John Selden (16 December 1584 – 30 November 1654) was an English
jurist
A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...
, a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish law. He was known as a
polymath
A polymath or polyhistor is an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Polymaths often prefer a specific context in which to explain their knowledge, ...
;
John Milton
John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, and civil servant. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'' was written in blank verse and included 12 books, written in a time of immense religious flux and politic ...
hailed Selden in 1644 as "the chief of learned men reputed in this land".
Early life
He was born at
Salvington, in the parish of
West Tarring, West Sussex (now part of the town of
Worthing
Worthing ( ) is a seaside town and borough in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 113,094 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Br ...
), and was baptised at
St Andrew's, the
parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...
. The cottage in which he was born survived until 1959 when it was destroyed by a fire caused by an electrical fault.
His father, also named John Selden, had a small farm. It is said that his skill as a violin-player was what attracted his wife, Margaret, who was from a better family, being the only child of Thomas Baker of
Rustington and descended from a knightly family of
Kent
Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
. Selden was educated at the free grammar school at
Chichester
Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...
,
The Prebendal School, and in 1600 he went on to
Hart Hall,
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
. In 1603, he was admitted to
Clifford's Inn
Clifford's Inn is the name of both a former Inn of Chancery in London and a present mansion block on the same site. It is located between Fetter Lane and Clifford's Inn Passage (which runs between Fleet Street and Chancery Lane) in the City of ...
, London; in 1604 he moved to the
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...
; and in 1612 he was
called to the bar
The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...
. His earliest patron was Sir
Robert Bruce Cotton, the antiquary, who seems to have employed him to copy and summarise some of the parliamentary records then held at the
Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...
. For some reason, Selden very rarely practised in court, but his practice in
barristers' chambers
In law, a barrister's chambers or barristers' chambers are the rooms used by a barrister or a group of barristers. The singular refers to the use by a sole practitioner whereas the plural refers to a group of barristers who, while acting as s ...
as a conveyancer and consulting counsel was large and apparently lucrative.
Legal scholar into politics
In 1618, his ''History of Tithes'' appeared. Although it had passed censorship and licensing, this dissertation on the historical basis of the
tithe
A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in money, cash, cheques or v ...
system caused anxiety among the bishops and provoked the intervention of the king,
James I. The author was summoned before the
Privy Council and was compelled to retract his opinions. Also, his work was suppressed, and he was forbidden to reply to anyone who might come forward to answer it.
This all seems to have caused Selden's entry into politics. Although he was not in 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 England, great council of Lords Spi ...
, he was the instigator and perhaps the draughtsman of the
Protestation of 1621 on the rights and privileges of the House, affirmed by the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
on 18 December 1621. He and several others were imprisoned, at first in the Tower and later under the charge of Sir
Robert Ducie,
sheriff of London
Two Sheriffs of the City of London are elected annually by the members of the City livery companies. Today's Sheriffs have only ceremonial duties, but the historical officeholders held important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ...
. During his brief detention, he occupied himself in preparing an edition of medieval historian
Eadmer's ''History'' from a manuscript lent to him by his host or jailor, which he published two years afterwards.
Parliamentarian
In 1623 he was returned to the House of Commons for the
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
...
of
Lancaster, and sat with
John Coke,
William Noy, and
John Pym
John Pym (20 May 1584 – 8 December 1643) was an English politician and administrator who played a major role in establishing what would become the modern Westminster system, English Parliamentary system. One of the Five Members whose attempte ...
on Sergeant Glanville's election committee. He was also nominated
reader of
Lyon's Inn
Lyon's Inn was one of the Inns of Chancery attached to London's Inner Temple. Founded some time during or before the reign of Henry V, the Inn educated lawyers including Edward Coke and John Selden, although it was never one of the larger Inns. ...
, an office he declined to undertake. For this the benchers of the Inner Temple fined him £20 and disqualified him from being one of their number. Nevertheless, after a few years, he became a
master of the bench. In the first parliament of
Charles I (1625), it appears from the "returns of members" printed in 1878 that contrary to the assertion of all his biographers, he had no seat. In Charles's second parliament (1626), he was elected for
Great Bedwyn
Great Bedwyn is a village and civil parish in east Wiltshire, England. The village is on the River Dun about southwest of Hungerford, southeast of Swindon and southeast of Marlborough.
