Henry Scrimgeour
Encyclopedia
Henry Scrimgeour or Scrymgeour (c. 1505 – 23 September 1572) was a diplomat
and book collector.
, most likely in 1505, but possibly in 1508 or 1509, since Andrew Melville
gives Scrimgeour's age at death as sixty-three.
Having first attended Dundee Grammar School, he then went to St Salvator's College, St Andrews
, in 1532. He determined as a bachelor in 1533, and won first place in the examination for licence the following year. Some time later he proceeded to Paris
where he studied under Guillaume Budé
and Pierre Ramus. Shortly afterwards he went to Bourges
to study civil law
for four years under Éguinaire Baron
and François Douaren
. While in Bourges, he formed an acquaintance with Jacques Amyot
, professor of Greek
, and succeeded him in becoming preceptor to the sons of Guillaume Bochetel
, the secretary of state, probably for three or four years. In February 1547 he returned to Scotland
for a short stay and Bochetel recommended him in a letter to Mary of Guise
.
Back in France
in 1548, Scrimgeour then accompanied his pupil Bernardin Bochetel to Padua
. Although a Catholic
, he was plunged into the controversies of the Italian Reformation
when he visited a young lawyer of Cittadella, Francesco Spiera
, who was slowly dying of despair, having adopted the new opinions and then been forced to recant. Scrimgeour wrote an essay on piety, published at Geneva
(under the name of Henricus Scotus) by Jean Gerard and with a preface by Jean Calvin dated December 1549, entitled "Exemplum memorabile desperationis in Francisco Spera, propter abiuratam fidei confessionem". The tract was republished the same year in Basel
. Nonetheless, it was some years before Scrimgeour would openly show his adherence to protestantism
, and his second publication was a law book, an edition of the Novellae, printed by Estienne in Geneva in May 1558 and subsidized by Ulrich Fugger, entitled: Impp. Justiniani, Justini, Leonis novellae constitutiones. The Novellae were fundamental to the teaching of law on the continent at this time, and a new edition was badly needed. Scrimgeour used his contacts with the French ambassador
to Venice
to gain access to the important Bessarian codex there, and his edition was well received by contemporary lawyers. The period between 1558 and his last visit to Italy
in 1564 represents the most energetic part of Scrimgeour's activity in another capacity, that of book collector; it is accepted that the greatest part of the Greek, Latin
, and Hebrew manuscripts of the Fugger collection were gathered by Scrimgeour, who frequently travelled between Augsburg
and Italy. It is today the core of the Vatican
Palatine collection. Scrimgeour also acted as agent in buying books for Otto-Heinrich, the elector palatine.
Scrimgeour kept his benefices in Scotland
all his life, but he also enjoyed an income in France-—there exists an authorization given to him in 1556 by King Henri II
to hold and receive benefices in his country of adoption. He also engaged on a diplomatic career, travelling to Padua, Venice
, Florence
, Rome
, Milan
, Mantua
, and Bologna
, and also to Bourges, where he tried unsuccessfully to set up a printing press. Bernandin Bochetel, now abbot
of St Laurent des Aubats, had several times invited him to Vienna
, and he finally went there in November 1560. Bochetel may have wanted his diplomatic services at this time to help him in difficult negotiations with the German Lutheran princes, or with the colloquy of Poissy of 1561 between French reformers and Catholics, or with the Council of Trent
, which after a ten-year interval had resumed its sessions in January 1562. However, Scrimgeour's stay in Vienna was brief, for by the end of 1561 he was in Geneva.
Ulrich Fugger, now a Lutheran, had a plan for a public library
in Geneva in order to secure his large and important collection of rare books, and Scrimgeour was associated with this project. At the same time, on 30 December, he was honoured by the magistrates of Geneva who received him as a burgess, three years after John Knox
, and thanks to Calvin he soon became involved in the city's public life.
