Editing Roger Bacon (section)

==Life==
Roger Bacon was born in [[Ilchester]] in [[Somerset, England|Somerset]], [[Kingdom of England|England]], in the early 13th century. His birth is sometimes narrowed down to 1210,{{sfn|Hackett (1997), "Life"|p=10}} 1213 or 1214,{{sfnp|James|1928}} 1215{{sfn|Hackett (1997), "Life"|p=11}} or 1220.<ref>{{cite book|title=Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography|date=2008|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Roger_Bacon.aspx}}</ref> The only source for his birth date is a statement from his 1267 ''{{lang|la|Opus Tertium}}'' that "forty years have passed since I first learned the ''{{lang|la|Alphabetum}}''".{{sfn|Hackett (1997), "Life"|p=9}} The latest dates assume this referred to the [[alphabet]] itself, but elsewhere in the ''{{lang|la|Opus Tertium}}'' it is clear that Bacon uses the term to refer to rudimentary studies, the [[trivium]] or [[quadrivium]] that formed the [[Medieval university#Course of study|medieval curriculum]].{{sfn|Hackett (1997), "Life"|pp=10–11}} His family appears to have been well off.{{sfnp|''Encyclopædia Britannica''|1878|p=218}}

Bacon studied at [[Oxford University|Oxford]].{{refn|group=n|Bacon has been claimed as an alumnus by both [[Merton College, Oxford|Merton]] and [[Brasenose College, Oxford|Brasenose]], despite having attended before the establishment of the collegiate system.{{sfnp|Clegg|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=IiqeBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT111 111]}}}} While [[Robert Grosseteste]] had probably left shortly before Bacon's arrival, his work and legacy almost certainly influenced the young scholar{{sfn|Hackett (1997), "Life"|p=10}} and it is possible Bacon subsequently visited him and [[William of Sherwood]] in [[Lincoln, England|Lincoln]].{{sfn|Hackett (1997), "Life"|p=12}} Bacon became a [[Master of Arts|Master]] at Oxford, lecturing on [[Aristotle]]. There is no evidence he was ever awarded a doctorate. (The title ''{{lang|la|Doctor Mirabilis}}'' was a posthumous [[scholastic accolade]].) A caustic cleric named Roger Bacon is recorded speaking before the king at Oxford in 1233.<ref>[[Matthew Paris|Paris]], ''[[Chronica Majora|Chron. Maj.]]'', Vol. III, pp. 244–245.</ref>

[[File:Roger Bacon Wellcome M0005408.jpg|thumb|200px|left|A diorama of Bacon presenting one of his works to the chancellors of [[Paris University]]]]
In 1237 or at some point in the following decade, he accepted an invitation to teach at the [[University of Paris]].{{sfn|Hackett (1997), "Life"|pp=13–14}} While there, he lectured on [[Latin grammar]], [[Term logic|Aristotelian logic]], [[History of arithmetic|arithmetic]], [[History of mathematics|geometry]], and the mathematical aspects of [[History of astronomy|astronomy]] and [[medieval music|music]].{{sfnp|''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy''|2013|loc=§2}} His faculty colleagues included [[Robert Kilwardby]], [[Albertus Magnus]], and [[Peter of Spain (logician)|Peter of Spain]],{{sfnp|''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy''|2013|loc=Intro.}} who may later become Pope as [[Pope John XXI]].{{sfn|Hackett (1997), "Life"|p=14}} The [[Cornish people|Cornishman]] [[Richard Rufus of Cornwall|Richard Rufus]] was a scholarly opponent.{{sfnp|''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy''|2013|loc=§2}} In 1247 or soon after, he left his position in Paris.{{sfn|Hackett (1997), "Life"|p=14}}