The Kennet and Avon Canal and the Reading to Taunt ...
in Wiltshire, and took a prominent part in the impeachment of
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham ( ; 20 August 1592 – 23 August 1628), was an English courtier, statesman, and patron of the arts. He was a favourite and self-described "lover" of King James VI and I. Buckingham remained at the heigh ...
. In the following year, in
Darnell's Case
The ''Five Knights' case'' (1627) 3 How St Tr 1 (also Darnel's or Darnell's case) (K.B. 1627), is an English ''habeas corpus'' case of major significance in the history of English and later United Kingdom constitutional law.
The case was brought ...
(the Five Knights' Case), he was counsel for
Sir Edmund Hampden in the
Court of King's Bench
The Court of King's Bench, formally known as The Court of the King Before the King Himself, was a court of common law in the English legal system. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century from the '' curia regis'', the King's Bench initi ...
.
In 1628 he was returned to the third parliament of Charles for
Ludgershall, Wiltshire, and was involved in drawing up and carrying the
Petition of Right
The Petition of Right, passed on 7 June 1628, is an English constitutional document setting out specific individual protections against the state, reportedly of equal value to Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights 1689. It was part of a wider ...
. In the session of 1629 he was one of the members responsible for the tumultuous passage in the House of Commons of the resolution against the illegal levy of
tonnage
Tonnage is a measure of the capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on '' tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically refers to a cal ...
and poundage, and, along with Sir
John Eliot,
Denzil Holles, Long, Valentine,
William Strode, and the rest, he was sent back to the Tower. There he remained for eight months, deprived for a part of the time of the use of books and writing materials. He was then removed, under less rigorous conditions, to the
Marshalsea, until
Archbishop Laud arranged for him to be freed. Some years before, he had been appointed
steward to
Henry Grey, 8th Earl of Kent, to whose seat,
Wrest in Bedfordshire, he now retired.
He was not elected to the
Short Parliament
The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on 20 February 1640 and sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640. It was so called because of its short session of only three weeks.
After 11 years of per ...
of 1640; but to the
Long Parliament
The Long Parliament was an Parliament of England, English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660, making it the longest-lasting Parliament in English and British history. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened f ...
, summoned in the autumn, he was returned without opposition for
Oxford University
The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
. He opposed the resolution against
episcopacy
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...
which led to the exclusion of the bishops from the
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
, and printed an answer to the arguments used by
Sir Harbottle Grimston on that occasion. He joined in the protestation of the Commons for the maintenance of the
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
religion according to the doctrines of the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
, the authority of the Crown, and the liberty of the subject. He was equally opposed to the court on the question of the commissions of lieutenancy of array and to the parliament on the question of the militia ordinance. In the end, he supported Parliament against King Charles, because, according to him, Charles was certainly acting illegally; but Selden was not certain if Parliament was doing the same.
In 1643 he participated in the discussions of the
Westminster Assembly
The Westminster Assembly of Divines was a council of Divinity (academic discipline), divines (theologians) and members of the English Parliament appointed from 1643 to 1653 to restructure the Church of England. Several Scots also attended, and ...
, where his
Erastian views were opposed by
George Gillespie
George Gillespie ( ; 21 January 1613 – 17 December 1648) was a Scottish theologian.
Family
He married Margaret Murray, who had £1000 sterling voted by Parliament immediately after his death, for the support of herself and family, but ...
. Selden's allies included
Thomas Coleman,
John Lightfoot, and
Bulstrode Whitelocke.
In October 1643 Selden was appointed by Commons to take control of the office of Clerk and Keeper of the Records in the Tower, which duty passed to the Master of the Rolls in 1651. In 1645, he was named one of the parliamentary commissioners of the
admiralty and was elected master of
Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...