On 18 April 1562, with Calvin's blessing, Scrimgeour married Françoise de Saussure. However, Françoise died, on 1 February 1568, aged twenty-five, leaving a three-year old daughter, Marie. In 1563 the Genevan pastors appointed Scrimgeour reader in philosophy
, and the same year he was admitted to the town council
of two hundred. Later he started giving lessons in civil law. When Calvin died in the spring of 1564 Scrimgeour was witness to his will. On 3 January 1570 Scrimgeour joined the council of sixty at Geneva, and on 11 May married Catherine de Veillet. That year, two regents-—the earls of Moray and Mar-—and also George Buchanan
tried to attract Scrimgeour back to Scotland to assist in the education of the young James VI, but he declined, arguing his age and the instability of Scotland. Henry Scrimgeour died in Geneva on 23 September 1572.
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
and book collector.
Biography
He was born in DundeeDundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
, most likely in 1505, but possibly in 1508 or 1509, since Andrew Melville
Andrew Melville
Andrew Melville was a Scottish scholar, theologian and religious reformer. His fame encouraged scholars from the European Continent to study at Glasgow and St Andrews.-Early life and early education:...
gives Scrimgeour's age at death as sixty-three.
Having first attended Dundee Grammar School, he then went to St Salvator's College, St Andrews
St Salvator's College, St Andrews
St Salvator's College of the University of St Andrews was founded in 1450 by Bishop James Kennedy on North Street, St Andrews. Several of these original medieval buildings survive, including the college chapel, tower, tenement building and the Hebdomodar's building...
, in 1532. He determined as a bachelor in 1533, and won first place in the examination for licence the following year. Some time later he proceeded to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
where he studied under Guillaume Budé
Guillaume Budé
Guillaume Budé was a French scholar.-Life:Budé was born in Paris. He went to the University of Orléans to study law, but for several years, being possessed of ample means, he led an idle and dissipated life...
and Pierre Ramus. Shortly afterwards he went to Bourges
Bourges
Bourges is a city in central France on the Yèvre river. It is the capital of the department of Cher and also was the capital of the former province of Berry.-History:...
to study civil law
Civil law (area)
Civil law in continental law is a branch of law which is the general part of private law.The basis for civil law lies in a civil code. Before enacting of codes, civil law could not be distinguished from private law...
for four years under Éguinaire Baron
Eguinaire Baron
Eguinaire François, Baron de Kerlouan was a French jurist. He is also variously referred to as Baro, Eguinaire Baron, Eguinarius Baro, Eguinarius Baron, Eguinar Baro or Eguin Baron....
and François Douaren
François Douaren
François Douaren was a French jurist and professor of law at the University of Bourges....
. While in Bourges, he formed an acquaintance with Jacques Amyot
Jacques Amyot
Jacques Amyot , French Renaissance writer and translator, was born of poor parents, at Melun.He found his way to the University of Paris, where he supported himself by serving some of the richer students. He was nineteen when he became M.A. at Paris, and later he graduated doctor of civil law at...
, professor of Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, and succeeded him in becoming preceptor to the sons of Guillaume Bochetel
Guillaume Bochetel
Guillaume Bochetel, seigneur de Sassy, Brouillamenon, Laforest-Thaumyer was a statesman and diplomat of the French Renaissance during the reigns of François I and Henry II of France.-Biography :He comes from a family of Champagne in Reims...
, the secretary of state, probably for three or four years. In February 1547 he returned to Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
for a short stay and Bochetel recommended him in a letter to Mary of Guise
Mary of Guise
Mary of Guise was a queen consort of Scotland as the second spouse of King James V. She was the mother of Mary, Queen of Scots, and served as regent of Scotland in her daughter's name from 1554 to 1560...
.
Back in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1548, Scrimgeour then accompanied his pupil Bernardin Bochetel to Padua
Padua
Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...
. Although a Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
, he was plunged into the controversies of the Italian Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
when he visited a young lawyer of Cittadella, Francesco Spiera
Francesco Spiera
Francesco Spiera was a Protestant Italian jurist. The manner of his death was the subject of numerous religious tracts.-Life:He was born at Cittadella, 20 km north of Padua, then part of the Republic of Venice...
