Western Philosophy 17th-century philosophy
John Selden, English jurist and philosopher
Name	John Selden
Birth	December 16, 1584 (Sussex)
Death	November 30, 1654 (aged 69)
School/tradition	Natural Law, Social contract, Humanism
Main interests	Political philosophy, Legal history
Notable ideas	proposed an egoistic theory of moral motivation, maintained that natural law was revealed historically through (esp. 17th century philosophy in the Western world is generally regarded as being the start of Modern philosophy, and a departure from the medieval approach Events 755 - An Lushan revolts against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Fanyang, initiating the An Shi Rebellion Sussex is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. Events 1700 - Battle of Narva — A Swedish army of 8500 men under Charles XII defeats Natural law or the law of nature ( Latin: lex naturalis) is a theory that posits the existence of a law whose content is set by Nature and that Social contract describes a broad class of republican theories whose subjects are implied agreements by which people form Nations and maintain a Social order Humanism is a broad category of ethical philosophies that affirm the dignity and worth of all people based on the ability to determine right and wrong by appealing to universal Political philosophy is the study of questions about the City, Government, Politics, Liberty, Justice, Property, Rights Legal history or the History of Law is the study of how law has evolved and why it changed Ethical egoism is the normative ethical position that Moral agents ought to do what is in their Self-interest. Natural law or the law of nature ( Latin: lex naturalis) is a theory that posits the existence of a law whose content is set by Nature and that Revelation is the act of revealing or disclosing (see etymology or in the theological perception making something obvious and clearly understood through active or passive communication Hebrew) scripture, argued that civil law arises from contract
Influenced by	Alciato, Connan, Hugo Grotius
Influenced	Great Tew circle, Hobbes, Cumberland, Pufendorf, Locke, Blackstone, Burke

John Selden (December 16, 1584 – November 30, 1654) was an English jurist, scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution ^[1] and scholar of Jewish law^[2]. The term Hebrew Bible is a generic reference to those books of the Bible originally written in Biblical Hebrew (and the related Biblical Aramaic Social contract describes a broad class of republican theories whose subjects are implied agreements by which people form Nations and maintain a Social order Andrea Alciato, commonly known as Alciati ( Andreas Alciatus) ( January 12, 1492 - 1550 was an Italian Jurist and writer François Connan (1508 &ndash 1551 Paris) was a French Jurist who took part in the Humanist development of an historical Jurisprudence Hugo Grotius or Huig de Groot, or Hugo de Groot; ( Delft, 10 April 1583 Rostock, 28 August 1645 Thomas Hobbes (born 5 April 1588died 4 December 1679 was an English philosopher, whose famous 1651 book Leviathan established the foundation Richard Cumberland (1631 &ndash 1718 was an English philosopher and Bishop of Peterborough from 1691 Baron Samuel von Pufendorf ( January 8, 1632 &ndash October 13, 1694) was a German Jurist, political Philosopher John Locke (29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704 was an English Philosopher. Sir William Blackstone (originally pronounced Blexstun ( 10 July 1723 &ndash 14 February 1780) was an English Jurist and Edmund Burke ( 12 January, 1729 9 July, 1797) was an Irish statesman author orator Political theorist, and Events 755 - An Lushan revolts against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Fanyang, initiating the An Shi Rebellion Events 1700 - Battle of Narva — A Swedish army of 8500 men under Charles XII defeats England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland JURIST is an online legal news service hosted by the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, written by founder Professor Bernard Hibbitts and a staff of more than He was known as a polymath of astounding intellectual depth and breadth; even John Milton, one of the greatest luminaries of 17th century England, hailed Selden as "the chief of learned men reputed in this land. John Milton ( 9 December, 1608 – 8 November, 1674) was an English Poet, Prose Polemicist and "^[3]

