Gilbert Burnet (Author of History of His Own Times)

Gilbert Burnet鈥檚 Followers (1)

Gilbert Burnet

Born

in Edinburgh, Scotland

September 18, 1643

Died

March 17, 1715

Genre

Religion & Spirituality, History

Influences

Robert Baillie ...more

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Gilbert Burnet was a Scottish philosopher and historian, and Bishop of Salisbury. He was fluent in Dutch, French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Burnet was highly respected as a cleric, a preacher, an academic, a writer and a historian. He was always closely associated with the Whig party, and was one of the few close friends in whom King William III confided.

Burnet was the son of Robert Burnet, Lord Crimond, a Royalist and Episcopalian lawyer, who became a judge of the Court of Session, and of his second wife Rachel Johnston, daughter of James Johnston, and sister of Archibald Johnston of Warristoun, a leader of the Covenanters. His father was his first tutor until he began his studies at the University of Aberdeen, where he earned a Master of Gilbert Burnet was a Scottish philosopher and historian, and Bishop of Salisbury. He was fluent in Dutch, French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Burnet was highly respected as a cleric, a preacher, an academic, a writer and a historian. He was always closely associated with the Whig party, and was one of the few close friends in whom King William III confided.

Burnet was the son of Robert Burnet, Lord Crimond, a Royalist and Episcopalian lawyer, who became a judge of the Court of Session, and of his second wife Rachel Johnston, daughter of James Johnston, and sister of Archibald Johnston of Warristoun, a leader of the Covenanters. His father was his first tutor until he began his studies at the University of Aberdeen, where he earned a Master of Arts in Philosophy at the age of thirteen. He studied law briefly before changing to theology. He did not enter into the ministry at that time, but travelled for several years. He visited Oxford, Cambridge, London, the United Provinces and France. He studied Hebrew under a Rabbi in Amsterdam. By 1665 he returned to Scotland and was ordained in the Church of Scotland by the bishop of Edinburgh. In 1664 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

He began his ministry in the rural church at East Saltoun, East Lothian. In 1669 he was named to the vacant chair of Divinity at the University of Glasgow. At first he declined, since his congregation unanimously asked him to remain at East Saltoun; but, when the Bishop of Edinburgh, Leighton, urged him, he accepted the post. He was later offered, but declined, a Scottish bishopric.

In 1674 he left the University and moved to London where he took an active part in the controversies of the time, endeavouring to bring about a reconciliation between Episcopacy and Presbytery. At Court, where his brother Thomas was a royal physician, he gained the favour of Charles II, from whom he received various preferments.

In the mid-1670s, a French translation of Nicholas Sanders' De origine et progressu schismatio Anglicani libri tres (1585) appeared. Sanders attacked the English Reformation as a political act carried on by a corrupt king. Several of Burnet's friends wished him to publish a rebuttal of the work, so in 1679 his first volume of The History of the Reformation of the Church of England was published. This covered the reign of Henry VIII; the second volume (1681) covered the reign of Elizabeth and the Elizabethan Religious Settlement; the third volume (1715) consisted of corrections and additional material. His literary reputation was greatly enhanced by this publication. The Parliament of England voted thanks for Burnet after the publication of the first volume, and in 1680 the University of Oxford awarded Burnet the degree of Doctor of Divinity on the advice of William Sancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury. For over a century this was the standard reference work in the field.

Upon the succession of the Roman Catholic King James II in 1685, Burnet requested permission to go abroad, which James consented to. He left on 11 May and reached Paris at the end of that month. He travelled through Switzerland to Italy. After more months of travelling across France, Switzerland and Germany he arrived at Utrecht, Netherlands in May 1686. He was sent letters from the court of William, Prince of Orange and his wife Princess Mary inviting him to take up residence at The Hague. This courting of Burnet infuriated James and under his pressure he was formally dismissed from court, but still kept in contact with William and Mary. It was Burnet who pointed out that William's marriage to Mary did not in itself entitle him to reign jointly with her if she became Queen, and that further steps would be necessary to ensure his right to the throne. ...more

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Gilbert Burnet鈥檚 books

Average rating: 3.42 · 66 ratings · 9 reviews · 896 distinct works

	History of His Own Time 3.80 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 1725 — 81 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bishop Burnet's History of His Own Time, from the Restoration of Charles II to the Treaty of Peace at Utrecht, in the Reign of Queen Anne, Volume 2 3.33 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2007 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Gilbert Burnet's Discourse of the Pastoral Care by Gilbert Burnet, Robert D. Cornwall (欧宝娱乐 Author) 3.33 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 1997 — 37 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Some Passages of the Life and Death of the Right Honourable John, Earl of Rochester 3.33 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 1680 — 60 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dr. Burnet's travels: or Letters containing an account of what seemed most remarkable in Switzerland, Italy, France, and Germany, &c. really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2007 — 29 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The History of the Reformation of the Church of England: A New Edition Carefully Revised, and the Records Collated with the Originals really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 1679 — 110 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Life and Death of Sir Matthew Hale, Kt. Sometime Lord Chief Justice of His Majesties Court of Kings Bench really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 1681 — 28 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	An Exposition of the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England: Facsimile Reprint Edition really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2006 — 85 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Burnet's Travels: Or, a Collection of Letters to the Hon. Robert Boyle ... Containing, an Account of What Seem'd Most Remarkable in Travelling Through ... 1685, and 1686. to Which Is Added, an Append liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Defense of Natural and Revealed Religion; Being an Abridgment of the Sermons Preached at the Lectures Founded by Robert Boyle Part Two it was ok 2.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2004 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars