156-536: Robert Burton (8 February 1577 – 25 January 1640) was an English author and fellow of Oxford University , known for his encyclopedic The Anatomy of Melancholy . Born in 1577 to a comfortably well-off family of the landed gentry , Burton attended two grammar schools and matriculated at Brasenose College, Oxford in 1593, age 15. Burton's education at Oxford was unusually lengthy, possibly drawn out by an affliction of melancholy , and saw an early transfer to Christ Church . Burton received an MA and BD, and by 1607
312-559: A brilliant group of experimental scientists at Oxford in the 1650s, the Oxford Philosophical Club , which included Robert Boyle and Robert Hooke . This group, which has at times been linked with Boyle's " Invisible College ", held regular meetings at Wadham under the guidance of the college's Warden, John Wilkins , and the group formed the nucleus that went on to found the Royal Society . Before reforms in
468-519: A college and a PPH is that whereas colleges are governed by the fellows of the college, the governance of a PPH resides, at least in part, with the corresponding Christian denomination. The four current PPHs are: The PPHs and colleges join as the Conference of Colleges, which represents the common concerns of the several colleges of the university, to discuss matters of shared interest and to act collectively when necessary, such as in dealings with
624-667: A diverse range of subjects. Facilities such as libraries are provided on all these levels: by the central university (the Bodleian ), by the departments (individual departmental libraries, such as the English Faculty Library), and by colleges (each of which maintains a multi-discipline library for the use of its members). The university's formal head is the Chancellor , currently Lord Patten of Barnes (due to retire in 2024), though as at most British universities,
780-560: A fact which, according to one scholar, "speaks volumes about the marginalization of the Anatomy in Anglophone early modern studies [of that period]." Burton earned a new generation of enthusiasts in the 20th and 21st centuries. As journalist Nick Lezard observed in 2000, though not often reprinted, "Robert Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy survives among the cognoscenti ". Samuel Beckett drew influence from Burton's Anatomy , both in
936-409: A first-year examination that was heavily focused on classical languages . Science students found this particularly burdensome and supported a separate science degree with Greek language study removed from their required courses. This concept of a Bachelor of Science had been adopted at other European universities ( London University had implemented it in 1860) but an 1880 proposal at Oxford to replace
1092-648: A former headmaster of Rugby School, was a key member of the Oxford Commission; he wanted Oxford to follow the German and Scottish model in which the professorship was paramount. The commission's report envisioned a centralised university run predominantly by professors and faculties, with a much stronger emphasis on research. The professional staff should be strengthened and better paid. For students, restrictions on entry should be dropped, and more opportunities given to poorer families. It called for an enlargement of
1248-473: A friend "that, in the last Century, a Folio, Burton on Melancholy, went through six Editions in about twenty years. We have, I believe, more Readers now, but not such huge Books." Burton's influence during this period was chiefly as reservoir of quotes and anecdotes for less sophisticated authors to borrow from. One such borrower was Laurence Sterne , who shamelessly incorporated passages of Burton throughout his Tristram Shandy (1759), an act of plagiarism which
1404-405: A gentleman rather than that of a serious scholar. The earliest biography of Burton appeared in 1662, as part of Fuller's Worthies of England ; this was followed by Anthony à Wood in his 1692 volume of Athenae Oxonienses . Into the 18th century, Burton experienced something of a lull in popularity. The Anatomy did still obtain a few distinguished readers in this period. Samuel Johnson , himself
1560-454: A group which evolved into the Society of Oxford Home-Students and in 1952 into St Anne's College . These first three societies for women were followed by St Hugh's (1886) and St Hilda's (1893). All of these colleges later became coeducational, starting with Lady Margaret Hall and St Anne's in 1979, and finishing with St Hilda's , which began to accept male students in 2008. In
1716-583: A large extent, remained its governing regulations until the mid-19th century. Laud was also responsible for the granting of a charter securing privileges for the University Press , and he made significant contributions to the Bodleian Library , the main library of the university. From the beginnings of the Church of England as the established church until 1866, membership of the church was
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#17327722190891872-470: A leading role, and departed from Alba 's controversial mythological themes for the less contentious ones of an academic satire. Burton initially struggled to find any patrons for promotion out of the university, but after some time, he managed to obtain an ecclesiastical office in the living of St Thomas the Martyr's Church, Oxford , located in the western suburb of Oxford. He was nominated to this by
2028-601: A little to Osler's direct influence". Following Osler's influence, Burtonian studies were primarily bibliographical in the early 20th century, with the exception of an influential essay by critic Morris Croll on the " Senecan style" in Burton's late Renaissance prose. By the middle of the 20th century, psychoanalytic critics of the Anatomy emerged, regarding Burton's masterpiece as a work of psychological autobiography. In The Psychiatry of Robert Burton (1944), for instance, critic Bergen Evans and psychiatrist George Mohr combed
2184-588: A lull in popularity through the 18th century. It was only the revelation of Laurence Sterne 's plagiarism that revived interest in Burton's work into the 19th century, especially among the Romantics . The Anatomy received more academic attention in the 20th and 21st centuries. Whatever his popularity, Burton has always attracted distinguished readers, including Samuel Johnson , Benjamin Franklin , John Keats , William Osler , and Samuel Beckett . Robert Burton
2340-622: A major public fundraising campaign, the Campaign for Oxford . The current campaign, its second, was launched in May 2008 and is entitled "Oxford Thinking – The Campaign for the University of Oxford". This is looking to support three areas: academic posts and programmes, student support, and buildings and infrastructure; having passed its original target of £1.25 billion in March 2012, the target
2496-434: A mathematician and as both an astrologer and an astronomer, and even had some reputation as a surveyor". Wood also notes that Burton's unsurpassed skill at including "verses from the poets or sentences from classical authors" in his everyday speech, "then all the fashion in the university", allowed him some popularity. However, Burton's "most significant occupations during his life were reading and writing", and his large library
2652-412: A melancholic, was an avid reader of Burton; Boswell 's Life of Johnson reports that Johnson remarked the Anatomy was "the only book that ever took him out of bed two hours sooner than he wished to rise". Though no American edition was published until 1836, Burton's work procured a few prominent readers in early America. One such reader was American Founding Father Benjamin Franklin , who marvelled to
2808-511: A member of the university, all students, and most academic staff, must also be a member of a college or hall. There are thirty-nine colleges of the University of Oxford and four permanent private halls (PPHs), each controlling its membership and with its own internal structure and activities. Not all colleges offer all courses, but they generally cover a broad range of subjects. The colleges are: The permanent private halls were founded by different Christian denominations. One difference between
2964-481: A noted antiquarian and topographer. Both his parents' families were members of the landed gentry , with the Burtons from an old, if undistinguished, pedigree. Robert may have inherited his medical interest; in the Anatomy , he writes of his mother's "excellent skill in chirurgery ". William states a member of their mother's family, Anthony Faunt, was said to have died from "the passion of melancholy", and speaks fondly