[[File:Bacon_1867.jpg|thumb|200px|right|A 19th-century engraving of Bacon observing the stars at [[Oxford University|Oxford]]]]
As a private scholar, his whereabouts for the next decade are uncertain{{sfn|Hackett (1997), "Life"|p=15}} but he was likely in Oxford {{circa|lk=no|1248}}–1251, where he met [[Adam Marsh]], and in Paris in 1251.{{sfnp|''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy''|2013|loc=§2}} He seems to have studied most of the known [[History of science in classical antiquity|Greek]] and [[Physics in the medieval Islamic world|Arabic]] works on [[history of optics|optics]]{{sfnp|''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy''|2013|loc=Intro.}} (then known as "perspective", ''{{lang|la|perspectiva}}''). A passage in the ''{{lang|la|Opus Tertium}}'' states that at some point he took a two-year break from his studies.{{sfn|Hackett (1997), "Life"|p=9}}

By the late 1250s, resentment against [[Henry III of England|the king]]'s preferential treatment of [[House of Lusignan|his émigré Poitevin relatives]] led to [[Henry III of England#Revolution|a coup]] and the imposition of the [[Provisions of Oxford]] and [[Provisions of Westminster|Westminster]], instituting a [[baron]]ial council and more frequent [[Parliament of England|parliaments]]. [[Pope Urban IV]] absolved the king of his oath in 1261 and, after [[Treaty of Lambeth|initial abortive resistance]], [[Simon de Montfort, 6th&nbsp;Earl of Leicester|Simon de Montfort]] led a force, enlarged due to recent crop failures, that prosecuted the [[Second Barons' War]]. Bacon's own family were considered royal partisans:{{sfnp|Clegg|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=IiqeBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT63 63]}} De Montfort's men seized their property{{refn|group=n|Though probably granting it to a partisan of their own cause, rather than razing it to the ground as is sometimes reported.{{sfnp|Clegg|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=IiqeBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT63 63]}}}} and drove several members into exile.{{sfnp|''Encyclopædia Britannica''|1878|p=220}}

[[File:Roger Bacon in his observatory at Merton College, Oxford. Oi Wellcome M0001840.jpg|200px|left|thumb|alt=Wellcome Library, oil|[[Ernest Board]]'s portrayal of Bacon in his observatory at [[Merton College, Oxford|Merton College]]]]
In 1256 or 1257, he became a [[friar]] in the [[Franciscans|Franciscan Order]] in either Paris or Oxford, following the example of scholarly English Franciscans such as [[Robert Grosseteste|Grosseteste]] and [[Adam Marsh|Marsh]].{{sfnp|''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy''|2013|loc=§2}} After 1260, Bacon's activities were restricted by a statute prohibiting the friars of his order from publishing books or pamphlets without prior approval.{{sfn|Hackett (1997), "Life"|pp=13–17}} He was likely kept at constant menial tasks to limit his time for contemplation{{sfnp|Clegg|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=IiqeBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT62 62]}} and came to view his treatment as an enforced absence from scholarly life.{{sfnp|''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy''|2013|loc=§2}}

By the mid-1260s, he was undertaking a search for patrons who could secure permission and funding for his return to Oxford.{{sfnp|Clegg|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=IiqeBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT62 62]}} For a time, Bacon was finally able to get around his superiors' interference through his acquaintance with [[Pope Clement IV|Guy de Foulques]], [[Ancient Diocese of Narbonne|bishop of Narbonne]], [[Roman Catholic Suburbicarian Diocese of Sabina-Poggio Mirteto|cardinal of Sabina]], and the [[papal legate]] who negotiated between England's royal and baronial factions.{{sfnp|Clegg|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=IiqeBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT63 63]}}

In 1263 or 1264, a message garbled by Bacon's messenger, Raymond of Laon, led Guy to believe that Bacon had already completed a summary of the sciences. In fact, he had no money to research, let alone copy, such a work and attempts to secure financing from his family were thwarted by the Second Barons' War. However, in 1265, Guy was summoned to a conclave at [[Perugia]] that [[Papal conclave|elected]] him {{nowrap|[[Pope Clement IV]]}}.{{sfnp|Clegg|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=IiqeBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT64 64]}} William Benecor, who had previously been the courier between [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] and the pope, now carried the correspondence between Bacon and Clement.{{sfnp|Clegg|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=IiqeBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT64 64]}} Clement's reply of 22&nbsp;June 1266 commissioned "writings and remedies for current conditions", instructing Bacon not to violate any standing "prohibitions" of his order but to carry out his task in utmost secrecy.{{sfnp|Clegg|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=IiqeBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT64 64]}}

