Background

He was grandson of Richard Clerke, gentleman, of Livermere in Suffolk

Suffolk

Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...

, and son of John Clerke of Wells, Somerset, by Anne, daughter and heiress of Henry Grantoft of Huntingdonshire

Huntingdonshire

Huntingdonshire is a local government district of Cambridgeshire, covering the area around Huntingdon. Traditionally it is a county in its own right...

. He was born about 1537 in Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

. He received his education at Eton College

Eton College

Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

, and was elected to King's College, Cambridge

King's College, Cambridge

King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....

, being admitted scholar on 23 August 1554 and fellow on 24 August 1557. He proceeded B.A. in 1559, and commenced M.A. in 1562. He also studied at Paris, where he was admired for his oratory, and he was offered a salary of three hundred crowns if he would read a public lecture at Angers

Angers

Angers is the main city in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France about south-west of Paris. Angers is located in the French region known by its pre-revolutionary, provincial name, Anjou, and its inhabitants are called Angevins....

; but this he declined. About 1563 he was professor of rhetoric at Cambridge. When Queen Elizabeth visited the university in August 1564, he took a part in the philosophy act which was kept in her majesty's presence, and made an oration to her when she visited King's College. He was one of the proctors of the university for the academical year beginning in October 1564.

Early career

On the death of Roger Ascham

Roger Ascham

Roger Ascham was an English scholar and didactic writer, famous for his prose style, his promotion of the vernacular, and his theories of education...

 he was recommended to succeed him as Latin secretary to the queen by Sir William Cecil, Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester

Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester

Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, KG was an English nobleman and the favourite and close friend of Elizabeth I from her first year on the throne until his death...

, and Walter Haddon

Walter Haddon

Walter Haddon LL.D. was an English civil lawyer, much involved in church and university affairs under Edward VI, Queen Mary, and Elizabeth I...

. The office had, however, been previously promised by her majesty to another person. About the same time he was accused of unsoundness in religion, but defended himself. In 1569 he was again elected proctor of the university. On this occasion he was publicly charged with unsoundness in religion and reproached for having been rejected at court. The Earl of Leicester, in a letter to the vice-chancellor and regents of the university, dated 11 May 1569, vindicated Clerke's reputation.

To the parliament which assembled on 2 April 1571 he was returned as one of the members for the borough of Bramber

Bramber (UK Parliament constituency)

Bramber was a parliamentary borough in Sussex, one of the most notorious of all the rotten boroughs. It elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons in 1295, and again from 1472 until 1832, when the constituency was abolished by the Great Reform Act.-History:The borough consisted of...

 in Sussex

Sussex

Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...

, and on the 19th of the month he took part in a debate on the bill against usury

Usury

Usury Originally, when the charging of interest was still banned by Christian churches, usury simply meant the charging of interest at any rate . In countries where the charging of interest became acceptable, the term came to be used for interest above the rate allowed by law...

, his speech containing quotations from Aristotle, Plato, St. Augustine, and the psalmist. In that year he accompanied to Paris Lord Buckhurst

Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset

Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset was an English statesman, poet, dramatist and Freemason. He was the son of Richard Sackville, a cousin to Anne Boleyn. He was a Member of Parliament and Lord High Treasurer.-Biography:...

, sent as ambassador to the French court to congratulate Charles IX

Charles IX of France

Charles IX was King of France, ruling from 1560 until his death. His reign was dominated by the Wars of Religion. He is best known as king at the time of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre.-Childhood:...

 on his marriage. He resided with his lordship for some time after his return to England, and he was also held in esteem by Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford

Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford

Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford was an Elizabethan courtier, playwright, lyric poet, sportsman and patron of the arts, and is currently the most popular alternative candidate proposed for the authorship of Shakespeare's works....

, to whom he seems to have been tutor.

