Robert Brady (writer)
Encyclopedia
Robert Brady was an English academic and historical writer supporting the royalist position in the reigns of Charles II of England
and James II of England
. He was also a physician.
. He was educated in Downham, Norfolk and at Caius College, Cambridge. He was made Master of Caius College, in 1660, on the English Restoration
. In the 1670s he hoped to write for the prominent politicians Joseph Williamson
and Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, but they declined the offer. It was only when William Sancroft
became Archbishop of Canterbury
that Brady found a patron.
Brady held from 1677 the position of Regius Professor of Physic
at Cambridge. He sat as Member of Parliament for the University in 1681 and 1685.
In historical controversy, he was opposed to William Petyt
and James Tyrrell
, along what would become Tory
versus Whig
lines, then forming in the Exclusion crisis of the 1680s. Brady is regarded as holding to an uncompromising royalist position. Others on the Whig side were William Atwood
, Edward Cooke, and Sir John Somers.
J. P. Kenyon takes him as a pioneer among the royalist scholars of English medieval history, who were working towards a formulation akin to our contemporary view. John Pocock regards as "unforgettably damaging" the effect the (proto)-Tory Brady and others made, in attacking the doctrine of the "Ancient Constitution" as a failed description of the real circumstances of political arrangements in the England of the Middle Ages. On the narrow point of the actual legal effects of the Norman Conquest, Brady had been anticipated by Samuel Daniel
, in views that are quite close to modern scholars. He moved from there to argue for absolutism
, and that Magna Carta
was not a major charter for popular freedom. Brady's ideas drew on Henry Spelman
and Robert Filmer
.
David C. Douglas
remarks that although his motivations as a scholar were at least as political as those of his opponents, his techniques were so far superior that his work remained of importance. Brady was aided in his later work by a position from 1686 in the archives of the Tower of London
.
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
and James II of England
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
. He was also a physician.
Biography
Brady was son of Thomas Brady, an attorney of Denver, NorfolkDenver, Norfolk
Denver is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is located on the River Great Ouse, 1 mile south of the small town of Downham Market, 14 miles south of the larger town of King's Lynn, and 37 miles west of the city of Norwich.The civil parish has an area of...
. He was educated in Downham, Norfolk and at Caius College, Cambridge. He was made Master of Caius College, in 1660, on the English Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
. In the 1670s he hoped to write for the prominent politicians Joseph Williamson
Joseph Williamson (politician)
Sir Joseph Williamson, FRS was an English civil servant, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons of England variously between 1665 and 1701 and in the Irish House of Commons between 1692 and 1699....
and Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, but they declined the offer. It was only when William Sancroft
William Sancroft
William Sancroft was the 79th Archbishop of Canterbury.- Life :Sancroft was born at Ufford Hall in Fressingfield, Suffolk, son of Francis Sandcroft and Margaret Sandcroft née Butcher...
became Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
that Brady found a patron.
Brady held from 1677 the position of Regius Professor of Physic
Regius Professor of Physic (Cambridge)
The Regius Professorship of Physic is one of the oldest professorships at the University of Cambridge, founded by Henry VIII in 1540. "Physic" is an old word for medicine, , not physics.-Regius Professors of Physic:...
at Cambridge. He sat as Member of Parliament for the University in 1681 and 1685.
In historical controversy, he was opposed to William Petyt
William Petyt
William Petyt was an English lawyer and writer, a political propagandist in the Whig interest.-Life:He was born at Storiths, Bolton Abbey. He was educated at Ermysted’s Grammar School, Skipton and Christ's College, Cambridge. He was admitted to the Middle Temple but was later associated with the...
and James Tyrrell
James Tyrrell (writer)
James Tyrrell was an English author and Whig political philosopher.-Life:James Tyrrell was the eldest son of Sir Timothy Tyrrell and Elizabeth Ussher, the only daughter of Archbishop James Ussher. His younger sister Eleanor married the deist Charles Blount...
, along what would become Tory
Tory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
versus Whig
British Whig Party
The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
lines, then forming in the Exclusion crisis of the 1680s. Brady is regarded as holding to an uncompromising royalist position. Others on the Whig side were William Atwood
William Atwood
William Atwood was an English lawyer, known also as a political and historical writer.-Early life:William Atwood was son and heir of John Atwood of Broomfield, Essex...
, Edward Cooke, and Sir John Somers.
J. P. Kenyon takes him as a pioneer among the royalist scholars of English medieval history, who were working towards a formulation akin to our contemporary view. John Pocock regards as "unforgettably damaging" the effect the (proto)-Tory Brady and others made, in attacking the doctrine of the "Ancient Constitution" as a failed description of the real circumstances of political arrangements in the England of the Middle Ages. On the narrow point of the actual legal effects of the Norman Conquest, Brady had been anticipated by Samuel Daniel
Samuel Daniel
Samuel Daniel was an English poet and historian.-Early life:Daniel was born near Taunton in Somerset, the son of a music-master. He was the brother of lutenist and composer John Danyel. Their sister Rosa was Edmund Spenser's model for Rosalind in his The Shepherd's Calendar; she eventually married...
, in views that are quite close to modern scholars. He moved from there to argue for absolutism
Absolutism (European history)
Absolutism or The Age of Absolutism is a historiographical term used to describe a form of monarchical power that is unrestrained by all other institutions, such as churches, legislatures, or social elites...
, and that Magna Carta
Magna Carta
Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...
was not a major charter for popular freedom. Brady's ideas drew on Henry Spelman
Henry Spelman
Sir Henry Spelman was an English antiquary, noted for his detailed collections of medieval records, in particular of church councils.-Life:...
and Robert Filmer
Robert Filmer
thumbnail|150px|right|Robert Filmer Sir Robert Filmer was an English political theorist who defended the divine right of kings...
.
David C. Douglas
David C. Douglas
David Charles Douglas was a historian of the Norman period at the University of Cambridge and University of Oxford. He joined Oxford University in 1963 as Ford's Lecturer in English History, and was the 1939 winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.-Works:* William the Conqueror: The Norman...
remarks that although his motivations as a scholar were at least as political as those of his opponents, his techniques were so far superior that his work remained of importance. Brady was aided in his later work by a position from 1686 in the archives of the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her 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...
.