3120-585: A recluse, especially by those authors influenced by the Romantic view of Burton. Early 20th-century critic Floyd Dell imagined Burton "hedged within his cloister, his heart yearn[ing] after the romance of adventure". Later biographers have been keen to dispel this image, and emphasise that Burton had a life outside of his books. He was no doubt an active part in the non-academic daily life of Oxford, through his university-appointed roles in its church and market life, and Bamborough adds that in his day he "was known as
3276-523: A requirement to graduate as a Bachelor of Arts, and " dissenters " were only permitted to be promoted to Master of Arts in 1871. The university was a centre of the Royalist party during the English Civil War (1642–1649), while the town favoured the opposing Parliamentarian cause. Wadham College , founded in 1610, was the undergraduate college of Sir Christopher Wren . Wren was part of
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#17327722190893432-578: A reverence for the past, a code of honour for the present, which could not but be serviceable. He had enjoyed opportunities... of intercourse with men, some of whom were certain to rise to the highest places in the Senate, in the Church, or at the Bar. He might have mixed with them in his sports, in his studies, and perhaps in his debating society; and any associations which he had this formed had been useful to him at
3588-484: A rotating basis from any two of the colleges, are the internal ombudsmen who make sure that the university and its members adhere to its statutes. This role incorporates student discipline and complaints, as well as oversight of the university's proceedings. The university's professors are collectively referred to as the Statutory Professors of the University of Oxford . They are particularly influential in
3744-404: A satirical genre Kathryn Murphy describes as "in the tradition of Plautus and Terence ." Burton borrowed many elements from these Roman comedies: the tendency of characters to burst into song; the character of the clever slave; the love between a high-born man and low-born girl, who is later revealed to be of noble birth. Burton also borrows episodes from contemporary academic satires—dealing with
3900-405: A series of regulations for college life; Merton College thereby became the model for such establishments at Oxford, as well as at the University of Cambridge. Thereafter, an increasing number of students lived in colleges rather than in halls and religious houses. In 1333–1334, an attempt by some dissatisfied Oxford scholars to found a new university at Stamford, Lincolnshire , was blocked by
4056-407: A short Latin epitaph below, said to have been composed by Burton. Writing near the close of the 17th century, John Aubrey records a rumour circulated among Oxford students, asserting that Burton took his own life. The students, according to the testimony of Wood, embellished the story to the point that Burton was supposed to have "sent up his soul to heaven thro' a slip about his neck" in order that
4212-550: A thousand of Burton's volumes. In Christ Church Library, Osler set up an elaborate display of these books surrounding a copy of the Brasenose Portrait of Burton. Osler delivered an address on the contents of Burton's library the following year. In 1964, Christ Church Library disassembled Osler's Burton collection, moving the books to the Archiva Superiora on the second floor. This collection comprises 1530 of
4368-433: A three-part treatise on depression and its treatment, the book consists of quotations from, paraphrases of and commentary on numerous authors, from many fields of learning, and ranging from classical times to his contemporaries, in a "tangled web of opinion and authority". According to Wood, Burton was apparently famed at Oxford employing this prose style in his speech, effortlessly recalling passages as he spoke. The Anatomy
4524-470: A typical Oxford don, though not as vast as those of some other contemporary humanist scholars. He accumulated the collection over a forty-six year period, from 1594 to 1640. The profits from the Anatomy probably funded most of the library, larger than his modest academic and ecclesiastical income would have been able to cover. The majority of the library's contents was in Latin, but the number of English volumes
4680-401: Is "one of the indispensable books; for my money, it is the best of all." Australian singer/songwriter Nick Cave listed Burton's Anatomy as one of his favourite books. Though Burton's legacy lies almost exclusively in his authorship of the Anatomy , his Philosophaster has increasingly been examined alongside it. As Murphy observed, Philosophaster "has received more attention than most of
4836-459: Is a play, satirising on the 17th-century university, composed in Latin during Burton's time as an Oxford student. The plot of Philosophaster follows the university of Osuna in Andalusia , recently founded by one Desiderius, Duke of Osuna, in hope of attracting scholars. However, the university actually attracts a crowd of philosophasters —pseudo-philosophers, Jesuits , and prostitutes—who con
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4992-417: Is digressive and confusing in its structure; Burton himself apologetically admitted to "bring[ing] forth this confused lump", excusing himself over a shortage of time. Over the five editions, he did little to amend this confusion, preferring to append more to the labyrinthine text. The book is the fruit of a lifetime's worth of learning, though Burton makes a point throughout the Anatomy to claim that erudition
5148-399: Is evidence enough of this prodigious bookishness. Burton's melancholy is the most widely acknowledged feature of his life and character. Wood reported that "he was by many accounted a severe student, a devourer of authors, a melancholy and humorous [i.e., moody] person", yet his peers found his company "very merry". He wrote the Anatomy in part to relieve this melancholy, but this enterprise
5304-505: Is permeated by quotations from and paraphrases of many authorities, both classical and contemporary, the culmination of a lifetime of erudition. Burton died in 1640. Within the university, his death was (probably falsely) rumoured to have been a suicide. His large personal library was divided between the Bodleian and Christ Church. The Anatomy was perused and plagiarised by many authors during his lifetime and after his death, but entered
5460-433: Is ultimately pointless, and that it is perhaps better to remain ignorant. Nonetheless, he was of the opinion that if one had knowledge, one better display it. And he was not able to resist his impulse "to have an Oare in every mans Boat", that is, to know something of every topic. Burton wrote The Anatomy of Melancholy largely to write himself out of being a lifelong sufferer from depression. As he described his condition in
5616-543: Is uncertain: some authorities give 1570, others 1575, the year in which he went to Rome. It was, however, at this time that he took Laurence as his name in religion . He was appointed reader in theology at the English College in 1578; and was ordained in 1580. He attracted the attention of Pope Gregory XIII , who licensed Faunt to make a seal which would allow him to issue passports to his countrymen, enabling them to travel through foreign countries without fear of
5772-491: Is unknown. In the 14th century, the historian Ranulf Higden wrote that the university was founded in the 10th century by Alfred the Great , but this story is apocryphal. It is known that teaching at Oxford existed in some form as early as 1096, but it is unclear when the university came into being. Scholar Theobald of Étampes lectured at Oxford in the early 1100s. It grew quickly from 1167 when English students returned from
5928-469: The Anatomy 's final edition, he had revised the passage in praise of his "monastick life [...] sequestered from those tumults & troubles of the world", unindebted for his lack of preferment. Bamborough has gone as far as to claim it is unlikely Burton ever truly wanted to leave the college he spoke so highly of as the "most flourishing College of Europe", one which "can brag with Jovius , almost, in that splendor of Vaticanish retirement, confined to
6084-454: The Anatomy 's satirical themes. As O'Connell put it more succinctly, the play's "main satiric thrust, that pseudolearned charlatans find a ready haven in a university, is meant to find its general target in Oxford". This much is obvious in certain characters—such as Theanus, an elderly college administrator who has forgotten all his scholarship, but still earns an exorbitant salary tutoring
