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William Camden

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This article is about the 16th- and 17th-century antiquarian. For the 18th-century merchant, seeWilliam Camden (merchant).

William Camden
William Camden
William Camden
Born2 May 1551
London, England
Died9 November 1623(1623-11-09)(aged 72)
Chislehurst,England
OccupationAntiquarian, historian, topographer

William Camden(2 May 1551 – 9 November 1623) was an Englishantiquarian,historian,topographer,andherald,best known as author ofBritannia,the firstchorographicalsurvey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and theAnnales,the first detailed historical account of the reign ofElizabeth I of England.

Early years[edit]

William Camden was born in London. His father Sampson Camden was a member of TheWorshipful Company of Painter-Stainers.He attendedChrist's HospitalandSt Paul's School,and in 1566 enteredOxford(Magdalen College,Broadgates Hall,and finallyChrist Church). At Christ Church, he became acquainted withPhilip Sidney,who encouraged Camden's antiquarian interests. He returned to London in 1571 without a degree. In 1575, he became Usher ofWestminster School,a position that gave him the freedom to travel and pursue his antiquarian researches during school vacations.

Britannia[edit]

Hand-coloured frontispiece and title page of the 1607 edition ofBritannia

In 1577, with the encouragement ofAbraham Ortelius,Camden began his great workBritannia,a topographical and historical survey of all of Great Britain and Ireland. His stated intention was to "restore antiquity to Britaine, and Britain to his antiquity".[1]The first edition, written inLatin,was published in 1586. It proved very popular, and ran through five further Latin editions, of 1587, 1590, 1594, 1600 and 1607, each greatly enlarged from its predecessor in both textual content and illustrations.[2][3]The 1607 edition included for the first time a full set of English county maps, based on the surveys ofChristopher SaxtonandJohn Norden,and engraved by William Kip andWilliam Hole(who also engraved the fine frontispiece). The firstEnglish-languageedition, translated byPhilemon Holland,appeared in 1610, again with some additional content supplied by Camden.[4]

Britanniais a county-by-county description of Great Britain and Ireland. It is a work ofchorography:a study that relates landscape, geography, antiquarianism, and history. Rather than write a history, Camden wanted to describe in detail the Great Britain of the present, and to show how the traces of the past could be discerned in the existing landscape. By this method, he produced the first coherent picture ofRoman Britain.

He continued to collect materials and to revise and expandBritanniathroughout his life. He drew on the published and unpublished work ofJohn LelandandWilliam Lambarde,among others, and received the assistance of a large network of correspondents with similar interests. He also travelled throughout Great Britain to view documents, sites, and artefacts for himself: he is known to have visited East Anglia in 1578, Yorkshire and Lancashire in 1582, Devon in 1589, Wales in 1590, Salisbury, Wells and Oxford in 1596, and Carlisle and Hadrian's Wall in 1599.[5]His fieldwork and firsthand research set new standards for the time. He even learnedWelshandOld Englishfor the task: his tutor in Old English wasLaurence Nowell.

Camden asClarenceux King of Armsin the funeral procession ofQueen Elizabeth I,1603

In 1593 Camden became headmaster ofWestminster School.He held the post for four years, but left when he was appointedClarenceux King of Arms.By this time, largely because of theBritannia's reputation, he was a well-known and revered figure, and the appointment was meant to free him from the labour of teaching and to facilitate his research. TheCollege of Armsat that time was not only a centre ofgenealogicalandheraldicstudy, but also a centre of antiquarian study. The appointment, however, roused the jealousy ofRalph Brooke,York Herald,who, in retaliation, published an attack onBritannia,charging Camden with inaccuracy and plagiarism. Camden successfully defended himself against the charges in subsequent editions of the work.

Britanniawas recognised as an important work of Renaissance scholarship, not only in England, but across the European "Republic of Letters".Camden considered having the 1586Britanniaprinted in theLow Countries,and although that did not happen, the third edition of 1590, in addition to its London printing, was also published the same year inFrankfurt,and reprinted there in 1616. In 1612 parts were condemned by theSpanish Inquisition.An abridgement was published in Amsterdam in 1617 and reprinted in 1639; and versions of the text were also included inJoan Blaeu'sTheatrum Orbis Terrarum(published in Amsterdam in 1645) and inJan Janssonius'sNovus Atlas(again published in Amsterdam, in 1646).[6]

Annales[edit]

Frontispiece and title page of a 1675 edition of theAnnales

In 1597,William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghleysuggested that Camden write a history of Queen Elizabeth's reign. The degree of Burghley's subsequent influence on the work is unclear: Camden only specifically mentionsJohn Fortescue of Salden,Elizabeth's lastChancellor of the Exchequer,andHenry Cuffe,Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex's secretary, as sources.[7]Camden began his work in 1607. The first part (books 1–3) of theAnnales rerum Anglicarum et Hibernicarum regnante Elizabetha, ad annum salutis M.D. LXXXIX,covering the reign up to 1588, appeared in 1615. The second part (book 4, covering 1589–1603) was completed in 1617, but was not published until 1625 (Leiden edition), and 1627 (London edition), following Camden's death. The first translation into English of books 1–3 appeared in 1625, done by Abraham Darcie or Darcy (active 1625).[8]Book 4 was translated into English byThomas Browne, canon of Windsor,in 1629.

