Difference between revisions of "Adam Bothwell ca.1529-1593"

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Adam BOTHWELL, Bishop of Orkney, ca.1529-1593

Armorial stamp of Adam Bothwell (British Armorial Bindings)

Biographical Note

Son of Francis Bothwell of Edinburgh, a Lord of Session (d. 1535), and his second wife, Katherine Bellenden. He came from a well-connected Edinburgh family with links to local politics and the King’s government. Not much is known of his early life, though it is possible he studied at the University of Orléans. Bothwell’s first post in the Church was as parson of Ashkirk, a prebend of Glasgow Cathedral (1552), and he later became vicar of Corstorphine near Edinburgh, where he had inherited property. In 1555 he went on government business to Orkney, and in 1559 was nominated Bishop of Orkney. However, he quickly joined the reformers after the overthrow of the Catholic Church, and during the 1560s was on several committees, including one revising the Book of Discipline. In 1564 he was appointed an extraordinary Lord of Session, and became an ordinary Lord the next year. He was appointed to the Privy Council probably at the same time. At some unknown date he married Margaret Murray (d. 1608), daughter of John Murray of Touchadam, with whom he had six sons and two daughters. He conducted the marriage of Mary Queen of Scots to the Earl of Bothwell on 15 May 1567 and on 29 July of the same year officiated at the coronation ceremony of the infant James VI, immediately following Mary’s abdication. Although he called himself, and was known as, Bishop of Orkney until his death, he is not known to have visited his see after 1567, and the following year exchanged his episcopal temporalities for the lands of the former Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh, becoming the Abbey’s commendator. Thereafter he occupied himself in his legal duties, attended parliament as a Privy Councillor, and acted as a government administrator.

Books

Bothwell was one of the major book owners of sixteenth-century Scotland. Over the course of his life he assembled a wide-ranging humanist library, covering many subjects, such as theology and biblical studies (comprising, for someone who started his career as a cleric, a surprisingly modest proportion of the whole, at less than a third of the total known titles), law, language and literature, medicine, philosophy and history. The titles were listed in a post-mortem inventory in 1594 (transcribed and published in 1932), but this has not survived in its entirety: it lists just over 500 items, but it is possible that Bothwell’s library at his death exceeded 700 volumes. Only thirty-five surviving Bothwell volumes, containing thirty-nine works, have currently been identified, scattered world-wide, but with Edinburgh University Library and the National Library of Scotland having the strongest holdings.

Some examples of currently extant copies which belonged to Bothwell are: Theodor Zwinger’s encyclopedia Theatrum vitae humanae, printed by Froben in Basel in 1571 (St Andrews University TypSwB.B71FZ) and subsequently owned by William Annand; a polyglot Old Testament (Hebrew, Greek and Latin), printed in Heidelberg in 1587 (New College Library, Edinburgh University X5/a1) also owned later by Annand; Johannes Carion’s popular history textbook Chronicon Carionis (Wittenberg, 1580) (Edinburgh University RB.F.587); the works of St Jerome printed at the Froben press, 1537 (1536-1538), and later owned by Thomas Sydserff (NLS RB.l.18); Commentarius verborum iuris (Basel, 1558), a reference work on law by the French Calvinist jurist Francois Hotman (Napier University, Edward Clark Collection B 147).

Characteristic Markings

Bothwell often marked his folio volumes with an armorial stamp, bearing the motto Obdurandum adversus urgentia (‘stand firm against pressure’). He also inscribed his books with various versions of his episcopal signature ‘Adamus episcopus orchaden[sis]’, or with his personal signature ‘ABoithuel’ or ‘Adamus Boithuel’. It is very possible that many of his books might not have been personalised at all.

Inscription of Bishop Adam Bothwell (NLS RB.l.18)

Sources

British Armorial Bindings
'The Cataloge of Adame Bischope of Orknayis buiks 1594’, in The Warrender Papers Volume II, edited by Annie I. Cameron, Publications of the Scottish History Society, Third Series, Vol. 19 (Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 1932), pp. 396-413, 461-465.
Durkan, J. & Ross, A. Early Scottish Libraries, Glasgow, John S. Burns, 1961
Shaw, Duncan. ‘Adam Bothwell, a conserver of the Renaissance in Scotland’ in I. B. Cowan and D. Shaw (eds). The Renaissance and Reformation in Scotland: essays in honour of Gordon Donaldson, Scottish Academic Press, 1983