, an office that he declined to accept. In 1646, he subscribed to the
Solemn League and Covenant
The Solemn League and Covenant was an agreement between the Scottish Covenanters and the leaders of the English Parliamentarians in 1643 during the First English Civil War, a theatre of conflict in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. On 17 August ...
and, in 1647, was voted
£5000 (£ in ) by the parliament as compensation for his pains under the monarchy.
Last years
After the death of the
Earl of Kent
The peerage title Earl of Kent has been created eight times in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. In fiction, the Earl of Kent is also known as a prominent supporting character in William Shakespeare's tragedy K ...
in 1639, Selden lived permanently under the same roof with the earl's widow, the former
Elizabeth Talbot. It is believed that he married her, although their marriage does not seem to have ever been publicly acknowledged. He assembled a famous library which eventually became part of the
Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...
's collection in 1659. In addition to a wide range of Greek, Arabic, Hebrew and Latin works, it included the
Codex Mendoza
The Codex Mendoza is an Aztec codices, Aztec codex, believed to have been created around the year 1541. It contains a history of both the Aztec rulers and their conquests as well as a description of the daily life of pre-conquest Aztec society. ...
and the
Selden Map of China. He died at Friary House in
Whitefriars, London on 30 November 1654, and was buried in the
Temple Church
The Temple Church, a royal peculiar in the Church of England, is a church in the Inner Temple, Inner and Middle Temple, Middle Temple, London, Temples located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar for their En ...
, London. His tomb is today clearly visible through glass plates in the floor of this church. Furthermore, he is commemorated by a monumental inscription on the south side of the Temple Church. More than two centuries after his death, in 1880, a brass tablet was erected to his memory by the benchers of the
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...
in the parish church of St. Andrew's, West Tarring.
Works
It was as a prolific scholar and writer that Selden won his reputation. The early books were on English history.
English history and antiquities
In 1610 three of his works came out: ''Jani Anglorum Facies Altera'' (''The Back Face''
r ''Two Faces''''of the English
Janus
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus ( ; ) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Janus (''Ianu ...
'') and ''England's Epinomis'', which dealt with the progress of English law down to
Henry II
Henry II may refer to:
Kings
* Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014
*Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154
*Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...
; and ''The Duello, or Single Combat'', in which he traced the history of
trial by battle in England from the Norman Conquest. In 1613 he supplied a series of notes, including quotations and references, to the first eighteen
cantos of
Michael Drayton
Michael Drayton ( – ) was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era, continuing to write through the reign of James I and into the reign of Charles I. Many of his works consisted of historical poetry. He was also the fir ...
's ''
Poly-Olbion''. In 1614 he published ''Titles of Honor'', which, in spite of defects and omissions, remained a comprehensive work for centuries. It was republished in a larger and greatly revised edition in 1631, and in a third edition in 1672. It earned for Selden the praise "monarch of letters" from his friend
Ben Jonson
Benjamin Jonson ( 11 June 1572 – ) was an English playwright, poet and actor. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence on English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for the satire, satirical ...
.
In 1615, the ''Analecton Anglobritannicon'', an account of the civil administration of England before the
Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...
, written in 1607, was published; its title and argument imitated the ''Franco-Gallia'' of
François Hotman. In 1616 appeared notes on
John Fortescue's ''De laudibus legum Angliae'' and
Ralph de Hengham's ''Summae magna et parva''.
In 1618 his controversial ''History of Tithes'' was published. A first sign of the coming storm was the 1619 book controverting Selden, ''Sacrilege Sacredly Handled in two parts; with an Appendix, answering some objections'' by
James Sempill. Selden hit back, but was soon gagged. The churchmen
Richard Tillesley (1582–1621) (''Animadversions upon M. Seldens History of Tithes'', 1619) and
Richard Montagu
Richard Montagu (or Mountague) (1577 – 13 April 1641) was an English cleric and prelate.
Early life
Montagu was born during Christmastide 1577 at Dorney, Buckinghamshire, where his father Laurence Mountague was vicar, and was educated at E ...