TheAnnaleswere not written in a continuous narrative, but in the style of earlier annals, giving the events of each year in a separate entry. Sometimes criticised as being too favourably disposed towards Elizabeth andJames I,theAnnalesare one of the great works of Englishhistoriographyand had a great impact on the later image of theElizabethan age.Hugh Trevor-Ropersaid about them: "It is thanks to Camden that we ascribe to Queen Elizabeth a consistent policy ofvia mediarather than an inconsequent series of unresolved conflicts and paralysed indecisions. "[8]

Camden heavily revised and self-censored his work to favour his patron. This included pages being overwritten, or passages covered by having pieces of paper stuck on. This made censored passages on hundreds of pages unreadable. In 2023 enhanced imaging technology using transmitted light made the hidden passages readable, revealing major insights, and confirming that theAnnaleswere deliberately rewritten to depict Elizabeth's reign in a way favourable to her successor. Amongst new revelations, the Annals reported that Elizabeth, dying, had named James VI of Scotland as her successor. Analysis of the manuscript drafts shows the deathbed scene to be a fabricated addition to support James's succession.Pope Pius Vwas reported to haveexcommunicatedElizabeth due to "secret plots"; this originally had been the more inflammatory "spiritual warfare", and had been toned down. As of July 2023the new material was being studied, with the expectation that modern interpretations of Elizabeth and her reign would potentially change.[9]

Remaines Concerning Britain[edit]

Camden'sRemaines of a Greater Worke, Concerning Britainewas a collection of themed historical essays, conceived as a more popular companion toBritannia.This was the only book Camden wrote in English, and, contrary to his own misleading description of it in the first edition (1605) as being merely the "rude rubble and out-cast rubbish" of a greater and more serious work (i.e.Britannia), manuscript evidence clearly indicates that he planned this book early on and as a quite separate project.Remainessubsequently ran into many editions. The standard modern edition, edited by R. D. Dunn, is based on the surviving manuscript material and the three editions published in Camden's lifetime (1605, 1614, and 1623).[10]Editions published after 1623 are unreliable and contain unauthentic material, especially thebowdlerizededition of 1636 byJohn Philipot.Thomas Moule's edition of 1870, of which many copies survive, is based on Philipot's 1674 edition.

Camden'sRemainesis often the earliest or sole usage cited for a word in theOxford English Dictionary;and further significant early usages (including new words and antedatings) have since been identified.[11]Remainesalso contains the first-ever Alpha betical list ofEnglish proverbs,since heavily exploited by the editors of the principal modern dictionaries of proverbs (including those ofBurton Stevenson(1949), M. P. Tilley (1950) and the third edition of theOxford Dictionary of English Proverbs,edited byF. P. Wilson(1970)). Scattered through the book are a number of additional proverbs not recorded elsewhere.[12]

Reges, reginae[edit]

In 1600 Camden published, anonymously,Reges, reginae, nobiles et alii in ecclesia collegiata B. Petri Westmonasterii sepulti,a guidebook to the manytomb monumentsandepitaphsofWestminster Abbey.Although slight, this was a highly innovative work, predatingJohn Weever'sAncient Funerall Monumentsby over thirty years. It proved popular with the public, and two expanded editions appeared in 1603 and in 1606.

Other writings[edit]

Among Camden's other works were theInstitutio Graecae grammatices compendiaria in usum regiae scholae Westmonasteriensis(1595), a Greek grammar which remained a standard school textbook for over a century;Actio in Henricum Garnetum, Societatis Jesuiticae in Anglia superiorem(1607), a Latin translation of the trial of theGunpowder Plotters,aimed at an international readership; an unpublished essay on printing;[13]and a number of Latin poems.[14]

Final years[edit]

Camden (byMarcus Gheeraerts the Younger,1609)

In 1609 Camden moved toChislehurstin Kent, now south-east London.[15]Though often in ill health, he continued to work diligently. In 1622 he founded an endowed lectureship in history at Oxford – the first in the world – which continues to this day as theCamden Professor of Ancient History.[15]That same year he was struck withparalysis.[15]He died at Chislehurst on 9 November 1623, and was buried atWestminster Abbey,where his monument, incorporating a demi-figure of Camden holding a copy of theBritannia,can still be seen in the south transept ( "Poets' Corner").[15]