He was born at Salvington, in the parish of West Tarring, Sussex (now part of the town of Worthing). Salvington is a neighbourhood of the Borough of Worthing in West Sussex, England. West Tarring s a neighbourhood of the Borough of Worthing in West Sussex, England. Sussex is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. Worthing (ˈwɜrðɪŋ is a large seaside town and a local government borough in West Sussex, England His father, another John Selden, had a small farm. It is said that his skill as a violin-player was what attracted his wife, Margaret, who was from a better family, being the only child of Thomas Baker of Rustington -- descended from a knightly family of Kent. Introduction and History Rustington is a Seaside resort and Civil parish near Littlehampton in Sussex. KENT (1400 AM) is a Radio station broadcasting a Adult Standards/MOR format Selden was educated at the free grammar school at Chichester, and in 1600 he went on to Hart Hall, Oxford. A grammar school is one of several different types of School in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, England. It has a long history as a settlement its Roman past and its subsequent importance Hertford College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The University of Oxford (informally "Oxford University" or simply "Oxford" located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England is the In 1603 he was admitted to Clifford's Inn, London; in 1604 he moved to the Inner Temple; and in 1612 he was called to the bar. Clifford's Inn was an Inn of Chancery, which formerly stood on Clifford's Inn Passage off Fleet Street The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple is one of the four Inns of Court around the Royal Courts of Justice in London which may call members to The Call to the Bar is a legal Term of art in most Common law jurisdictions His earliest patron was Sir Robert Bruce Cotton, the antiquary, who seems to have employed him to copy and summarise some of the parliamentary records then held at the Tower of London. Sir Robert Bruce Cotton 1st Baronet ( 22 January 1570/1 &ndash 6 May 1631) was an English Politician, founder of Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London (and historically as The Tower) is a historic monument in central London For some reason, Selden very rarely practised in court, but his practice in chambers as a conveyancer and consulting counsel was large and apparently lucrative. A judge's chambers - often just called his or her chambers - is the office of a Judge.

It was, however, as a scholar and writer that Selden won his reputation. His first work, an account of the civil administration of England before the Norman Conquest, is said to have been completed when he was only twenty-two or twenty-three. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland But if this was the Analecion Anglo-Britannicon, as is generally supposed, he did not publish it until 1613. In 1610 three of his works came out: England's Epinomis and Janus Anglorum; Facies Altera, which dealt with the progress of English law down to Henry II; and The Duello, or Single Combat, in which he traced the history of trial by battle in England from the Norman Conquest. Trial by combat (also wager of battle, trial by battle or judicial duel) was a method of Germanic law to settle accusations in the absence of

In 1613 he supplied a series of notes, including quotations and references, to the first eighteen cantos of Michael Drayton's Poly-Olbion. Michael Drayton (1563 &ndash December 23, 1631) was an English Poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era. The Poly-Olbion is a Topographical poem describing England and Wales. In 1614 he published Titles of Honour, which, in spite of some obvious defects and omissions, remained a comprehensive and trustworthy work for centuries; and in 1616 his notes on John Fortescue's De laudibus legum Angliae and Ralph de Hengham's Summae magna et parva. Sir John Fortescue (c 1394 - c 1476 was an English Lawyer, the second son of Sir John Fortescue of an ancient Devon family Sir Ralph de Hengham (1235&ndashMay 18 1311 was a British justice In 1617 his De diis Syriis was issued, and immediately established his fame as an oriental scholar among the learned in all parts of Europe. It is remarkable for its brilliant use of the comparative method, in which it was far ahead of its age, and is still consulted by students of Semitic mythology. In Linguistics and Ethnology, Semitic (from the Biblical " Shem " Hebrew שם translated as "name" Arabic: ساميّ

In 1618 his History of Tithes, although only published after submission to the censor and licensing, caused anxiety among the bishops and provoked the intervention of the king. A tithe (from Old English teogoþa "tenth" is a one-tenth part of something paid as a (usually voluntary contribution or as a Tax or levy The author was summoned before the privy council and compelled to retract his opinions. Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council is a body of advisors to the British Sovereign. His work was suppressed and he was forbidden to reply to anyone who might come forward to answer it. This seems to have caused Selden's entry into politics. The English Civil War was already in the making, and it seems that, although he was not in Parliament, he was the instigator and perhaps the draughtsman of the memorable protestation on the rights and privileges of the House affirmed by the House of Commons on December 18, 1621. The English Civil War (1642-1651 was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists. The Parliament of England was the Legislature of the Kingdom of England. The House of Commons' is the Lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords Events 218 BC - Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia - Hannibal 's Carthaginian forces defeat those of the He and several others were imprisoned, at first in the Tower and later under the charge of Sir Robert Ducie, sheriff of London. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. During his brief detention, he occupied himself in preparing an edition of Eadmer's History from a manuscript lent to him by his host or jailor, which he published two years afterwards. Eadmer, or Edmer (c 1060&ndashc 1124 was an English historian, theologian and ecclesiastic