Shaw, Duncan. "Bothwell, Adam (1529?–1593), bishop of Orkney." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 [[file:Bothwellarmorial.jpg|thumb|Armorial stamp of Adam Bothwell (British Armorial Bindings)]]
 ====Biographical Note====
-Son of [[family::Francis Bothwell]] of [[locationa::Edinburgh]], a Lord of Session (d. 1535), and his second wife, [[family::Katherine Bellenden]]. He came from a well-connected Edinburgh family with links to local politics and the King’s government. Not much is known of his early life, though it is possible he studied at the [[educations::University of Orléans]]. Bothwell’s first post in the Church was as [[occupation::parson]] of [[location::Ashkirk]], a prebend of Glasgow Cathedral (1552), and he later became [[occupation::vicar]] of [[location::Corstorphine]] near Edinburgh, where he had inherited property. In 1555 he went on government business to Orkney, and in 1559 was nominated [[occupation::Bishop]] of Orkney. However, he quickly joined the reformers after the overthrow of the Catholic Church, and during the 1560s was on several committees, including one revising the Book of Discipline. In 1564 he was appointed an extraordinary Lord of Session, and became an ordinary Lord the next year. He was appointed to the Privy Council probably at the same time. At some unknown date he married [[family::Margaret Murray]] (d. 1608), daughter of John Murray of [[location::Touchadam]], with whom he had six sons and two daughters. He conducted the marriage of Mary Queen of Scots to the Earl of Bothwell on 15 May 1567 and on 29 July of the same year officiated at the coronation ceremony of the infant James VI, immediately following Mary’s abdication. Although he called himself, and was known as, Bishop of Orkney until his death, he is not known to have visited his see after 1567, and the following year exchanged his episcopal temporalities for the lands of the former Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh, becoming the Abbey’s commendator. Thereafter he occupied himself in his legal duties, attended parliament as a Privy Councillor, and acted as a government administrator.
+Son of [[family::Francis Bothwell]] of [[location::Edinburgh]], a Lord of Session (d. 1535), and his second wife, [[family::Katherine Bellenden]]. He came from a well-connected Edinburgh family with links to local politics and the King’s government. Not much is known of his early life, though it is possible he studied at the [[education::University of Orléans]]. Bothwell’s first post in the Church was as [[occupation::parson]] of [[location::Ashkirk]], a prebend of Glasgow Cathedral (1552), and he later became [[occupation::vicar]] of [[location::Corstorphine]] near Edinburgh, where he had inherited property. In 1555 he went on government business to Orkney, and in 1559 was nominated [[occupation::Bishop]] of Orkney. However, he quickly joined the reformers after the overthrow of the Catholic Church, and during the 1560s was on several committees, including one revising the Book of Discipline. In 1564 he was appointed an extraordinary Lord of Session, and became an ordinary Lord the next year. He was appointed to the Privy Council probably at the same time. At some unknown date he married [[family::Margaret Murray]] (d. 1608), daughter of John Murray of [[location::Touchadam]], with whom he had six sons and two daughters. He conducted the marriage of Mary Queen of Scots to the Earl of Bothwell on 15 May 1567 and on 29 July of the same year officiated at the coronation ceremony of the infant James VI, immediately following Mary’s abdication. Although he called himself, and was known as, Bishop of Orkney until his death, he is not known to have visited his see after 1567, and the following year exchanged his episcopal temporalities for the lands of the former Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh, becoming the Abbey’s commendator. Thereafter he occupied himself in his legal duties, attended parliament as a Privy Councillor, and acted as a government administrator.
 ====Books====
-Bothwell was one of the major book collectors of sixteenth-century Scotland. Over the course of his life he assembled a wide-ranging Humanist library with works of [[subject::theology]], [[subject::medicine]], [[subject::astronomy]], and [[subject::law]] all represented in the 1594 inventory of his library. These were written in Latin, French, Hebrew, Italian, and Greek (with a few books in English). The inventory also lists a copy of the ''Malleus maleficarum'' and Bodin's history of the witchcraft persecutions ''De la démonamanie des sorciers''. Surviving volumes indicate that a significant number of Bothwell’s books were printed in Switzerland. His library was especially rich in Swiss and German reformers, such as by Heinrich Bullinger, Johannes Oecolampadius and Urich Zwingli.