(''Diatribae upon the first part of the late History of Tithes'', 1621) attacked the work. There were further replies by
William Sclater (''The Quaestion of Tythes Revised'', 1623), and by
Stephen Nettles (''Answer to the Jewish Part of Mr. Selden's History of Tithes'' 1625). In it Selden tried to demonstrate that tithing depended on the civil law, rather than
canon law
Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...
. He also made much of the complexities of the ancient Jewish customs on tithes.
The work was also a milestone in the history of English historical writing through its mixture of
antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...
-philological scholarship with historical narrative, two approaches to the study of the past previously seen as distinct.
In 1623 he produced an edition of
Eadmer's ''Historia Novarum''. It was notable for including in appendices information from the ''
Domesday Book
Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
'', which at the time had not been published and could only be consulted in the original at Westminster, on the payment of a fee.
He published in 1642 ''Privileges of the Baronage of England when they sit in Parliament and Discourse concerning the Rights and Privileges of the Subject''. In 1652 he wrote a preface and collated some of the manuscripts for
Sir Roger Twysden's ''Historiae Anglicanae scriptores X''.
Literature and archaeology of the Near East
In 1617, his ''De dis Syris'' was issued, and immediately established his fame as an orientalist. It is remarkable for its early use of the comparative method, on
Semitic mythology. Also, in 1642, he published a part of the Arabic chronicle of
Patriarch Eutychius of Alexandria
Eutychius of Alexandria (Arabic language, Arabic: ''Sa'id ibn Batriq'' or ''Bitriq''; 10 September 877 – 12 May 940) was the Melkite List of Greek Orthodox patriarchs of Alexandria, Patriarch of Alexandria. He is known for being one of the first ...
, under the title ''Eutychii Aegyptii, Patriarchae Orthodoxorum Alexandrini, ... ecclesiae suae origines''. Controversial was the discussion in it of the absence in Alexandria of the distinction between priests and bishops, a burning issue in the debate at the time in the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
.
In 1628, at the suggestion of Sir Robert Cotton, Selden compiled, with the assistance of two other scholars,
Patrick Young and
Richard James, a catalogue of the
Arundel marbles.
Studies on Judaism
He employed his leisure at Wrest in writing ''De successionibus in bona defuncti secundum leges Ebraeorum'' and ''De successione in pontificatum Ebraeorum'', published in 1631.
During the progress of the constitutional conflict, he was absorbed in research, publishing ''De jure naturali et gentium juxta disciplinam Ebraeorum'' in 1640. It was a contribution to the theorising of the period on
natural law
Natural law (, ) is a Philosophy, philosophical and legal theory that posits the existence of a set of inherent laws derived from nature and universal moral principles, which are discoverable through reason. In ethics, natural law theory asserts ...
. In the words of
John Milton
John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, and civil servant. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'' was written in blank verse and included 12 books, written in a time of immense religious flux and politic ...
, this "volume of naturall & national laws proves, not only by great authorities brought together, but by exquisite reasons and theorems almost mathematically demonstrative, that all opinions, yea errors, known, read, and collated, are of main service & assistance toward the speedy attainment of what is truest."
It develops into a theory of
international law
International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...
, taking as its basis the
Seven Laws of Noah.
In 1644, he published ''Dissertatio de anno civili et calendario reipublicae Judaicae'', in 1646 his treatise on marriage and divorce among the Jews entitled ''Uxor Ebraica'', and in 1647 the earliest printed edition of the old English law-book ''
Fleta''. In 1650 Selden began to print the trilogy he planned on the
Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Middle Aramaic , a loanword from , 'assembly,' 'sitting together,' hence ' assembly' or 'council') was a Jewish legislative and judicial assembly of either 23 or 70 elders, existing at both a local and central level i ...
, as the first part of ''De synedriis et prefecturis juridicis veterum Ebraeorum'' through the press, the second and third parts being severally published in 1653 and 1655. The aim of this work was to counter the use by the Presbyterians, in particular, of arguments and precedents drawn from Jewish tradition; it was a very detailed study aimed at refuting such arguments, and pointing out the inherent flexibility of the tradition that was being cited.