In 1623 he was returned to the House of Commons for the borough of Lancaster, and sat with John Coke, William Noy and John Pym on Sergeant Glanville's election committee. A borough is an Administrative division of various countries In principle the term borough designates a self-governing Township although in practice Lancaster (pronounced ˈlæŋˌkæstə or ˈlænˌkæstə is a City in Lancashire, England. Sir John Coke ( March 5, 1563 - September 8, 1644) English Politician, was educated at Trinity College Cambridge William Noy ( 1577 - August 9, 1634) was a noted British Jurist. John Pym (1584 &ndash December 8, 1643) was an English parliamentarian, leader of the Long Parliament and a prominent critic of He was also nominated reader of Lyon's Inn, an office he declined to undertake. For this the benchers of the Inner Temple fined him £20 and disqualified him from being one of their number. Nevertheless, after a few years, he became a master of the bench. In the first parliament of Charles I (1625), it appears from the "returns of members" printed in 1878 that, contrary to the assertion of all his biographers, he had no seat. Charles I, (19 November 1600 &ndash 30 January 1649 was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution. In Charles's second parliament (1626) he was elected for Great Bedwyn in Wiltshire, and took a prominent part in the impeachment of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham. Great Bedwyn was a Parliamentary borough in Wiltshire, which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs to the House of Commons from 1295 until Etymology The county formerly 'Wiltonshire' or 'Wiltunscir' (9th century is named after the former county town of Wilton (itself named after the River Wylye George Villiers 1st Duke of Buckingham ( 28 August 1592 &ndash 23 August 1628) (surname ˈvɪlɚz ("villers" was the Favourite In the following year, in the "benevolence" case, he was counsel for Sir Edmund Hampden in the Court of King's Bench. The Queen's Bench (or during the reign of a male monarch the King's Bench) is the superior court in a number of jurisdictions within some of the Commonwealth realms

In 1628 he was returned to the third parliament of Charles for Ludgershall, Wiltshire, and was involved in drawing up and carrying the Petition of Right. Ludgershall was a Parliamentary borough in Wiltshire, which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs to the House of Commons from 1295 until Etymology The county formerly 'Wiltonshire' or 'Wiltunscir' (9th century is named after the former county town of Wilton (itself named after the River Wylye The Petition of Right 1628 was produced by the English Parliament in the run-up to the English Civil War. In the session of 1629 he was one of the members responsible for the tumultuous passage in the House of Commons of the resolution against the illegal levy of tonnage and poundage, and, along with Sir John Eliot, Denzil Holles, Long, Valentine, William Strode, and the rest, he was sent back to the Tower. Tonnage is a measure of the size or Cargo capacity of a Ship. Sir John Eliot (11 April 1592 - 27 November 1632 English statesman son of Richard Eliot (1546 - 22 June 1609 and Bridget Carswell (c Denzil Holles 1st Baron Holles ( October 31, 1599 &ndash February 17, 1680) was an English statesman and Writer, best For the poet of the same name see William Strode (poet William Strode (1598-1645 English parliamentarian, second son of Sir William Strode There he remained for eight months, deprived for a part of the time of the use of books and writing materials. He was then removed, under less rigorous conditions, to the Marshalsea, until Archbishop Laud arranged for him to be freed. The Marshalsea was a notorious prison on the south bank of the River Thames in the London borough of Southwark. Archbishop William Laud (7 October 1573 - 10 January 1645 was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645 Some years before he had been appointed steward to the Earl of Kent, to whose seat, Wrest in Bedfordshire, he now retired. A steward (from Old English stíweard stiȝweard, from stiȝ "hall household" + weard " Warden, keeper" corresponding The Peerage title Earl of Kent has been created eight times in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Leviathan is an experimental/ambient Black metal band formed in 1998 by main man Wrest (Jeff Whitehead Bedfordshire (abbreviated Beds) is a County in England that forms part of the East of England region.