While faculties of the time were largely limited to addressing disputes on the known texts of Aristotle, Clement's patronage permitted Bacon to engage in a wide-ranging consideration of the state of knowledge in his era.{{sfnp|''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy''|2013|loc=§2}} In 1267 or '68, Bacon sent the Pope his ''{{lang|la|[[Opus Majus]]}}'', which presented his views on how to incorporate [[Aristotelian logic]] and [[Greek science#Aristotle|science]] into a new theology, supporting Grosseteste's text-based approach against the "sentence method" then fashionable.{{sfnp|''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy''|2013|loc=§2}}

Bacon also sent his ''{{lang|la|Opus Minus}}'', ''{{lang|la|De Multiplicatione Specierum}}'',{{sfn|Hackett (1997), "Life"|pp=17–19}} ''{{lang|la|De Speculis Comburentibus}}'', an optical lens,{{sfnp|''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy''|2013|loc=§2}} and possibly other works on [[alchemy]] and [[astrology]].{{sfn|Hackett (1997), "Life"|pp=17–19}}{{refn|group=n|It is still uncertain whether the ''{{lang|la|Opus Tertium}}'' was sent with the others or kept for further revision and development.{{sfnp|''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy''|2013|loc=§2}}}} The entire process has been called "one of the most remarkable single efforts of literary productivity", with Bacon composing referenced works of around a million words in about a year.{{sfnp|Clegg|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=IiqeBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT67 67]}}

Pope Clement died in 1268 and Bacon lost his protector. The [[Condemnations of 1210–1277|Condemnations of 1277]] banned the teaching of certain philosophical doctrines, including deterministic astrology. Some time within the next two years, Bacon was apparently imprisoned or placed under [[house arrest]]. This was traditionally ascribed to [[Minister General (Franciscan)|Franciscan Minister General]] [[Pope Nicholas IV|Jerome of Ascoli]], probably acting on behalf of the many clergy, monks, and educators attacked by Bacon's 1271 ''{{lang|la|Compendium Studii Philosophiae}}''.{{sfnp|''Encyclopædia Britannica''|1878|p=220}}

Modern scholarship, however, notes that the first reference to Bacon's "imprisonment" dates from eighty years after his death on the charge of unspecified "suspected novelties"<ref>''[[Chronicle of the 24 Generals]]'', late 14th&nbsp;century.</ref>{{sfnp|Maloney|1988|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=fx84AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA8 8]}} and finds it less than credible.{{sfnp|Lindberg|1995|p=70}} Contemporary scholars who do accept Bacon's imprisonment typically associate it with Bacon's "attraction to contemporary prophesies",{{sfnp|Shank|2009|p=21}} his sympathies for "the radical 'poverty' wing of the Franciscans",{{sfnp|Lindberg|1995|p=70}} interest in certain [[astrology|astrological]] doctrines,{{sfnp|Sidelko|1996}} or generally combative personality{{sfnp|Maloney|1988|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=fx84AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA8 8]}} rather than from "any scientific novelties which he may have proposed".{{sfnp|Lindberg|1995|p=70}}

Sometime after 1278, Bacon returned to the Franciscan House at Oxford, where he continued his studies{{sfn|Hackett (1997), "Life"|pp=19–20}} and is presumed to have spent most of the remainder of his life. His last dateable writing—the ''{{lang|la|Compendium Studii Theologiae}}''—was completed in 1292.{{sfnp|''Encyclopædia Britannica''|1878|p=220}} He seems to have died shortly afterwards and been buried at Oxford.{{sfnp|''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''|2004}}<ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/60548930.pdf |title=Biography of Roger Bacon |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323105257/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/60548930.pdf |archive-date=2019-03-23 |website=[[CORE (research service)|CORE]]}}</ref>