Francis Bacon was born in London on January 22, 1561,
at York House off the
Strand. He was the younger of two sons of Sir Nicholas
Bacon, Lord Keeper of the
Great Seal under Queen Elizabeth I.
In 1573, Bacon entered Trinity College, Cambridge and studied
there until
1575. His father died when Bacon was eighteen and, because
Bacon was the
youngest, he remained virtually penniless. The only way he
saw for a poor man
to get out and establish himself, both financially and socially,
was to study law.
In 1576, Bacon was admitted as a senior governor of Gray's
Inn, an institution
for legal education. He became one of the leading lawyers
in England, thus
earning the queen's notice. In 1584, at the age of twenty-three,
he established
a seat for himself in the House of Commons.
With the death of Elizabeth and the succession of James I,
Bacon was established
as solicitor general. He later achieved attorney general,
and eventually took
over his father's old position of the Lord Keeper of the
Great Seal. In 1602,
Bacon was knighted, and in 1605 he married Alice Barnham,
the daughter of
a London alderman. He was charged with accepting bribes,
tried and found
guilty. His offices were taken from him and he was sentenced
to: a fine of 40,000, imprisonment during the king's pleasure, expatriation
from parliament and coming
within twelve miles of the court. Feeling utter disgrace,
he went into
retirement and devoted the remainder of his life to study
and literary
work. The parliamentary sentence, however, was not imposed,
and King James I
practically remitted his fine. In 1622, Bacon was allowed
to come to London
and, eventually, to kiss the king's hand.
On April 9, 1626, due to complications arising from bronchitis,
Francis Bacon died
at Highgate, in the Earl of Arundel's house.
