Robert Brady (1627–1700) was an English academic and historical writer supporting the royalist position in the reigns of

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651 and King of England, Scotland, and King of Ireland, Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest su ...

and

James II of England James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II of England, Charles II, on 6 February 1 ...

. He was also a physician.

Biography

Brady was born in Denver, Norfolk in 1627. He was son of Thomas Brady, an attorney of Denver, Norfolk. He was educated in Downham Market and at Caius College, Cambridge. He was made Master of Caius College in 1660, on the

English Restoration The Stuart Restoration was the reinstatement in May 1660 of the Stuart monarchy in Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland. It replaced the Commonwealth of England, established in January 164 ...

. In the 1670s, he hoped to write for the prominent politicians Joseph Williamson and Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, but they declined the offer. It was only when William Sancroft became

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

that Brady found a patron. Beginning in 1677, Brady held the position of Regius Professor of Physic at Cambridge. He sat as Member of Parliament for the

University A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

in 1681 and 1685. In historical controversy, he was opposed to William Petyt and James Tyrrell, along what would become

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

versus Whig lines, then forming in the Exclusion crisis of the 1680s. Brady is regarded as holding to an uncompromising royalist position. Others on the Whig side were William Atwood, Edward Cooke, and Sir John Somers. J. P. Kenyon takes him as a pioneer among the royalist scholars of English medieval history, who were working towards a formulation akin to Kenyon's viewpoint. John Pocock regards as "unforgettably damaging" the effect the (proto-)Tory Brady and others made, in attacking the doctrine of the " Ancient Constitution" as a failed description of the real circumstances of political arrangements in the England of the Middle Ages. On the narrow point of the actual legal effects of 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 ...

, Brady had been anticipated by Samuel Daniel, in views that are quite close to some modern scholars. He moved from there to argue for absolutism, and that

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter"), sometimes spelled Magna Charta, is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardin ...

was not a major charter for popular freedom. Brady's ideas drew on Henry Spelman and Robert Filmer. Andrew Pyle (editor), ''Dictionary of Seventeenth Century British Philosophers'' (2000), article pp. 117–8. David C. Douglas remarks that although his motivations as a scholar were at least as political as those of his opponents, his techniques were so far superior that his work remained of importance. Brady was aided in his later work by a position from 1686 in the archives of the Tower of London.

Offices held

Bibliography

*''A Full and Clear Answer to a Book Written by William Petit, Esq.'' (1681) *''An Introduction to the Old English History'' (1684) *''A Complete History of England'' (1685) *''An Historical Treatise of Cities and Burghs'' (1690)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brady, Robert 1627 births 1700 deaths 17th-century English historians 17th-century English medical doctors Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Regius Professors of Physic (Cambridge) Masters of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Members of the pre-1707 Parliament of England for the University of Cambridge People from Denver, Norfolk