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Sir Henry Savile (30 November 154919 February 1622) was an English scholar and mathematician,
Warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically identic ...
of
Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ...
, and Provost of Eton. He endowed the Savilian chairs of Astronomy and of Geometry at
Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, and was one of the scholars who translated the
New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...
from Greek into English. He was a Member of the
Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised ...
for Bossiney in
Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
in 1589, and
Dunwich Dunwich is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB around north-east of London, south of Southwold and north of Leiston, on the North Sea coast. In the Anglo-Saxon period, Dunwich w ...
in
Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
in 1593.


Life

He was the son of Henry Savile of Over Bradley,
Stainland Stainland is a village and civil parish in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. The village is part of the Greetland and Stainland ward of Calderdale Council and is approximately west of Elland, south of Halifax and north-west of Huddersfie ...
, near
Halifax, West Yorkshire Halifax () is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It is the commercial, cultural and administrative centre of the borough, and the headquarters of Calderdale Council. In the 15th ce ...
, England, a member of an old county family, the Saviles of
Methley Methley is a dispersed village in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, south east of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is located near Rothwell, Oulton, Woodlesford, Mickletown and Allerton Bywater. The Leeds City Ward is called Kippa ...
, and of his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Ramsden. He was educated at
Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the m ...
, where he matriculated in 1561. He then became a Fellow of
Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ...
in 1565. He established a reputation as a
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
scholar and mathematician by voluntary lectures on
Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...
's ''
Almagest The ''Almagest'' is a 2nd-century Greek-language mathematical and astronomical treatise on the apparent motions of the stars and planetary paths, written by Claudius Ptolemy ( ). One of the most influential scientific texts in history, it can ...
'', and in 1575 became Junior Proctor of the university. In 1578 he travelled on the continent of Europe, where he collected manuscripts, and is said to have been employed by Queen Elizabeth as her resident in the
Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
. On his return he was named Greek tutor to the Queen. In 1583,
Lord Burghley William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (13 September 15204 August 1598) was an English statesman, the chief adviser of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State (1550–1553 and 1558–1572) and Lord High Treasurer from 1 ...
appointed Savile, with John Chamber and
Thomas Digges Thomas Digges (; c. 1546 – 24 August 1595) was an English mathematician and astronomer. He was the first to expound the Copernican system in English but discarded the notion of a fixed shell of immoveable stars to postulate infinitely many s ...
, to sit on a commission to consider whether England should adopt the
Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years diff ...
, as proposed by
John Dee John Dee (13 July 1527 – 1608 or 1609) was an English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, teacher, occultist, and alchemist. He was the court astronomer for, and advisor to, Elizabeth I, and spent much of his time on alchemy, divination, ...
.Adam Mosley, 'Chamber, John (1546–1604), in ''
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'' (Oxford University Press, 2004)
In 1585 he was established as Warden of Merton by a vigorous exercise of the interest of Burghley and Secretary Walsingham. He proved a successful and autocratic head of house, generally unpopular with Fellows and undergraduates, but under him the college flourished. His translation of four books of the ''Histories of
Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...
'', with the learned ''Commentary on Roman Warfare'' (1591), enhanced his reputation. He also sat in Parliament as one of the two members for Bossiney in 1589 and for
Dunwich Dunwich is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB around north-east of London, south of Southwold and north of Leiston, on the North Sea coast. In the Anglo-Saxon period, Dunwich w ...
(both were notorious
rotten borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorate ...
s) in 1593. On 26 May 1596 he obtained the provostship of
Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...
, the reward of persistent begging. He was not qualified for the post under the statutes of the college, for he was not in holy orders, and the Queen was reluctant to name him. Savile insisted with considerable ingenuity that the Queen had a right to dispense with statutes, and at last he got his way. In February 1601 he was put under arrest on suspicion of having been concerned in the rebellion of the
Earl of Essex Earl of Essex is a title in the Peerage of England which was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title has been recreated eight times from its original inception, beginning with a new first Earl upon each new crea ...
. He was soon released, and his friendship with the faction of Essex went far to gain him the favour of
James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) * James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) * James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334– ...
. So no doubt did the views he had maintained in regard to the statutes of Eton. It may have been to his advantage that his elder brother, Sir John Savile (1545–1607), was a high prerogative lawyer and one of the barons of the exchequer, who in 1606 affirmed the right of the King to impose import and export duties on his own authority. On 30 September 1604 Savile was
knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...
, and in that year he was named one of the body of scholars appointed to prepare the
Authorised Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...
of
the Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
. He was entrusted with parts of the Gospels, the
Acts of the Apostles The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its messag ...
and the
Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book o ...
. In 1619 he founded and endowed a chair in astronomy and a chair in geometry at Oxford, both bearing his name. He died at Eton on 19 February 1622, and is buried there. A fine mural monument to him in Merton College Chapel offers views of contemporary Merton and Eton and references to his literary achievements (notably Chrysostom). Sir Henry Savile has sometimes been confounded with another Henry Savile, called Long Harry (1570–1617), who gave currency to the forged addition to the ''Chronicle'' of
Asser Asser (; ; died 909) was a Welsh monk from St David's, Dyfed, who became Bishop of Sherborne in the 890s. About 885 he was asked by Alfred the Great to leave St David's and join the circle of learned men whom Alfred was recruiting for his ...
which contains the story that
King Alfred Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who ...
founded the University of Oxford.


