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Francis Thynne (c. 1544 – 1608) was an English antiquary and an officer of arms at the College of Arms.

Family background and early life

Francis Thynne was born in Kent, the son of William Thynne, who was Master of the Household of King Henry VIII. He attended Tonbridge School.

Career

Francis Thynne was an antiquary before being admitted to the College of Arms after several fruitless applications. He was finally appointed Blanche Lyon Pursuivant of Arms Extraordinary in 1602, the first instance of this office being "extraordinary". Immediately after this appointment, he was promoted to Lancaster Herald of Arms in Ordinary.

He had an eventful life, having been imprisoned for more than two years as a debtor and crippled with gout for much of his life. He was known to have assisted William Camden in his heraldic work and was recommended by Sir William Dethick for eventual promotion to the office of Norroy King of Arms. This promotion never occurred, and Thynne died circa November 1608. His arms were those of Botfield (his family's original name) and were blazoned Barry of ten Or and Sable.

Thynne's main importance is as an antiquary who formed part of the Elizabethan Society of Antiquaries, which was active between 1586 and about 1607. They aimed to "construct a detailed and credible account of the origins and development of the English people". This club of lawyers, heralds and antiquarians largely consulted records in Latin but Thynne was remarkable for his ability to read Old English (Anglo-Saxon) sources. Archbishop Matthew Parker had initiated the searches of the libraries of dissolved monasteries, primarily to find evidence for the historical singularity of the English Church, free from Rome. However, the small circle of scholars he employed largely ceased research after his death, whilst his manuscripts disappeared into university college libraries. Apart from Henry Savile's "poorly-executed" chronicles (1598), no further Anglo-Saxon texts were published until L'Isle's Saxon Treatise (1623) and Wheelock's edition of Bede's Historiae ecclesiasticae gentis Anglorum (1644). What is remarkable about Thynne is that he and only a few other antiquaries were mastering the Anglo-Saxon language. The evidence for this comes from the published volumes of the proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, where references are made to charters and other documents written in Old English. In a 1591 discussion on the origins of English shires, Thynne, together with James Ley and Thomas Talbot, display reasonable knowledge of Old English.

Thynne was perhaps the most scholarly of the antiquaries: "His work on Anglo-Saxon and medieval chronicles was solid and factual, based on his firm belief in the accuracy of the original manuscripts." For example, only he quotes Textus Roffensis. No one in Parker's circle had known of its existence and it did not appear in print until 1644. Thynne used it in a 1604 discourse on the office of Earl Marshal, accurately transcribing the sentence from Peace (pax), "Ðus feor sceal beon þæs cinges grið fram his burhgeate, þær he is sittende, on feower healfe his, ðæt is III mila 7 III furlang 7 III æcera bræde 7 IX fota 7 IX scæftamunda 7 IX berecorna." Thynne thought he was quoting a law of Æthelstan, not unreasonably, since it immediately follows the law-codes V and VI Æthelstan in Textus Roffensis. However, Peace is really an extension of Æthelred's Wantage Code which, given its use of what are now known to be Scandinavian loan-words, such as grið ('peace',) was probably intended for use in the Danelaw. Thynne thought this was some kind of official term, and such misunderstandings were inevitable when he was having to learn the language with almost no support and certainly no publicly available grammar or gloss. He mostly relied on Ælfric's Grammar and Glossary and his Colloquy which, intended as teaching aids for Latin, might also be used in reverse; the manuscripts of legal and religious texts available in Latin and English versions, and the few printed works to provide some Old English words or parallel texts.

If Thynne saw Textus Roffensis, then he travelled to Rochester to see it. That is another unusual aspect of his activities. He travelled to see manuscripts, not only in Rochester but also in Winchester and in various gentlemen's private libraries in and around London. For example, his various references to William of Malmesbury's Gesta Regum Anglorum suggest he viewed the collection either of John Stow (who had worked on an edition of Chaucer with Thynne's father in the 1530s) or of John, Lord Lumley.

Thynne was not wealthy. He "spent his life in libraries and his study". He failed to complete several manuscripts and the papers he read to the Society of Antiquaries contain only glimpses of his thoughts and interests. His "significance lies in the manuscripts he collected, transcribed, and translated", but his most impressive achievement was to help keep the study of Old English alive after its shaky revival by Parker's circle.

