Hector Boece (; also spelled Boyce or Boise; 1465–1536), known in Latin as Hector Boecius or Boethius, was a Scottish philosopher and historian, and the first Principal of King's College in Aberdeen, a predecessor of the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

Biography

He was born in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

where he attended school and was educated at the nearby

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

. Later he left to study at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

where he met

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...

, with whom he became close friends while they were both students at the austere Collège de Montaigu, to whose reforming Master, Jan Standonck, Boece later became Secretary. By 1497 he had become a professor of philosophy at Collège de Montaigu. In 1500, he was induced to leave Paris for

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

by a generously financed offer to become the first principal of the newly established

, created at the behest of James IV by William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen under the authority of a

Papal bull A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden Seal (emblem), seal (''bulla (seal), bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal ...

issued by

Pope Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI (, , ; born Roderic Llançol i de Borja; epithet: ''Valentinus'' ("The Valencian"); – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 August 1492 until his death in 1503. Born into t ...

. From then onwards, he worked closely with Elphinstone, to set up the new university and by 1505, regular lectures were taking place at King's College. The university structure was modelled on those of Paris and of

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Fyvie. He died in Aberdeen two years later at the age of 71.

Works

Boece wrote and published two books, one of biography and one of history. In 1522 he published the ''Vitae Episcoporum Murthlacensium et Aberdonensium'' ''(Lives of the Bishops of Murthlack and Aberdeen'') and in 1527 the ''Historia Gentis Scotorum'' (''History of the Scottish People'') to the accession of James III of Scotland. The former was the basis of a poem in Scots by Alexander Gardyne.

Reception of the ''Historia''

The ''Historia'' is the work for which Boece is remembered, as the second scholarly history of the Scots to be written; its only real predecessor was the compendium of John Mair. It was written in a flowing and pleasing style, became popular, and led to ecclesiastical preferment and royal favour. By modern standards, it is overly patriotic, and has many inaccuracies. The historical account of Macbeth of Scotland, in particular, flattered the antecedents of Boece's patron King

James IV of Scotland James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James I ...

, and greatly maligned the real Macbeth. The work was well received at the time, both in Europe and in Scotland, after its translation from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

into French and then in 1536 from Latin into Scots by

John Bellenden John Bellenden or Ballantyne ( 1533–1587?) of Moray (why Moray, a lowland family) was a Scottish writer of the 16th century. Life He was born towards the close of the 15th century, and educated at St. Andrews and Paris. At the request of ...

. There are some interesting glimpses in the ''Historia'' of contemporary Scotland, such as the statement that the

Eurasian beaver The Eurasian beaver (''Castor fiber'') or European beaver is a species of beaver widespread across Eurasia, with a rapidly increasing population of at least 1.5 million in 2020. The Eurasian beaver was hunted to near-extinction for both its fur ...

, which was soon to become extinct in Scotland, was still common around

Loch Ness Loch Ness (; ) is a large freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands. It takes its name from the River Ness, which flows from the northern end. Loch Ness is best known for claimed sightings of the cryptozoology, cryptozoological Loch Ness Mons ...

Continuations of the ''Historia'' and its influence

Boece's ''Historia'' as published terminated its coverage of history at the year 1438. In the early 1530s the scholar Giovanni Ferrerio, engaged by Robert Reid of Kinloss Abbey, wrote a continuation of Boece's history, extending it another 50 years, to the end of the reign of James III. John Lesley in his ''De Origine, Moribus, et Rebus Gestis Scotorum'', and Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie, provided further continuations. The metrical translation into Scots by William Stewart, not published until the nineteenth century, also provided some expansion. The chronicler Polydore Vergil made some use of Boece for his 1534 ''Historia Anglica''. David Chalmers of Ormond in his ''Histoire abbregée'' (1572) wrote about the French, English and Scottish monarchies, relying on Boece for the Scottish account. The ''Historia'' was translated into English for

Raphael Holinshed Raphael Holinshed (; before 24 April 1582) was an English chronicler, who was most famous for his work on ''The Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande'', commonly known as ''Holinshed's Chronicles''. It was the "first complete printed h ...

's ''Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland''. The account in Holinshed's ''Chronicle'' was then used by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

as the basis of his play ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

''.

George Buchanan George Buchanan (; February 1506 – 28 September 1582) was a Scottish historian and humanist scholar. According to historian Keith Brown, Buchanan was "the most profound intellectual sixteenth-century Scotland produced." His ideology of re ...

made heavy use of Boece in his ''Rerum Scoticarum Historia'' (1582).

Boece's sources

Boece's claimed sources fell into three classes. The works of John Fordun ('' Chronica Gentis Scotorum'') and Walter Bower ('' Scotichronicon'') defined the tradition which he attempted to make seamless, filling the gaps in the chronicle, and applying the approach common to humanists of his period. The works 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. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

had been rediscovered, in the 14th century, and contained material relevant to

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

history; and Boece was concerned to integrate it into the tradition. Finally, there was a group of sources that remain debated: material from Elphinstone, and the authors Veremundus, Cornelius Hibernicus, and John Campbell. No written record of these works survives. Sharp criticism of the sourcing of Boece's history was voiced in the sixteenth century by Humphrey Lhuyd and John Twyne. In the eighteenth century, the historical content of the earlier parts of it was effectively dismantled by Thomas Innes. Boece shared in the credulity of his age; the approach of Mair, who was writing in parallel at the same time, but with a different focus and with a more critical and less sweeping method, did not represent the current fashion. The charge of actually inventing his authorities, formerly brought against Boece, has been the subject of recent scholarship. One example of Boece being cleared of the charge of fabricating his work concerns the Battle of Luncarty, Luncarty, Clan Hay. He was suspected by the Scottish historian John Hill Burton of inventing that battle but, Walter Bower writing in his ''Scotichronicon'' around 1440, some 87 years before Boece first published his ''Scotorum Historia'', refers to the battle briefly. The "John Campbell" is tentatively identified as Boece's contemporary John Campbell of Lundie (died 1562). "Veremundus", it is argued, may be a Richard Vairement of the 13th century.

Notes

External links

's translation of Boece'
''History of Scotland'', vol.1 (1821)Vol. 2
* Modern English version of

's translation of Boece's ''History of Scotland'
at The Ex-Classics Project.

''Scotorum Historia'' (1575 version) in Latin and English

''Murthlacensium et Aberdonensium Episcoporum Vitae'' in Latin and English
;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Boece, Hector 1465 births 1536 deaths People educated at the High School of Dundee Principals of the University of Aberdeen Scots-language writers Scottish writers in Latin Scottish educators 16th-century Scottish philosophers 16th-century Scottish male writers 16th-century Scottish historians Alumni of the University of St Andrews University of Paris alumni Historians of Scotland People associated with the University of Aberdeen Writers from Dundee Scottish Roman Catholics Scottish Roman Catholic writers 16th-century writers in Latin Kingdom of Scotland expatriates in France