Works

In 1596 Savile produced the first printed edition of the first four books of the '' Gesta Pontificum Anglorum'' – an ecclesiastical history of England written by
William of Malmesbury William of Malmesbury ( la, Willelmus Malmesbiriensis; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as "a ...
in the early 12th century. Savile used
Cambridge University Library Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of the over 100 libraries within the university. The Library is a major scholarly resource for the members of the University of Cambr ...
MS Ff.1.25.1 as his source for this, which was a copy of a copy of the original manuscript. His edition of the works of St. John Chrysostom in eight folio volumes was published in 1610–1613. It was printed by the king's printer on a private press erected at the expense of Sir Henry, who imported the type. The ''Chrysostom'' cost him £8000 and did not sell well. However, it was the most considerable work of pure learning undertaken in England, as it involved consulting French Chrysostomians and the despatching of young researchers to the Imperial Library in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
and the Patriarchal Library at Heybeliada or Halki, (then under the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
) and other leading monasteries and/or collections in his time. At the same press he published an edition of the ''
Cyropaedia The ''Cyropaedia'', sometimes spelled ''Cyropedia'', is a partly fictional biography of Cyrus the Great, the founder of Persia's Achaemenid Empire. It was written around 370 BC by Xenophon, the Athenian-born soldier, historian, and student of S ...
'' in 1618. Savile was keen to impart his understanding of mathematics to his students at Oxford, and in founding the Geometry chair he gave thirteen preparatory lectures on the original books of
Euclid Euclid (; grc-gre, Εὐκλείδης; BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. Considered the "father of geometry", he is chiefly known for the '' Elements'' treatise, which established the foundations of ...
's ''
Elements Element or elements may refer to: Science * Chemical element, a pure substance of one type of atom * Heating element, a device that generates heat by electrical resistance * Orbital elements, parameters required to identify a specific orbit of o ...
'' in 1620. These were published in 1621 as his ''Praelectiones tresdecim in principium elementorum Euclidis, Oxonii habitae MCDXX''. Oxonii: Excudebant Iohannes Lichfield, & Iacobus Short, 1621. ('Thirteen introductory lectures on the beginning of the Elements of Euclid, held at Oxford in 1620'.) It was Savile who first traced the hand of
Theon of Alexandria Theon of Alexandria (; grc, Θέων ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς;  335 – c. 405) was a Greek scholar and mathematician who lived in Alexandria, Egypt. He edited and arranged Euclid's '' Elements'' and wrote commentaries on work ...
as a commentator on Euclid. The edition published in England, until then the only one containing all the extant works attributed to Euclid, was that of Dr David Gregory, published at Oxford in 1703, with the title, ''Εὐκλείδου τὰ σωζόμενα, Euclidis quae supersunt omnia''. The parallel Greek text is that of the 1533 Basel edition by Simon Grynäus, corrected from Savile's 13th century Greek MSS. which Savile bequeathed to the Savilian Library, and from Savile's annotations in his own copy. The Latin translation, which accompanies the Greek on the same page, is for the most part that of Commandino.


Collections

] In 1619, after founding two lectureships in geometry and astronomy, Savile donated a library to the university. It was a collection of mathematical works, including the related subjects of optics, harmonics, mechanics, cosmography, the applied sciences of surveying, navigation, and fortification, and a quantity of fine printed books, primarily from the 16th century. Nearly all of the seventeenth-century Savilian professors added to the library. Dr. Peter Turner (Geometry Chair, 1631-48) bequeathed Greek manuscripts, John Greaves (Astronomy Chair, 1643-9) added some of his own papers. Part of the Savilian library might also have come from Dr. Seth Ward (Astronomy Chair, 1649-61) sometime after 1682. It was Sir Christopher Wren (Astronomy, 1661-1673), however, who gave the first extensive contribution to the library, leaving his astronomy and geometry books to it when he retired from the Chair. A catalogue of the Savile library appeared in Dr. Edward Bernard's (Astronomy chair, 1673-91) ''Catalogi Librorum Manuscriptorum Angliae and Hiberniae''. Dr. John Wallis (Savilian professor, 1649-1704) gave the Savilian library 'the largest of its accretions', and many more were provided after his death in 1703. In the eighteenth century, not much more was added to Savile's collection, but later Stephen Rigaud (Geometry Chair, 1810-27; Astronomy, 1827-39) catalogued and contributed to it further. Rigaud died in 1839, and in 1874 his sons presented his scientific notebooks to the Savile library. In 1835 Savile's library was moved to the south-east corner of the Bodleian quadrangle, where it remained until 1884, when the Savilian professors agreed to hand over its administration to the
Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...
.Rare Books Named Collection Descriptions
/ref>


Family

In 1592 he married Margaret, daughter of George Dacre, of Chesham. In 1604 their only son died, and Savile is thought to have been induced by this loss to devote the bulk of his fortune to the promotion of learning. His surviving child Elizabeth married Sir John Sedley and was mother of Sir
Charles Sedley Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet (March 1639 – 20 August 1701), was an English noble, dramatist and politician. He was principally remembered for his wit and profligacy.. Life He was the son of Sir John Sedley, 2nd Baronet, of Aylesford i ...
. His brother, Thomas Savile (died 1593), was also a member of Merton College and had some reputation as a scholar.


References


Notes


Citations


Sources

*


External links


The Savilian Professorships, 1619
including image of Henry Savile's funerary monument, from The Cabinet. {{DEFAULTSORT:Savile, Henry 1549 births 1622 deaths Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Fellows of Merton College, Oxford Wardens of Merton College, Oxford Translators of the King James Version Provosts of Eton College 16th-century English translators 17th-century English people English MPs 1589 English MPs 1593 English knights Knights Bachelor 17th-century Anglican theologians 16th-century Anglican theologians