothier at Haughend, Sowerby, Yorkshire. He entered as a pensioner of Clare Hall, Cambridge, in 1647, graduated in 1650 and was made fellow of his college in 1651...
, and
John WilkinsJohn 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....
.
Giambattista VicoGiovanni Battista ' Vico or Vigo was an Italian political philosopher, rhetorician, historian, and jurist....
called Grotius, Selden and Samuel Pufendorf the "three princes" of the "natural right of the gentes". He went on to criticise their approach foundationally. In his
Autobiography he specifies that they had conflated the natural law of the "nations", based on custom, with that of the philosophers, based on human abstractions.
Isaiah BerlinSir Isaiah Berlin OM, FBA was a British social and political theorist, philosopher and historian of ideas of Russian-Jewish origin, regarded as one of the leading thinkers of the twentieth century and a dominant liberal scholar of his generation...
comments on Vico's admiration for Grotius and Selden.
Further reading
- Daniel Woolf (1990), The Idea of History in Early Stuart England
- Paul Christianson (1996), Discourse in History, Law and Governance in the Public Career of John Selden, 1610–1635
- Reid Barbour (2003), John Selden: Measures of the Holy Commonwealth in Seventeenth-century England
External links
- Works by/about John Selden at Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
. Scanned, illustrated original editions.