International law
His ''
Mare clausum
''Mare clausum'' (legal Latin meaning "closed sea") is a term used in international law to mention a sea, ocean or other navigable body of water under the jurisdiction of a state that is closed or not accessible to other states. ''Mare clausum ...
'' was written to dismantle the pretensions advanced by
Grotius
Hugo Grotius ( ; 10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), also known as Hugo de Groot () or Huig de Groot (), was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, statesman, poet and playwright. A teenage prodigy, he was born in Delft an ...
in ''
The Free Sea'' (''Mare liberum''), on behalf of the Dutch fishermen, to poach in the waters off the English coasts.
The circumstances of its delayed publication, in 1635, suggest that during the early 1630s Selden inclined towards the court rather than the popular party and even secured the personal favour of the king,
Charles I. It had been written sixteen or seventeen years earlier, but for political reasons Charles's predecessor,
James I, had prohibited its publication. When it eventually appeared, a quarter of a century after ''Mare liberum'', it was under Charles's royal patronage, as a kind of state paper, and with a dedication to him. The fact that Selden was not retained in the great case of
ship money in 1637 by
John Hampden
John Hampden (24 June 1643) was an English politician from Oxfordshire, who was killed fighting for Roundhead, Parliament in the First English Civil War. An ally of Parliamentarian leader John Pym, and a cousin of Oliver Cromwell, he was one of ...
, the cousin of Sir Edmund, his former client in the Five Knights' Case, may be taken as additional evidence that his zeal for the popular cause was neither so warm nor so unquestioned as it had once been.
His last publication was a vindication of himself from certain charges advanced against him and his ''Mare clausum'' around 1653 by
Theodore Graswinckel, a Dutch jurist.
Posthumous publications
Several of Selden's minor works were printed for the first time after his death, including a tract in defence of the 25 December birth of Christ written during the Puritan Commonwealth (1649–1660) when celebration of Christmas was prohibited. A collective edition of his writings was published by
David Wilkins in 3 volumes folio in 1725, and again in 1726. ''Table Talk'', for which he is perhaps best known, did not appear until 1689. It was edited by his
amanuensis
An amanuensis ( ) ( ) or scribe is a person employed to write or type what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another. It may also be a person who signs a document on behalf of another under the latter's authority.
In some aca ...
,
Richard Milward
Richard Milward (born 26 October 1984 in Middlesbrough) is an English novelist. His debut novel ''Apples (novel), Apples'' was published by Faber in 2007. He has also written ''Ten Storey Love Song,'' ''Kimberly's Capital Punishment,'' and '' ...
, who affirms that "the sense and notion is wholly Selden's" and that "most of the words" are his also. Its genuineness has sometimes been questioned.
Views
Selden arrived at an
Erastian position in church politics. He also believed in
free will
Free will is generally understood as the capacity or ability of people to (a) choice, choose between different possible courses of Action (philosophy), action, (b) exercise control over their actions in a way that is necessary for moral respon ...
, which was inconsistent with
Calvinism
Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteri ...
.
He was sceptical of the legend of
King Arthur
According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain.
In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...
as it had grown up, but believed Arthur had existed. The
Druids
A druid was a member of the high-ranking priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures. The druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no wr ...
, he suggested in comments on ''Poly-Olbion'', were ancient and presumed esoteric thinkers. The popular image of a Druid descends via a masque of
Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones (15 July 1573 – 21 June 1652) was an English architect who was the first significant Architecture of England, architect in England in the early modern era and the first to employ Vitruvius, Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmet ...
from a reconstruction by Selden, based (without good foundations) on ancient German statuary.
Commemoration

Selden is commemorated in the name of the
Selden Society
The Selden Society is a learned society and registered charity concerned with the study of English legal history. It functions primarily as a text publication society, but also undertakes other activities to promote scholarship within its sphere ...
, a
learned society
A learned society ( ; also scholarly, intellectual, or academic society) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and sciences. Membership may be open to al ...
concerned with the study of English legal history, founded in 1887.
He is also commemorated in place-names in Salvington, including "The John Selden Inn", which purports to be on the site of his dwelling; Selden Road; and the Selden medical centre. Also The Selden Arms on Lyndhurst Road in Worthing.