, who was slowly dying of despair, having adopted the new opinions and then been forced to recant. Scrimgeour wrote an essay on piety, published at Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
(under the name of Henricus Scotus) by Jean Gerard and with a preface by Jean Calvin dated December 1549, entitled "Exemplum memorabile desperationis in Francisco Spera, propter abiuratam fidei confessionem". The tract was republished the same year in Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
. Nonetheless, it was some years before Scrimgeour would openly show his adherence to protestantism
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
, and his second publication was a law book, an edition of the Novellae, printed by Estienne in Geneva in May 1558 and subsidized by Ulrich Fugger, entitled: Impp. Justiniani, Justini, Leonis novellae constitutiones. The Novellae were fundamental to the teaching of law on the continent at this time, and a new edition was badly needed. Scrimgeour used his contacts with the French ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
to gain access to the important Bessarian codex there, and his edition was well received by contemporary lawyers. The period between 1558 and his last visit to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 1564 represents the most energetic part of Scrimgeour's activity in another capacity, that of book collector; it is accepted that the greatest part of the Greek, Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, and Hebrew manuscripts of the Fugger collection were gathered by Scrimgeour, who frequently travelled between Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
and Italy. It is today the core of the Vatican
Vatican Library
The Vatican Library is the library of the Holy See, currently located in Vatican City. It is one of the oldest libraries in the world and contains one of the most significant collections of historical texts. Formally established in 1475, though in fact much older, it has 75,000 codices from...
Palatine collection. Scrimgeour also acted as agent in buying books for Otto-Heinrich, the elector palatine.
Scrimgeour kept his benefices in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
all his life, but he also enjoyed an income in France-—there exists an authorization given to him in 1556 by King Henri II
Henry II of France
Henry II was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559.-Early years:Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, the son of Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany .His father was captured at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 by his sworn enemy,...
to hold and receive benefices in his country of adoption. He also engaged on a diplomatic career, travelling to Padua, Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Mantua
Mantua
Mantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family, made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole...
, and Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, and also to Bourges, where he tried unsuccessfully to set up a printing press. Bernandin Bochetel, now abbot
Abbot
The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
of St Laurent des Aubats, had several times invited him to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, and he finally went there in November 1560. Bochetel may have wanted his diplomatic services at this time to help him in difficult negotiations with the German Lutheran princes, or with the colloquy of Poissy of 1561 between French reformers and Catholics, or with the Council of Trent
Council of Trent
The Council of Trent was the 16th-century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It is considered to be one of the Church's most important councils. It convened in Trent between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods...
, which after a ten-year interval had resumed its sessions in January 1562. However, Scrimgeour's stay in Vienna was brief, for by the end of 1561 he was in Geneva.
Ulrich Fugger, now a Lutheran, had a plan for a public library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
in Geneva in order to secure his large and important collection of rare books, and Scrimgeour was associated with this project. At the same time, on 30 December, he was honoured by the magistrates of Geneva who received him as a burgess, three years after John Knox
John Knox
John Knox was a Scottish clergyman and a leader of the Protestant Reformation who brought reformation to the church in Scotland. He was educated at the University of St Andrews or possibly the University of Glasgow and was ordained to the Catholic priesthood in 1536...
, and thanks to Calvin he soon became involved in the city's public life.
On 18 April 1562, with Calvin's blessing, Scrimgeour married Françoise de Saussure. However, Françoise died, on 1 February 1568, aged twenty-five, leaving a three-year old daughter, Marie. In 1563 the Genevan pastors appointed Scrimgeour reader in philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, and the same year he was admitted to the town council
Town council
A town council is a democratically elected form of government for small municipalities or civil parishes. A council may serve as both the representative and executive branch....
of two hundred. Later he started giving lessons in civil law. When Calvin died in the spring of 1564 Scrimgeour was witness to his will. On 3 January 1570 Scrimgeour joined the council of sixty at Geneva, and on 11 May married Catherine de Veillet. That year, two regents-—the earls of Moray and Mar-—and also George Buchanan
George Buchanan
George Buchanan may refer to:*George Buchanan , Scottish humanist*Sir George Buchanan , Scottish soldier during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms*Sir George Buchanan , Chief Medical Officer...
tried to attract Scrimgeour back to Scotland to assist in the education of the young James VI, but he declined, arguing his age and the instability of Scotland. Henry Scrimgeour died in Geneva on 23 September 1572.