Francis Bacon
1st Viscount St. Alban, King's Council
Early Life
- He was born on January 22, 1561 at York House in Strand, London
- He is the youngest out of his 4 siblings
- Mother: Ann Cooke Bacon
- Father: Sir Nicholas Bacon
- He was home schooled
- He health was bad
- Attended Trinity College in 1573 at the age of 12
- The Queen thought he was intelligent and called him the "the young Lord Keeper"
- "On June 27, 1576, he and Anthony were entered de societate magistrorum at Gray's in (Inn of Court), and a few months later they went abroad with Sir Amias Paulet, the English ambassador at Paris."
- Returned back to England in February 1579 because his father died
Career
- He describes his mental state and his goals in the fragment De Interpretatione Naturae Prooemium which was probably written in 1603
- In 1584 he became a member for Melcombe in Dorset in the English Parliament
- In 1586 he strongly pushed for the execution of Mary Queen of Scots
- In February of 1593, Elizabeth called a Parliament to pursue a Catholic plot against her which is when Bacon secured a spot for Middlesex
- In 1594 a position opened up for Attorney-Generalship and Bacon was considered for office
- He had a bad financial situation which his friends tried to fix by trying to have Bacon marry a wealthy widow named Lady Elizabeth Hatton
- This marriage failed
- He was arrested in 1598 for his debt
- His relationship with the Queen became stronger
- King James I liked Bacon which made him become knighted in 1603
- When he was knighted, his powers were used in Apologie (defense) in the case of Essex
- Bacon married Alice Barnham, who was the daughter of a well connected London alderman and a member of Parliament
- In 1608, he entered the clerkship of the Star Chamber
- The clerkship made him come out of debt
- In 1618, he created Baron Verulam when he received favors from the King
- In 1621, he created Viscount St. Alban
- Both of these works disappeared after his death
- His public career ended in 1621 after falling into debt and the Parliament Committee charged him with corruption
Death
- In March 1626, he traveled back to London to test if using snow would preserve meat. While stuffing the chicken with snow, he caught pneumonia.
- He died of pneumonia on April 9, 1626
Works
- Essays
- Colours of Good and Evil
- Meditationes Sacrae
- He is famous for saying "knowledge is power," which is found in Meditations.
- "He wrote In felicem memoriam Elizabethae, which is a eulogy for the queen in 1609"
- Novum Organum (Published 1620)
- Astrologia Sana
- De augmentis scientiarum (1623)