The Life of Anthony Bacon
A. Bacon in 1594 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Bacon_(1558–1601)
A brief historical sketch of the life of Anthony Bacon, poet and intelligencer, brother of Sir Francis Bacon and son of Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper.
Author: Peter Dawkins, published after 1998.
In December 1579 Anthony Bacon set out on a long continental tour in search of political intelligence—a tour which, ultimately, was to last for over twelve years….The suggestion to go was Lord Burghley's, and the real aim was so that Anthony could contact spies abroad, gather political intelligence to send home and act as a key English agent or intelligencer abroad. …
In working as an intelligencer, Anthony was part of the intelligence service set up and run by Sir Francis Walsingham, the Queen's principal Secretary of State. Walsingham in turn was responsible to William Cecil, Lord Burghley, the Queen's Lord Treasurer, and, ultimately, to the Queen. Walsingham’s intelligence service comprised a network of spies all over Europe together with intelligencers, cryptologists and secretaries, with a headquarters in London at The Papey, near Bishops Gate, and subsidiary bases in other countries. Where possible they were connected with the embassies—the main one being in Paris. In 1579-80 over fifty agents were involved in the network abroad, and possibly a similar number in the British Isles, ranging from the ordinary spy to the master-spy and intelligencer. Those abroad were based in twelve towns or cities in France, nine in Germany, four in Italy, three in the Low Countries, four in Spain, and some within the vast Turkish Empire in Algiers, Tripoli and Constantinople. Most of the agents were recruited from universities and then given special training at the 'spy school' in London. In the topmost ranks of the agency were Francis Walsingham’s nephew, Thomas Walsingham (who recruited the agents, as well as being a patron of poets), Dr. John Dee (who used the cipher '007' in this capacity, and was a master- teacher of mathematical cryptology, telepathy, psychic communication and far-sight), Nicholas Faunt, Francis Milles, William Waad and Robert Beale (Walsingham's secretaries), Thomas Phelippes (probably the best of the cryptanalysts as well as a widely-travelled agent), Anthony Bacon and Francis Bacon.
Gathering intelligence for his uncle and the Queen, however, was not the sole reason for Anthony’s sojourn abroad. The other reasons were (a) in fulfilment of his father’s educational scheme for the education and training of statesmen, in which travel and experience abroad, learning the languages and gathering knowledge of many kinds, especially concerning places, people, governments, religion, laws, culture and history, were a vital component, and (b) to help his brother Francis in his literary, philosophical and poetic endeavours.
The two brothers were greatly attached to each other, sharing the same philanthropic ideals, literary pursuits and passion for life. Throughout their lives they worked together as partners on Francis’ grand scheme, which they hatched whilst in their teens at university.17…
Anthony was described as being as great in wit but not so profound in knowledge as Francis. Like his brother, he was a classical scholar and able to read, write and speak Latin, Greek and Hebrew, and several modern European languages. In Anthony’s case, he ended up being able to converse fluently in six to eight different European languages, including especially French, Spanish, Italian and German. Moreover, his fluency eventually became such that he was able to pass for a native of several countries and he was even known to correct the language of many people who sent him their writings and asked for his help. He was also a poet.
Anthony left England for France in Sept 1579, accompanied by one or two attendants and armed with letters of recommendation from Burghley and the French ambassador, Michel de Castelnau, seigneur de Mauvissière. His first port of call was Paris, where a new English Ambassador, Sir Edward Stafford, had taken the place of Sir Amyas Paulet. From Paris Anthony started sending intelligence to Burghley as to the state of France. Whilst in Paris Anthony met Nicholas Faunt, one of Walsingham’s secretaries, with whom he commenced a close friendship and correspondence. ..In May or June 1580 he was recalled to England, to give a full report.
Anthony Bacon was back in France again and had arrived in Bourges by the 15th December 1580. He remained in Bourges until the following spring, with Nicholas Faunt (who had gone to Germany to gather intelligence) communicating with him from Frankfurt. Whilst in Bourges, Anthony wrote two letters to his uncle, Lord Burghley, on 14 January and 13 February 1581. In the second letter Anthony enclosed a note of advice and instructions for his younger brother, Francis.19
However, if all the information in letters is to be believed at face-value, Anthony found the people of Bourges to be too corrupt and irreligious to want to stay for long, and so, in either April or May 1581, he moved to Geneva, where he lodged in the house of Theodore Beza, leader of the Protestant Reformation centred at Geneva and the most famous exponent of the Reformed faith since Calvin. Beza esteemed Anthony so highly as to dedicate, out of respect to Anthony and at Anthony’s request, his Meditations to Lady Anne Bacon, and to send to Anthony’s uncle, Lord Burghley, an ancient copy of the Pentateuch in six languages for presentation to the university of Cambridge.20
Geneva was a good place from which to reach the German States, Central Europe or Italy (as well as France), and it was an important crossroads between East and West, North and South Europe. Anthony’s move to Geneva corresponded with Nicholas Faunt switching his activities from Germany to Northern Italy, communicating with Anthony from Padua and travelling frequently between Northern Italy and Geneva. Whether Anthony also travelled to Italy during this time is not known, but possible….because Italy was now threatened with invasion by the King of Spain, English travellers were being imprisoned and the Inquisition had been set up in Venice, Faunt advised Anthony not to undertake the journey but to return home. Anthony took only part of the advice--he didn’t go into Italy but instead went into southern France. From March to April he was in Toulouse, from May to June he was in Lyons (where, in May, he received permission via Faunt to remain abroad three years longer), and from July to August he was in Montpellier. In September he arrived in Marseilles, by which time he had accrued a larger retinue. During all this time he was sending letters and intelligence (and sonnets) home to his brother Francis and to both Burghley and Walsingham.
