Lord chancellor of England, philosopher and writer, b. 22 January 1561 (London, England), d. 9 April 1626 (London).
Francis Bacon was born into a family that had risen from relatively modest circumstances to prominence in politics; his father was "lord keeper of the great seal", and his cousin Robert Cecil was chief minister towards the end of Elizabeth I's reign. The young Francis inherited a lifelong ambition for a political career. At the age of 16 he was posted with the English ambassador in France but had to return to London after three years when his father suddenly died.
After his return in 1576 Bacon was admitted to the study of law. He became a barrister in 1582. But his main interest was political office. In 1584 he became a member of Parliament and from that position tried to come to the notice of the court by taking a prominent stand on various controversial issues and offering himself as councillor to personalities in a position of power. In 1593, however, he fell out of favour with Queen Elizabeth for objecting against an increase of war subsidies.
His choice of the Earl of Essex as a means to gain access to the court was also unfortunate, as the earl tried to seize the queen and force her to dismiss his rivals and was executed in 1604. Bacon wrote an Apologie in Certaine Imputations Concerning the Late Earle of Essex to justify his own position but could not make a convincing case and remained isolated from the seat of power.
Following the death of Elizabeth in 1603 Bacon managed to receive one of the 300 new knighthoods created by her successor James I. He entered Parliament again, established new connections and offered his outstanding speaking and writing abilities as councillor. In 1607 he was appointed solicitor general, an important position but one of little political influence.
Writing papers of advice and submitting them to the king brought him in 1613 the position of attorney general. Bacon tried to gain favour of the king by using his new position to promote royal prerogative and oppose common law and the independence of judges. As a result he was appointed lord keeper of the great seal in 1617 and lord chancellor and baron Verulam in 1618 and became viscount St. Albans in 1620. His rise made him enemies, and in 1621 he was accused and convicted of bribery. The sentence included a fine of 40,000 pounds, imprisonment at the King's pleasure and ban from public office.
Bacon's time in prison was short, but he was never able to serve in public office again. He continued to write proposals, documents and speeches in the hope that they may find favour and be of use to someone, but the best he achieved was to be allowed in 1622 to kiss the King's hand.
Bacon was a man of his time, when success at the court could only mean cunning participation in intrigues and conspiracies. He had no scruples to take bribes and then declare that gifts had no influence on his actions. His personal notebook reveals in detail how he planned flattery of possible patrons or the study of his rivals' weaknesses.
Bacon would not rate a mention in the history of European civilizations, would it not be for his outstanding intellect and systematic approach to philosophy. Throughout his life Bacon worked on publishing projects of grand design. Most were never finished. His monumental work Instauratio Magna, also unfinished, contains in its completed parts the first attempt of the European civilization since Aristotle to present a systematic classification of all sciences.
Not all of Bacon's ideas and arguments have stood the test of time, but his influence on European thought is undeniable. Kant dedicated his Critique of Pure Reason to him.