6240-550: The Anatomy as "the sweepings of the medieval dustbin" or some "enormous labyrinthine joke". Into the early 20th century, this romantic view transitioned into the more academic study of Burton's masterpiece. William Osler—widely regarded as the father of modern medicine—was a lifelong devotee of Burton and described the Anatomy as "the greatest medical treatise written by a layman". According to one scholar, "the revival of critical interest in The Anatomy of Melancholy owes not
6396-433: The Anatomy for references to mothers in an attempt to reconstruct Burton's own relationship with his mother. This psychoanalytic tendency has been criticised by more modern biographers of Burton, especially by R. L. Nochimson, who dedicated an article to amending the "amazing carelessness" with which Burton's literary and real personae have been confused. Stanley Fish 's 1972 monograph Self-Consuming Artifacts inaugurated
Robert Burton - Misplaced Pages Continue
6552-429: The Anatomy , appended below a mention of his Walesby appointment, Burton tersely added: "Lately resigned for some special reasons". After his resignation, Lady Frances temporarily turned over the duty to appoint Burton's successor to her friend, the first Earl of Middlesex , suggesting that Burton resigned over Middlesex's pressure to appoint his own favourite. In 1632, shortly after this resignation from Walesby, Burton
6708-434: The Anatomy , producing two more editions in 1634 and 1638. Shortly before his death in 1640, Burton entrusted an annotated copy of the Anatomy to his publisher, which was published posthumously in 1651. In total, Burton made contributions to six editions. Two more reprints of the Anatomy were made before the end of the century. Burton drew up his will on 15 August 1639. Five months later, aged 62 and on 25 January 1640, he
6864-700: The Catholic University . After graduating B.A. at Louvain, Faunt lived for a time in Paris, and then proceeded to Munich in Germany. William V, Duke of Bavaria chose him as his scholar, and maintained him in the university there, where he studied for his Masters degree. In 1575 he went to the English College at Rome to study divinity. The date at which he entered the Society of Jesus
7020-515: The Chancellor there from 1630 to 1641, Laud was in perpetual squabbles with its body of scholars. Burton was an apparent supporter of James I's anti-Catholic measures, listed among those at Christ Church who took his Oath of Allegiance . The anti-Catholic portions of Philosophaster were revised shortly after James released the Oath, possibly to satirise the ensuing Catholic backlash. As Adam Kitzes put it, Burton "makes no bones about his allegiance to
7176-616: The Examination Schools , where examinations and some lectures take place. The University Church of St Mary the Virgin was used for university ceremonies before the construction of the Sheldonian. In 2012–2013, the university built the controversial one-hectare (400 m × 25 m) Castle Mill development of 4–5-storey blocks of student flats overlooking Cripley Meadow and the historic Port Meadow , blocking views of
7332-637: The High Street is the oldest botanic garden in the UK. It contains over 8,000 different plant species on 1.8 ha ( 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 acres). It is one of the most diverse yet compact major collections of plants in the world and includes representatives of over 90% of the higher plant families. The Harcourt Arboretum is a 130-acre (53 ha) site six miles (9.7 km) south of the city that includes native woodland and 67 acres (27 hectares) of meadow. The 1,000-acre (4.0 km ) Wytham Woods are owned by
7488-549: The Spanish Inquisition or any other similar danger. Pope Gregory died in 1585: it was supposed that had he lived longer, he would have raised Faunt to the rank of cardinal . In 1581, King Stephen of Poland established a Jesuit college at Posen . Pope Gregory appointed Faunt to be its first rector, and he left Rome on 10 June 1581. Alegambe states that he was professor of Greek at Posen for three years, and of moral theology and controversy for nine years. He
7644-565: The University of Paris . After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk, some Oxford academics fled northeast to Cambridge , where, in 1209, they established the University of Cambridge . The two English ancient universities share many common features and are jointly referred to as Oxbridge . The University of Oxford is made up of 43 constituent colleges, consisting of 36 semi-autonomous colleges , four permanent private halls and three societies (colleges that are departments of
7800-499: The University of Paris . The historian Gerald of Wales lectured to such scholars in 1188, and the first known foreign scholar, Emo of Friesland , arrived in 1190. The head of the university had the title of chancellor from at least 1201, and the masters were recognised as a universitas or corporation in 1231. The university was granted a royal charter in 1248 during the reign of King Henry III . After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some academics fled from
7956-482: The dean and chapter of Christ Church on 29 November 1616. He was licensed to preach on 3 December 1618. Burton held this vicarage at St Thomas's, until his death; he was responsible for the building or rebuilding of the church's south porch in 1621, where his arms were placed on the gable. In 1624, Lady Frances Cecil, dowager Countess of Exeter presented Burton to the Lincolnshire benefice of Walesby . Burton
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#17327722190898112-432: The postmodern interpretation of Burton's Anatomy , which alternatingly saw it as a satirical indictment of humanistic encyclopedism, or a desperate suppression of Burton's anxiety over the immensity of his subject matter. However, in total, Burton's Anatomy only accrued a small handful of monographs in the second half of the 20th century. The most detailed study of this period was a French monograph by Jean Robert Simon ,
8268-544: The " steamboat ladies " to receive ad eundem degrees from the University of Dublin . In June 1878, the Association for the Education of Women (AEW) was formed, aiming for the eventual creation of a college for women in Oxford. Some of the more prominent members of the association were George Granville Bradley , T. H. Green and Edward Stuart Talbot . Talbot insisted on a specifically Anglican institution, which
8424-541: The "Conclusion to the Reader" with his real name, and though this was removed in later editions, the portrait of Burton added from the third edition onwards hardly preserved his anonymity. Burton did not rest on his laurels after the first printing, continually editing and improving the work throughout his life. The first edition of Burton's Anatomy was, with marginalia, over 350,000 words long; by his final edition this count came to over 500,000. The additions were largest for
8580-572: The "praeparation for the Kinges cominge", including a play he composed for the occasion. This play, since lost, has been identified with Alba , a pastoral comedy with a mythological subject matter, probably written in Latin. The play was performed before James I on 27 August 1605. According to a witness of the events, Philip Stringer, Burton's play was poorly received by James and his court. The queen consort and her ladies took offence at several "almost naked" male actors, probably portraying satyrs , and
8736-449: The 1738 books and two manuscripts owned by Burton. The remaining 210 were distributed to either various acquaintances of Burton; gifted or traded to other libraries or bookshops; or by selling duplicates, some of which are unrecorded. Of the 140 books yet to be located, it is thought that around half of these are extant. Christ Church Library has referred to Burton's library as "one of the most important surviving English private libraries from
8892-492: The 19th century included the replacement of oral examinations with written entrance tests, greater tolerance for religious dissent , and the establishment of four women's colleges. Privy Council decisions in the 20th century (e.g. the abolition of compulsory daily worship, dissociation of the Regius Professorship of Hebrew from clerical status, diversion of colleges' theological bequests to other purposes) loosened
9048-433: The 20th century, with the exception of St Antony's, which was founded as a men's college in 1950 and began to accept women only in 1962. By 1988, 40% of undergraduates at Oxford were female; in 2016, 45% of the student population, and 47% of undergraduate students, were female. In June 2017, Oxford announced that starting the following academic year, history students may choose to sit a take-home exam in some courses, with
9204-612: The Anatomy under the pseudonym of "Democritus Junior", alluding to the Greek pre-Socratic philosopher, Democritus , sometimes known as the Laughing Philosopher . The use of an established classical figure in a pseudonym was common practice in Burton's time, used to ensure the reader held no negative preconceptions about the author. Burton did not resolutely stick to this pseudonymity; the first edition betrayed it as he signed