Influence
According to the ''Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing'', he "played a role of fundamental importance in the transition of English historical writing from a medieval antiquarianism to a more modern understanding of the scope and function of history than had ever before been expressed in Renaissance England". His reputation lasted well, with
Mark Pattison calling him "the most learned man, not only of his party, but of Englishmen".
By about 1640, Selden's views (with those of Grotius) had a large impact on the
Great Tew circle around
Lucius Cary, 2nd Viscount Falkland:
William Chillingworth,
Dudley Digges,
Henry Hammond
Henry Hammond (18 August 1605 – 25 April 1660) was an English churchman, church historian and theologian, who supported the Royalist cause during the English Civil War.
Early life
He was born at Chertsey in Surrey on 18 August 1605, the y ...
. It was in this milieu that Selden met and befriended
Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5 April 1588 – 4 December 1679) was an English philosopher, best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan (Hobbes book), Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influential formulation of social contract theory. He is considered t ...
. They had much in common, in political thought, but the precise connections have not been clarified.
Richard Cumberland followed Selden over both Grotius and Hobbes on natural law. Selden contested the scholastic position, after
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...
, that "right reason" could by its dictates alone generate
obligation
An obligation is a course of action which someone is required to take, be it a legal obligation or a moral obligation. Obligations are constraints; they limit freedom. People who are under obligations may choose to freely act under obligations. ...
, by claiming that a formal obligation required a superior in authority. In his ''De legibus'' Cumberland rejects Selden's solution by means of the Noahide laws, in ''De jure naturali'', in favour of Selden's less developed alternate solution. The latter is more orthodox for a
Thomist
Thomism is the philosophical and theological school which arose as a legacy of the work and thought of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), the Dominican philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church.
In philosophy, Thomas's disputed questions ...
, an ''intellectus agens'' as a natural faculty in the rational soul, by the mediation of which divine intellect can intervene directly with individuals.
Matthew Hale tried to merge the theory of Grotius on property with Selden's view on obligation. Cumberland and Hale both belonged to a larger group, followers in a broad sense of Selden, with backgrounds mostly of Cambridge and the law, comprising also
Orlando Bridgeman,
Hezekiah Burton,
John Hollings,
Richard Kidder,
Edward Stillingfleet
Edward Stillingfleet (17 April 1635 – 27 March 1699) was an English Christian theologian and scholar. Considered an outstanding preacher as well as a strong polemical writer defending Anglicanism, Stillingfleet was known as "the beauty of ho ...
,
John Tillotson, and
John Wilkins
John Wilkins (14 February 1614 – 19 November 1672) was an English Anglican ministry, Anglican clergyman, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher, and author, and was one of the founders of the Royal Society. He was Bishop of Chester from 1 ...
.
Giambattista Vico
Giambattista Vico (born Giovan Battista Vico ; ; 23 June 1668 – 23 January 1744) was an Italian philosopher, rhetorician, historian, and jurist during the Italian Enlightenment. He criticized the expansion and development of modern rationali ...
called Grotius, Selden and
Samuel Pufendorf
Samuel von Pufendorf (; ; 8 January 1632 – 26 October 1694) was a German people, German jurist, political philosopher, economist and historian. He was born Samuel Pufendorf and Nobility, ennobled in 1694; he was made a baron by Charles XI of ...
the "three princes" of the "natural right of the gentes". He went on to criticise their approach foundationally. In his ''Autobiography'' he specifies that they had conflated the natural law of the "nations", based on custom, with that of the philosophers, based on human abstractions.
Isaiah Berlin
Sir Isaiah Berlin (6 June 1909 – 5 November 1997) was a Russian-British social and political theorist, philosopher, and historian of ideas. Although he became increasingly averse to writing for publication, his improvised lectures and talks ...
comments on Vico's admiration for Grotius and Selden.
Library collections

By the time of his death in 1654, Selden had accumulated a library of several thousand manuscripts and printed books. Selden's will left his intentions for this library somewhat ambiguous, although the will and
codicil seem to suggest that he intended to bequeath most of his
Orient
The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world.