In 1628, at the suggestion of Sir Robert Cotton, Selden had compiled, with the assistance of two learned coadjutors, Patrick Young and Richard James, a catalogue of the Arundel marbles. The Arundelian Marbles are a collection of Greek marbles collected by Thomas Howard 21st Earl of Arundel in the early seventeenth century the first such comprehensive collection He employed his leisure at Wrest in writing De successionibus in bona defuncti secundum leges Ebraeorum and De successione in pontificatum Ebraeorum, published in 1631. About this period he seems to have inclined towards the court rather than the popular party, and even to have secured the personal favour of the king. To him in 1635 he dedicated his Mare clausum, and under the royal patronage it was put forth as a kind of state paper.

It had been written sixteen or seventeen years before, but James I had prohibited its publication for political reasons; hence it appeared a quarter of a century after Grotius's Mare liberum, to which it was intended to be a rejoinder, and the pretensions advanced in which on behalf of the Dutch fishermen to poach in the waters off the English coasts, it was its purpose to explode. James VI and I (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625 was King of Scotland as James VI, and King of England and King of Ireland as James Hugo Grotius or Huig de Groot, or Hugo de Groot; ( Delft, 10 April 1583 Rostock, 28 August 1645 The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The fact that Selden was not retained in the great case of ship money in 1637 by John Hampden, the cousin of his former client, may be accepted as additional evidence that his zeal in the popular cause was not so warm and unsuspected as it had once been. Ship money was a Tax, the levy of which by Charles I of England without the consent of Parliament was one of the causes of the English Civil War John Hampden (c 1595 &ndash 1643 was an English politician the eldest son of William Hampden of Hampden House, Great Hampden in Buckinghamshire During the progress of this momentous constitutional conflict, indeed, he seems to have been absorbed in his oriental researches, publishing De jure naturali et gentium juxta disciplinam Ebraeorum in 1640. In the words of John Milton, this "volume of naturall & national laws proves, not only by great authorities brought together, but by exquisite reasons and theorems almost mathematically demonstrative, that all opinions, yea errors, known, read, and collated, are of main service & assistance toward the speedy attainment of what is truest. John Milton ( 9 December, 1608 – 8 November, 1674) was an English Poet, Prose Polemicist and "^[4]

He was not elected to the Short Parliament of 1640; but to the Long Parliament, summoned in the autumn, he was returned without opposition for the University of Oxford. The Short Parliament ( 13 April - 5 May 1640) of King Charles I is so called because it lasted only three weeks The Long Parliament is the name of the English Parliament called by Charles I, on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. The University of Oxford (informally "Oxford University" or simply "Oxford" located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England is the He opposed the resolution against episcopacy which led to the exclusion of the bishops from the House of Lords, and printed an answer to the arguments used by Sir Harbottle Grimston on that occasion. Episcopal polity is a form of church governance which is hierarchical in structure with the chief authority over a local Christian church resting in a Bishop (Greek The House of Lords is the second house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords" Sir Harbottle Grimston 2nd Baronet ( 27 January 1603 &ndash 2 January 1685) was an English Politician, and son of Sir He joined in the protestation of the Commons for the maintenance of the Protestant religion according to the doctrines of the Church of England, the authority of the crown, and the liberty of the subject. Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican He was equally opposed to the court on the question of the commissions of lieutenancy of array and to the parliament on the question of the militia ordinance.

In 1643 he participated in the discussions of the assembly of divines at Westminster, and was appointed shortly afterwards keeper of the rolls and records in the Tower. The Westminster Assembly of Divines was appointed by the Long Parliament to restructure the Church of England. In 1645 he was named one of the parliamentary commissioners of the admiralty, and was elected master of Trinity Hall, Cambridge--an office he declined to accept. The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Trinity Hall is the fifth oldest college of the University of Cambridge, founded in 1350 by William Bateman, Bishop of Norwich. In 1646 he subscribed the Solemn League and Covenant, and in 1647 was voted £5000 by the parliament as compensation for his sufferings in the evil days of the monarchy. The Solemn League and Covenant was an agreement between the Scottish Covenanters and the leaders of the English Parliamentarians. He had not, however, relaxed his literary exertions during these years.