References

1. British Armorial Bindings: Thynne or Botfield (Stamp 1), University of Toronto Libraries, accessed 16 Dec 2017. The "rose for difference" indicates this stamp is of the family arms of a cousin of Francis Thynne in his uncle's branch of the family.
2. Christina DeCoursey, "Society of Antiquaries (act. 1586–1607)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2015 accessed 7 Dec 2016
3. John Niles, The Idea of Anglo-Saxon England, 1066–1901: Remembering, Forgetting, Deciphering and Renewing the Past (Chichester, 2015), 78
4. Timothy Graham, "Matthew Parker's manuscripts: an Elizabethan library and its use", in E. Leedham-Green & T. Webber, The Cambridge History of Libraries in Britain and Ireland,1: To 1640 (Cambridge, 2006), 335
5. R. D. Goulding, "Savile, Sir Henry (1549–1622)", oxforddnb.com/view/article/24737.
6. Niles, The Idea of Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 110–116.
7. Thomas Hearne, A Collection of Curious Discourses written by Eminent Antiquaries upon Several Heads in our English Antiquities (London, 1773: expanded 2-volume edition of 1720 original)
8. Knafla 2010.
9. Parker's manuscripts of Gesta Regum in Corpus Christi, Cambridge are unlikely to have been available to Thynne. More likely are any of the London, BL, manuscripts:
   • Add MS 23147 (the catalogue states: "f. 42 John Stow, Historian: Note in a copy of William of Malmesbury's Gesta Regum")
   • Add Ch 23147 ("In the margin are numerous notes in a XVIth cent. hand, and at f. 42 a note by John Stow")
   • Royal MS 13 D V, then belonging to Lumley
   Cotton MS Vespasian A V, ff 73r–77v, a few extracts copied by Lambarde, only arrived in Cotton's collection after Lambarde's death in 1601. Barrett Beer, "Stow, John (1524/5–1605)", oxforddnb.com/view/article/26611. Kathryn Barron, "Lumley, John, first Baron Lumley (c.1533–1609)", oxforddnb.com/view/article/17179
10. Knafla 2010.
11. Knafla 2010.
12. Burke, Sir Bernard, (1938 ed) Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage. Shaw, London. p. 243
13. ^ Woodfall, H. (1768). The Peerage of England; Containing a Genealogical and Historical Account of All the Peers of that Kingdom Etc. Fourth Edition, Carefully Corrected, and Continued to the Present Time, Volume 6. p. 258.
14. ^ Lee, Sidney; Edwards, A. S. G. (revised) (2004). "Thynne, William (d. 1546)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/27426. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
15. Girouard, Mark, Thynne, Sir John (1515–1580), estate manager and builder of Longleat in Oxford Dictionary of Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004)
16. Booth, Muriel. "Thynne, John (?1550–1604), of Longleat, Wilt". History of Parliament. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
17. Lancaster, Henry; Thrush, Andrew. "Thynne, Charles (c.1568–1652), of Cheddar, So". History of Parliament. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
18. Pugh, R. B.; Crittall, Elizabeth, eds. (1957). "Parliamentary history: 1529–1629". A History of the County of Wiltshire. Vol. 5. London: Victoria County History – via British History Online.
19. Ferris, John P. "Thynne, Sir James (c.1605-70), of Longbridge Deverill, Wilt". History of Parliament. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
20. Helms, M. W.; Ferris, John P. "Thynne, Sir Thomas (c.1610–c.69), of Richmond, Sur". History of Parliament. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
21. Marshall, Alan (2008) . "Thynne, Thomas (1647/8–1682)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/27423. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
22. Heath-Caldwell, J. J. "Thomas Thynne, 1st Marquess of Bath, 3rd Viscount Weymouth". JJ Heath-Caldwell. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
23. Hayton, D. W. "Thynne, Hon. Henry (1675-1708)". The History of Parliament. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
24. Dunaway, Stewart (2013). Lord John Carteret, Earl Granville: His Life History and the Granville Grants. Lulu. p. 33. ISBN 9781300878070.
25. "Bath, Thomas Thynne". Encyclopedia Britannica 1911. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
26. Thorne, Roland. "Carteret [formerly Thynne], Henry Frederick". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
27. "Thomas Thynne, 2nd Marquess of Bath (1765–1837)". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
28. Escott, Margaret. "Thynne, Lord Henry Frederick (1797-1837), of 6 Grovesnor Square, Md". History of Parliament. The History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
29. "John Thynne, 4th Marquess of Bath (1831-1896), Diplomat and landowner". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 2 January 2016.

Further reading

• Knafla, Louis A. (2010) . "Thynne, Francis (1545?–1608)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/27420. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

External links

• Works by Francis Thynne at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Francis Thynne at the Internet Archive
• Hutchinson, John (1892). "Francis Thynne" . Men of Kent and Kentishmen (Subscription ed.). Canterbury: Cross & Jackman. p. 133.

• 1540s births
• 1608 deaths
• Thynne family
• People from Kent
• English officers of arms
• English genealogists
• 16th-century English writers
• 17th-century English writers
• 16th-century male writers
• 17th-century English male writers