9360-488: The Bridge-foot in Oxford, and hearing the barge-men scold and storm and swear at one another, at which he would set his hands to his sides, and laugh most profusely." Gowland has suggested the Burton family had some Catholic sympathies, because of their close relation to Jesuit Arthur Faunt . Faunt's godson and Burton's brother, William, spoke admiringly of Faunt as "a man of great learning, gravity and wisdome"; William
9516-630: The Chancellor is a titular figurehead and is not involved with the day-to-day running of the university. The Chancellor is elected by the members of Convocation , a body comprising all graduates of the university, and may hold office until death. The Vice-Chancellor , currently Irene Tracey , is the de facto head of the university. Five pro-vice-chancellors have specific responsibilities for education; research; planning and resources; development and external affairs; and personnel and equal opportunities. Two university proctors , elected annually on
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#17327722190899672-566: The Countess of Exeter and Lord Berkeley, Burton received little preferment. Because of this, even as he received appointments outside the university, Burton remained an Oxford student for the rest of his life. Burton seems to have been, at first, unhappy with this situation; in the 1621 edition of the Anatomy , Burton wrote that his "hopes were still frustrate, and I left behind, as a Dolphin on shore, confined to my Colledge, as Diogenes to his tubbe". This exasperation seems to have been passing; by
9828-489: The Duke and townspeople into believing their disguises, capitalising on their naivete in a series of farcical scenes. Amidst this chaos, two true philosophers, Polumathes and Philobiblos (their names literally meaning "Much-Learned" and "Lover of Books") appear and unmask the philosophasters. The resultant controversy among the townspeople nearly causes the Duke to close the university, but he is persuaded otherwise by Polumathes. In
9984-456: The German armed forces, bearing the inscription, 'In memory of the men of this college who coming from a foreign land entered into the inheritance of this place and returning fought and died for their country in the war 1914–1918'. During the war years the university buildings became hospitals, cadet schools and military training camps. Two parliamentary commissions in 1852 issued recommendations for Oxford and Cambridge. Archibald Campbell Tait ,
10140-530: The Irish and the Welsh ). In later centuries, geographical origins continued to influence many students' affiliations when membership of a college or hall became customary in Oxford. In addition, members of many religious orders , including Dominicans , Franciscans , Carmelites , and Augustinians , settled in Oxford in the mid-13th century, gained influence and maintained houses or halls for students. At about
10296-501: The Oxford Martin Principles. The total assets of the colleges of £6.3 billion also exceed total university assets of £4.1 billion. The college figure does not reflect all the assets held by the colleges as their accounts do not include the cost or value of many of their main sites or heritage assets such as works of art or libraries. The university was one of the first in the UK to raise money through
10452-419: The University of Oxford is long and includes many who have made major contributions to politics, the sciences, medicine, and literature. As of October 2022, 73 Nobel laureates and more than 50 world leaders have been affiliated with the University of Oxford. The university passed a statute in 1875 allowing examinations for women at roughly undergraduate level; for a brief period in the early 1900s, this allowed
10608-414: The advowson (i.e. the right to decide the next occupant) of the wealthy living of Seagrave. This right necessitated that the holder of the advowson pick a candidate other than himself, but three days later Burton assigned three of his family members to this position, so he could procure his own future appointment. On 15 June 1632, promptly after the previous incumbent was buried, the relatives presented him to
10764-475: The appropriate times—probably allowing Burton more than enough time to accumulate the erudition exhibited in the Anatomy . Burton held this position until his death. In 1635, painter Gilbert Jackson produced an oil portrait of Burton; this painting is now held at Brasenose College, with a copy at Christ Church. Whatever other activities he engaged in, composing the Anatomy was the most important pursuit and accomplishment of Burton's life. Burton, as he claims in
10920-564: The armed forces. By 1918 virtually all fellows were in uniform, and the student population in residence was reduced to 12 per cent of the pre-war total. The University Roll of Service records that, in total, 14,792 members of the university served in the war, with 2,716 (18.36%) killed. Not all the members of the university who served in the Great War were on the Allied side; there is a remarkable memorial to members of New College who served in
11076-631: The central university. The Conference of Colleges was established as a recommendation of the Franks Commission in 1965. Teaching members of the colleges (i.e. fellows and tutors) are collectively and familiarly known as dons , although the term is rarely used by the university itself. In addition to residential and dining facilities, the colleges provide social, cultural, and recreational activities for their members. Colleges have responsibility for admitting undergraduates and organising their tuition; for graduates, this responsibility falls upon
11232-498: The city centre. Undergraduate teaching at Oxford consists of lectures, small-group tutorials at the colleges and halls, seminars, laboratory work and occasionally further tutorials provided by the central university faculties and departments. Postgraduate teaching is provided in a predominantly centralised fashion. Oxford operates the Ashmolean Museum , the world's oldest university museum ; Oxford University Press ,
11388-544: The city centre. The Science Area , in which most science departments are located, is the area that bears closest resemblance to a campus. The ten-acre (4-hectare) Radcliffe Observatory Quarter in the northwest of the city is currently under development. Iconic university buildings include the Radcliffe Camera , the Sheldonian Theatre used for music concerts, lectures, and university ceremonies, and
11544-523: The classical requirement with a modern language (like German or French) was unsuccessful. After considerable internal wrangling over the structure of the arts curriculum, in 1886 the "natural science preliminary" was recognised as a qualifying part of the first year examination. At the start of 1914, the university housed about 3,000 undergraduates and about 100 postgraduate students. During the First World War, many undergraduates and fellows joined
11700-484: The collection of "widely scattered case histories" of melancholia for his Anatomy , and treating the mentally ill with a "tender sympathy" uncharacteristic of subsequent psychiatrists. American writer Alexander Theroux has named Burton as one of his influences, and sometimes imitates his style. English novelist Philip Pullman praised the work in a 2005 article for The Telegraph as a "glorious and intoxicating and endlessly refreshing reward for reading". For Pullman, it
11856-464: The colleges', is managed by the university's wholly-owned endowment management office, Oxford University Endowment Management, formed in 2007. The university used to maintain substantial investments in fossil fuel companies. However, in April 2020, the university committed to divest from direct investments in fossil fuel companies and to require indirect investments in fossil fuel companies be subjected to
12012-416: The comic climax, the fraudsters are branded and exiled, two characters marry, and the play concludes with a "hymn in praise of philosophy [...] to the tune of Bonny Nell ". As Connie McQuillen has put it, the distinguishing quality Philosophaster is the "patchwork of borrowings" with which it was written. Stylistically, Philosophaster is declared on the title page to be a Comoedia Nova (or New Comedy )
12168-406: The company of the distinguished". The 1602 reopening of the Bodleian Library at Oxford, which by 1620 held over 16,000 volumes, gave some truth to Burton's proud comparison of the scholarship at Oxford to that of Jovius's Vatican. Burton did not spend all his time in this "Vaticanish retirement" as a scholar. He held various minor offices in Oxford. On three occasions–in 1615, 1617, and 1618–Burton
