University Archives
& Special Collections
Sir Francis Bacon Collection
"The monuments of wit survive the monuments of power."
~ Francis Bacon, Essex's Device (1595)
Francis Bacon, Baron Verulam, Viscount St.
Albans (1561-1626) grew up in the rarefied outer fringe of the English
court. Strongly influenced by his father, Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper under
Elizabeth I, and his scholarly, Puritan mother, Lady Ann, the young Francis
aspired to a powerful position at court and the contemplative life of a
philosopher determined to devise a grand scheme of intellectual reform. The
untimely death of his father put both dreams into jeopardy. Francis was left
without financial resources and strong patronage connections. Instead, he was
forced to rely on his own abilities, audacity and wit. He rose to the challenge.
After assessing his situation, Bacon decided to launch his public career
from a base in the legal profession. Admitted to the bar in 1582, he quickly
distinguished himself. Two years later he entered the House of Commons where his
abilities soon surfaced in the public debates and within the committees he
served on. His devoted service in Parliament and the court did not go unnoticed
as he was knighted in 1603 and began to be granted increasingly more senior
public offices. He became Solicitor General in 1607; in 1608, secretary to the
Council of the Star Chamber; was created a judge in the Court of the Verge in
1612; the following year he was appointed Attorney-General; in 1617, Lord
Keeper; and, in 1618, Lord Chancellor.
At the peak of his power, Bacon was charged with accepting bribes, condemned
and fined. He was removed from office in 1621. For the last five years of his
life, Bacon turned to achieving his second dream and devising a new scheme for
the organization of knowledge and scientific investigation. While conducting an
experiment with snow in March 1626 he caught a chill, which led to his death on
April 9, 1626.
Bacon's influence on the development of modern thought has been felt in many
fields. His strong advocacy of collaborative and systematic investigation lifted
science beyond isolated and haphazard experimentation. Genuine jurisprudence was
established by Bacon's legal writing. As later historians followed Bacon's
example, historical writings become interpretative, explanatory and balanced
instead of merely chronological. His political writing urged the rational and
efficient separation of church and state. Clarity and vitality were restored to
the use of the English language in his literary works. In all his writings,
Bacon set forth a grand vision and with equal grandness set down his views on
how it should be achieved.
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