
James Crichton, known as the Admirable Crichton (19 August 1560 – 3 July 1582), was a Scottish
polymath noted for his extraordinary accomplishments in languages, the arts, and sciences before he was murdered at the age of 21.
Early life
James Crichton was from
Clunie, in
Perthshire
Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...
, although some sources maintain his birthplace was
Dumfries
Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...
. He was the son of
Robert Crichton of Eliok
Robert Crichton or Creighton, Lord Elliock (1530–1591), of Elliock, in Nithsdale, was joint Lord Advocate of Scotland. He purchased Clunie Castle and the adjoining lands from the Diocese of Dunkeld where his cousin, Robert Crichton, was bi ...
,
Lord Advocate of Scotland, and Elizabeth Stewart, from whose line James could claim Royal descent.
One of the most gifted individuals of the 16th century, Crichton was educated at
St Andrews University between the ages of ten and fourteen, during which time he completed requirements for both his bachelor's and master's degrees. James was taught by the celebrated Scottish scholar, politician and poet
George Buchanan (1506–1582). It was apparent from his earliest days that James was an unusually gifted
prodigy, which may have been associated with a gift for perfect recall.
Further education in France
By the age of twenty, he was not only fluent in, but could discourse in (both prose and verse) no fewer than twelve languages, as well as being an accomplished horseman, fencer, singer, musician, orator, and
debater
Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a Discussion moderator, moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred ...
. Noted for his good looks as well as his refined social graces, he was considered to have come closest to the ideal of the complete man.
Leaving Scotland, Crichton travelled to Paris, where he continued his education at the
Collège de Navarre. It was in the French capital that he first came to prominence by challenging French professors to ask him any question on any science or
liberal arts subject in Arabic, Dutch, English, French, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Latin,
Slavonic, Spanish, or
Syriac. It is said that throughout the course of one extremely long day, French scholars failed to stump Crichton on any question they threw at him, no matter how abstruse.
Travel to Italy
Thereafter he spent two years as a soldier in the French army before travelling to Italy in 1579, winning acclaim in
Genoa, Venice, and
Padua by repeating his exploit of challenging Italian scholars to intellectual discourse and debate. Once, he is alleged to have bested a professional gladiator in a brutal fencing match.
In Venice in 1580, Crichton befriended the printer
Aldus Manutius
Aldus Pius Manutius (; it, Aldo Pio Manuzio; 6 February 1515) was an Italian printer and humanist who founded the Aldine Press. Manutius devoted the later part of his life to publishing and disseminating rare texts. His interest in and preserv ...
, who introduced him to the Venetian intellectual community, where the young Scot made an enormous impression on
humanist scholars. In Padua in 1581, he clashed with a number of scholars over their interpretation of
Aristotle, while demonstrating that their mathematics was flawed.
Perhaps tiring of intellectual duels, the following year Crichton entered the service of the
Duke of Mantua
During its history as independent entity, Mantua had different rulers who governed on the city and the lands of Mantua from the Middle Ages to the early modern period.
From 970 to 1115, the Counts of Mantua were members of the House of Canoss ...
, and may have become tutor to the Duke's headstrong son
Vincenzo Gonzaga
Vincenzo Ι Gonzaga (21 September 1562 – 9 February 1612) was ruler of the Duchy of Mantua and the Duchy of Montferrat from 1587 to 1612.
Biography
Vincenzo was the only son of Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, and Archduchess Eleanor of Aust ...
(although some sources suggest that Crichton served only as a member of the ducal council, and did not actually teach the prince).
Death in Mantua
What is beyond dispute is that while Crichton was in the Duke's employ, Vincenzo Gonzaga became hugely jealous of him, probably from a combination of his father's strong regard for the young prodigy as well as Crichton replacing Vincenzo as the lover of the prince's former mistress.
On the night of 3 July 1582, after leaving this lady's dwelling in
Mantua, Crichton was attacked in the street by a gang of masked ruffians. He bested all but one with his sword, until the last man removed his mask to reveal the group's ringleader, Vincenzo Gonzaga himself. Tradition holds that, on seeing Vincenzo, Crichton instantly dropped to one knee and presented his sword, hilt first, to the prince, his master's son. Vincenzo took the blade and with it stabbed Crichton cruelly through the heart, killing him instantly. James Crichton of Cluny was then in his twenty-second year.
Reputation
Much of Crichton's posthumous reputation comes from a romantic 1652 account of his life written by
Sir Thomas Urquhart (1611–1660), contained within an unclassifiable work (''The Jewel'') that is characterized by exaggeration and hyperbole. There is little or no contemporary evidence for many of the stories surrounding him.
That said, his existence is supported by a few letters and his actual abilities were probably impressive, enough that his story has not been lost through the centuries since his death. Samuel Johnson devoted the August 14, 1753 issue of the periodical, ''
The Adventurer'', to the story of Crichton, writing, ""Among the favourites of nature that have from time to time appeared in the world, enriched with various endowments and contrarieties of excellence, none seems to have been
oreexalted above the common rate of humanity, than the man known about two centuries ago by the appellation of the Admirable Crichton." A historical novel entitled ''Crichton'' was published by the English writer
William Harrison Ainsworth in 1836. "The Admirable Crichton" is referred to by Charles Dickens in his 1859 story collection ''The Haunted House''. The "Admirable Crichton" was mentioned as an exemplar in
W. M. Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and ...
's ''
Vanity Fair'' (1847) and referenced in chapter 3 of
Anthony Trollope
Anthony Trollope (; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the '' Chronicles of Barsetshire'', which revolves ar ...
's ''
The Prime Minister'' (1876). James Crichton's sobriquet was later employed by fellow Scot
Sir James Barrie as the title of his 1902 satirical play, ''
The Admirable Crichton'', about a butler whose ''
savoir-faire
''Savoir-Faire'' is a piece of interactive fiction written by Emily Short, about a magician in 18th-century France searching his aristocratic adoptive father's house. It won the Best Game, Best Story, Best Individual Player Character and Best ...
'' far exceeds that of his aristocratic employers. A memorial to Crichton can be found in the church of St. Bride's in
Sanquhar and in the church of San Simone in
Mantua.
He is also the namesake of the
James Crichton Society at
St Andrews University which publishes a monthly academic journal.
References
Attribution
*
*
*
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crichton, James
1560 births
1582 deaths
Alumni of the University of St Andrews
University of Paris alumni
People from Dumfries
People from Dumfries and Galloway
People from Perth and Kinross
Scottish linguists
Scottish male fencers
Scottish soldiers
Scottish murder victims
Scottish mathematicians
Scottish scientists
Kingdom of Scotland expatriates in France