12324-578: The curriculum, with honours to be awarded in many new fields. Undergraduate scholarships should be open to all Britons. Graduate fellowships should be opened up to all members of the university. It recommended that fellows be released from an obligation for ordination. Students were to be allowed to save money by boarding in the city, instead of in a college. The system of separate honour schools for different subjects began in 1802, with Mathematics and Literae Humaniores . Schools of "Natural Sciences" and "Law, and Modern History" were added in 1853. By 1872,
12480-413: The date of his death would fit his exact astrological calculations. This rumour is dubious, and has been largely rejected by biographers as far back as Wood. Angus Gowland, in his 2006 study of Burton, is among the few who take the allegation seriously, though he admits it is "no more than a melancholy rumour". The story about the astrological calculation was told of astrologers before Burton, Burton rejected
12636-414: The departments. In 2017–18, the university had an income of £2,237m; key sources were research grants (£579.1m) and academic fees (£332.5m). The colleges had a total income of £492.9m. While the university has a larger annual income and operating budget, the colleges have a larger aggregate endowment: over £6.4bn compared to the university's £1.2bn. The central University's endowment, along with some of
12792-539: The early 19th century, the curriculum at Oxford was notoriously narrow and impractical. Sir Spencer Walpole , a historian of contemporary Britain and a senior government official, had not attended any university. He said, "Few medical men, few solicitors, few persons intended for commerce or trade, ever dreamed of passing through a university career." He quoted the Oxford University Commissioners in 1852 stating: "The education imparted at Oxford
12948-421: The early 20th century, Oxford and Cambridge were widely perceived to be bastions of male privilege ; however, the integration of women into Oxford moved forward during the First World War. In 1916 women were admitted as medical students on a par with men, and in 1917 the university accepted financial responsibility for women's examinations. On 7 October 1920 women became eligible for admission as full members of
13104-544: The endorsements of suicide by classical authors in the Anatomy , and if the rumours were taken to have had any substance at the time of his death, Burton would not have been buried in the cathedral. Gowland counters this evidence, citing the charity shown by Burton in the Anatomy for those tempted by suicide, and conjecturing a conspiracy of the "notoriously close-knit College" to keep Burton's suicide secret. Though Burton wrote elsewhere, Bamborough regards Burton's one truly great work as The Anatomy of Melancholy . Ostensibly
13260-530: The family's maternal relation to Arthur Faunt , a Jesuit controversialist and uncle to William and Robert. Burton probably attended two grammar schools, the King Edward VI Grammar School , Nuneaton and Bishop Vesey's Grammar School , Sutton Coldfield . Burton wrote in the Anatomy that students "think no slavery in the world (as once I did myself) like to that of a Grammar Scholar", which some writers have taken as suggestion that he
13416-502: The first staging of Jonson's play, in 1610. In interpreting the Philosophaster , many authors have understood it solely in relation to the Anatomy , as an academic satire on the excesses of university life, especially that of Oxford. Angus Gowland, describing the University of Osuna as a "thinly disguised Oxford", asserts that "the purpose of the play was to ridicule contemporary scholarship and provoke reform", in anticipation of
13572-481: The fossil fuel industry between 2010 and 2015, £18.8 million between 2015 and 2020 and £1.6 million between 2020 and 2021. Arthur Faunt Laurence Arthur Faunt (1554 – 28 February 1591) was an English Jesuit theologian and missionary to Poland. Arthur Faunt was the third son of William Faunt of Foston, Leicestershire , by his second wife, Jane, daughter of George Vincent of Peckleton , and widow of Nicholas Purefoy of Fenny Drayton . The family
13728-631: The imperialist Cecil Rhodes in 1902. In 1996 a donation of £20 million was received from Wafic Saïd who was involved in the Al-Yammah arms deal , and taking £150 million from the US billionaire businessman Stephen A. Schwarzman in 2019. The university has defended its decisions saying it "takes legal, ethical and reputational issues into consideration". The university has also faced criticism, as noted above, over its decision to accept donations from fossil fuel companies having received £21.8 million from
13884-473: The intention that this will equalise rates of firsts awarded to women and men at Oxford. That same summer, maths and computer science tests were extended by 15 minutes, in a bid to see if female student scores would improve. The detective novel Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers , herself one of the first women to gain an academic degree from Oxford, is largely set in the all-female Shrewsbury College, Oxford (based on Sayers' own Somerville College ), and
14040-502: The issue of women's education is central to its plot. Social historian and Somerville College alumna Jane Robinson 's book Bluestockings: A Remarkable History of the First Women to Fight for an Education gives a very detailed and immersive account of this history. The university is a "city university" in that it does not have a main campus; instead, colleges, departments, accommodation, and other facilities are scattered throughout
14196-409: The king and the Church of England". Burton also claimed part of his reasoning in not proceeding to a DD (Doctor of Divinity) was his reluctance to participate in the endless argument surrounding religion, for which he "saw no such great neede". According to Bamborough, "to describe Burton as 'bookish' can only be called ridiculous understatement". Burton owned 1738 books in total, tenfold the library of
14352-464: The king was so displeased by the production that the chancellors of both Oxford and Cambridge had to plead for him to stay, as otherwise he "would have gone before half the Comedy had been ended". However Burton reacted to this royal pan, he was already at work on another play by 1606. This play, Philosophaster —which is fully extant across three manuscripts—was finished by 1615, by which time Burton
14508-492: The largest university press in the world; and the largest academic library system nationwide. In the fiscal year ending 31 July 2023, the university had a total consolidated income of £2.92 billion, of which £789 million was from research grants and contracts. Oxford has educated a wide range of notable alumni, including 31 prime ministers of the United Kingdom and many heads of state and government around
14664-465: The last of these had split into "Jurisprudence" and "Modern History". Theology became the sixth honour school. In addition to these B.A. Honours degrees, the postgraduate Bachelor of Civil Law (B.C.L.) was, and still is, offered. The mid-19th century saw the impact of the Oxford Movement (1833–1845), led among others by the future Cardinal John Henry Newman . Administrative reforms during
14820-426: The librarian of Christ Church Library . The office was a recent creation—the first librarian was appointed in 1599, and library had been founded only a half-century earlier—but a recent donation by an Otho Nicholson had ensured it was a profitable one, tripling the incumbent's wages to 10s a term. The duties, however, were sparse—limited to enforcing the loose regulations of the institution, and opening and closing it at
14976-434: The libraries of Oxford, speaking highly of his alma mater throughout the Anatomy . Burton's most famous work and greatest achievement was The Anatomy of Melancholy . First published in 1621, it was reprinted with additions from Burton no fewer than five times. A digressive and labyrinthine work, Burton wrote as much to alleviate his own melancholy as to help others. The final edition totalled more than 500,000 words. The book
15132-435: The link with traditional belief and practice. Furthermore, although the university's emphasis had historically been on classical knowledge, its curriculum expanded during the 19th century to include scientific and medical studies. The University of Oxford began to award doctorates for research in the first third of the 20th century. The first Oxford DPhil in mathematics was awarded in 1921. The list of distinguished scholars at