He published in 1642 Privileges of the Baronage of England when they sit in Parliament and Discourse concerning the Rights and Privileges of the Subject; in 1644, Dissertatio de anno civili et calendario reipublicae Judaicae; in 1646 his treatise on marriage and divorce among the Jews entitled Uxor Ebraica; and in 1647 the earliest printed edition of the old English law-book Fleta. PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ For the Moth Genus, see Fleta (moth. Fleta is a treatise with the sub-title seu Commentarius juris Anglicani In 1650 Selden passed the first part of De synedriis et prefecturis juridicis veterum Ebraeorum through the press, the second and third parts being severally published in 1653 and 1655, and in 1652 he wrote a preface and collated some of the manuscripts for Sir Roger Twysden's Historiae Anglicae scriptores decem. Sir Roger Twysden ( August 21, 1597 to June 27, 1672) was an English antiquary and royalist pamphleteer His last publication was a vindication of himself from certain charges advanced against him and his Mare clausum around 1653 by Theodore Graswinckel, a Dutch jurist.

After the death of the Earl of Kent in 1639 Selden lived permanently under the same roof with the earl's widow, the former Elizabeth Talbot. Henry Grey 8th Earl of Kent (c 1583 – 21 November, 1639) was Earl of Kent from 1623 to his death Elizabeth Grey Countess of Kent (1582 &ndash December 7, 1651) née Lady Elizabeth Talbot, was the wife of Henry Grey 8th Earl of Kent. It is believed that he married her, although their marriage does not seem to have ever been publicly acknowledged. He died at Friary House in Whitefriars, and was buried in the Temple Church, London. The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites (sometimes simply Carmel by Synecdoche; Latin: Ordo fratrum Beatæ The Temple Church is a late 12th century church in London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built for and by the Knights His tomb is today clearly visible through glass plates in the floor of this church. Furthermore, he is commemorated by a monumental inscription on the south side of the Temple Church. More than two centuries after his death, in 1880, a brass tablet was erected to his memory by the benchers of the Inner Temple in the parish church of West Tarring. The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple is one of the four Inns of Court around the Royal Courts of Justice in London which may call members to

Several of Selden's minor works were printed for the first time after his death, and a collective edition of his writings was published by Archdeacon Wilkins in 3 volumes folio in 1725, and again in 1726. Table Talk, for which he is perhaps best known, did not appear until 1689. It was edited by his amanuensis, Richard Milward, who affirms that "the sense and notion is wholly Selden's," and that "most of the words" are his also. Amanuensis əˌmænjuˈɛnsɪs is a Latin word adopted in various languages including English for certain persons performing a function by hand either writing down the words of another Richard Milward is an English writer born in Middlesbrough in 1984 Its genuineness has sometimes been questioned.

Endnotes

References

• Anthony à Wood, Athenae Oxonienses, ed. Anthony Wood or Anthony à Wood ( 17 December 1632 &ndash 28 November 1695) was an English antiquary. Bliss (London; 1817, 4 vols. )
• John Aikin, Lives of John Selden and Archbishop Usher (London, 1812)
• David Sandler Berkowitz, John Selden’s Formative Years: Politics and Society in Early Seventeenth-Century England (London, 1988)
• Sergio Caruso, La miglior legge del regno. John Aikin ( January 15, 1747 &ndash December 7, 1822) was an English doctor and writer Consuetudine, diritto naturale e contratto nel pensiero e nell’epoca di John Selden (1584-1654), Giuffrè: Milano 2001, two vols.
• Paul Christianson, "Selden, John (1584–1654). " Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. (Oxford University Press, 2004)
• Johnson, Memoirs of John Selden, etc. (London, 1835)
• Rosenblatt, Jason P. Renaissance England's Chief Rabbi: John Selden, Oxford University Press, 2006
• S. W. Singer (preface and notes), The Table-Talk of John Selden. (London, 1856)
• Archdeacon David Wilkins (editor), Johannis Seldeni Opera Omnia, etc. (London, 1725)
• John Milton, Areopagitica. John Milton ( 9 December, 1608 – 8 November, 1674) was an English Poet, Prose Polemicist and Areopagitica A speech of Mr John Milton for the liberty of unlicensed printing to the Parliament of England is a Prose tract or Polemic by (London, 1644)
• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone

External links

• Works by/about John Selden at Internet Archive. The Internet Archive ( IA) is a Nonprofit organization dedicated to maintaining an on-line Library and archive of Web and Scanned, illustrated original editions.