It was in 1571 that Nicholas Sanders

Nicholas Sanders

Nicholas Sanders was an English Roman Catholic priest and polemicist.-Early life:Sanders was born at Chariwood , Surrey, the son of William Sanders, once sheriff of Surrey, who was descended from the Sanders of Sanderstead...

 printed his book, De visibili Ecclesiae Monarchia. Lord Burghley and Archbishop Matthew Parker

Matthew Parker

Matthew Parker was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1559 until his death in 1575. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder of Anglican theological thought....

 thought it ought to receive a substantial answer from a jurist, and Clerke was asked. Burghley desired some public testimony from the university respecting Clerke's conduct: the vice-chancellor and John Whitgift

John Whitgift

John Whitgift was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1583 to his death. Noted for his hospitality, he was somewhat ostentatious in his habits, sometimes visiting Canterbury and other towns attended by a retinue of 800 horsemen...

 as Master of Trinity College, testified on 6 December 1572 to his good reputation for learning. While engaged in refuting Sanders, Clerke was accommodated with a room in the Arches by favour of Archbishop Parker, who himself assisted in preparing the reply, which was then scrutinised and corrected by Burghley before it was sent to the press, as Fidelis servi subdito infideli responsio. It was printed by John Day

John Day (printer)

John Day was an English Protestant printer. He specialised in printing and distributing Protestant literature and pamphlets, and produced many small-format religious books, such as ABCs, sermons, and translations of psalms...

, and trouble was taken with the typography, but Day asked Parker for a quid pro quo in the shape of help with setting up a book shop.

Ecclesiastical lawyer

On 14 January 1573 Clerke became a member of the College of Advocates at Doctors' Commons

Doctors' Commons

Doctors' Commons, also called the College of Civilians, was a society of lawyers practising civil law in London. Like the Inns of Court of the common lawyers, the society had buildings with rooms where its members lived and worked, and a large library...

, and on 3 May 1573 he was constituted dean of the arches. The queen commanded the archbishop to remove Clerke, claiming that he was too young to hold such a post. He successfully resisted the attempt to remove him, supported by the archbishop. In November 1573 he occurs in a commission from the archbishop to visit the church, city, and diocese of Canterbury

Canterbury

Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....

. About the same time he was appointed a master in chancery. His name occurs in the high commission for causes ecclesiastical on 23 April 1576, and he became archdeacon of Wells about the beginning of 1582.

Diplomat

In December 1585 he and Henry Killigrew were sent to Flanders

Flanders

Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

 to co-operate with the Earl of Leicester, being appointed members of the council of state. On 10 March 1586 Clerke delivered an oration in Leicester's name, on his arrival in Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

, and in October following he was despatched to England by Leicester on a special mission to the queen. In 1587 he was again sent to the Low Countries, with his friend Lord Buckhurst and Sir John Norris, in order to allay the discontent which had been excited by the Earl of Leicester's proceedings in Holland, and to open the way for a peace with Spain.

Retirement

For some years his residence was at Mitcham

Mitcham

Mitcham is a district in the south west area of London, in the London Borough of Merton. A suburban area, Mitcham is located on the border of Inner London and Outer London. It is both residentially and financially developed, well served by Transport for London, and home to Mitcham Town Centre,...

 in Surrey, and he was lord of the manor of Clapham

Clapham

Clapham is a district in south London, England, within the London Borough of Lambeth.Clapham covers the postcodes of SW4 and parts of SW9, SW8 and SW12. Clapham Common is shared with the London Borough of Wandsworth, although Lambeth has responsibility for running the common as a whole. According...

 there. He died on 12 March 1590, and was buried in the old church at Clapham. By his wife Eleanor (née Haselrigge) he had a son, Sir Francis Clerke of Merton in Surrey.

Works

His works included a translation of The Book of the Courtier

The Book of the Courtier

The Book of the Courtier is a courtesy book. It was written by Baldassare Castiglione over the course of many years, beginning in 1508, and published in 1528 by the Aldine Press just before his death...

from the Italian original Il Cortegiano of Baldassare Castiglione

Baldassare Castiglione

Baldassare Castiglione, count of was an Italian courtier, diplomat, soldier and a prominent Renaissance author.-Biography:Castiglione was born into an illustrious Lombard family at Casatico, near Mantua, where his family had constructed an impressive palazzo...

 into Latin. It first appeared in 1571 as De Curiali sive Aulico. It was subsequently edited by Samuel Drake, in 1713.