15288-464: The medieval scholastic method to Renaissance education, although institutions associated with the university suffered losses of land and revenues. As a centre of learning and scholarship, Oxford's reputation declined in the Age of Enlightenment ; enrolments fell and teaching was neglected. In 1636, William Laud , the chancellor and Archbishop of Canterbury , codified the university's statutes. These, to
15444-481: The misogynistic depiction of women in his early fiction, and the Latin quotations (via Burton) found throughout in his work. The eminent literary critic Northrop Frye was an admirer of the Anatomy ; he characterized it as "an enormous survey of human life" which "ranks with Chaucer and Dickens , except the characters are books rather than people". Psychiatrist and historian of ideas Jacques Barzun held up Burton as "the first systematic psychiatrist", praising him for
15600-466: The most appealing of Burton's Latin works", he notes that the "liveliness in its representation of university life" redeems the "weak plotting and flat characterization." The 19th-century critic of Elizabethan drama Arthur Henry Bullen wrote of it that the philosophasters "are portrayed with considerable humour and skill, and the lyrical portions of the play are written with a light hand". Bamborough summed it up as "not without genuine merit, particularly in
15756-452: The office. Burton did not cultivate much of a reputation as a preacher while at Seagrave, choosing not to publish any of his sermons, but discharged the pastoral and charitable roles of the rectory dutifully and punctually. Burton probably visited Lindley often while at Seagrave, as the villages were only 20 miles apart. The office was the most valuable Burton ever held; in 1650, the rectory was valued at £100. Other than that afforded to him by
15912-409: The opportunity of making acquaintance with one another, and full liberty to live their lives in their own way, without evolving in the best among them, some admirable qualities of loyalty, independence, and self-control. If the average undergraduate carried from University little or no learning, which was of any service to him, he carried from it a knowledge of men and respect for his fellows and himself,
16068-532: The other surviving examples of university drama." Since its first, mid-19th-century publication in Latin, it has been published three more times, twice with original translations into English. In 1930, it was even performed at the University of California . The play has received a mixed reception from modern scholars. Literary critic Martin Spevack dismissed it as "an obvious and elementary string of transparent sketches". O'Connell has, however, described it as "perhaps
16224-415: The perennial feuds between town and gown , the distinction between "true" and "false" scholars, the ridicule of pedants—and characters from humanist satirists, chiefly Erasmus and Giovanni Pontano . The play's depiction of alchemy bears some passing resemblance to Ben Jonson 's play The Alchemist , but Burton takes strains to point out in the introduction to a manuscript that his play was written before
16380-469: The period before the Civil War". The first, second, and third editions, [Burton] tells us, "were suddenly gone, eagerly read." Five editions appeared in his lifetime and three more within a generation of his death. If one may judge by the frequency of publication, The Anatomy of Melancholy was almost three times as popular as Shakespeare's plays. Bergen Evans and George Mohr Burton's Anatomy
16536-547: The period were William Grocyn , who contributed to the revival of Greek language studies, and John Colet , the noted biblical scholar . With the English Reformation and the breaking of communion with the Roman Catholic Church , recusant scholars from Oxford fled to continental Europe, settling especially at the University of Douai . The method of teaching at Oxford was transformed from
16692-459: The poor in Seagrave, Nuneaton, and Higham ; the library at Brasenose; and various friends and colleagues, including John Bancroft. Burton was buried in the north aisle of Christ Church Cathedral , Oxford, on 27 January. William erected a monument to Robert Burton in the cathedral: a coloured effigy of Robert, flanked by an astrological representation of his nativity and geometric instruments, with
16848-431: The preface "Democritus Junior to the Reader", "a kind of imposthume in my head, which I was very desirous to be unladen of and could imagine no fitter evacuation than this ... I write of melancholy, by being busy to avoid melancholy. There is no greater cause of melancholy than idleness, no better cure than business". In his view, melancholy was "a disease so frequent ... in our miserable times, as few there are that feele not
17004-466: The preface, was "as desirous to suppress my labours in this kind, as others have been to press and publish theirs", but admits that melancholy is the subject upon which he is "fatally driven", and so he was compelled to compose the work. Burton left no record of when he began his work on the Anatomy . O'Connell speculates the project grew piecemeal, with research begun in his twenties, and the work well on its way by his thirties. Burton explicitly states that
17160-404: The publisher, Henry Cripps, made such a "great profit" off the book that he "got an estate by it". Burton's subject was well chosen; similar treatises by Timothie Bright and Thomas Wright had gone through several editions soon after their publication. Though Burton never divulged the extent of his profits, the size of his estate and library at death suggests they were considerable. Burton printed
17316-446: The recently founded Bodleian Library, perhaps why Burton felt the need to purchase them. Though religious works composed the largest category in his library (about one quarter), the remaining three quarters were made up by an eclectic collection of literary, historical, medical, and geographical volumes, testifying to Burton's broad scholarship. Burton was an avid annotator of books, with marginal notes in around one-fifth of his books, from
17472-440: The rise of organised sport was one of the most remarkable and distinctive features of the history of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was carried over from the athleticism prevalent at the public schools such as Eton , Winchester , Shrewsbury , and Harrow . All students, regardless of their chosen area of study, were required to spend (at least) their first year preparing for
17628-612: The running of the university's graduate programmes. Examples of statutory professors are the Chichele Professorships and the Drummond Professor of Political Economy . The University of Oxford is only a "public university" in the sense that it receives some public money from the government, but it is a "private university" in the sense that it is entirely self-governing and, in theory, could choose to become entirely private by rejecting public funds. To be
17784-403: The same time, private benefactors established colleges as self-contained scholarly communities. Among the earliest such founders were William of Durham , who in 1249 endowed University College , and John Balliol , father of a future King of Scots ; Balliol College bears his name. Another founder, Walter de Merton , a Lord Chancellor of England and afterwards Bishop of Rochester , devised
17940-554: The satirical portraits of pretenders to learning." Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford , England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in continuous operation . It grew rapidly from 1167, when Henry II banned English students from attending
18096-498: The second and third editions; the original quarto volume had to be expanded to a folio for the second edition (1624) to accommodate the expansions. For the third edition (1628), an allegorical frontispiece was added, engraved by Christian Le Blon, with a portrait of Burton atop his moniker "Democritus Junior". After these two additions, Burton vowed: " Ne quid nimis [do not do too much]. I will not hereafter add, alter, or retract; I have done." However, once again, Burton returned to
18252-499: The smart of it", and he said he compiled his book "to prescribe means how to prevent and cure so universall a malady, an Epidemicall disease, that so often, so much crucifies the body and mind". For Burton, "melancholy" describes a range of mental abnormalities, from obsession to delusion to what we would now call clinical depression . Burton at once gives a multitude of remedies for melancholy, and warns they are all ultimately useless, in characteristic self-contradiction. Philosophaster