Camden left his books to his former pupil and friendSir Robert Cotton,the creator of theCotton library.[15]His circle of friends and acquaintances includedLord Burghley,Fulke Greville,Philip Sidney,Edmund Spenser,John Stow,John Dee,Jacques de ThouandBen Jonson,who was Camden's student at Westminster and who dedicated an early edition ofEvery Man in His Humourto him.[15][16][17]

Legacy[edit]

Camden'sBritanniaremained a standard and highly regarded authority for many years after his death. A lightly revised edition of Holland's 1610 translation was published in 1637. A new and greatly expanded translation, edited byEdmund Gibson,was published in 1695, and was reissued in revised editions in 1722, 1753 and 1772. Yet another new and further expanded translation byRichard Goughwas published in 1789, followed by a second edition in 1806.[3][18]In an address given in 1986, marking the original publication's 400th anniversary, George Boon commented that the work "still fundamentally colours the way in which we, as antiquaries, look at our country".[19]

Hitherto hidden censored passages in theAnnaleswhich became readable in 2023 may significantly change modern interpretations of Queen Elizabeth's reign.[9]

The William Camden, a pub inBexleyheath,several miles fromChislehurst,Kent, where Camden lived in later life

The lectureship in history at Oxford endowed by Camden survives as theCamden Professor of Ancient History.Since 1877 it has been attached toBrasenose College,and since 1910 has been limited to Roman history.

TheCamden Society,named after Camden, was atext publication societyfounded in 1838 to publish early historical and literary materials. In 1897 it was absorbed into theRoyal Historical Society,which continues to publish texts in what are now known as the Camden Series.

TheCambridge Camden Society,which also took its name from Camden, was a learned society founded in 1839 by undergraduates atCambridge Universityto promote the study ofGothic architecture.In 1845 it moved to London, where it became known as the Ecclesiological Society, and was highly influential in the development of the 19th-centuryGothic revival.

After Camden's death, his former home at Chislehurst became known as Camden Place. In the 18th century, it was acquired by SirCharles Pratt,Chief Justice of the Common Pleasand laterLord Chancellor,who in 1765 was elevated to the peerage with the title Baron Camden, of Camden Place. In 1786 he was created Earl Camden, and in 1812 his son becameMarquess Camden.The family owned and developed land to the north of London, and so, by this circuitous route, William Camden's name survives in the names ofCamden Townand theLondon Borough of Camden.

Arms[edit]

Coat of arms of William Camden
Crest
An equilateral triangle pierced or charged with 3 estoiles gules.
Escutcheon
Or, a fess engrailed between 6 crosses crosslet fitchy sable.[20]
Motto
Pondere non Numero

Notes[edit]

  1. ^Camden, William (1610). "The Author to the Reader".Britain, or a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the Ilands adjoyning, out of the depth of Antiquitie.Translated byHolland, Philemon.London.
  2. ^Levy 1964.
  3. ^abPiggott 1976.
  4. ^Harris 2015.
  5. ^Dates of excursions based on DeMolen 1984, p. 328; the date of the northern trip corrected from 1600 to 1599 based on Hepple 1999.
  6. ^Harris 2015, pp. 281–3.
  7. ^Adams pp. 53, 64.
  8. ^abKenyon p. 10.
  9. ^abAlberge, Dalya (14 July 2023)."'Heart-stopping': censored pages of history of Elizabeth I reappear after 400 years ".The Guardian.
  10. ^Camden, William (1984). Dunn, R. D. (ed.).Remains Concerning Britain.Toronto: University of Toronto Press.ISBN0-8020-2457-2.
  11. ^Dunn, R. D. (1986). "Additions toOEDfrom William Camden'sRemains1605, 1614, 1623 ".Notes and Queries.231(4): 451–460.
  12. ^Dunn, R. D. (1986). "English Proverbs from William Camden'sRemains Concerning Britain".Huntington Library Quarterly.49(3): 271–275.doi:10.2307/3817125.JSTOR3817125.
  13. ^Dunn, R. D., ed. (1986). "Fragment of an Unpublished Essay on Printing by William Camden".British Library Journal.12:145–9.
  14. ^Johnston, George Burke, ed. (1975). "Poems by William Camden: with notes and translations from the Latin".Studies in Philology.72(5): 1–143.OCLC6478930.
  15. ^abcdefHerendeen 2008.
  16. ^Levy 1964.
  17. ^Herendeen 2007, pp. 97, 294–303, 496.
  18. ^Harris 2015, p. 281.
  19. ^Boon 1987, p. 1.
  20. ^"Clarenceux King of Arms | British History Online".british-history.ac.uk.Retrieved20 November2018.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

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