In English, it is largely a meto ...
al manuscripts, Greek manuscripts, a Latin manuscript, and his printed
Talmud
The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...
ic and
Rabbinical books to the
Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...
, Oxford. There is some evidence to suggest that Selden intended to leave his printed books and historical manuscripts to the
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...
but that this transaction did not occur because the Temple did not possess a large enough library. By 1656, two years after Selden's death, his executors (Edward Heyward, John Vaughan,
Matthew Hale, and Rowland Jewks) were in negotiation with the Bodleian library to transfer Selden's entire collection.
[Barratt, D. M. (1950–51). "The Library of John Selden and its later history". ''The Bodleian Library Record''. 3: 131.] In 1659, the executors stipulated that Selden's manuscripts "bee forever heerafter kepte together in one distincte pile and body under the name of Mr. Selden’s Library." The Bodleian agreed, and the library received Selden's collection in June 1659.

Selden's collection was the largest received by the Bodleian in the seventeenth century, comprising around 8,000 items.
Even this massive collection did not represent the extent of Selden's library. Duplicates, meaning books the library already owned, were given to
Gloucester Cathedral
Gloucester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity and formerly St Peter's Abbey, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the River Severn. It originated with the establishme ...
library.
A rumor also circulated in the decades after Selden's death that part of his library had remained in London and was destroyed by a fire. The 1704 edition of
Edward Chamberlayne's ''The Present State of England'' claimed that a fire at the Inner Temple destroyed "8 Chests full" of Selden's manuscripts. Still, the collection the Bodleian received was large enough that it required several years and multiple librarians to fully catalogue. Since then, the original collection has been enhanced by further acquisitions, most notably by a group of forty Selden manuscripts purchased by the Bodleian from James Fairhurst in 1947.
The Selden collection at the Bodleian houses more than 400 manuscript volumes taking up more than 40 meters (approx. 130 feet) of shelf space. The linguistic range of these manuscripts reflects Selden's interest in eastern and other languages. The languages represented include
* Russian
** An incomplete Russian-English vocabulary (MS. Selden Supra 61)
** Samples of Russian
calligraphy
Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...
(MS. Arch. Selden A. 72 (5))
* Greek
** Astronomical and musical treatises (MS. Arch. Selden B. 17)
** Several Greek versions of the
New Testament
The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
Gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
s (MS. Selden Supra 2, 3, 6, 28–9)
* Arabic
** Prayers, meditations, and
Quran
The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
ic praises (MS. Selden Superius 3)
** Works on
astrology
Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...
and medicine (MS. Selden Superius 15)
** Works on
Algebra
Algebra is a branch of mathematics that deals with abstract systems, known as algebraic structures, and the manipulation of expressions within those systems. It is a generalization of arithmetic that introduces variables and algebraic ope ...
and mathematics (MS. Selden Superius 65)
* Hebrew
**
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
and
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
grammar and vocabulary (MS. Selden Supra 107)
**
Kabbalah
Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of Mysticism, mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ...
and Kabbalistic collections (MS. Arch. Selden A. 56; MS. Selden Superius 107)
* New World languages
** A treatise on Mexican hieroglyphics (MS. Arch. Selden A. 2)
Many manuscripts relate to Selden's study of the law both in England and internationally. These include
* A fragment on Islamic law (MS. Selden Superius 42)
*
Canon law
Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...
(MS. Arch. Selden A. 63)
* An account of the laws of
Ivan the Terrible
Ivan IV Vasilyevich (; – ), commonly known as Ivan the Terrible,; ; monastic name: Jonah. was Grand Prince of Moscow, Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1533 to 1547, and the first Tsar of all Russia, Tsar and Grand Prince of all R ...
(MS. Selden Supra. 59)
*Various legal topics, such as maritime law and a Latin treatise on procedure in Civil Courts (MS. Arch. Selden B. 27)

Some manuscripts touch on contemporary events. For instance MS. Arch. Selden B. 8 includes a Latin speech given in Oxford on the return of
Prince Charles from Spain in 1623. Still others contain classical works of philosophy and literature, such as
* Treatises of Aristotle (MS. Selden Supra 24)
*
Aeschylus
Aeschylus (, ; ; /524 – /455 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek tragedy, tragedian often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is large ...
and
Lycophron
Lycophron ( ; ; born about 330–325 BC) was a Hellenistic Greek tragic poet, grammarian, and commentator on comedy, to whom the poem ''Alexandra'' is attributed (perhaps falsely).
