Home > Thomas Bodley

He was born at Exeter. During the reign of Queen Mary I, his father, John Bodley, was forced to leave the kingdom because of his Protestant principles, and went to live at Geneva. In the university there, where John Calvin and Theodore Beza were teaching divinity, young Bodley studied for a short time. On the accession of Elizabeth I he returned with his father to England, and entered Magdalen College, Oxford. In 1563 he took his B.A. degree, and was admitted a fellow of Merton College. In 1565Events March 1 the city of Rio de Janeiro is founded April 27 Cebu City is established becoming the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines. August 28 St. Augustine, Florida (named after St. Augustine), established. It is the oldest remaining European he read a GreekThe Greek language ( /Elini'k{/) is an Indo-European language which has existed from around the 14th century BC in the Cretan inscriptions called Linear B. Mycenaean Greek of this period is distinguished from later Classical or Ancient Greek of the 8th ce lecture in hall, took his M.A. degree the year after, and read natural philosophy in the public schools. In 1569 he was proctor, and for some time after was deputy public orator.

Leaving Oxford in 1576Events May 5 Peace of Beaulieu or Peace of Monsieur (after Monsieur, the Duc d'Anjou, brother of the King, who negotiated it). End of the Fifth War of Religion Once again, the Protestants are granted freedom of worship. October 3 The " Spanish Terror"., he toured Europe; shortly after his return he became gentleman-usher to Queen Elizabeth; and in 1587 married Ann Ball, a widow of considerable fortune, the daughter of a Mr Carew of Bristol. In 1584 he entered parliamentAlternative meanings: Parliamentary system, Parliament (band), Parliament (cigarette). A parliament is a legislative body, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system derived from that of the United Kingdom. as member for PortsmouthThis article is about the English city of Portsmouth. For other places with the same name, please see Portsmouth (disambiguation). Portsmouth is a city of about 186,000 located in the county of Hampshire on the southern coast of England. A significant nav, and represented St German's in 1586. In 1585 Bodley was entrusted with a mission to form a league between Frederick II of DenmarkFrederick II ( July 1, 1534 April 4, 1588), King of Denmark and Norway from 1559 until his death. He was the son of King Christian III of Denmark and Norway and Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg. He was married to Sophia of Mecklenburg-Gustrow. They had five chi and certain German princes to assist Henry of Navarre, the future Henry IV of FranceFrans Pourbus the younger. Henry IV ( December 13, 1553 May 14, 1610) was the first of the Bourbon kings of France, reigning from 1589 until 1610. As a Protestant he was involved in the Wars of Religion before acceding to the throne; as King he converted. He was next despatched on a secret mission to France; and in 1588 he was sent to the Hague as minister, a post which demanded great diplomatic skill, for it was in the Netherlands that the power of Spain had to be fought. The essential difficulties of his mission were complicated by the intrigues of the queen's ministers at home, and Bodley repeatedly asked to be recalled. He was finally permitted to return to England in 1596, but finding his preferment obstructed by the competing interests of Burleigh and Essex, he retired from public life. He was knighted on April 18, 1604.

He is remembered especially as the founder of the Bodleian at Oxford, practically the earliest public library in Europe. He determined, he said, "to take his farewell of state employments and to set up his staff at the library door in. Oxford." In 1598 his offer to restore the old library was accepted by the university. Bodley not only used his private fortune in his undertaking, but induced many of his friends to make valuable gifts of books. In 1611 he began its permanent endowment, and at his death, the greater part of his fortune was left to it. He was buried in the choir of Merton College chapel where a monument of black and white marble was erected to him.

Sir Thomas wrote his own autobiography up to the year 1609, which, with the first draft of the statutes drawn up for the library, and his letters to the librarian, Thomas James, was published by Thomas Hearne, under the title of Reliquiae Bodleianae, or Authentic Remains of Sir Thomas Bodley (London, 1703, 8vo).