William Fulbecke
William Fulbecke was an English scholar and writer born in 1560 in Lincoln, England. He was the younger son of Thomas Fulbecke, who served as mayor of Lincoln. Fulbecke pursued his education at Oxford, where he became a scholar at Christ Church and later obtained his M.A. He studied law at Gray's Inn, where he wrote notable works including "A Booke of Christian Ethicks" and contributed to the masque "The Misfortunes of Arthur," performed before Queen Elizabeth I.
Between 1600 and 1602, he experienced a prolific period, releasing significant works like "A Direction or Preparative to the Study of the Lawe," one of the earliest English legal guidebooks, and "A Parallele or Conference of the Civill Law, the Canon Law, and the Common Law of England." His writings often blended practical information with entertaining commentary, offering insights into the legal culture of his time. Despite his literary success, little is known about his life after 1602, leading to speculation about his death around 1603. Fulbecke's legacy remains somewhat enigmatic, highlighting the mysteries surrounding early modern writers.
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William Fulbecke
Writer
- Born: 1560
- Birthplace: St. Benedict Parish, Lincoln, England
- Died: 1603?
Biography
William Fulbecke was born in 1560 in Lincoln, England. He was the younger son of Thomas Fulbecke, who died midway through his third term as mayor of Lincoln in 1566. He matriculated at St. Alban Hall, Oxford in 1577 and was admitted as a scholar to Christ Church in 1579, obtaining a B.A. in 1581. He became a probationer fellow at Christ Church before moving to Gloucester Hall, where he obtained his M.A. in 1584. He then went to Gray’s Inn to study law. While there he wrote a A Booke of Christian Ethicks or Moral Philosophie Containing the True Difference of Vertue and Voluptuousnesse and also contributed to a masque now known as The Misfortunes of Arthur, written with seven colleagues—including the young Francis Bacon—and performed by the company before Queen Elizabeth on February 8, 1588.
Little is known about Fulbecke’s life after he left Gray’s Inn; there is no surviving record of a marriage or children, and there is so little documentation that some historians have speculated that he must have been out of the country for much of the time. The writings that he released in a sudden flood of creativity between 1600 and 1602 were very successful, though, and they earned him a significant place in literary history. The first item, A Direction or Preparative to the Study of the Lawe, published in 1600, is one of the oldest English legal guidebooks written for students. It is a compendium of practical information combined with lighthearted and mildly cynical advice on personal conduct. It was often read for amusement as well as instruction, and now provides a useful insight into the culture of the Elizabethan Inns of Court.
The A Direction or Preparative to the Study of the Lawe was swiftly followed by the more earnest and substantial A Parallele or Conference of the Civill Law, the Canon Law, and the Common Law of England, which takes the form of dialogues between representatives of the three traditions of English law. A second part had been issued a few years earlier, along with The Pandectes of the Law of Nations. Fulbecke also wrote An Historicall Collection of the Continuall Factions, Tumults, and Massacres of the Romans and Italians, a lively narrative history of the Roman republic that was yet another pioneering endeavor for an English writer.
Fulbecke did not write after 1602, and scholars suspect that he must have died in 1603 or thereabouts, but nothing is known for certain and the recording of that date in reference books is pure speculation, as is the dubious contention that he was the vicar of Walderslade in Kent. It seems probable, in retrospect, that he must have been working on his various books throughout the 1590’s, and it is not impossible that he was already dead by the time they began to appear in print. At any rate, his entire adult career is steeped in mystery, and although no one has been prepared to argue that he might have changed his surname to Shakespeare somewhere around 1590, he seems as plausible a candidate for that honor as Francis Bacon or Edward de Vere.