Life and miscellaneous works
He was born at Chalcis in Euboea, a ...
(MS. Selden Supra 18)
Beyond manuscripts, the Selden collection contains several notable printed works. Among them is the first book ever printed in Japan using moveable type, ''Sanctos no gosagueo no uchi nuqigaqi'' (Arch.b.f.69).
The printed books included in the Selden collection contain many that are significant in part because they originated in the libraries of other famous figures, including
Sir Robert Cotton,
John Donne
John Donne ( ; 1571 or 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under Royal Patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's, D ...
, and
John Dee
John Dee (13 July 1527 – 1608 or 1609) was an English mathematician, astronomer, teacher, astrologer, occultist, and alchemist. He was the court astronomer for, and advisor to, Elizabeth I, and spent much of his time on alchemy, divination, ...
.
According to
Geoffrey Keynes, several of the books Selden received from John Donne's library include inscriptions from both men. One such book is
Theodorus Beza's ''Tractatio de polygamia'', which includes Donne's signature and motto ("Per Rachel ho servitor, & non per Lea"), as well as Selden's motto ("περί παντός τήν έλευθερίαν", "Freedom above all things").
Notes
References
*
Anthony à Wood, ''Athenae Oxonienses'', ed. Bliss (London; 1817, 4 vols.)
*
John Aikin
John Aikin (15 January 1747 – 7 December 1822) was an English medical doctor and surgeon. Later in life he devoted himself wholly to biography and writing in periodicals.
Life
He was born at Kibworth Harcourt, Leicestershire, England, son of ...
, ''Lives of John Selden and Archbishop Usher'' (London, 1812)
*Robert Batchelor, ''London: The Selden Map and the Making of a Global City, 1549–1689'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014)
*David Sandler Berkowitz, ''John Selden's Formative Years: Politics and Society in Early Seventeenth-Century England'' (London, 1988)
*Sergio Caruso, ''La miglior legge del regno. Consuetudine, diritto naturale e contratto nel pensiero e nell’epoca di John Selden (1584–1654)'', Giuffrè: Milano 2001, two vols.
*Paul Christianson, "Selden, John (1584–1654)." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. (Oxford University Press, 2004)
*
*Gabor Hamza, ''Comparative law and Antiquity'' (Budapest, 1991)
*George William Johnson, ''Memoirs of John Selden'', etc. (London, 1835)
*Jason P. Rosenblatt, ''Renaissance England's Chief Rabbi: John Selden'', Oxford University Press, 2006
*
S. W. Singer (preface and notes), ''The Table-Talk of John Selden.'' (London, 1856)
*
G. J. Toomer, ''John Selden: A Life in Scholarship'' (Oxford, OUP, 2009) (Oxford-Warburg Studies).
*Archdeacon David Wilkins (editor), ''Johannis Seldeni Opera Omnia'', etc. (London, 1725)
*
Daniel Woolf, "The Idea of History in Early Stuart England" (Toronto, 1990)
*
John Milton
John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, and civil servant. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'' was written in blank verse and included 12 books, written in a time of immense religious flux and politic ...
, ''
Areopagitica''. (London, 1644)
Attribution:
*
Further reading
*Daniel Woolf (1990), ''The Idea of History in Early Stuart England''
*Paul Christianson (1996), ''Discourse in History, Law and Governance in the Public Career of John Selden, 1610–1635''
*Reid Barbour (2003), ''John Selden: Measures of the Holy Commonwealth in Seventeenth-century England''
*
Ofir Haivry (2017), ''John Selden and the Western Political Tradition'' (
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...
)
External links
*
*
*
The Correspondence of John Seldeni
EMLO*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Selden, John
1584 births
1654 deaths
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