Henry Wotton
Henry Wotton was born on the 30th of March 1568 at Bocton Hall in Kent. His father Thomas Wotton died in 1587 leaving Henry only a hundred marks a year. This modest inheritance shaped his early life and forced him to seek opportunity beyond his family estate. He attended Winchester College before matriculating at New College Oxford on the 5th of June 1584. Two years later he moved to Queen's College where he graduated in 1588. At Oxford he befriended Alberico Gentili who taught Civil Law and John Donne who would become a famous poet. While studying he wrote a play called Tancredo that has not survived to this day. His chief interests appeared scientific rather than literary during these formative years.
About 1589 Wotton went abroad for about six years with a view to preparing for a diplomatic career. He travelled by way of Vienna and Venice to Rome meeting Edward Lord Zouch at Altdorf. During these travels he contracted a considerable debt to Isaac Casaubon while staying at Geneva in 1593. He returned to England in 1594 and entered service as one of Robert Devereux's agents or secretaries. His duty involved supplying intelligence of affairs in Transylvania Poland Italy and Germany. He served Essex's secretary in Ireland from the 15th of April 1599 until the 4th of September 1599. When Essex was apprehended Wotton left England within sixteen hours and found safety in France before travelling to Venice and Rome.
In 1611 Schoppe wrote a scurrilous book against James entitled Ecclesiasticus fastening on Wotton a saying written years earlier. The famous definition stated an ambassador is an honest man sent to lie abroad for the good of his country. This Latin phrase did not originally admit to double meaning yet it became an example of the morals of James and his servants. Wotton made two formal defences of himself during this period of disgrace. One defence was a personal attack on his accuser addressed to Mark Welser of Augsburg. The other was private communication directly to the king. He obtained no diplomatic employment for some time after this controversy erupted. The incident brought him into temporary disgrace with the royal court despite his long history of service.
Wotton spent most of the next twenty years at Venice with two breaks between 1612 and 1616 and again from 1619 to 1621. He helped the Doge resist ecclesiastical aggression while closely associated with Paolo Sarpi. Sarpi's history of the Council of Trent was sent to King James as fast as it was written. In 1604 he left London accompanied by Sir Albertus Morton as secretary and William Bedell as chaplain. When James VI of Scotland faced a plot to murder him in 1602 Wotton travelled to Scotland under the name Ottavio Baldi. He remained three months at the Scottish court retaining his Italian incognito before returning to Florence. His work in Venice involved complex political intrigue against papal authority throughout these decades.
In July 1624 Wotton was installed as provost of Eton College though this office did not resolve his financial problems. On one occasion he was arrested for debt while serving in this position. He received a pension of £200 in 1627 which was raised to £500 in 1630 on the understanding that he should write a history of England. Despite these funds he remained happy entertaining friends lavishly including Izaak Walton and John Hales. A bend in the Thames below the Playing Fields known as Black Potts remains where Wotton and Walton fished together. He died at the beginning of December 1639 and was buried in the chapel of Eton College after years of service.
During his time in Venice Wotton published The Elements of Architecture in 1624 as a free translation of de Architectura by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio. This work shares authorship of the quote Well building hath three conditions firmness commodity and delight with Vitruvius himself. Some have termed his Elements a paraphrase rather than a true translation yet it remains influential. Of twenty-five poems printed in Reliquiae Wottonianae fifteen are Wotton's own work. Two well-known pieces include O his Mistris the Queen of Bohemia and The Character of a Happy Life. His epitaph for Elizabeth Apsley widow of Sir Albertus Morton reads He first deceased she for a little tried to live without him liked it not and died. In 1651 appeared the Reliquiae Wottonianiae containing Walton's Life alongside these collected works.
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Common questions
When was Henry Wotton born and where did he grow up?
Henry Wotton was born on the 30th of March 1568 at Bocton Hall in Kent. His father Thomas Wotton died in 1587 leaving Henry only a hundred marks a year.
What famous definition about ambassadors is attributed to Henry Wotton?
Henry Wotton defined an ambassador as an honest man sent to lie abroad for the good of his country. This Latin phrase became an example of the morals of James and his servants despite originally not admitting double meaning.
How long did Henry Wotton spend serving as envoy to Venice?
Henry Wotton spent most of the next twenty years at Venice with two breaks between 1612 and 1616 and again from 1619 to 1621. He helped the Doge resist ecclesiastical aggression while closely associated with Paolo Sarpi during these decades.
Why did Henry Wotton leave England in 1599 after Essex's apprehension?
Henry Wotton left England within sixteen hours when Essex was apprehended and found safety in France before travelling to Venice and Rome. The incident brought him into temporary disgrace with the royal court despite his long history of service.
When did Henry Wotton die and where was he buried?
Henry Wotton died at the beginning of December 1639 and was buried in the chapel of Eton College after years of service. He received a pension of £200 in 1627 which was raised to £500 in 1630 on the understanding that he should write a history of England.