Anthony stayed in Marseilles until the following summer, enduring over the winter months a severe illness of some kind…
By July 1583 he had left Marseilles and was in Bordeaux by August or September. Here he was able to be of service to Leicester, acting as a go-between for Henri, duc de Montmorency and Leicester. The letters from Anthony and Montmorency were delivered to Leicester by Francis Bacon, and on 10 October 1583 Leicester replied to Anthony, reporting that the Queen was “glad she may have so good a mean as you to send and receive letters by, and will write, to the Duke again, if she may first understand that you shall still have occasion to be in place where her letters may safely both come to you and by you be delivered to the Duke”.22
Whilst at Bordeaux Anthony used his influence to improve the position of the Protestants there, in which (as he wrote to his old tutor, Whitgift, then archbishop of Canterbury) he ran the risk of personal danger. He also made the acquaintance of Michel de Montaigne, the essayist, who became a good friend.
Montaigne, who had had the first edition of his Essais (‘Essays’) published in 1580, had made a lengthy journey through France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy during 1580-1581, so he and Anthony would have had a lot in common to talk about. Montaigne had kept a detailed journal recording various episodes and regional differences he observed on his journey, which eventually was published in 1774 under the title Travel Journal, all of which would have been useful to the Bacons. An English translation by John Florio of Montaigne’s Essais was published in 1603, and many scholars believe that there are influences from them in some of the Shakespeare plays, such as Hamlet and King Lear. Montaigne was the first author to describe his work as essays, which were developed from his commonplaces and inspired by the works of Plutarch, especially Oeuvres Morales (‘Moral Works’) which had been translated into French by Jacques Amyot. The Essais had a strong influence on both French and English literature. Francis Bacon's Essayes (1597) were the first works in English to be described as essays….
In December 1583 he received yet another letter from Faunt with a request from Lady Anne Bacon, Francis Bacon and Sir Francis Walsingham, for him to return home to England on account of “the troubled state of France” and “the sickly state of his body”. Faunt, who heard the truth of Anthony’s circumstances on 16 January 1594, wrote to Anthony, warning him to leave Bordeaux as soon as possible. At the same time, Lady Anne was threatening to withhold all monies from Anthony. In the spring all this changed. Faunt reported to Anthony in March 1584 that Walsingham and Burghley began to be satisfied with Anthony’s longer stay abroad, and that Lady Anne would not urge his return. The instructions that Anthony should stay longer in France on “her Majesty’s service” came from the Queen herself….
By October 1584 Anthony had moved to Montauban, a key Protestant stronghold. He was persuaded to go to Montauban by Phillipe de Mornay, sieur du Plessis-Marly, chief councillor to the King of Navarre, and his wife. Whilst there, on 20 June 1585 Henri III of France signed the Treaty of Nemours, effectively declaring war on Navarre. In September Walsingham sent Anthony a message of recall from the Queen, as the situation was so dangerous; but this was seemingly disregarded as Anthony remained in Montauban, living on close terms of intimacy with Navarre’s counsellors, the leaders of Protestant France, for the following five years….
Towards the end of 1589 Anthony Bacon left Montauban for Bordeaux, where he lived until the end of 1591. During this time, despite being ill for the first five months, he developed further his friendship with Michel de Montaigne, who had just published (in 1588) the third book of his Essais. He also procured the release from prison of Anthony Standen, an English Catholic who was in prison at Bordeaux on suspicion of holding treasonable correspondence with Spain but who was in fact one of Walsingham’s spies. He and Standen became good friends and Standen was afterwards one of Anthony’s many regular correspondents and then his assistant. Anthony also continued to maintain friendly correspondence with Henri of Navarre, now Henri IV of France, and on 14 April 1590 Henri sent Anthony an autograph letter in which he expressed his high esteem of Anthony’s “prudence in the conduct of public affairs”. The following month (May 1590) Anthony was visited by the Duke de Bouillon, Henri IV’s envoy to England.
Anthony finally left Bordeaux and France in January 1592, setting foot in England on 4 February 1592. There he joined his brother Francis at Gray’s Inn….
Not only had Anthony Bacon met and befriended many of the literary and philosophical elite abroad, but also he had become and remained the correspondent and friend of spies, scholars, poets, writers, ambassadors, noblemen and women, courtiers, princes and princesses, kings and queens, in many countries. …
He played the lute and virginals, and had sent sonnets home from France from the mid-1580’s onwards. Always he had kept his brother Francis well provided with foreign intelligence as well as with books and other literature. He had a good library of his own and in addition had been able to use the libraries of the kings, princes, noblemen and others whom he befriended. https://www.fbrt.org.uk/pages/essays/Life_of_Anthony_Bacon.pdf
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