+Bothwell was one of the major book owners of sixteenth-century Scotland. Over the course of his life he assembled a wide-ranging humanist library, covering many subjects, such as [[subject::theology]] and biblical studies (comprising, for someone who started his career as a cleric, a surprisingly modest proportion of the whole, at less than a third of the total known titles), [[subject::law]], language and [[subject::literature]], [[subject::medicine]], [[subject::philosophy]] and [[subject::history]]. The titles were listed in a post-mortem inventory in 1594 (transcribed and published in 1932), but this has not survived in its entirety: it lists just over 500 items, but it is possible that Bothwell’s library at his death exceeded 700 volumes. Only thirty-five surviving Bothwell volumes, containing thirty-nine works, have currently been identified, scattered world-wide, but with Edinburgh University Library and the National Library of Scotland having the strongest holdings.
-Some examples of books which formerly belonged to Bothwell are:
+Some examples of currently extant copies which belonged to Bothwell are: Theodor Zwinger’s encyclopedia ''Theatrum vitae humanae'', printed by Froben in Basel in 1571 (St Andrews University TypSwB.B71FZ) and subsequently owned by [[crossreference::William Annand 1633-1689|William Annand]]; a polyglot Old Testament (Hebrew, Greek and Latin), printed in Heidelberg in 1587 (New College Library, Edinburgh University X5/a1) also owned later by Annand; Johannes Carion’s popular history textbook ''Chronicon Carionis'' (Wittenberg, 1580) (Edinburgh University RB.F.587); the works of St Jerome printed at the Froben press, 1537 (1536-1538), and later owned by [[crossreference::Thomas Sydserff 1581-1663|Thomas Sydserff]] (NLS RB.l.18); ''Commentarius verborum iuris'' (Basel, 1558), a reference work on law by the French Calvinist jurist Francois Hotman (Napier University, Edward Clark Collection B 147).
-Theodor Zwinger’s encyclopedia ''Theatrum vitae humanae'', printed by Froben in Basel in 1571 (St Andrews University TypSwB.B71FZ), and subsequently owned by the Rev. William Annand (1633-1689).
-A polyglot bible, printed in Heidelberg in 1587. (Edinburgh University X5.a.1), likely also owned by Annand.
+====Characteristic Markings====
-Phillip Melanchton’s popular history textbook Chronicon Carionis (Geneva, 1581) (Edinburgh University *Q.21.41)
+Bothwell often marked his folio volumes with an armorial stamp, bearing the motto Obdurandum adversus urgentia (‘stand firm against pressure’). He also inscribed his books with various versions of his episcopal signature ‘Adamus episcopus orchaden[sis]’, or with his personal signature ‘ABoithuel’ or ‘Adamus Boithuel’. It is very possible that many of his books might not have been personalised at all.
+[[file: Adam_Bothwell.jpg|thumb|500px| Inscription of Bishop Adam Bothwell (NLS RB.l.18)]]
-The works of St Jerome printed at the Froben press in 1537, and later owned by Thomas Sydserff. (NLS RB.l.18)
-''Commentarius verborum juris'' (Basel, 1558), a reference work on law by the French Calvinist jurist François Hotman (Edinburgh Napier B 147).
-====Characteristic Markings====
-Bothwell used an armorial stamp on his bindings, with the motto ''Obdurandum adversus urgentia''. He also regularly inscribed his books with variations of “Ex libris adamj epi. orchadej.” & “Adamus Episcopus Orchadensis.” His copy of Zwinger (TypSwB.B71FZ) is inscribed “Adamis Boithuel”
-[[file: Adam_Bothwell.jpg|thumb|886px| Inscription of Bishop Adam Bothwell (NLS RB.l.18)]]
 ====Sources====
 <div id="sourcelist">
 *[https://armorial.library.utoronto.ca/stamp-owners/BOT002 British Armorial Bindings]
+*'The Cataloge of Adame Bischope of Orknayis buiks 1594’, in ''The Warrender Papers'' Volume II, edited by Annie I. Cameron, ''Publications of the Scottish History Society'', Third Series, Vol. 19 (Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 1932), pp. 396-413, 461-465.
 *Durkan, J. & Ross, A. ''Early Scottish Libraries'', Glasgow, John S. Burns, 1961
 *Shaw, Duncan. ‘Adam Bothwell, a conserver of the Renaissance in Scotland’ in I. B. Cowan and D. Shaw (eds). ''The Renaissance and Reformation in Scotland: essays in honour of Gordon Donaldson'', Scottish Academic Press, 1983