Nicholas Bacon (Lord Keeper)
Nicholas Bacon ( * 1509 in Chislehurst, England; † February 10, 1579 in Gorhambury, England ) was an English lawyer, judge and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal ( Lord Privy Seal ) and Lord Chancellor of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. He was the father of Francis Bacon.
Life
He was born in Suffolk as the second son of Robert Bacon ( * 1479 ) of drink Stone, in Chislehurst. His mother was Eleanor Isabella Cage ( * 1480). He had three brothers and five sisters. He graduated in 1527 at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University with a Bachelor of Arts. Then he spent some time in Paris.
After his return from France to England, he studied in Gray 's Inn and was raised in 1533 in the legal profession. Four years later he began his public life as a lawyer at the guardianship court. He quickly became an important person, received after the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII different lands and in 1545 Member of Parliament for Dartmouth. In 1546 he became a lawyer of the court, a work that won him both honor and financial benefit. In 1550, he became a judge in 1552 and treasurer of Gray 's Inn.
Although his sympathies were with the Protestants, he kept during the reign of Mary I. his office in the guardianship court, at the same time an order was issued that he was not allowed to leave England. The most important period in Bacon's life began in 1558 with the enthronement of Queen Elizabeth I. Due to its long and close friendship with Sir William Cecil, later Lord Burghley, his brother in law, he was in December of the same year, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal ( Lord Privy Seal ). Soon after, he was appointed to the Privy Council, and raised to the peerage. He was involved in securing the position of Archbishop of Canterbury for his friend Matthew Parker and presided in his official capacity during the opening of Parliament under Elizabeth.
Unlike Cecil, he opposed the war policy towards France, given the poverty of England, but later favored a closer connection with foreign Protestants. In 1559 he was authorized to Lord Chancellor. 1564, he fell out of favor at the court, because Elizabeth suspected him of being involved in the publication of the pamphlet by John Hales, A Declaration of the Succession of the Crowne Imperial of England, who claimed of Lady Jane Grey on the English throne. After the recognition of his innocence, he replied to a letter from Sir Anthony Browne, who protested the entitlements of the house of Suffolk once again, belonged to the Lady Catherina.
In his distrust of Mary Queen of Scots, the Duke of Norfolk to marry, he warned Elizabeth regarding the serious consequences for England. He seems to have disapproved of the proposed marriage between Elizabeth and Francis, Duke of Anjou and his distrust of the Roman Catholic Church and the French was reinforced by the St. Bartholomew's Day. As an English churchman he was ceaselessly interested in ecclesiastical matters, and made various suggestions for improving the compliance of church doctrine and discipline.
He died on 10 February 1579 and was buried at St Paul 's Cathedral in London.
Family and descendants
He was married twice. His marriage to his first wife Jane nee Bacon Fernley (approx. 1518-1552 ), Nicholas Bacon had three sons and three daughter, Nicholas ( 1540-1624 ), Nathaniel ( 1550-1622 ) and Edward ( 1550-1618 ) Jane Bacon and two more. She was the daughter of a merchant from Suffolk. From his marriage with his second wife Anne, daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke (1504-1576), were born two sons, Anthony, diplomat, and the famous Francis.