18408-399: The sons of the gentry—whom the audience were expected to be familiar with within academia. However, critic Kathryn Murphy has pointed out that Philosophaster contains a significant, and often underappreciated, undercurrent of anti-Catholicism. Burton's philosophasters are joined by the representatives of Roman Catholicism, including scholastics and Jesuits, in their mockery of philosophy and
18564-487: The spires in the city centre. The development has been likened to building a "skyscraper beside Stonehenge ". The University Parks are a 70-acre (28 ha) parkland area in the northeast of the city, near Keble College , Somerville College and Lady Margaret Hall . It is open to the public during daylight hours. There are also various college-owned open spaces open to the public, including Bagley Wood and most notably Christ Church Meadow . The Botanic Garden on
18720-406: The study of melancholy was a lifelong fascination of his, and regularly "deducted from the main channel of my studies". However long the work took, he had certainly concluded it by 5 December 1620, aged 43, when he signed the "Conclusion to the Reader". The book was printed in 1621 and, despite Burton's indication in the Anatomy of troubles finding a publisher, it quickly sold well. Wood wrote that
18876-428: The tangential to the bluntly hostile. Burton's library was divided between the Bodleian and Christ Church libraries after his death. In the early 20th century, Oxford Regius Professor of Medicine William Osler , an enthusiast for Burton, found Burton's bequests "scattered indiscriminately" throughout the two libraries, and, from 1907 to 1908, set about having them gathered together in one collection, rediscovering over
19032-403: The time between his matriculation and his transfer, almost nothing is known of Burton. According to Anthony à Wood , Burton "made considerable progress in logic and philosophy" at Brasenose, though the college left an impression sufficiently weak that Burton himself made no mention of Brasenose in his corpus. Most Oxford students would have completed their education at nineteen, but by 1602, Burton
19188-481: The time, and might be a source of satisfaction to him in after life. Out of the students who matriculated in 1840, 65% were sons of professionals (34% were Anglican ministers). After graduation, 87% became professionals (59% as Anglican clergy). Out of the students who matriculated in 1870, 59% were sons of professionals (25% were Anglican ministers). After graduation, 87% became professionals (42% as Anglican clergy). M. C. Curthoys and H. S. Jones argue that
19344-573: The universities of Oxford and Cambridge petitioning King Edward III . Thereafter, until the 1820s, no new universities were allowed to be founded in England, even in London; thus, Oxford and Cambridge had a duopoly, which was unusual in large western European countries. The new learning of the Renaissance greatly influenced Oxford from the late 15th century onwards. Among university scholars of
19500-422: The university and used for research in zoology and climate change . Colleges arrange the tutorial teaching for their undergraduates, and the members of an academic department are spread around many colleges. Though certain colleges do have subject alignments (e.g., Nuffield College as a centre for the social sciences), these are exceptions, and most colleges will have a broad mix of academics and students from
19656-407: The university and were given the right to take degrees. In 1927 the university's dons created a quota that limited the number of female students to a quarter that of men, a ruling which was not abolished until 1957. However, during this period Oxford colleges were single sex , so the number of women was also limited by the capacity of the women's colleges to admit students. It was not until 1959 that
19812-440: The university from contemporary Puritan attacks. For the dramatists such as John Ford , Burton's treatise "was virtually an authoritative psychiatric textbook", used as a reference work for their depictions of melancholy. Richard Holdsworth , when Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge (1637–43), recommended it as a comprehensive digest to "serve for [the] delight and ornament" of young gentlemen, bestowing that learning expected of
19968-428: The university, without their own royal charter ), and a range of academic departments which are organised into four divisions . Each college is a self-governing institution within the university, controlling its own membership and having its own internal structure and activities. All students are members of a college. The university does not have a main campus, but its buildings and facilities are scattered throughout
20124-573: The university. Murphy has suggested these themes reflect the pervading cultural influence of the Gunpowder Plot in Burton's lifetime, which took place a year before the play was set. Known to few, unknown to fewer, here lies Democritus Junior, to whom Melancholy gave both life and death. —Burton's epitaph in Christ Church Cathedral, said to have been composed by himself. Burton has often been portrayed as something of
20280-470: The university. The college statutes required Burton to take a BD after his MA, but Burton chose not to proceed to DD. While at Oxford, Burton indulged his literary interests alongside these academic ones. In 1603, on the accession of James I , Burton contributed a short Latin verse celebrating the event to a commemorative Oxford volume; he made similar offering of twenty-one poems upon James's royal Oxford visit in 1605. On this visit, Burton took active part in
20436-442: The university. Though he never fully succeeded, he managed to obtain the living of St Thomas the Martyr's Church, Oxford through the university, and external patronage for the benefice of Walesby and the rectorship of Seagrave . As a fellow of Oxford, he served in many minor administrative roles and as the librarian of Christ Church Library from 1624 until his death. Over time he came to accept his "sequestered" existence in
20592-724: The violence to Cambridge , later forming the University of Cambridge . The students associated together on the basis of geographical origins, into two ' nations ', representing the North ( northerners or Boreales , who included the English people from north of the River Trent and the Scots ) and the South ( southerners or Australes , who included English people from south of the Trent,
20748-466: The women's colleges were given full collegiate status. In 1974, Brasenose , Jesus , Wadham , Hertford and St Catherine's became the first previously all-male colleges to admit women. The majority of men's colleges accepted their first female students in 1979, with Christ Church following in 1980, and Oriel becoming the last men's college to admit women in 1985. Most of Oxford's graduate colleges were founded as coeducational establishments in
20904-581: The work as an erudite curiosity. Lamb illustrated Burton in his "Detached Thoughts on Books and Reading" (1833) as "that fantastic great old man", creating the image of Burton as an eccentric and erudite academic which has since stuck, for whatever truth it possessed. The Anatomy was among John Keats 's favourite books, and was used as a major source for the plot of his poem " Lamia " (1820). Burton's prose style wasn't universally appreciated, appearing pedantic and pretentious to some 19th-century critics. The Victorian poet and literary critic T. E. Brown disparaged
21060-831: The work. Some authors, "who have lost their time and are put to a push for invention" poached his numerous classical quotations. In the 18th century, George Steevens retrospectively noted it as "a book once the favourite of the learned and witty, and a source of surreptitious learning". Certainly, scholars copied and emulated the Anatomy to their own ends: William Vaughan repurposed Burton's critique of court patronage towards an anti-Catholic end in The Golden Fleece (1626); Nathanael Carpenter imitated Burton's intimate articulation of his own melancholy and defence of scholarship for his Geography delineated forth (1625); and Richard Whitlock , in his Zootomia (1654), plagiarised Burton's defence of scholarship wholesale in defending
21216-504: The world. As of October 2022, 73 Nobel Prize laureates , 4 Fields Medalists , and 6 Turing Award winners have matriculated, worked, or held visiting fellowships at the University of Oxford, while its alumni have won 160 Olympic medals . Oxford is the home of numerous scholarships, including the Rhodes Scholarship , one of the oldest international graduate scholarship programmes. The University of Oxford's foundation date
21372-536: Was Roman Catholic. His nephews included Robert Burton and William Burton . In 1568, Faunt was sent to Merton College, Oxford , and placed under the tuition of the philosopher John Pott, who previously taught him in Leicestershire. Pott, also a Roman Catholic, removed Faunt from Oxford with the consent of his parents, and at the beginning of 1570 took him to Louvain and placed him in the Jesuit college at
21528-416: Was a frequent visitor. At Christ Church, Burton proceeded to an MA on 9 June 1605, and a BD in May 1614. Simultaneously, Burton rose through the college ranks, attaining disciplus in 1599, philosophus secundi vicenarii in 1603, and philosophus primi vicenarii in 1607, the last of which qualified him as a tutor. Sometime after he obtained his MA, Bamborough considers it likely Burton was attempting to leave
21684-480: Was a vigorous supporter of Laudian reforms in his home county, siding with High Church Anglicanism, which was sometimes seen as Catholic-sympathising and at St Thomas's, Burton was apparently one of the last 17th-century Church of England priests to use unleavened wafers in the Communion, an outmoded Laudian practice. However, as an Oxford scholar, Burton could have taken a personal dislike to Archbishop Laud ; as
21840-454: Was an extremely popular work in Burton's lifetime, and throughout the 17th century, going through eight editions from 1621 to 1676. As early as 1662, Thomas Fuller was awed that "any book of philology in our land hath in so short a time passed so many editions". Its readers interpreted and employed it to varied, personal ends. Wood wrote that the Anatomy , as "a Book so full of variety of reading", prompted hack authors to borrow shamelessly from
21996-504: Was an unhappy schoolboy. More modern biographers, such as R. L. Nochimson and Michael O'Connell, have regarded it as Burton merely presenting what was a popular sentiment, rather than hinting at any personal dislike or source of childhood melancholy. In July 1593, aged 15, Burton matriculated into Brasenose College , Oxford , where his elder brother was already attending. Burton did not receive his Bachelor's until 30 June 1602, and only after he migrated to Christ Church College in 1599. For
22152-459: Was assigned as tutor John Bancroft , "for form sake, tho' he wanted not a tutor"; though Bancroft was only three years his senior, he was six or seven years ahead of Burton in his studies, and was well-connected within the church, later becoming the Bishop of Oxford . It seems some friendship developed between the two; Burton praised Bancroft's construction at Cuddesdon in the Anatomy , implying he
22308-525: Was born on 8 February 1577, to Ralph Burton (1547–1619) and his wife, Dorothy ( née Faunt ; 1560–1629), in Lindley , Leicestershire . Burton believed himself to have been conceived on 9 PM on 25 May 1576, a fact he often used in his astrological calculations. He was the second of four sons and fourth of ten children; his elder brother, William , is the only other member of the family for whom we know more than minor biographical details, as he later became
22464-527: Was chosen to be the clerk of the Market, one of two MA students tasked with regulating the various goods of Oxford's markets. Now a sinecure , the office was an important institution in Burton's time. This occupation has been cited by two biographers, O'Connell and Nochimson, to suggest, contrary to the bookish image given by his Anatomy , Burton had some knowledge of the day-to-day affairs of Oxford. Perhaps more befitting his image, on 27 August 1624, Burton became
22620-410: Was dead. The will divided his inherited estates up amongst his elder brother, William, and William's heirs. Outside of his family, his largest bequests went, unsurprisingly, to the Bodleian and Christ Church libraries, with gifts of £100 each, and Burton's large library split between the institutions. He also laid out several smaller monetary donations: those to his servants; the servants at Christ Church;
22776-424: Was not revealed for nearly thirty years, until the publication of John Ferriar 's Illustrations of Sterne (1798). After Ferriar made this influence known, Burton and his work experienced a revival of interest. A new edition, the first in over a century, was published in 1800; more than forty were published throughout the 19th century. The Romantics , especially Charles Lamb and Samuel Taylor Coleridge , admired
22932-428: Was not such as to conduce to the advancement in life of many persons, except those intended for the ministry." Nevertheless, Walpole argued: Among the many deficiencies attending a university education there was, however, one good thing about it, and that was the education which the undergraduates gave themselves. It was impossible to collect some thousand or twelve hundred of the best young men in England, to give them
23088-405: Was not wholly successful. Bishop Kennett , writing somewhat later in the 18th century, recorded that Burton could flit between "interval[s] of vapours", in which he was lively and social, and periods of isolation in his college chambers where his peers worried he was suicidal. Kennett hands down that later in his life Burton could arouse himself from these periods of depression only by "going down to
23244-462: Was perhaps the tutor of Frances' son, Robert Smith. Burton chose not to reside in Walesby, though he probably visited it at some point. He took little interest in the daily affairs of the parish—all the parish records were signed by his curate, Thomas Benson—but did win for it nine acres of land which had been taken by Frances's predecessor. Burton resigned from this post in 1631. In the 1632 edition of
23400-431: Was presented to a much more valuable office by his patron, Lord Berkeley : the rectorship of Seagrave . Berkeley had been a patron of Burton since at least 1621, when Burton dedicated the Anatomy to Lord Berkeley. Their relationship may have begun even earlier, in 1619, when Berkeley matriculated from Christ Church, and perhaps entered the tutelage of Burton. In any case, on 3 September 1624, Lord Berkeley granted Burton
23556-507: Was qualified as a tutor. As early as 1603, Burton indulged in some early literary creations at Oxford, including Latin poems, a now-lost play performed before and panned by King James I himself, and his only surviving play: an academic satire called Philosophaster . This work, though less well regarded than Burton's masterpiece, has "received more attention than most of the other surviving examples of university drama". Sometime after obtaining his MA in 1605, Burton made some attempts to leave
23712-405: Was raised to £3 billion. The campaign had raised a total of £2.8 billion by July 2018. The university has faced criticism for some of its sources of donations and funding. In 2017, attention was drawn to historical donations including All Souls College receiving £10,000 from slave trader Christopher Codrington in 1710, and Oriel College having receiving taken £100,000 from the will of
23868-477: Was revising and correcting it. Burton speaks briefly of Philosophaster in the Anatomy , mentioning that it was performed at Christ Church on 16 February 1617, during the Shrovetide festivities. The play was acted by the students alongside three local townsmen. Burton likely took a view towards pleasing the administration in this production. The play cast the son of John King , then Dean of Christ Church , in
24024-545: Was twenty-six. Some biographers, such as Michael O'Connell and J. B. Bamborough , have cited this as evidence Burton suffered some lengthy illness while a student, possibly melancholy. Record has been found of one "Robart Burton of 20 yeres", a patient of London doctor and astrologist Simon Forman , who was treated for melancholy over a period of five months in 1597. Indeed, 1596 and 1597 are the only years of Burton's maturity in which he seems to have purchased no new books. When he entered Christ Church in 1599, Wood reports Burton
24180-486: Was unacceptable to most of the other members. The two parties eventually split, and Talbot's group founded Lady Margaret Hall in 1878, while T. H. Green founded the non-denominational Somerville College in 1879. Lady Margaret Hall and Somerville opened their doors to their first 21 students (12 at Somerville, 9 at Lady Margaret Hall) in 1879, who attended lectures in rooms above an Oxford baker's shop. There were also 25 women students living at home or with friends in 1879,
24336-594: Was untypically large. Burton seems to have been uncomfortable reading outside these two primary languages; he owned only a handful of titles in Italian, German, Spanish, and Hebrew , and none in Greek , the last despite his humanist reputation and the recurring Grecian references in the Anatomy . Again despite this reputation, the majority of Burton's library was contemporary. He owned hundreds of cheap pamphlets, satires, and popular plays: all works which had been excluded from
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